Tempe residents upset about neighbors’ Halloween decorations

TEMPE, Ariz. — People who live on a quiet street near Baseline Road and the Loop 101 freeway in Tempe are none too happy with a few of their neighbors.

The Halloween decorations that have been set up at a house rented by three ASU students are causing quite a stir.

The decorations include an upside-down cross on the roof that has Christmas lights on it.

One occupant, Tony Robinson, is surprised by the neighbors’ reaction.

“I was honestly surprised, considering we’re just a few days from Halloween,” said Robinson. “People look at a cross and think it’s Satanist and they don’t put the dots together that there might be people celebrating Halloween.”

Robinson understands how some might be offended by the decorations.

“Yes, I can understand why Christians might be upset. It goes against what they believe in,” Robinson said. “But then, if we did believe in that (Satanism), they would be oppressing what we believe in. That’s what I don’t get.”

Robinson said that he believes in “absolutely nothing.”

“I’m not religious at all,” he said.

Another thing neighbors are upset with are some words that are painted on a board that covers a broken window.

“It reads ‘Trill House, Kill House,'” said Robinson. “Trill House is the name of our house that our friends have given us. We just put ‘Kill House’ for Halloween.”

Robinson added that he did not know that the word “trill” means.

Urban Dictionary says that in the hip-hop culture, the word “trill” means someone who is considered to be well-respected.

Robinson is upset that the neighbors complained to the media instead of coming to talk with him and his roommates about the decorations.

But one woman told us the neighbors have been talking to someone.

“We have written to the owner of the house and asked whether it couldn’t please be fixed,” said the woman, who did not want to give her name.

She said the owner has never answered them. She said that the window that is boarded and has the “Trill House, Kill House” slogan on it has been broken for months, and neighbors are also complaining about parties at the house.

“We had six police squad cars out here during the first party,” she said.

She claims that another party that was held last Friday night was much quieter.

Robinson says he does not care about the complaints. As for taking the cross and the sign down, he said, “We’ve considered it, but I’m not doing it until after Halloween.”

“If people really are offended, they don’t have to look at our house,” Robinson said. “They can just drive away.”