COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. — A West Michigan family is calling all winged and scaled creatures to swing by the dragon farm they have built on their property for Halloween. In fact, one of the area's most famous dragons is already calling the extravagantly decorated haunted house their home.
Serpentina the Dragon is actually a statue— a very large statue. She was created by artist Jennifer Dunahee, who constructed her specifically to be part of their family's annual DIY haunted house in Comstock Park.
“Everything that we see on the exterior of her is EBA foam, Epoxy clay and resin, cast resin... and she is on a steel and PVC armature,” Dunahee explained to FOX 17 this week.
"I took about nine months on getting ready... for the Halloween display last year, and then once she was accepted in ArtPrize and going to the Amway [Grand Hotel], I kind of looked at her in a different light and thought, Oh, she needs she needs a little polishing up."
All in all, Serpentina took about a year and a half to complete.
After becoming a rising star at the Dunahee's haunted house in 2020, she decided to enter Serpentina in ArtPrize 2021. She lived at the Amway Grand Hotel and became somewhat of a star there as well.
Serpentina finished in the ArtPrize top 5.
"I had a lot of our visitors stop by saying, oh, you should enter her in ArtPrize, but I never really thought I'd have the courage to try that,” Dunahee said.
“This was my first year entering, so I didn't really know what to expect, and it was a whirlwind.”
After the massive international art competition wrapped up at the start of October, the dragon statue moved back home to the Dunahees Comstock Park home.
"This is 'The Haunting of Storybook Hollow'... it's my Halloween display," Dunahee said as she showed FOX 17 the intricate display she and her family have constructed.
While this is the 13th year that she has decorated the home she shares with her family, Jennifer began decorating her childhood home with her dad when she was just 11-years-old.
“Serpentina is one of nine dragons in the dragon castle. It's actually supposed to be like a ruined castle that somebody has turned into a dragon farm," she said of her 2021 display.
“Then there are other scenes that are on sort of a twisted fairytale theme, all throughout the yard that you can walk through.”
The display is intended to be family-friendly and doesn't feature any gore.
It is free to go through, but the family is taking voluntary donations that will go to the Humane Society of West Michigan.
You can find out more information about the Haunting of Storybook Hollow on their Facebook page.
