House of Horrors!

What kind of guy fills his home with gruesome simulated gore and gets a kick out of scaring kids?

A crazed loner, the proverbial guy who seems quiet and reclusive until he suddenly goes on a shooting rampage?

How about a genial store detective with a nurturing wife, a friendly Basset hound and five cats named after characters from Disney cartoons.

"A lot of people assume if you're into horror, you're a sick, deranged guy who eats the neighbors," said horror collector Don Hinrichs. "I haven't eaten any neighbors. I catch shoplifters for a living. I love animals. I choke up when I see a dead raccoon on the road."

Then why the carefully arranged display of slasher-movie action figures, creepy mannequins and other grotesque figures that currently decorates his bedroom?

"Everybody says it's because I'm normally such a nice guy; maybe it's the dark side of me," he said. "I just enjoy a good scare, the battle between good and evil ... and every once in a while, evil winning."

Her husband's horror fetish leads people to make dark assumptions about both of them, according to his wife, Jessi. "They're surprised at how traditional and family-oriented we are. I like to go to church on Sunday morning. I knit and cross-stitch. I bake bread. I'm Martha Stewart."

Except for tonight, when she'll be a blood-drenched "Carrie" or maybe a "zombie prom queen," as part of the couple's Halloween-night fright fest for trick-or-treaters. Her husband will don a mask and tattered butcher's apron and rev a chainsaw against a backdrop of homemade gravestones and life-size ghoulish figures of his favorite horror-movie villains.

"I just love Halloween," Don said. "Let's be evil for one night." (He does skip the chainsaw when greeting the littlest trick-or-treaters.) "I won't torment 3- and 4-year-olds," he said.

"I reassure the kids who are scared," Jessi added.

Lawn of the dead

Some of the couple's Halloween visitors seek out their annual yard display (this year at 6408 Lakeland Av. N., Brooklyn Park) because they enjoy getting spooked. Others just hear the screams and come to see what's going on. But one person who probably won't stop by is Don's mother.

"Not unless I have to," Jan Hinrichs said. "I'm just not into that. I'm into Christmas. We've got some of his stuff in the basement, and I don't like to go there. It's kind of scary."

His parents frowned on horror movies when he was a child, Don said, which may have sparked his interest. As an adolescent, he remembers being "traumatized" by "Child's Play," the 1988 movie that introduced audiences to a murderous doll named Chucky. But by his late teens, Don had developed a taste for terror.

Now Chucky is one of his favorite characters, and a movie-accurate replica, which costs about $4,000, tops his list of "things I want but can't afford."

He does have other Chuckys, both life-sized and in miniature; they're the main reason he and Jessi once moved from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom place, so he'd have a separate room for displaying his collection.

"I can't handle Chucky at 2 a.m.," Jessi said. "I'd get up in the night and see him." (They're now living temporarily with a relative and part of the collection is back in their bedroom, although the bulk of it is in storage.)

Don started his memorabilia collection, which now numbers about 500 pieces, in 1996 when horror-movie action figures first began appearing on the market.

"I started with Freddy Krueger, Jason and Leatherface, both the regular and bloody versions," he said. "Target wouldn't carry [the bloody ones], so I had to go to specialty shops."

His collection includes some "Star Wars" and superhero items, but his passion is horror. "If it's got a hockey mask, a chainsaw or it kills horny teenagers, I'll buy it," reads his profile on the website www.eternalcollector.com, where he writes horror-toy reviews as "Don of the Dead."

Different tastes

Jessi shares his fondness for scary movies. "But he likes the bloodier, gorier ones," she said. "I like classic scary, like Hitchcock. This [she gestures to his collection] I just kind of put up with."

She does buy him horrific gifts. "The first thing I bought him was a big Michael Myers [the serial killer from the 'Halloween' movies]," she said. "I just know what he likes. I go for more unique items, like this belt buckle in the shape of Jason's mask. A lot of these things talk, so it's hard when you give them as Christmas presents because sometimes they talk under the tree."

And she's a supportive horror wife in other ways as well, such as whipping up a home-cooked feast last year to entertain several of Don's favorite movie personalities, including Sid Haig, who starred as Captain Spaulding in the cult films "House of 1,000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects," and Bill Moseley, who played Chop Top in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2."

The film folks were in the Twin Cities to attend a horror convention. Before the convention, Don had posted an invitation on Haig's online message board, saying, "Hey, if you ever come to Minnesota, we'll make you a nice big dinner." Still, he was surprised when he received a response saying, "Hey, we're coming. Whatcha having?"Horror stars appreciate their fans," Jessi said. "They're great actors, but they're B list. They're not Reese Witherspoon. ... It's odd to watch their movies now and think, 'I've been hugged by all these people.'"For guys who play psychos, they're very normal," Don said.

Kim Palmer • 612-673-4784

Kim Palmer • kpalmer@startribune.com