HAMLET — What’s so scary about an overturned bicycle lying abandoned at the entrance of a remote estate a ways past a sign that reads “State maintenance ends here?”

Nothing, unless you’re the paperboy gone missing from his route a few days before Halloween.

It’s the first scene in a brief but terrifyingly playful route designed to entertain anyone brave enough to make the circle-drive tour this weekend at 310 E.V. Hogan Drive, about a mile past Trinity Manufacturing and off the blacktop.

Nic Wilkes, the 11th-grade artist responsible for the elaborate displays thrill-seekers will spy along the drive has been dreaming up decorative scenes for festive occasions since he was about 8 years old — around the same time he was diagnosed with a brain cyst.

“It started when I was around 8,” Wilkes said. “And Mama just said, ‘Well, have at it.’ I have a very supportive family.”

Wilkes also goes all-out decorating the property for Christmas and has created several imaginative renditions of the traditional Christmas tree. He has also made large-scale Nativity scenes.

He even makes props and other decorations for Bible school at Marks Creek Presbyterian Church, where his family are members.

“But Halloween is my favorite holiday for decorating,” Wilkes said. “Hopefully Sunday and Monday, this will all come down and I’ll be getting Christmas started in a couple of weeks.”

Wilkes said he likes to have everything up for Christmas by Thanksgiving — especially this year, since he’ll be gobbling his turkey at one of his favorite places — Disney World.

Peering from the bay window on the front of the family home is the witch from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” dressed in her haggardly form and hoarding apples no mortal would want to go bobbing for.

“I get a lot of my inspiration from Disney,” he said. “A lot of the scenes along the way are Disney-inspired. I love the Disney Haunted Mansion. It’s just enough scary and just enough funny at the same time, and since we have little ones too, I don’t want to go too scary. That’s one of my favorite parts of Disney and I draw pictures to get some of my inspiration.”

Wilkes led the walk along the long unpaved driveway, thick with woods on both sides, showing his professional-looking reproductions of a ghostly bride and a coffin complete with a pale hand draped over the edge. He pointed out the “little ghosts” here and there in the woods.

“But yeah, my grandmother gets the Daily Journal, so she saved me a few for this,” Wilkes said. He was pointing to the red bicycle with the shoulder sack still full of copies of the paper, while other copies lay scattered about the mock crime scene. There is even a flashlight, still shining, only a foot or so away from the toppled bike.

The entire haunted walk is not merely full of decorations, but also lit.

“It’s all done with drop cords,” Wilkes said. “I’ve got different colored lights hidden at each display and they have different effects at night.”

Wilkes enjoys setting it up, and takes the work very seriously. Planning for his Halloween display, he said, begins in July.

“I think I drive my mom crazy,” he said. “But I think she enjoys it.”

Meeting Wilkes and casually strolling through a landscape that began in his imagination and hearing him explain how he made each one, a person would never guess that he has a brain tumor.

“He actually has a midline shift in his brain,” said his mother, Julie Woody. “We attribute a lot of his talent and his artistic ability to that.”

Wilkes nodded his head.

“I get a little flustered at school,” he said. “But I get it out when I start to draw and plan, I just let it flow. I love to draw, so I start drawing in the summer and telling Mom, ‘This is what I want to do.’ And she just says, ‘Fine, go right ahead.”

Wilkes has a shunt in his brain that keeps the tumor from becoming dangerous.

“As long as the shunt’s working, everything is fine,” Woody said. “But if the shunt starts to malfunction, he starts getting severe headaches.”

Wilkes remembers that the headaches were how the family found out about the cyst, and thanks God they were able to get it treated. He plans to use his artistic talent professionally once he graduates high school.

“Disney has a thing called park enhancement, where they work on Halloween and Christmas,” Wilkes said. “And that’s the only thing you do, and you’re responsible for the trees and events, too, that they work on year-round. I think that would be a neat job. I’ve also gotten into theater, too, working on sets and things. And some acting. They had a theater arts program at the school, but it disbanded.”

The family has had a few visitors come by to enjoy the decorations and lights, but invites everyone in the community to drop by.

To find the home, take N.C.. 177 North and turn left onto E.V. Hogan Drive, then go past Trinity Manufacturing and off the paved road. You won’t be on the dirt road long before you see flickering colored lights, an overturned bicycle and the circle drive with all the decorations.

Wilkes has some wisdom to share with everyone who has a dream.

“You find something in life and you go with it,” he said. “You don’t let people put you down. Just keep going with it. Don’t be discouraged, that’s the big thing.”

Reach reporter Melonie McLaurin at 910-817-2673 and follow her on Twitter @melonieflomer.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Newspapers that never made it to their destination lay strewn in the woods near an abandoned bicycle.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_IMG_4875.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Newspapers that never made it to their destination lay strewn in the woods near an abandoned bicycle.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal A reproduction of the bride from Disney’s Haunted Mansion stands forever waiting on her decaying balcony for the husband who could be anywhere. Or not.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_IMG_4896.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal A reproduction of the bride from Disney’s Haunted Mansion stands forever waiting on her decaying balcony for the husband who could be anywhere. Or not.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Coming out of the coffin isn’t easy, but at night it’s much more fun to watch.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_IMG_4883.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Coming out of the coffin isn’t easy, but at night it’s much more fun to watch.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Grave robbers have been here, leaving bones, a shovel and the broken wooden top of a coffin in what seems to have been a hurry.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_IMG_4889.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Grave robbers have been here, leaving bones, a shovel and the broken wooden top of a coffin in what seems to have been a hurry.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Nic Wilkes straightens up one of the props in a scene along the circle drive of his family home, where all are welcome to take a fun but frightful drive after sundown, but only until Sunday.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_IMG_4880.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Nic Wilkes straightens up one of the props in a scene along the circle drive of his family home, where all are welcome to take a fun but frightful drive after sundown, but only until Sunday.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal On a lighter note, Nic Wilkes also enjoys the festive side of decorating for all major holidays. This is what he made for the front door.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_IMG_4871.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal On a lighter note, Nic Wilkes also enjoys the festive side of decorating for all major holidays. This is what he made for the front door.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal If your copy of the paper was missing late this week, this could be why. We seem to have discovered evidence of a missing paper-boy.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_IMG_4874.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal If your copy of the paper was missing late this week, this could be why. We seem to have discovered evidence of a missing paper-boy.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal
This is a ghost people see at the end of Disney’s Haunted Mansion, and another of Nic Wilkes’ favorite Disney characters. Here, Nic points out the hidden lights that make her appear more ethereal after darkness falls.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_IMG_4904.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal
This is a ghost people see at the end of Disney’s Haunted Mansion, and another of Nic Wilkes’ favorite Disney characters. Here, Nic points out the hidden lights that make her appear more ethereal after darkness falls.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Nic Wilkes said the witch from “Snow White” is his favorite Disney character, though he doesn’t know why. He is careful that she appears authentic, right down to the poison apples. Visit YourDailyJournal.com for more photos from Wilkes’ haunted Halloween trail.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_IMG_4915.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Nic Wilkes said the witch from “Snow White” is his favorite Disney character, though he doesn’t know why. He is careful that she appears authentic, right down to the poison apples. Visit YourDailyJournal.com for more photos from Wilkes’ haunted Halloween trail.

By Melonie McLaurin

[email protected]

HALLOWEEN HAUNTS

For photos from other ornate “haunted” homes to visit in and around Rockingham, turn to Page 1C.