CULLMAN, Ala. – Seventeen years ago, before “Nightmare on Woodland Street” became a destination Cullman neighborhood to visit on Halloween, resident Zach Lee said, it began with a simple birthday celebration.
The Lee family began Nightmare on Woodland Street in 2009. He noted that his daughter, Kayleigh Lee, was 6 at the time. And since her birthday lands on Nov. 1, treating Halloween as her birthday celebration became a family tradition.
“We would take her to my mom’s, some aunts and different family members,” Lee said of previous Halloweens.
Though in 2009 Lee told his wife, Jessica, “Let’s stay home this year and we’re gonna leave the light on, get some candy and we’re gonna let Kayleigh hand out candy, have a party and a birthday celebration.”
That year, he said, they saw about 10 children with only a pumpkin on their porch and a grim reaper prop.
“My daughter would go out with her little costume on and hand the kids the candy while my wife would lean the reaper character into the storm door to scare them. Then I was outside the corner of the house for the old-fashioned jump scare. We just really fell in love with that!” he laughed.
At the end of the season, they began purchasing from clearance sections to add to their lineup for the next year.
“We loved it, but we didn’t have a lot of money to give toward it,” Lee said. “It progressed and we wanted to do more in the yard. I brought home some wooden stakes and we would build little zombies and decorate them, stuffing them with pine straw.”
He and his family went to local thrift stores and got the most discounted clothing to use. They stuffed the zombie figures with pine straw they raked up from their own yard.
“We would stuff them with pine straw and staple the pants and sleeves together,” he said. “My wife and I would sit on the back porch and build these zombies together.”
He laughed, “We thought we were big time! We have 12 or 13 zombies – you would’ve thought we brought the circus to town!”
The number of trick-or-treaters began to increase each year, going from 10-15 kids to several hundred over the first few years.
“Our goal at that time was to get everyone in the neighborhood to participate because when I was a kid growing up in the 80s that’s what I cherished as a child, going trick-or-treating around the neighborhoods,” Lee explained.
He said it remained a birthday celebration, but the overall goal was to inspire community effort.
It started with the neighborly encouragement of saying, “Leave your light on.”
He said only three to five houses left their lights on and handed out candy for the first five or six years. Though participation would soon grow and the neighborhood would earn its reputation.
The neighbors began dressing as Michael Myers from “Halloween” while Lee dressed as “Leatherface” from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
“My daughter was Freddie Krueger and my other neighbor was Jason Voorhees. We had all these 80s characters and it just stuck!” Lee exclaimed.
Woodland Street now has roughly 25 neighbors participating throughout the holiday. “It blows my mind to know where we’re at right now,” he said.
In 17 years, the Lee family helped Nightmare on Woodland Street go from one porch light to a street full of children. In 2025, the Lee residence handed out 17,000 pieces of chocolate candy to 4,000 kids.
Zach and Jessica Lee also gave thanks to a friend, who would like to stay anonymous, who has helped the family with candy throughout the last few years.
“Hundreds of props, thousands of lights, power grids and everything that goes into this just blows my mind!” he laughed. “I love seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces, but I had no clue it was going to be what it is today.”
Lee spoke of the tradition they wanted to give to the neighborhood – just like they grew up with. He expressed gratitude for all of his neighbors. “My wife and I are so thankful for the friends that have given support with our yard over the years, We are very thankful for our friends.”
One year, the family ran out of candy and was fortunate enough to have friends willing to help pick up more. Though they handed out butterscotch, peppermints and Dum-Dums for the rest of the night, no children left their yard empty handed.
The family said from that moment that they would never run out of candy and they would never go unprepared.
They now spend months beforehand preparing props and goody bags. The goody bags ensure every child has the same amount and no one feels left out. In preparation, the family watches horror or slasher films while putting together goody bags and creating new props over a cup of coffee.
Lee also gave credit to his wife, “I could not do this without her; she has really helped me organize this chaos over the years. Anytime I have a wild idea she’s always there to help me see it through. Also she always has the best costumes. She is my Halloween sweetheart.”
Lee noted that this is all about involvement and giving back to the community. “A lot of people get intimidated by some of the yards in the neighborhood that go extremely big. It doesn’t matter if you have one pumpkin on the porch and you’re out there with two buckets of candy – that’s just as good!”
He reiterated that it’s all worth the effort and any involvement is a step in the right direction. What matters is leaving the light on and giving the generations to come a glimpse into tradition.
In honor of Kayleigh’s upcoming 24th birthday, Zach and Jessica Lee included the following message for her.
To our wonderful daughter:
None of this would have happened without you. Your birthday and Halloween celebration has given your mom and I wonderful memories that will carry on forever. Just know that, on Halloween night, when thousands of people are coming through the yard and door to door throughout our street making their own memories, this all started with you and hoping that Mom and Dad can make memories for you that will hopefully carry on forever.
Happy Halloween!
Love you,
Mom and Dad
You can find Woodland Street Northwest between U.S. Highway 31 North and St. Joseph Drive Northwest, in the Woodland Heights subdivision in Cullman.
