Halloween at well-known Raleigh home scaled back because of COVID-19 but will have lots of zombies

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- It's one of the most popular neighborhoods to visit during Halloween - we're talking about historic Oakwood -- just east of downtown Raleigh.

And one particular house always garners lots of attention, but this year, the owner is scaling back.

Jesse Jones has done it again with his Halloween house full of horrors. But this year's experience will be different as he does what he thinks is necessary to protect everyone from COVID-19

"We are almost out of this, and I would hate for my house to be a super spreader," Jones said.

Jones' Halloween collection has grown through the years, and 2021 is no different.

"There are about eight pieces in here that people just donate it to me, I don't know who they are," Jones said. "They drop them off at the porch, some stuff has been mailed to my office."

Jones hopes the new zombies will be a hit this year because he won't be as active this year as he has in years past

"We've got Pennywise," he said. "This is a Pennywise zombie and this is Georgie, and they're fighting over them."

He said he isn't closing down the road this year, he's not having one of his legendary parties, and he is not handing out candy.

"The other houses in Oakwood are, but if I start passing out candy, there'll be 3,000 people on top of each other right here, and that's what we are trying to prevent," Jones said.

The CDC has given the green light for trick-or-treating this year but advises to be cautious and avoid large crowds.

So this year, the only thing crowded on Halloween will be the zombies in Jones' yard.

Jones said he hopes to be up and running with candy and a party next year and said COVID-19 is not invited.