Stranger Court is going Ghostbusters

In the summer of 2024, @Jimmy Hickman couldn't sleep. He went upstairs at 2am, put on  Stranger Things for the fifth or sixth time, and started thinking about what he might want to be for Halloween. That quickly blossomed into ideas about how he could add Stranger Things themed decor onto his house. Now, two years later, his whole street is in on it, with thousands of people coming through on Halloween night.

"It started from a night of insomnia," he told me. "Watching Stranger Things, thinking, oh, this would be a cool Halloween costume. And next thing you know, I'm talking with a neighbor, and it's blowing up to an annual event."

Jimmy, a software engineer who grew up in Healdsburg, decided to make his own Vecna costume. Then he started looking up decorations, and found a YouTube video of someone building a Mind Flayer (the show's giant, spidery monster) in their yard out of lumber, gopher wire and plastic wrap. "I was like, that'd be cool to do in our court," he said. "But make it bigger, and have it hang off the balconies."

Amethyst Court consists of eight townhomes in Quarry Heights, right above Highway 101. "Everybody who goes south on the 101 to leave Petaluma, if you look to your right, you can see whatever is in that court."

Jimmy doesn't call like to call himself artsy. "Someone used the term inventive," he said. "I can see a vision of something. And then I'm like, how do I do that? Or who can do this for me?" Turns out his neighbor Jason, a structural engineer, was the perfect collaborator. He loved the idea and immediately went off to sketch. Their neighbor Jen joined the team,making black vines out of spray foam and hanging them everywhere. Jimmy's dad cut a giant Stranger Court sign on the CNC machine at the cabinetry shop where he works, and with the leftover lumber, Jason built a walk-through Hawkins Lab full of lights and fog.

The next year, Amethyst Court became Starcourt Mall, the '80s shopping center from season three of Stranger Things. Every house picked a storefront, and nearly all of them took part: a cinema, a Jazzercise studio, a toy store, a bookstore. Jimmy's house was the secret Russian bunker. He started building its giant laser machine in May, even though he'd never used a motor before, and ran it with light shows he programmed to songs from the show.

His favorite moment came from that machine. A family who discovered Stranger Court on Instagram drove about half an hour to see it, and Jimmy had just left for dinner when they messaged him to say it wasn't working. He rushed home, found a bad wire, and got it running for them. "The moment they realized that the machine was actually gonna move, they were just like, oh my God, it's moving," he said. For him, that was the most rewarding thing.

Word spread, and people started coming from all over the county and beyond. "A lot of my neighbors told me they ran out of candy in the first half hour," he said. "And it's like, yeah, that might be our fault. Sorry."

This year's install will be a little different. Jimmy and his wife had their first baby eight weeks ago, so he's stepping back from the heavy building. "I'll do the digital stuff on my computer," he said. "I can hold the baby and type at the same time. Little slower, but I can still do it."

The theme is Ghostbusters, one of Jimmy's favorite movies since childhood. There will be an inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. He's rigged a four-foot Slimer that spits glowing slime, Jason is building a ghost containment unit, and Jen has gone from vine expert to slime expert. Jason's family has since moved across town, but they kept their townhome and rent it to friends. "He put it in the rental lease that they have to allow him to come back and do Halloween," Jimmy said.

The excitement has built, and so has the pressure. "People are going to be so disappointed if we don't do anything. I don't want to let people down." So this year he's opening it up. He's looking for artists who can paint movie-quality details, people who can fabricate ghosts or slime, anyone who knows projection mapping, and donated Halloween props. You don't have to live on the street to help.

"I hope that we maybe have a core group that's like, this is awesome, I want to keep doing this, I have some ideas," he said.

♦️♦️♦️

📷 courtesy of Jimmy Hickman and Stranger Court

Stranger Court runs October 24 through November 1, sundown to 10pm, on Amethyst Court in Petaluma. If you're interested in learning more, or volunteering to help build the 2026 Ghostbusters experience, join the crew at strangercourt.com.

In the summer of 2024, @Jimmy Hickman couldn't sleep. He went upstairs at 2am, put on Stranger Things for the fifth or sixth time, and started thinking about what he might want to be for Halloween. That quickly blossomed into ideas about how he could add Stranger Things themed decor onto his house. Now, two years later, his whole street is in on it, with thousands of people coming through on Halloween night. "It started from a night of insomnia," he told me. "Watching Stranger Things, thinking, oh, this would be a cool Halloween costume. And next thing you know, I'm talking with a neighbor, and it's blowing up to an annual event." Jimmy, a software engineer who grew up in Healdsburg, decided to make his own Vecna costume. Then he started looking up decorations, and found a YouTube video of someone building a Mind Flayer (the show's giant, spidery monster) in their yard out of lumber, gopher wire and plastic wrap. "I was like, that'd be cool to do in our court," he said. "But make it bigger, and have it hang off the balconies." Amethyst Court consists of eight townhomes in Quarry Heights, right above Highway 101. "Everybody who goes south on the 101 to leave Petaluma, if you look to your right, you can see whatever is in that court." Jimmy doesn't call like to call himself artsy. "Someone used the term inventive," he said. "I can see a vision of something. And then I'm like, how do I do that? Or who can do this for me?" Turns out his neighbor Jason, a structural engineer, was the perfect collaborator. He loved the idea and immediately went off to sketch. Their neighbor Jen joined the team,making black vines out of spray foam and hanging them everywhere. Jimmy's dad cut a giant Stranger Court sign on the CNC machine at the cabinetry shop where he works, and with the leftover lumber, Jason built a walk-through Hawkins Lab full of lights and fog. The next year, Amethyst Court became Starcourt Mall, the '80s shopping center from season three of Stranger Things. Every house picked a storefront, and nearly all of them took part: a cinema, a Jazzercise studio, a toy store, a bookstore. Jimmy's house was the secret Russian bunker. He started building its giant laser machine in May, even though he'd never used a motor before, and ran it with light shows he programmed to songs from the show. His favorite moment came from that machine. A family who discovered Stranger Court on Instagram drove about half an hour to see it, and Jimmy had just left for dinner when they messaged him to say it wasn't working. He rushed home, found a bad wire, and got it running for them. "The moment they realized that the machine was actually gonna move, they were just like, oh my God, it's moving," he said. For him, that was the most rewarding thing. Word spread, and people started coming from all over the county and beyond. "A lot of my neighbors told me they ran out of candy in the first half hour," he said. "And it's like, yeah, that might be our fault. Sorry." This year's install will be a little different. Jimmy and his wife had their first baby eight weeks ago, so he's stepping back from the heavy building. "I'll do the digital stuff on my computer," he said. "I can hold the baby and type at the same time. Little slower, but I can still do it." The theme is Ghostbusters, one of Jimmy's favorite movies since childhood. There will be an inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. He's rigged a four-foot Slimer that spits glowing slime, Jason is building a ghost containment unit, and Jen has gone from vine expert to slime expert. Jason's family has since moved across town, but they kept their townhome and rent it to friends. "He put it in the rental lease that they have to allow him to come back and do Halloween," Jimmy said. The excitement has built, and so has the pressure. "People are going to be so disappointed if we don't do anything. I don't want to let people down." So this year he's opening it up. He's looking for artists who can paint movie-quality details, people who can fabricate ghosts or slime, anyone who knows projection mapping, and donated Halloween props. You don't have to live on the street to help. "I hope that we maybe have a core group that's like, this is awesome, I want to keep doing this, I have some ideas," he said. ♦️♦️♦️ 📷 courtesy of Jimmy Hickman and Stranger Court Stranger Court runs October 24 through November 1, sundown to 10pm, on Amethyst Court in Petaluma. If you're interested in learning more, or volunteering to help build the 2026 Ghostbusters experience, join the crew at strangercourt.com.