Oxford, Ohio — Make no secret, Bill Pyles’ front yard in Oxford, Ohio, has bones all about this.
But for Pyles and his family, the scariest thing isn’t their elaborate Halloween display, but their mailbox, which curses him every year with hate mail.
According to Pyles, messages from angry neighbors accuse him of everything from “devil worship” to “glorifying death.”
That’s why Pyles was considering scaling back the display when a memo arrived earlier this month.
“I stopped dead in my tracks looking at that letter,” Pyles told CBS News.
The note was written by Tammy Weihe, who has breast cancer. To receive her daily radiation treatments, Weihe has to drive down a country road in Oxford that takes her right past Pyles’ house.
Given his situation, it would be understandable how disturbing the diorama of Pyles’ death could be. But the tone of his letter was more humerus than sternum.
“The Bone family and what they do…(is) a highlight of my trip,” Weihe wrote.
She then explained how her last day of cancer treatment was approaching and how grateful she was for the daily diversion.
“Tears came to my eyes and really touched my heart,” Pyles said.
He knew what he had to do. Pyles got to work adding to her exhibit, so when Weihe made her final trip past her house, she saw an entire skeleton crew cheering her on.
“It was very touching to think that someone would make this effort for a stranger,” Weihe said.
Since then, the two have become friends.
“We talk all the time now,” Pyles said.
Pyles said Weihe’s letter and their new friendship completely quashed all the hate mail, inspiring him not only to keep his Halloween display, but to expand it. He now plans to maintain the exhibition “all year round”.
“Things are going to stay stable and they’re going to stay active,” Pyles said.
And does he expect more angry letters?
“There will be.”
Steve Hartman
