From Thursday, Oct. 29, through Saturday, Oct. 31, the attraction pulling the most Halloween attention in West Linn is a front yard. Carriage Way Cemetery, the home-built haunt Matt Knowles started in 2007, is open every evening through Oct. 31 from 6 to 9 p.m. It is free. On Saturday afternoon the Historic Willamette Business District runs its own trick-or-treat from 3 to 6 p.m., and that ends right as the cemetery's lights come on.
Neighbors and merchants carry West Linn's Halloween. The city's Parks & Recreation calendar for October lists a Friends of Maddax Woods meeting on Oct. 29 and nothing on Oct. 31. The library's calendar shows its regular programs on Oct. 29 and its StoryWalk® on Saturday, with no Halloween program. The holiday week runs on one man's twenty years of thrift-store electronics and a district full of shopkeepers with candy bowls.
Twenty Octobers on Carriage Way
The haunt started small. "I started with two or three wooden tombstones, handmade, just tacked together," Knowles told the West Linn Tidings. "Every year it's grown and grown and grown. At night, I have lights and music that's choreographed."
He has now been at it for 20 years, as the Oswego Chronicle headlined it. Today the display includes a haunted trail along the side of the property and augmented reality games played on smartphone cameras. Knowles told the Tidings that every animatronic was built from thrifted electronics with a do-it-yourself approach. He said his day job is technical, and this is his creative outlet.
The cast has grown over the years:
- Rat Man, the first animatronic Knowles built
- Itchy, another resident of the yard
- Mama, new this year, dressed in a vintage dress from Red, White & Blue Thrift Store and surrounded by an army of undead children
A photo caption in the Lake Oswego Review calls the newest figure "Mommy," but the story text uses "Mama."
Rat Man is behind the moment Knowles calls one of the most meaningful in the project's history. A little girl showed up as Rat Man for Halloween, with rats glued to a small hood, and drew him a picture of the character. "I said, 'I've achieved all I wanted to achieve. I've made it,'" he told the Tidings.
That story explains why the yard keeps growing. Knowles told the paper he "realized I had an attraction," one that works for two audiences at once: "the kids that are too small to know what to be afraid of and the age where they know what to be afraid and they just scream." Halloween has personal weight for him too. He told the Tidings his birthday falls the day before, so Friday night is a double occasion on Carriage Way.
How a Visit Works
The Carriage Way Cemetery website lists the full display, with lights and music, every October evening from 6 to 9 p.m. No separate Halloween-night schedule is posted, so Saturday runs the same hours as Thursday and Friday.
The augmented reality piece is the part kids are likely to remember. QR codes are posted around the cemetery. Scan one with a phone camera and a filter puts you inside the scene. The site says the filters run in a browser, so you don't need an app. It also lists 3D characters named Reachy, Corpse Goat and Skeleton 2. For the ride home, Knowles also built a browser game, The Caretaker's Watch. Players slide left and right while the Caretaker fires automatically at waves of enemies that come faster over time, with a boss every so often.
This is a private home, and the attraction posts its own house rules for visitors:
- Stay on the sidewalk. Don't walk into the yard or touch the decorations, since some are fragile or a bit sharp for small fingers.
- Take photos and share them. The cemetery's social handle is @carriagewaycemetery.
- Expect to be on camera. Video surveillance protects the decorations and may capture you having fun.
- Parents, keep a hand on your little ones.
You might also spot Knowles himself in costume as "The Caretaker," getting the grounds ready for Halloween night.
Where the Merchandise Money Goes
Admission costs nothing, and the money that does change hands stays local. The Carriage Way Cemetery website says all merchandise profits go to West Linn High School's theater department. So a yard haunt built from thrifted parts ends up supporting a high school theater program. Supporters can buy items or learn more through the attraction's site.
The rest of the week follows the same pattern, with a neighbor and a business district putting it on.
Saturday Afternoon Belongs to Willamette
On Oct. 31, Historic Willamette Main Street runs 2026 Halloween in Willamette from 3 to 6 p.m. Businesses in the district hand out goodies to kids, and there's a scavenger hunt and a photo booth. Main Street's office is at 1754 Knapps Alley, which helps get your bearings before you walk Willamette Falls Drive.
Oct. 31 falls on a Saturday this year, so the timing works without any hurry. The district wraps up at 6, and the cemetery opens at 6.
| Time on Saturday, Oct. 31 | Where | What's there |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. | Yesteryear Farms, Wilsonville | Pumpkin patch, posted Saturday hours, no entry fee |
| 3 to 6 p.m. | Historic Willamette Business District | Business trick-or-treat, scavenger hunt, photo booth |
| 6 to 9 p.m. | Carriage Way Cemetery | Lights, music, AR filters, haunted trail |
The Yesteryear hours come from the farm's standard Saturday schedule for its 2026 patch, which opened Sept. 10. The page doesn't list Halloween as a separate date. The farm's events page says its free Friday movie nights were canceled for the rest of October, so plan your Wilsonville trip for the patch, not a screening.
Dinner Before or After
For a sit-down meal on Thursday or Friday, before the 6 p.m. lights, there's a new option on the highway. Nuevo Mazatlan held its grand opening on Oct. 7 at 18740 Willamette Drive, Suite 200, in the former Bugatti's space, the West Linn Tidings reported. It's barely three weeks old, so for a lot of families Halloween week will be the first visit. Call ahead about Halloween-night hours.
What Comes After the Tombstones Go Back in the Garage
The next big community date on the West Linn calendar comes two weekends later. The Parks and Recreation Annual Holiday Bazaar runs Nov. 14 and 15, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, at the Adult Community Center, 1180 Rosemont Road. Admission is free, and the city says more than 40 local vendors will be there. Historic Willamette follows with Small Business Saturday on Nov. 28, encouraging people to shop and dine in the district. Anyone planning ahead for the Willamette Brews & Spirits Stroll should know Main Street has postponed it until 2027, even though a Nov. 7 listing still shows on its event page.
Carriage Way Cemetery's last scheduled night is Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Lisa has watched these neighborhood traditions grow for more than three decades, and she enjoys hearing which ones West Linn families come back to every year. If you'd like to talk about your corner of town, the local calendar, or what's next for your home, Lisa Hanna Properties is here. Schedule a free consultation.
