Since the year 2000 (which we never photographed!) we have been hosting a kid-friendly haunted house in our neighborhood. Starting from nothing in our first year we build our first house on the side lawn between our house and our immediate neighbor (who also participates, builds, and scares). We strung lines up and draped black vinyl sheets to create passages.

To keep kid-friendly - our theme uses Scooby Doo-ish monsters, we allow no blood in the scenes and the cardinal rule for actors is no grabbing or touching the Trick Or Treaters. Smaller kids are invited to use 'Ghost Bells' (a christmas bell on a ribbon) to scare away the monsters.

In 2000 we started with a mad scientists lab in my neighbor's garage, this led to the Spooky Space Kook, then to the Mummy's Ghost, and finally the Miner 49'er. The Miner 49'er was just a prop skeleton draped inside the door to the crawlspace under my house. We framed the crawlspace with timbers to make it look like a mine, put a red bulb inside and ran a CD player looping a ghostly moaning. The Mummy's Ghost ("coin...coin...") was another neighbor in a cardboard tomb decorated with Egyptian symbols. The Space Kook used an old space suit costume I made nearly twenty years ago(!) and a skull mask and gloves. The laboratory was a great centerpiece. We threw every lighting effect we could in there and my neighbor's wife played the part.

In 2001 we spent more time designing and theming. The garage wasn't available so we focused on the yard. We got some great old fencing (thrown out by a home remodeler) and rigged it up to frame our cemetary. Our tombstones were cut from strap-board (a type of plywood) and sprayed grey and had the epitaphs done with marker. They looked pretty cool. The entrance this year was a faux mausoleum made from plywood in a BIG 'L' shape and a door that was thrown out from Home Depot. It looks terrible in photos but in the dark with my new fog machine it was all very atmospheric. The door was framed with two flame lamps that I made from $15 Staples halogen floor lamps, fans, three c7 size 25w christmas lights, a little orange glass paint, some tin foil and silk cloth. I was dressed as a Zombie and ushered the TOTs inside. Inside was a passage with framed pictures of Scooby and the gang. This led to the 1849 Mine Elevator. We adapted this from plans on the net we found for a 'Hellavator'. Our planned sound system wasn't together in time so the Miner 49'er (this time a friend in costume) had to simulate it all. After exiting the 'hidden' side door of the elevator there were some skeleton exhibits (cheapies from Big Lots) and the Space Kook. There was a skeleton hanging out of a crate just before coming to the Swamp Witch. Her table had some spooky stuff on it along with a smoking vat made from an Ultrasonic Humidifier. Then there was the 1849 mine (crawlspace) and our coffin/crate that the mummy ("coin...") hid behind.

It's May, 2002 and I'm starting to plan early this year...

It's October, 2002 and all my early plans are coming together - but slower than planned of course! However due to the excellent building skills of Paul Goss and Mike Hutcheson it is looking nicer than ever! I've also built some new props and decor that I'm quite pleased with. See the Photos and How-Tos which have been up-dated.

November, 2002 - I'm spent! See Photos!

October, 2003 - our best yet! We were short a few actors - but costumes were even better this year (and not just the ones that I did!) and thanks to the hard work of Paul Goss, Mike Vunck, Mansour and myself - the haunt looked wonderfully spooky! See the Photos page for 2003 - our forth year?!