Department 56 Halloween and Legend of Sleepy Hollow-ween

Department 56 is one of the best manufacturers of collectible figurines, particularly snow villages.  In recent years the company has started to make a Halloween village.  Today their Halloween Village includes many pieces and parts.  They are a great way to decorate for Halloween and to bring a little extra Halloween spirit into the house.  Here are a few of the Dept 56 Halloween buildings and accessories.

The Original Snow Village Halloween series is just like any of Dept 56 other Christmas Villages except it of course focuses on Halloween.  It includes different buildings that light up and some with various special affects like the Rest in Peace Tombstones house that has some ghoulish figure dragging a tombstone.    There is nothing like some funny characters in “spooky” settings.  None of them are too scary at all and it is a great to help your kids enjoy the season for what it is, a lot of fun. 

Currently there are about 14 collectible buildings that you can buy for the Halloween Village and a little over 30 retired dept 56 Halloween buildings.  There also about 20 accessories that are current including witches, zombies and crypts to help you make the perfect little Halloween town. 

Current Buildings:

Rest in Peace Tombstones-
No scary scene is complete without a couple of headstones. Rest In Peace Tombstones features a person dragging a tombstone around.

The Candy Cauldron-
You can’t picture this holiday without candy, like it or not. The Candy Cauldron lights up with different lightning effects.

Rickety Railroad Station- 
This is probably one of my favorites in the series, not sure why.   It was introduced in 2007 and has a skeleton sitting on a bus bench waiting for the next bus to arrive.  It has a light that flashes in and out.

Haunted Rails Engine and Coal Car-
If you like the railroad station it would probably be nice to have the train that goes with it that was also released in 2007.  It s stove light flickers in and out.

Haunted Rails Passenger Car and The Haunted Rails Dining Car-

These also are a great edition to add with the railroad state and train engine.

Screech Owl Farm-
Nothing too special about this collectible it is just an old barn with a tractor and some owls flying around it. A black cat and jack O Lantern is also in the front. It was introduced in 2008.

Screech Owl Farmhouse- In 2009 this was released as a follow up to the Owl Farm. This is a great piece to have with the Screech Owl Farm.

Other Buildings Currently Available:

Gravely Estate

Deep Woods Haunt

Black Widow Dating Service

Voodoo Lounge

Rusty's Used Cars

Critters Pelts and Pets

There are a ton of different accessories you can add to your Halloween village.   Some are the generic wrought iron fences, additional tombstones, corn stalks, pumpkins and other yard decorations.  But they also have some fun other collectibles like a skeleton riding a motorcycle.

People you can include:

Skeletons-

Bone to Be Wild- A skeleton riding a motorcycle

Resting My Bones- Skeleton relaxing on a park bench

Lazy Bones- Skeleton resting in a Hammock while reading a book

Ghosts-
Swinging Ghouls- Hanging from a tree

Vampires-
Lady and the Vamp- This one has a vampire who seems to have a lady passenger and they are headed on their way to Transylvania

Frankenstien-
Made to be Wild- Both Frankenstein and his bride cruising on a motorcycle.

The Grim Reaper

There are many pieces that are already retired and some of them are vital to the proper collection.  Some of these essential pieces include the Halloween Village sign that says, “Have a Haunting Good Time.”  There are also some retired that are just fun to add like a witch on her broomstick crashing into a tree (witch crash) or the Haunted Outhouse, Phantom of the Organ, and lots of other village signs, trees and yard decorations.  Trying to find some of these original parts of the collection will really add to your personal set and so its worth looking online for some of them.

Dept. 56 also has a set dedicated to Washington Irving and his story the Legend of Sleepy Hollow or as they like to call it The Legends of Sleepy Hollow-ween.  There are only about 4 items to buy in this collection so it could be ideal for those looking for some smaller scenes to recreate Halloween.  The advantage is that you don’t have to take up the whole house to display all of these pieces. 

The buildings include the Sleepy Hollow church, school and the Witch’s Hat Tavern.  Of course, the set wouldn’t be complete without the headless horseman himself and you can get him too. The headless horseman comes with a couple of trees and bridge.