Halloween display with devil and beheaded Jesus props sparks controversy
It’s not uncommon for there to be some unspoken neighbour wars throughout the seasons. Everyone wants to have the best Christmas displays or perhaps the most flowers come spring, and it doesn't always sit right with the locals.
And one time of year sees people really going full-out to decorate - Halloween of course.
Ghosts and ghouls or devils and demons or maybe just pumpkins and cartoon characters, spooky season sees many houses done up for trick or treaters.
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We’ve all got that one neighbour who’s a little bit extra and they always win the decoration war, no matter how hard we might try.
In a Louisiana neighbourhood, Vic Miorana is the man known for his extravagant displays.
Every year he goes all out on his Bucktown home. But this year, he may have gone just too far - and we're not just talking about the fact he's got his decorations up over a month before Halloween.
Alongside skulls, dead nuns and a priest, a Jesus prop is beheaded on a giant cross with a devil holding his head.
There’s also a gravestone reading ‘Hillary’s emails’ in reference to the presidential hopeful’s famed deleted emails.
Oh, and to add to the dramatics, the nightmare scene even features fire.
As you’d expect, not all of his neighbours are happy about the headless Jesus at the front of his house.
But Miorana is standing by it and tells WDSU: “This is just decorations for fun. It’s not real Jesus, these are foam props that I made. I’m very sorry if this hurt anyone.”
One neighbour said it’s ‘disrespectful for the people who believe in Jesus’.
He added: “Is it protected under free speech, yes, but does that make it right? That’s my real question. And would you do this with another religion? Because I don’t think you would.”
But one said if people find it offensive they should ‘bypass this neighbourhood’.
But the backlash also seemed to come even closer to home.
Sadly, his girlfriend of three years has left him.
She reportedly was ‘harassed and online bullied’ and asked her partner to have the display removed.
However, when asked if will be taking town the beheaded Jesus Halloween display, Miroana gave a firm: “Absolutely not.”
He also told The Times-Picayune: “It’s over the principle. I have my rights and I refuse to back down.
“I love to scare people. I worked in haunted houses. I hope to own my own haunted house one day, you know, and this is what scares people.”
Jess Battison