A Creepy Addiction

Last year, Claudia Jarrard called her husband from an antique shop in the Heights. She wanted to buy a coffin. 

“They actually had a coffin,” Claudia says with excitement. “It was a prop, in a typical coffin shape, with a door. I took a picture and sent it to my husband and said I think we need this.” 

And that is how Claudia’s self-described “sickness” for all things Halloween presents in the life of the Jarrards – Claudia, an interior designer, her husband Bryan, an international tax specialist, and their daughter Sofia, a grad student at the University of Houston.

NO TRICKS Clockwise, from upper left: (Back row) Molly Determan, Karen Wu, Jamie Pierce, Lisa Perrien, Emily Hammer, Abby Salmon, Sofia Jarrard, Thao Nguyen; (front row) Ana Castellano, Claudia Jarrard, and Hallie Keller all dressed up for one of the Jarrards' annual Halloween parties.

It’s no wonder Claudia’s Halloween decorations collection lives in its own custom-built wall of shelving along two walls of the Jarrards’ garage. “I’ve probably been collecting for over 20 years,” she says, remembering a meme she once sent to her girlfriends: A house overshadowed by a giant, tall garage dedicated to Halloween decorations storage.

“It’s a disease,” Claudia explains, “so I can’t pass up something I see. If it’s unique, I’ll get it.”

"Bat Truffles" are cake balls disguised as friendly bats.

Claudia shops all year for the decorations. “Pottery Barn, World Market, TJ Maxx, Michaels – I go crazy,” she says. Years ago, she worked as an in-house designer for the West University boutique Blue Leaf. “Let me tell you, the owner went all-out for Halloween. I still have decorations from that store. They are some of my favorite prized possessions.” Her stash includes a witch collection, a Dracula collection, and several special figurines signed by artists. The giant skeleton in the Jarrards’ front yard is from Costco.

When they lived in a one-story house, Claudia says, decorating was easy. “Kids would always come to our house and say it was their favorite.” Now in a two-story home, “it all looks like stick figures. It’s more challenging.”

James Light dares to cross the giant skeleton to enter the Jarrards' Halloween party.

For 10 years or so, Claudia and Bryan have been hosting an all-stops-pulled Halloween party. “We love the spookiness,” she says, “anything haunted and paranormal.” When asked why he loves Halloween, Bryan says diplomatically, “Primarily because my wife likes it.” (He’s speaking to us on the phone from Home Depot, where he has joined Claudia to buy new 2025 decorations. What were they buying? “A big tree, it looks like, and a cat,” he reports.)

The party started when the Jarrards were, as Claudia says, “the oldest people on the block.” All the neighbors are invited, via Evites and word of mouth, along with the Jarrards’ friends and the neighbors’ friends. More is merrier. “The funny thing is,” Claudia says, “the first [Halloween party] we had, three couples ended up pregnant [soon after].” 

Usually held the Friday night before Halloween, the Jarrards’ party brings anywhere from 30 people (during the pandemic) to more than 70. “The front of our house is always the photo opp of the neighborhood!” she says.

Witches dance around a tree.

The number-one party rule: Guests must come in costume. And they go all-out. Some of Claudia’s favorites through the years: a couple dressed as Smurfs, covered from head to toe in blue; someone dressed as Queen singer Freddie Mercury from the Live Aid concert in 1985, complete with glued-on underarm hair; and her own version of a devil, when she painted her entire body in red paint and dressed her dog Blackberry up as a little devil sidekick, both wearing horns and tails. “For the next several weeks, I kept finding red body paint everywhere – in the ice machine, the fridge, the bathroom walls. Everywhere.

“There’s something about getting dressed up that I love, and it’s funny because so does my husband. I love the makeup and being someone else.”

That same year, which was the last one before Covid, Bryan dressed up like a character from a Charles Dickens novel. “I think that was my favorite year,” he says, “because it was the last really big party we had.” It was also before he and Claudia started coordinating their costumes.

The Jarrards' front porch offers a Halloween photo opp.

For the past two years, Claudia and Bryan have dressed up with their friends Hallie Keller and Mitch Patterson. Last year they were vintage circus characters – the bearded lady, strong man, clown, and ringleader. The year before, they had taken a trip to Mexico City and attended a “Lucha Libre” masked wrestling match. “We looked at all the masks and looked at each other and said This is what we need to dress up as this year! All four of us wore the masks and Lycra with tennis shoes. We had so much fun.” 

The next day, they were talking about what to dress up as next year. “It’s so much fun preparing, ordering all the wigs and eyelashes and whatever we need. We live for it. It’s our Mardi Gras.”

In addition to the usual – a margarita machine, a DJ playing Top 40, country, salsa music – Claudia comes up with themed party snacks and drinks that are always a hit. “We’ll have Jell-O ‘blood’ shots in a basket, I’ll add roaches or spiders to things. Whatever looks gross or creepy.” Her favorite was the skull that she draped in prosciutto to look like it had no skin.

A cheese ball takes on the look of a spider, thanks to a roll in poppy seeds.

Claudia, who is originally from Venezuela and went to college at the University of Houston, comes to party-giving naturally. (She and Bryan also spent a few years in Caracas prior to 2001, when he accepted an overseas assignment.) “It’s very much a cultural thing,” she says. “In Venezuela, everyone is inclusive; people want to gather and have a good time.” 

As a single mother in Venezuela, Claudia’s mom supported her family by providing décor for birthday parties, baptisms, first communions – all the lifecycle events. And her grandmother was a caterer, a specialty of hers being wedding cakes. “In the Latin culture, we go all out for celebrations,” Claudia says. 

“I was always helping my mom, watching her being so creative. She was a phenomenal cook,” Claudia says, adding that her mother went to pastry school. “The cooking gene bypassed me, and I took on the design gene,” she laughs. “But I still love to cook and love to host and love to decorate seasonally. I just grew up seeing it all.”

A prosciutto-wrapped skull looks extra spooky.

Sadly, Claudia’s mother, who married her high school sweetheart and moved to Houston when Claudia was 21, is no longer cooking or entertaining. “She has Alzheimer’s, and one of the first things to go was the ability to follow a recipe. She’d forget whether or not she put in an ingredient.”

Claudia posits that it might be her October birthday that makes Halloween so appealing, but it’s not just orange and black at the Jarrards’. “Oh no,” Claudia says. “I go all out for the Big Five.” And by “Big Five,” she means Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. “My house is a very neutral backdrop, so I can change it seasonally. Once Halloween is over, it’s all turkeys and pilgrims. Then comes Christmas. Then Christmas goes down and Valentine’s comes out. I’m a decorator. This is what I like to do.”

She also likes to share the celebrations. Claudia always hosts a Galentine’s brunch in February, and she’s hosted Thanksgiving for the past 23 years. “I have up to 50, so I set up tables everywhere with linens and silver,” she says. “I love doing tablescapes. And then for Christmas, you know, it’s the usual,” Claudia says, knowing that her “usual” might be another person’s “over-the-top.”

Still, Halloween will always be a favorite for Claudia, even though she shares (with a little remorse) the update: “I didn’t get the coffin.”

Mini pumpkins are made of boursin cheese and pretzels

Mini Pumpkin Cheese Balls

From InspiredByCharm.com

2 packages (16 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
½ cup finely chopped roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Crushed Nacho Cheese Doritos, paprika, and/or black sesame seeds
20 pretzel sticks
Minced flat-leaf parsley
Assorted crackers, for serving

In a medium bowl, use a wooden spoon to combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, roasted red peppers, green onions, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and chill for about an hour.

Put the crushed Doritos, paprika, and black sesame seeds in separate, shallow bowls. Use a tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop the cheese mixture, roll into a ball, and set on a baking sheet. Continue until all of the cheese is rolled into balls. 

Roll 1/3 of the balls in Doritos, 1/3 in paprika, and 1/3 in sesame seeds. Use a wooden skewer to make marks up the sides of each ball and across the tops to resemble a pumpkin. Place half of a pretzel stick into the tops of each mini cheese ball, then garnish with a small leaf of parsley. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

For more fun Halloween recipe ideas, go to Claudia Jarrard’s “Halloween Food for Party” Pinterest board. (www.pinterest.com/cjarrard72/halloween-food-for-party/)