Lots of people that do house haunts, and even professional haunts for that matter, consider startling someone and scaring someone the same thing. While the word startle is defined partially as, “to frighten or surprise suddenly” and most people equate that with “scaring” someone the definition is qualified as, “usually not seriously.” I consider the startle, at best, a mild scare. It passes relatively quickly and easily. (continue reading…)

I am not that big of a packrat, but I have kept myself from throwing away certain things that I probably should throw away just because I said, “Wow, I know exactly how to use this for Halloween!” While that sometimes upsets my wife, well, let’s just say that she is a REAL packrat and knows that she cannot say anything about it (continue reading…)

This is a picture of my Ringwraith costume which, up until this year was my staple of our garage haunt every Halloween for the past six years. However the kids are starting to get wise to it. I’ve already tried the “pretending” to not be inside it trick the past two years and and that worked but I think a third year would be too much. (continue reading…)

Last year the Haunted Rider was part of our 2008 garage haunt and he’ll be back this year as well. Here is a picture: (continue reading…)

While the wife has taken the children to a birthday party, and I have finished doing some wiring around the house that needed done, I thought that I would get started laying out the garage and thinking about this year’s haunt “officially”. My budget for this year was $200 … the same as last year. So the first thing I have done is done to the Halloween Store (Spirit is my personal preference) and took a look around yesterday. (continue reading…)

Last year I talked about a quick and easy way to build a sign for your house haunt. But I never showed it actually up and completely on display. Here is a picture of it from our 2008 house/garage haunt. (continue reading…)

Yes, Halloween, my most favorite of all holidays, is once again barreling down upon me like a freight train. Every year something comes up that pushes back my plans for the garage until nearly the last minute. This year it was the birth of my son, Magnus. However now that he is home I am dedicating much of my free time over the next two weeks to getting the garage ready to scare the little kiddies. (continue reading…)

By CD Mohatta

Halloween is quickly becoming a favorite holiday for both children and adults. Halloween parties are a lovely way to celebrate the season, and there is a party for every style and group of people.

1. Night Garden Party – If you have a patio or deck, you can set up a party for after dark with lanterns or strung outdoor lights. This is great for any number of people. (continue reading…)

When thinking about how to haunt your house for Halloween, it is best to start simple. One of the simplest props you can make is a sign of some sort like this:

This was the sign that we put up outside the garage this year and making it is rather simple and cheap.

First, I took some scrap pine planking that I had laying around from some work that I am doing on the game room: (continue reading…)

What’s that? Did you hear me correctly? Start thinking about how to decorate your own house haunt for Halloween next year right now? Yes, you indeed did hear me right! If you do a house haunt for Halloween to scare the Trick or Treaters then now is the time to get a leg up on next year.

But didn’t Halloween just come by a couple days ago? Yes, it did. So why on Earth would I suggest starting to plan your next year’s haunt now?

Simple. If you don’t start planning now how you are going to lay out your own haunted house for next year you probably won’t do it at all. You might even get in a rut and do the exact same thing and the kiddies will know exactly what to expect. Haunts are not as spooky when people know what to expect. And what is worse is you will probably put off starting to think about it until next October and be rushing around to get your plans done. Planning now however means that you are going to get ahead of the curve. (continue reading…)