On October 23, 2000, an article was published in the Reading Eagle/Times Newspaper featuring the demented works of Tom Malafarina. here is that article reprinted courtesy of the Reading Eagle/Times.
Worming Its Way Toward Horror
In the darkness of two nights, the simple garage at Thomas M. Malafarina's South Heidelberg Township home will be transformed into a worm pit, where trick or treaters may enter at their own risk. The reward, naturally is more treats.

Malafarina tells about his horror creation and how he made something scary out of aluminum foil, Popsicle sticks, a hot glue gun and spray paint. Article Page C3.
In This Neighborhood, They Share The Scare.
Thomas M. Malafarina creates a haunted garage and invites children inside when they come to trick or treat ... If they dare.
By Bruce R. Posten Eagle/Times
Give Thomas M. Malafarina of South Heidelberb township aluminum foil, Popsicle Sticks, a hot glue gun and cans of spray paint, an the things he comes up with are pretty scary.

But that's the point if you are trying to create a haunted garage filled with sculptures or so-called "die-o-ramas" of slimy creatures, disembodied heads and dangling human limbs.

"I'm really not into scaring people - the type of thing like jumping out from the dark and startling them" he said, "I really like the creativity of making this stuff and showing it at Halloween.

And that's exactly what he has been doing for about five years for the neighborhood children who come to his door to trick or treat on October 30 and 31.

"I don't make everyone go into the garage to get candy, only the bigger ones who want to," said the 45 year old Malafarina who works in Lancaster in computer-aided design manufacturing for a firm that designs highly polished, rust-resistant valves for pharmaceutical and sanitary applications.

A fan of what he termed "old horror films which were more fantasy than realistic," Malafarina said his creations harken back to an earlier time of Frankenstein monsters, vampires and zombies.

Last year, Malafarina created a 6-foot-tall Frankenstein monster and also had a dummy corpse with an open stomach filled with candy. Children had to pick their treats out of the stomach in the torso.

"It used to be that kids just showed up in costume and you gave them candy on Halloween ," he said "no one was doing any trick or anything. So I decided I'd do something."

Malafarina's haunted garage is a hit with his family - three children and wife JoAnne - as well as Halloween visitors.

"My wife is the most tolerant person on the planet," he said "Actually, she is sort of a judge of my stuff - if she turns her head away in disgust and is revolted, I know I've created something successful.

"When I met JoAnne she said her name was Krueger and I said 'Do you mean like Freddy Krueger?" (The "nightmare on Elm Street" film Character.)

"She said, 'That's my Dad - Frederick C. Krueger' - I think knowing that just made her more appealing to me."

Malafarina also noted that most of the neighbors in his development decorate and do something a little extra for Halloween because it has become a big holiday.

Without giving away too many details of his scary display,  Malafarina showed how a simple garage in an outwardly pleasant middle class home is transformed into a worm pit on the darkness of night.

He calls it "Slorm World" - a slorm being a word formed frm the words slimy and worm. children are told to enter at their own risk, and reach into a slorm next to capture a baby slorm. If they retrieve a slorm, they get extra candy.

"Everything here is really low tech (battery-operated) and primative." Malafaina said, "But in the dark with strobe lights and sound effect, it takes on a whole different appearance."

A guy who enjoys cartooning and plays bass in a local blues band, Malafarina said he enjoys creative outlets.

"If nobody came for Halloween, I'd probably still do this stuff, " he said, holding up a decomposing head whose internal structure is Popsicle sticks covered with aluminum foil, covered in gummy glue and spray paint.

There's maybe a little hairy substance attached too.

"You know, I store all of this stuff in the basement after Halloween," he said, "It makes a great place to hide Christmas presents, because its so sacry the kids don't want to go down there and look for them."