image description — Are you brave enough to enter James Eubanks' mini haunt in Pittsfield? He's been creating a scary haunted house on McArthur Street for 20 years.

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Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Halloween

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
02:52PM / Friday, October 31, 2025Print Story | Email Story

The streets are alive with ghosts, zombies, skeletons, and more.

Many houses throughout the county are showing their Halloween spirit by decorating their homes. We asked for submissions so trick-or-treaters can check out these spooky home when they're out on Halloween.

A skeleton creeps out of the ground on Kittredge Road in Pittsfield.

Starting off in Pittsfield, hop on your broom and sail toward McArthur Street to find James Eubanks' haunted house, located at 81 McArthur. All the decorations were homemade — from the menacing bird flying over tombstones to the tall detailed Jack o' Lantern looming over the doorway into the mini haunt.

For those not brave enough to enter, candy is still available outside the building. Who knows, maybe you will be brave enough to allow his haunted house to scare you next year.

"I think my joy of the spooky season was the spark, but also noticing that there wasn't anything for kids anymore, trunk or treat didn't exist, nor were there any events minus the parade, of course," said Eubanks, who first started decorating in 2006. "So when the mini haunt made the kids smile, I knew we had to do it again. And each year we got bigger."

Continue your Halloween adventure by heading north to Cromwell Avenue to discover the "Cromwell Creepy Walk," a haunting path sure to put you in the Halloween spirit, located at 154 Cromwell.

Bob Spaniol and Katy Briggs have transformed their front yard into a Halloween town full of witches, pumpkins, clowns, skeletons, and other haunting creatures.

"We do it as a crazy hobby! We enjoy creating a fun display to share and have others enjoy, as well!" they said in an email.

They encourage you to visit their Creepy Walk that is lit up and accessible from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and may run later on Halloween, during which they will be dressed up and handing candy out.

They have been doing this for 10 years, though not the last two. They came back strong this year, saying Halloween is their favorite holiday. They started planning late this summer and spent around three or four weekends and evenings to create.

Continue your journey even further north to Kittredge Road, where Terrance Stewart decorated his home, located at 33 Kittredge, with the theme: "Pirates vs Creatures of the Sea."

"Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday, and I want to be able to share my love for the season with everyone. It also helps people feel youthful again, which is a gift within itself!" he said in an email.

The Stewarts started at the end of September and it took about two weeks to put up. They also decorate for Christmas and encourage you to see their decorations.

Take a slight detour toward Dalton to a beautiful decorated colonial home lit up purple, red, and green. As you arrive, the home seems to look back at you, watching over the creepy creatures below, including a skeleton alien, ghost, and skeleton pallbearers.

Caleb Darby decorated his house, located at 116 Carson Ave., on the last weekend of September and it took him around five hours. He had the theme of the dead rising on Halloween.

"I took a job at Halloween Headquarters at the Berkshire Mall and saw how great all the decorations were. I needed to have them in my life," he said.

The Darbys have been decorating their home for about 10 years and love the Halloween season.

Follow your excursion north into Adams and swing by Melrose Street where you can find a home lit up with green featuring some menacing creatures from a ghost, spiders, a pumpkin creature, and a clown arch greeting trick or treaters as they follow the stepping stone path way to get their sweet treat.

Conclude your adventure in North Adams by visiting 215 Ashland St., decorated by Alicia Giorgi. Giorgi started decorating her home in mid-September for the Fall Foliage parade because the route of the parade ends around her house.

"If I had to choose a favorite holiday it would be Halloween and my love for Halloween comes out through decorations! I love the joy it brings the kids in the neighborhood as well as my own daughter," she said.

"I like to see their faces light up with excitement every time they notice something new! I like watching people stop to look with amazement as I'm one of the few houses on Ashland Street who goes all out! So that's what inspires me to decorate every year!”

She has been decorating her home for a few years and tries to add something new every year, like a 12-foot-skeleton for this year's set up.

Tags: Halloween,

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Texas-Style Barbecue Opens for Lunch, Takeout in Downtown Pittsfield

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:16PM / Tuesday, October 06, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — FireKing BBQ is making it easier to find its smoked ribs — they're in the Clocktower Building in downtown Pittsfield.

Owner Ethan Sumner has been operating as a catering service for more than a decade, with a mobile smoker for his award-winning barbecue.

"We specialize in low and slow cooking as well as grilling over charcoal and hardwoods," he said. "We love using cherry wood, apple wood, and a little kiss of hickory wood in all of our cooking. Most of our cooking, I should say. And we don't use any propane. I'm a purist in that sense. I love cooking over open flame and hot coals."

He works alongside Robear Robespierre, who helps with Sumner's sales and distribution.

Sumner said he spends hours cooking his meat, like his baby back ribs that won him first place in the 2019 Grillsdale competition in New York State. It takes him about six hours, two of them smoking at 250 degrees, to cook the ribs.

He said he wanted a space to be able to keep up with demand. Business dropped off every winter because people think of barbecue as outdoor food, and while he will cook outside even in negative temperatures, an indoor space lets him serve year-round, including football season and the Super Bowl.

He is now located at 75 South Church St. and he is no stranger to the building. Sumner had run the publication Berkshire's Best: Buys, Business, and Beyond out of the building so he knew its possibilities.

"It's funny how I've come full circle here back into the building. So I've always kind of seen this space. But I was never into culinary then. I was into publishing. So this is 13 years in the making, and I had my paper for 13 years, which again, is coincidental," he said. "So I just really like this space. It's modern. It's nice. It's clean, and that's how my food is. It's clean. It's fresh, and it's local, just like me."

Sumner is originally from New York City and made his way to Great Barrington with his family. One of the inspirations behind his business was his father, who loved to grill outside.

"Even when we lived in New York City, he would go on the terrace of our 36-story apartment building on the third floor there was a terrace, and he would always cook on a Weber charcoal grill with charcoal, and I always was fascinated by that. And he always loved cooking outside, and he loved cooking over charcoal. And he would always make this mustard and tea leaf steak," he said. "That was a standout. It was a family favorite of ours and I could always taste the difference between something that was cooked [with charcoal]. Even when I was 7 years old I could, I always craved that certain taste that you could only get from charcoal."

He wants customers to know he cares about his food and its quality, making sure he gets the best ingredients for his dishes.

"I want them to know that. I'm a barbecue guy, but I also offer so much more. I consider myself somebody who loves cooking over open flame, smoking meats, but I also love using fresh ingredients to create deli sandwiches and fresh salads," Sumner said. "So I want people to associate FireKing with quality. I also want to point out that I get a lot of my meat from Mazzeo's meat market. So I don't sacrifice quality, which I think is half the battle in doing what I do is getting quality meats and produce."

He hopes customer will find the eatery a comfortable atmosphere to enjoy their lunch and hangout, or grab a sandwich and go.

"They could grab a pulled pork sandwich in about a minute and a half flat and be out of here if they want to. So there's no pressure," he said. "I love the community. I love talking to people here. Everyone in this community has been super kind and gracious, and I appreciate them. And I want to give back what they've given me."

He also plans to have DoorDash and barbecue pickup packages for families, and to have vacuum-sealed, pre-cooked smoked ribs with reheating instructions, also available for local pickup.

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