“A grandmother pretends she doesn’t know who you are on Halloween.” —Erma Bombeck (1927–1996)

28 Grove Street, included on our Greenwich Village Walking Tour.

Homeowners bring the fright to Greenwich Village when they decorate their front steps, small front yards, and their house facades for Halloween. This year spiders—large and small—are popular, as are ghosts. Everyone anticipates the Village Halloween Parade, held along that section of Sixth Avenue in the Village on All Hallows Eve. Get into the spirit with these photos and quotes.

28 Grove Street

“Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.”
―from “Macbeth” 1606
by William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

28 Grove Street

“And the warlocks are at their play;
Ye think that without
The wild winds shout,
But no, it is they — it is they.”
—Arthur Cleveland Coxe (1818–1896, Episcopal bishop)

133 West 12th Street

“ ’Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.”
—from “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare

29 East Ninth Street

“This Halloween, the most popular mask is the Arnold Schwarzenegger mask. And the best part? With a mouth full of candy you will sound just like him.”
—Conan O’Brien (1963– )

29 East Ninth Street

“From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!”
— A Scottish prayer

29 East Ninth Street

“There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.”
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924)

29 East Ninth Street

“I hear from many a man around Halloween that’s dressed up as Mama for Halloween. It’s a great costume.”
—Vicki Lawrence (1943–)

29 East Ninth Street

“Patience, good lady; wizards know their times:
Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night,
The time of night when Troy was set on fire;
The time when screech-owls cry and ban-dogs howl,
And spirits walk and ghosts break up their graves …”
—from “Henry VI, Part II” 1591 by William Shakespeare

126 West 13th Street

“If a man harbors any sort of fear, it makes him landlord to a ghost.” —Lloyd Douglas (1877–1951, American minister)

23 West 12th Street

“I wanted—any chance I had—to dress up as a boy, like Halloween. I would be a pirate or a ghost that wore a tie. A hobo.” —Jane Lynch (1960– )

101 West 12th Street

“And graves have yawn’d, and yielded up their dead …
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.”
—from “Julius Caesar” 1599 by William Shakespeare

104 West 13th Street

Read our other Halloween-related articles.
Halloween in Greenwich Village, 2016.
A Pumpkin Flotilla.

When you are part of our Greenwich Village Walking Tour you will discover New York’s most storied—and most haunted—neighborhood as you have never seen it. What is beneath Washington Square Park? Take the Tour; Know More!

ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT, EXCEPT ATTRIBUTED QUOTES, © THE AUTHOR, 2017.