Another ‘Norman the Werewolf’ on Fair Oaks Avenue

No one is sure if the moon was full when it happened.

But a towering werewolf statue has returned to a familiar corner in Altadena, bringing levity and resilience to the community still recovering from January’s devastating Eaton fire.

“Norman Jr.,” an 8-foot Halloween figure dressed in a shredded red flannel and a T-shirt reading “We  Altadena,” now stands at Fair Oaks Avenue and Mariposa Street, where the Fair Oaks House once operated as a sober living home.

The original “Norman,” a 10-foot Costco werewolf first erected five years ago by resident Sergio Flores, became a local fixture according to LAist.

Neighbors decorated him for holidays, joggers posed for selfies, and trick-or-treaters made him part of their Halloween tradition.

When the Eaton fire destroyed the house and claimed Norman along with it, residents said it felt like losing more than just a lawn ornament.

“Norman was a beloved fixture in Altadena before the Eaton Fire,” said Councilmember Jason Lyon whose husband Tim Hartley Jr. runs Fair Oaks House.

“When Norman, Jr. emerged like a phoenix from those ashes, he became that and more; he stands as a symbol of a community’s resilience and our determination to build back with the same wonderful spirit as before. I love it when I drive up Fair Oaks and see him looming there at the corner of Mariposa.”

Hartley called the loss of Fair Oaks House “devastating.”

The fire decimated Altadena killing 19 people, destroying more than 9,000 structures and scorching 14,000 acres.

Ten men living at the Fair Oaks House escaped the fire, but two cats and Norman did not.

After the fire residents searched online and found a replacement. Before they could even finish assembling Norman Jr., cars were pulling over for photos and expressing thanks for the new werewolf.

“Everyone who knows him now sees him as a part of the movement to thrive and survive and emerge from the other side of the Eaton Fire stronger,” Lyon said. “There’s a great kind of humor and levity and joy in it.”