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We have always been a Halloween family, loving the crisp air and the magic of the season. But it wasn’t until our son, Ryno, turned four that the holiday transformed from a fun yearly tradition into the absolute heartbeat of our lives.

As an autistic and speech-delayed toddler, communication was a steep mountain we were constantly trying to help Ryno climb. Then, we pulled into a Spirit Halloween parking lot. In a moment we will never forget, Ryno looked out the car window at the store and clearly said, "Halloween store."

Around that same time, a whole new world opened up for him online. He discovered That Nate Guy on YouTube in 2019, captivated by Nate's store exploration videos, and by 2020, he found Brick Thunder, watching Brick's collection videos and walkthroughs on a continuous loop.

Soon after, Ryno suddenly blurted out, "Creepy Towering Clown." We were stunned. We quickly figured out that he had learned it directly from watching Nate's videos. Nate was actively helping him communicate; Ryno was expanding his vocabulary and finding his voice through his deep love for Nate's content. Halloween wasn't just a holiday anymore; it was his spark.

Up until 2021, our family had always focused our decorating strictly inside our home. We even documented it on our own YouTube channel, uploading walkthroughs of our indoor setups from 2011, 2012, 2017, and beyond. But because of watching Brick Thunder's home haunt videos and our trips to see local area yard displays, Ryno decided he needed his own "Haunted House"—which meant taking our love for Halloween outdoors and turning our yard into a display.

Inspired by all of it, a fire was lit under him. We began with a few basic inflatables, but fueled by Ryno's growing excitement, it grew exponentially every year into a massive, three-themed outdoor spectacular. Today, the Ausumtism Lair outdoor display is broken down into three distinct, incredible sections:

• The Inflatable Zone: One entire side of the yard is dedicated strictly to inflatables. If we had to guess, we have around 40+ packed into this section, ranging in size from towering 16-foot giants down to 3-foot characters.

• The 90s Chicago Bulls & Dream Team Tribute: The main yard features a massive skeleton display paying homage to the legendary 90s Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan, and the iconic 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

• Pop Culture & Movie Lore: The final section of the yard embraces traditional Halloween characters, but with a unique cinematic twist. Here, you'll find custom setups dedicated to favorite movies and TV shows, including Poltergeist, Children of the Corn, The Golden Child, Teen Wolf, Stranger Things, and Squid Game.

In 2022, as the display expanded into these themes, we realized we had a beautiful platform to bring awareness and true acceptance to autism. With that mission, Ausumtism and our home haunt were officially born. We chose the name as a reminder of a simple truth: Awesome + Autism = Ausumtism.

To truly put that mission into action, we have partnered with a different autism charity each year to help raise crucial funds and support for the community. With this new chapter, we also rebranded our old YouTube channel to "Ausumtism." Today, the channel follows Ryno's incredible Halloween adventures—from traveling to explore different Spirit Halloween locations just like Nate, to featuring our massive annual walkthrough videos that now showcase both our indoor setups and our three-themed outdoor displays.

The community's embrace has been more rewarding than we ever could have dreamed. For the past four years, we’ve been incredibly grateful for the coverage from The Times. In 2023, Marcus Leshock from WGN spent all Halloween morning broadcasting live from our yard. By 2025, we even took the leap to become vendors at the Midwest Haunters Convention in Rosemont, Illinois.

We’ve also built cherished family traditions, like our annual road trip to the Flagship Spirit Halloween store in Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Along the way, our travels have opened the door to an amazing network of fellow halloween lovers/haunters. Visiting different Halloween haunts and displays has allowed us to meet so many incredibly cool people and families.

We’ve built such wonderful connections that some of these displays have become absolute must-revisit traditions for us every single year. But what has truly overwhelmed us is how the very creators who inspired Ryno have become a part of our journey—and people who I am truly proud to now consider friends.

In 2022 and 2023, we had the privilege of visiting Brick Thunder’s home haunt, and we proudly attended his family's professional haunt, 5 Points in West Chicago, Illinois, in 2024 and 2025. Then, recently, a beautiful full-circle moment happened. Nate (That Nate Guy) reached out to us.

On his channel, he had featured a massive 30x30 inflatable haunted house that Ryno had been absolutely obsessed with from the moment he saw it on screen. Knowing Ryno's love for it, Nate generously gifted the inflatable to our family. I made the near 12-hour round trip alone to pick it up, completely keeping it a secret so it could be the ultimate surprise for Ryno. Every single mile on the road by myself was entirely filled with gratitude.

After our busiest year yet in 2025, 2026 is shaping up to be just as massive. We are so excited for this incredible 30x30 inflatable to make its official debut alongside our other three themed areas, and we plan to officially unveil it closer to the Halloween season!

This entire journey actually brings our family's history with Halloween full circle. Well before Ryno was born, we did a yard display in tribute to my wife’s sister, who had a rare form of epilepsy called Lafora and passed away in 2011. She loved Halloween, and our love for decorating grew out of honoring her—so much so that The Times even wrote an article about our display for her all the way back in 2003.

Halloween didn't just give us a hobby; it gave our son his voice. It has always been our family's way of lifting up those we love, and it has connected us to a supportive community of creators, neighbors, and friends who truly care. We are so thankful for how far Ryno has come, and we can't wait to welcome everyone back to the Ausumtism Lair this season.