Copyright Baltimore News
A Rhode Island man is honoring the late in a spooktacular way. Each Halloween, Tim Perry sets up a masterpiece outside his home: . This year, the homemade display is comprised of 1,653 carved pumpkins -- and counting. At least 40 of the jack-o-lanterns feature Osbourne, the rock and roll icon who It was definitely a big loss when we lost Ozzy, so I just started carving pumpkins every day of him with his family, him with other artists that he inspired, and people he collaborated with,” Perry told The National News Desk. “There are pumpkins of him at different ages because he had such a long career. I mean, the guy was incredible.” An entire section of the massive display is dedicated to Osbourne, with some pumpkins showing Osbourne with his wife, Sharon, and their children, Aimee, Kelly, and Jack, as well as depictions of the Prince of Darkness during his days with his band Black Sabbath. Others show him with fellow rock stars such as Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, and Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt, just to name a few. There are even a few pumpkins that feature Osborne with Miss Piggy and The Count. He actually did a Muppets thing,” Perry said of Osbourne, who collaborated with Miss Piggy for the "Kermit Unpigged" album during the 1990s. The centerpiece of the Osbourne section includes a few props, with a skeleton sitting on a black throne that’s like the one Osbourne sat in during . The skeleton wears a trench coat, round-frame glasses, and a wig. People definitely notice it,” Perry’s wife, Sue, said. “They come here just for the Ozzy pumpkins. They’ve heard the stories and they’re like, ‘Where’s the Ozzy stuff?’ And then they’re like ‘whoa!’” Guests gathered at the display on Monday night. Many used their cell phones to take photos of pumpkins or snapped selfies with the display as a backdrop. “That’s crazy,” one woman said as she admired the display. “That’s a lot of pumpkins,” another person said in awe. Perry, who is a big rock music fan, said Osbourne is one of his favorite artists of all-time. Other pumpkins in the display feature some of Perry’s other top acts, including Rob Zombie, as well as members of the bands Type-O Negative, Pantera, and Disturbed. Aside from musicians and bands, there are characters from horror movies, TV shows, and pop culture icons. There’s even a Taylor Swift pumpkin. Most recently, Perry added a Diane Keaton pumpkin, who died on October 11. “When someone passes away, of course, I usually always do a pumpkin,” he said, as he is working on a pumpkin that features KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. The pumpkins are made of polyurethane foam, so Perry saves them and adds more to his collection every year. Perry's previous displays featured hundreds of carved pumpkins. He reached 1,000 in 2022, and now he's up to more than 1,6000. Perry carves the pumpkins year-round. He starts by drawing a person or character on a computer before printing his creation on a sheet of paper. He transfers the drawing onto a pumpkin and then uses an X-ACTO knife to carve in his designs. Lights are added as the finishing touch. I always liked drawing and doing art stuff, so once I figured out I could put my art on a pumpkin and light it up, that’s what really kept me going,” he said. Setting up the display is a labor of love, as Perry said he spent nearly two weeks in late September preparing the display. While some pumpkins rest on the lawn, others are propped on massive stands. I got the stands done ahead of time, and then I spent at least eight hours a day for 12 days setting up,” he said, adding that the pumpkins on the ground are secured with stakes and the others are bolted to the stands. When it’s not spooky season, Perry stores his jack-o-lanterns in two sheds in the backyard, the garage, as well as the basement. “The first year we came here, I packed all my pumpkins from our previous house,” he said, noting that he was up to 200 then. “We had a moving van full of pumpkins. I didn’t put them out that first year because we moved here right before Halloween, so I put a couple out and that was it.” Perry has been decorating at their current home for at least five years. In that time, he’s raised about $8,000 in donations for the , a nonprofit organization that helps people who are battling cancer. The cause is close to his heart, as . My wife had a form of cancer, and she has been cancer-free for two years now,” he said. Sue said she still checks in regularly with her doctors, as they told her there’s a possibility it could return. They said that they got all of it,” she said, noting that . “They say I’m cancer-free, but because of the type of cancer it is, it could pop up again, so I have to be surveilled for the rest of my life.” One in three men and women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. Cancer is just so widespread,” Perry said. “We all know someone who’s either died or had cancer. My grandparents both had cancer when they died. It’s everywhere, so it’s a good cause to give back to.” Perry collects donations online, but decided to set up a donation box outside the display this year. So far, he’s collected about $500 in donations online, plus $1,000 in the cash box alone. “It was definitely worth putting that out,” he said, adding that people can still donate online at The display, which is located at 46 Elm Road in Cranston, Rhode Island, is lit nighty through Halloween. “I work on it all year long,” Perry said. “It’s something I just love to do. I can’t see not doing it. I just turned 50 this year, but I don’t see me stopping any time soon.”
