Adam Turman, the visionary artist celebrated for capturing Minnesota nostalgia, has long added his signature style to his annual neighborhood Halloween installation. What started as a small personal project has exploded into a full community tradition, with 12 households now participating.
We sat down with Adam for a wonderfully candid conversation about autumn in Minnesota, his love for bike rides through falling leaves, the essential family movie night (complete with Domino’s pizza!), and what keeps him creatively fueled during the spooky season. Don’t miss the incredible display, which is up now through Halloween weekend in the Brookside Neighborhood of St. Louis Park, at the intersection of Vermont and Webster streets.
Courtesy of Adam Turman
Q: Your Halloween display is a huge draw every fall. How did this tradition originally get started, and how has it evolved from that first year to the massive installation it is today?
ADAM TURMAN (AT): It started back in 2012. I made just two cutouts, Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein, and attached them to the posts on our front porch to see if people liked them. I didn’t think much of it, but I kept adding to it every year.
By 2020, my wife was wondering where we would put them all! Then COVID hit, and as the neighborhood changed, our new, younger neighbors started a group chat, and everyone loved the cutouts. I asked if anyone wanted one in their yard, and literally every household in the thread said ‘yes’. That’s how it exploded. In 2021, other neighbors started joining in, and now, in 2025, we’re up to 12 households participating in the full installation!
Q: What’s new this year?
AT: This year, we have two new themes. I did a series inspired by “The Wizard of Oz,” and then I also created a separate installation for Ozzy Osbourne, too.
Courtesy of Adam Turman
Q: Aside from the spooky season, what is your absolute favorite Minnesota fall activity to do when you’re not working on your Halloween display or making art?
AT: This is going to sound really simple, but I love to go for bike rides in the fall. I have a buddy I ride with, and we try to hit the trails. When the fall leaves were falling last weekend, it was absolutely gorgeous out, the leaves were flying all around. Another thing I enjoy is having little fires in the backyard. I just love taking that quiet time by myself after working all week.
Q: I know you love movie nights. Tell me about the Turman family movie night when you’re watching scary movies.
AT: Now that the girls are older, it’s usually just my wife and me on Friday nights. We’re total empty-nesters during the school year. We love it; it’s something we really look forward to. We order pizza from our local Domino’s. We’ve known the manager and owner for years, and they’re just great. They even write notes on our boxes! It’s a really sweet tradition, and we just love having that connection.
Q: What are your go-to scary movies?
AT: It’s always tough to remember the names because we watch so many, but one movie I found extremely disturbing, yet absolutely beautiful, was “Midsommar.” Holy crap, that movie is incredible! Another one we watched a long time ago that we thought was absolutely terrifying was “Paranormal Activity.” That one was really good. And then I’ll give you a third: “The Witch.” Those three really stick with you.
Q: Your Halloween display is so detailed, but it never veers into gore. Given your love for scary movies, where do you draw the line?
AT: That’s actually a funny point. I’m completely fine with scary movies, but haunted houses, I have a hard time with. A movie stays right there on the screen; it can’t actually touch me or get in my face. But a haunted house is like a 4D, in-your-face situation. Maybe it’s just because things are so vivid for me, but that immediacy is where I draw the line with scary stuff.
Courtesy of Adam Turman
Q: Good to know, I won’t jump out and scare you. Does that influence the design of your cutouts?
AT: Absolutely. The cutouts are designed to be fun, not genuinely terrifying. The entire installation is a celebration of what we want to dress up as for Halloween, it’s about movie themes and playful costumes. I intentionally avoid gory or truly terrifying stuff. The “Wolf Man” is probably the scariest thing out there, but everything else is pretty tame because the whole idea is to celebrate, not to scare anyone away.
Q: Alright, last question. Minnesota Monthly is dedicated to the spirit of Minnesota. What does the spirit of Minnesota mean to you?
AT: For me, the spirit of Minnesota is this incredible feeling; it’s a deep sense of nostalgia for everything that you cherish. When I think about what I love about this state, it’s all the things that actually come out in my art: the folklore, the specific environments, the cities, the people, and the characters. You can’t forget the food, the little sayings, and all the charming, quirky things that are just inherently Minnesota. To me, that’s the spirit of Minnesota. It’s comforting, it’s what you grew up with, and it feels like home.
