Nanaimo couple's love story inspired by Halloween connection

NANAIMO, B.C. -

Rather than “boy meets girl,” Nicole and Todd Cameron say their love story began at a Halloween party, where his Ace Ventura Pet Detective met her living-dead zombie.

“I didn’t talk to him,” Nicole recalls after Todd approached her to compliment her gory costume. “I just basically spewed blood at him.”

“And I thought, ‘That is a Halloween spirit that I could really get behind,’” Todd smiles.

Later, he reached out online, and they connected instantly.

“I felt as though we found each other as a childhood playmate,” Nicole says. “Then sparks flew.”

While their friendship evolved into a romance, their passion for being creative together remained constant, and culminated with the couple starting to craft their Halloween costumes in June.

Nicole and Todd’s elaborate custom costumes have ranged from characters in The Big Lebowski to Guardians of the Galaxy.

“It’s that sense of awe and wonder,” Todd describes being with Nicole. “A sense of having fun.”

After they exchanged vows during a Back to the Future-themed wedding, Todd and Nicole posed for Alien-themed maternity photos that went viral, before welcoming a baby boy just days before Halloween.

“We decided on the name Jack, because it’s Halloween-themed,” Todd says. “But not so Halloween, like Ichabod (Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow).

Or the family’s black cat named Boo.

Now, Jack (no relation to O’Lantern) is free to be whoever he wants to be for Halloween, followed by his parents creating costumes to complement his.

Jack’s detailed costumes have ranged from an Ewok to Sonic the Hedgehog (with Nicole and Todd dressed as the villains chasing him).

“Our goal as parents is to use imagination and play,” Nicole says.

So it’s no surprise that Jack impersonates his dad while helping decorate their front yard for the family’s favourite holiday, Halloween.

“He (adjusts) a decoration and then backs up on the street (to get a wider perspective),” Nicole recalls with a smiles. “Then he’ll nod his head, and he’ll be like, ‘Yup. Looks good!’”

And Jack’s right. Their home is one of those Halloween houses that people go out of their way to visit, thanks to a collection of classic and contemporary characters that are more fun than frightening.

“One of my favourite things is to look out the window and see a young family,” Todd says of the people who stop to appreciate their elaborate Halloween display. “Their eyes are wide and their kids are pointing.”

Because rather than making their community creepy, like their love story, Nicole and Todd are hoping their Halloween creativity will encourage people to feel connected.

“If you can have fun with your friends and your family,” Todd says, “the rest can work itself out.”