RIEGELSVILLE, Pa. - From yard gravestones, porch skeletons, to giant spider webs covering home facades, the tiny river town of Riegelsville, Bucks County takes its Halloween decor hauntingly serious. However, this season, is something scarier being seen?
"That's a tough question," said Mayor Viana Boenzli.
" I guess it depends on what side you're on," I responded.
"It depends what side you're on, yes," she said.
The tight-knit borough of 800 is in the national spotlight for where residents stand politically but continue to act accordingly.
"People really were super friendly and super welcoming. You know, it really is. It's a lovely place," said writer Michael Sokolove.
He's intrigued by the borough's two-vote margin in the 2020 presidential election: 276 went to Trump, 274 to Biden.
The New York Times guest contributor and author of five books, Bethesda Maryland-based Sokolove is also a lower Bucks County native and spent five September days in Riegelsville.
His New York Times article, out now, tries to make sense of this election.
"I happen to know that people collect their mail at the post office. So that was a starting point for me," he explained on finding his starting place.
From the sidewalk, to late nights in living rooms, Sokolove dove deep into residents' political pysches and how stark differences haven't damaged the town's makeup.
It's a place where a dancing flash mob appears every Oct. 31, and the buzz of re-homing bee colonies, becomes a hive of neighbor activity at borough hall in September of 2023.
Mayor Boenzli calls it a place fit for a Hallmark movie.
"If we're really on different sides, we just don't bring up politics. We stay away from that subject," she said.
Although Boenzli adds at least one friendship has been fractured.
However, former Mayor Dr. Gregory Stokes' family, whose Riegelsville family roots run 60 years deep, says that's rare.
"Watch the movie The Sandlot. That's what it was like growing up here in town. So that builds a comfort and a closeness and a bonding. So, we do, we take care of each other," he said.
Sokolove says he did find Riegelsville, like nearly every other American town, is learning to deal with this political presidential divide.
"It's two different visions, and the Harris voters largely want someone with the personal qualities who might calm the political wars. Trump voters, you know, feel that that these personal qualities of character are outdated," he said.
However, a universal haunted October, election or not, appears to be timeless.