It all started with a pair of overalls, a hockey mask, and a trip to a 24-hour store in Maynard on October 31, 1988. For 36 years, the Lingleys have put on their “Chainsaw House” production in Pine Lakes. They started this tradition just weeks after they moved to the neighborhood, with unpacked boxes still throughout their house. Mr. Lingley, on his way home from work on Halloween night, saw a hockey mask and some Halloween decorations in a store in Maynard. It began as a joke on his brother, who lived just across the street, and has continued ever since. Each year, more and more kids come to the neighborhood to experience the long-lasting tradition.

It only takes Mr. Lingley about 20 minutes to set up the event; everything he uses is just “junk” that he found around his house and repurposed. Over the years, it has become a family-run function, with help from his nephews, grandsons, and wife. It all starts on the dark end of Basswood Avenue. There, Mr. Lingley is hiding somewhere with his chainsaw and the same pair of overalls he uses when fixing up his cars. The chainsaw doesn’t have an actual blade but still has a roar that scares everyone in its path. The goal is to make it to the front door of the Lingleys’ house, where Mrs. Lingley waits with a reward of Halloween candy.

This attraction is so popular that even the Lingleys’ son, a history teacher at L-S, still constantly gets questioned about what it was like growing up in the famous “Chainsaw House.” Mr. Lingley says, “The school bus used to drive by [his house], and you’d see all the faces looking out the window, everyone saying, ‘Is he going to do it this year?’”

The “Chainsaw House” is important to countless kids in Sudbury, stirring up excitement each year and giving trick-or-treaters something to look forward to. Each year, people who attended the Chainsaw House as children bring their own kids back to experience this deep-rooted Sudbury tradition.