Mr. Patrick McCaffery, now in his 31st year of teaching at Edison High, serves as an AP Language & Composition and English Composition teacher. Over the years, he has also coached track, cross country, soccer, and volleyball.

But, when he isn’t teaching, McCaffery enjoys hanging decorations, specifically plastic skeletons, for Halloween. Currently, he has 43 skeletons—12-foot and 10-foot models. Two of his skeletons stay outside all year and are dressed for Halloween, back-to-school, the Olympics, Diwali, and Eid, while the remaining skeletons are packed away in the garage.

“I have always liked Halloween, ever since I was kid,” McCaffery said, adding that has always been a “collector of things” and has grown “obsessed” with Halloween through the years, especially after he started decorating his house.

This hobby started during the pandemic, when everyone, including McCaffery, had a lot more free time. The extra time compelled him to expand his creativity and take on new activities.

McCaffery shares a funny incident that occurred when his hobby first started. His first skeleton broke, and his friend, who was in the medical profession, helped fix it. McCaffery later realized that his friend put the bones on backward, which he found interesting.

“I like trying to see what I can do and be a little more creative. I enjoy trying to get the skeletons to stay on the wall and the challenge of that,” said McCaffery.

He loves to watch kids smile as they walk across and gape at the spooky, realistic, and beautiful decorations he puts up. Sometimes families regularly check up on the decorations, look at any new scenes, and see if anything has changed.

McCaffery jokes that The Home Depot fueled his addiction because of its abundant, humongous, and lifelike skeletons.