What you need to know
Dick Van Dyke and his wife Arlene Silver continue the spooky tradition.
On Friday, October 31st, PEOPLE had an exclusive look at the couple’s annual Halloween at Vandy Manor event. For the event, Silver, 54, is performing and producing a lavish Halloween show at his home in Malibu, California.
This year, Silver made a grand appearance as her signature character, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, lip-syncing to “Poor Unfortunate Souls” with the talented Vandy Manor dancers.
Meanwhile, Van Dyke, 99, proudly watched from his sleeve as his wife of 13 years danced to Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” for neighborhood children.
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“This is a part of Dick that no one knows about him,” Silver tells PEOPLE. “People associate him with Christmas, but he’s totally Halloween.”
After all, Silver recalls Van Dyke telling her about “having stuff on the street” in the 1950s and ’60s. Their version of the event started with a few monsters and backyard decorations, but quickly grew to include everything from scary actors and lifelike animatronics to professional puppeteers and belly dancers.
“We lip-synced on the porch; on the center and front steps; and people loved it,” Silver recalls of the first few years he hosted Halloween at Vandy Manor, about 10 years ago. “So we did it 10 times and Dick was like, ‘Oh my god, we’ve got to get the stage, we’ve got to get the lights.'” So we started doing that. ”
In recent years, Silver has continued to develop the stage show that has become a fan favorite, and has decided to make this extravaganza a little more family-friendly.
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“We have a little bit of everything,” she tells PEOPLE. “The stage show is more of a variety show, more for kids. Little kids can come, and sometimes little kids were scared of big monsters, but now almost everyone is in costume. That’s what I love about it. I love that everyone is in costume. And Dick loves watching the show. I’m his favorite. He sits there and watches my show.”
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To prove just how much effort he put into his annual festivities, Van Dyke even has his own animatronic featuring a voice reciting the opening monologue of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
“I’m very proud of what started as a filler, ‘Oh, let’s just do this for a year,’ and how it grew into something bigger than that and something very unique,” Silver emphasizes. “Nobody does live shows at home. I like that we’re continuing a tradition that other people don’t do.”
