Mannequin mystery eludes as dozens appear on Riverview lawn

Mannequin mystery As we approach Halloween, something creepy is happening at a house in Riverview, N.B.

Since the beginning of October, one by one, headless mannequins have been appearing on a lawn in Riverview, N.B.

The Hartley family says they’re getting used to people staring at their home.

“We've had all kinds of people stopping for photos,” says Chrystal Hartley. “We had a couple from Ontario who were here for a week and noticed them all going up and stopped at the side of the road and asked to take a picture so they came right up on the property, sat down on the step and took a picture with our centrepiece, the woman right over here.”

The "woman" was the first mannequin to appear on the lawn on Oct. 1. Hartley says a new mannequin has appeared every day since, each in a different pose and location.

“It was actually a good friend of mine, Chris Colepaugh that plays at St. James Gate on Wednesday and Sunday nights, him and I had a little drink after work and he was always telling me that I should put a mannequin up on the deck,” says Chrystal’s husband, Mitchell.

A friend who overheard their conversation was leaving for Boston in a few days, but when he came back he had 17 mannequins with him.

Chrystal says after that, there was no turning back and the couple got more mannequins for free from a store that was closing in the mall.

“I’m really, really passionate about Halloween,” she says. “This is the first year that Mitchell has gotten really into the Halloween spirit so I love every second of this,” she says.

The Hartleys have accumulated 45 mannequins on their lawn in total.

“We haven't had to store these, we picked them up mid-September and we'll have to figure out what we're doing at the end of October.”

Chrystal’s husband Mitchell says they’ve had a lot of offers from people wanting to buy the mannequins.

“We might make our money back,” he says.

Popular New Brunswick musician Chris Colepaugh is going to play music from the Hartley's deck on Halloween night, for an audience of friends and mannequins.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis.