{"id":2124525,"date":"2025-10-30T10:50:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T10:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2124525"},"modified":"2025-10-30T10:50:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T10:50:02","slug":"nightmare-at-25-steele-staten-island-horror-filmmakers-create-halloween-spectacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/nightmare-at-25-steele-staten-island-horror-filmmakers-create-halloween-spectacle\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightmare at 25 Steele: Staten Island horror filmmakers create Halloween spectacle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 For Staten Island filmmakers Jason<\/a> and Michael Leavy<\/a>, Halloween is a production unlike any other.<\/p>\n

The brothers \u2014 co-founders of Fuzz on the Lens Productions<\/a>, the Staten Island-based production company behind \u201cScreamboat<\/a>,\u201d \u201cSTREAM<\/a>\u201d and the wildly popular \u201cTerrifier\u201d franchise<\/a> \u2014 transform their parents\u2019 house every October into a sprawling, movie-quality spectacle known as Nightmare at 25 Steele. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt started when me and my brother were little kids. My mom was a huge fan of Halloween alongside my grandfather,\u201d Jason told the Advance\/SILive.com. \u201cEach year, we\u2019d build one life-sized horror icon with him, and it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\"25<\/picture>
On Oct. 16, 2025, the Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com visited decorated houses in the lead-up to Halloween. Be sure to check out 25 Steele Ave. in New Dorp for some hair-raising displays from the Leavy brothersOwen Reiter<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

When their grandfather died in 2005, the brothers decided to keep the tradition alive. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to honor him,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was really our entryway, along with my mom, into making horror films and doing everything horror.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"25<\/picture>
On Oct. 16, 2025, the Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com visited decorated houses in the lead-up to Halloween. Be sure to check out 25 Steele Ave. in New Dorp for some hair-raising displays from the Leavy brothersOwen Reiter<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Over the last two decades, that small family project has grown into a full-scale horror installation that draws crowds from across the borough. The figures are built or customized by the brothers themselves, who \u201cFrankenstein\u201d mannequins together using masks, costumes and parts found online.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make them look really realistic,\u201d Jason said. \u201cThat\u2019s the way we always do it, like with our films, and we really want to put up that production value for people on Staten Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Leavy<\/picture>
Fuzz on the Lens’ Michael Leavy, left, and Jason Leavy, right, on the set of “Terrifier 3.”Courtesy of Jason Leavy<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Jason said the annual setup is also about rekindling that old Halloween spirit he remembers from childhood. <\/p>\n

\u201cHalloween used to be so big when we were kids,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a decline, which is kind of sad, because it\u2019s a really great holiday if everyone partakes in it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe wanted to give a new generation new memories to remember the holiday by \u2014 take that little spark from our childhood and give it to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The planning starts early, but Jason says he never keeps things the same two years in a row. This season\u2019s updates include a \u201cTerrifier 2\u201d-inspired Pale Girl figure and, of course, more references to Art the Clown. <\/p>\n

Jason\u2019s personal favorite, though, is the life-sized Annabelle doll from \u201cThe Conjuring,\u201d made by the same team that built the movie version, The Scary Closet. <\/p>\n

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\"25<\/picture>
On Oct. 16, 2025, the Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com visited decorated houses in the lead-up to Halloween. Be sure to check out 25 Steele Ave. in New Dorp for some hair-raising displays from the Leavy brothers, including this screen-accurate Annabelle doll.Owen Reiter<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The basement of their parents\u2019 home now doubles as a monster storage vault \u2014 \u201cfilled to the brim,\u201d Jason said \u2014 but that\u2019s not stopping them from thinking bigger. \u201cWe\u2019re thinking about doing Christmas this year, too,\u201d he teased. <\/p>\n

The brothers are also keeping busy professionally: Fuzz on the Lens recently took home a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Screamboat, and \u201cTerrifier 4\u201d and \u201cSTREAM 2<\/a>\u201d are already in development.<\/p>\n

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\"25<\/picture>
On Oct. 16, 2025, the Staten Island Advance\/SILive.com visited decorated houses in the lead-up to Halloween. Be sure to check out 25 Steele Ave. in New Dorp for some hair-raising displays from the Leavy brothersOwen Reiter<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

As for Nightmare at 25 Steele, Jason hinted that the display still has a few tricks up its sleeve. \u201cLet\u2019s just say it will be different on Halloween,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Nightmare at 25 Steele will run this Halloween season at 25 Steele Ave. in New Dorp on weeknights from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. and weekends from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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