Thread: the aftermath of a haunt

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So, Halloween has come and gone, as has this years haunt. And right now, it feels like the morning of Christmas. AFTER presents have been opened and the house is a mess with wrapping. It's already gone???...

And though I love doing the haunt thing, I have been in a funk as far as getting things going for next year.
I am starting to get back into the planning mindset, but really have no drive to actually do anything.

This year, we had started 6 months out and ended up scrapping a lot because we just didn't have the time.
So this year, we all decided to start as early as possible (pretty much right after the 2011 haunt).
We have decided on our next haunt theme. We have even decided to ramp things up with more animatics and pneumatics as well as getting a building for next year (as opposed to doing the haunt outside).

But I cannot get off my butt and get moving.

So I was curious (purely in a discussion sense, not a how to), for those of you who do a haunt at your home or wherever

How early do you start building things?

Is it too early to start thinking of next year?

How do you get out of the stagnation?

I don't think it's ever too early to start thinking of next year but it is if you don't want to. I start the serious planning around mid-Jan when Christmas and New Years have settled down. Building starts in earnest usually in Feb.

The stagnation is normal. Especially to still feel it a week after the big day. Here's a confession for everyone: My favorite day of the year? Nov. 1. Yep, that's the day I can fully exhale and bathe in the warm memories from the night before. I keep those awesome feelings flowing during the week after while tearing everything down and going through all the pictures and video. The week after Halloween is an AWESOME week. Sit back and enjoy it. It's all good. Then enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you have to work so hard at Halloween stuff that you miss the other stuff - you are working too hard on Halloween stuff. You are slowly but surely draining the fun out of it.

I agree with Terra. I love the week after Halloween - I take time to savor the memories of all the hard work and joy, look at the great pictures, and put the decorations away neatly. I clean the house and put up the Thanksgiving/Fall decorations and just relax. I love Fall and Christmas and I really want to enjoy this time of year. After New Year's has settled down I will start thinking about next year's Halloween (my resolution this year is to start things EARLY, work on things slowly throughout the year and not try to build/plan/do too much in August-October). I think it's really important to take a small break to enjoy other holidays/experiences in order to rekindle the enthusiasm for next year!

I am maybe the worst example I dont start untill october always.due to motivation and lazyness. even though im into halloween and monsters year round both personal love and freelance art wise. but I work till the last second putting top shelf items our the day before or on Halloween itself. and always take more time putting the stuff away then setting up. and It stinks I alays get motivated after halloween when its too late then christmas washes it away till next year.

Its never too early to start thinking about next year. I already have a list of lights I need, a floor plan and I am starting a list of new props. The only thing I can say though is to pace yourself if you non-stop think about halloween you will get burnt out on it. But if you don't then you will have the best haunt ever.

I had that funk for a few days. I finished taking down the last of my halloween decorations this weekend, and as I was doing it, I was planning things out in my mind for next season. I still have to put a lot of stuff away, but I decided that I'm gonna do any minor alterations necessay BEFORE I put them away (as opposed to my usual "I'll deal with it next October" mentality).

I think this is a good time of year to start on next year's projects (mainly because the weather is still pretty good), but I'm gonna limit it to minor stuff for now.

We've been enjoying a three day weekend. Wine, cheese, apple pie, smoked pork sammiches or yummy soup, a warm fire, cats, blankets, and a giant pile of movies. Pretty much all three days.

I was super stoked about next years plans the few days following Monday, but like Tera said, I think it's important to let joys of last Halloween soak in a little more, and the stresses caused by it to wisp away. I really enjoy watching winter blow in, I enjoy food and everything else warm and homemade that has to do with the up coming holidays.

After all of that is over, and the ugliness of late winter/very early spring sets in, we'll likely dive head long into production for next years Halloween.

Having several hobbies where I make things, reenactment being my prime hobby, I got started in mid August after a major event I spend most of the summer gearing up for. The last few years I did not give myself more than a few weeks and was disappointed I did not get more done, but not this year I got all sorts of new cool stuff done.

I am likely going to start working a few things over the winter this year so not to rush next October.

I agree that its never to early to start planning. For us most of the excitement is so high after Halloween night.... thats when its a good idea to sit & relax and plan. I'm gonna try & keep Jerry on track this next year because we did not build anything in 2011. This is the 2nd year that loads of materials are sitting here that got bought but we did nothing with them. So for us we just must stay on track or it won't happen. I think planning something each month is a good idea & I also find trying to complete one thing at a time helps.

For some of you, working & families take up a lot of time. Here we are retired. I'm sick & Jerry does all the building. He knows he cannot let his lawn mower business take up so much time this next year or we won't get anything done. So we are gonna try & stay focused.

I agree with Terra about feeling so good on Nov.1st.. Its a sigh of relief! I put smiles on all their faces once again. My big thing is resizing my family photo's from halloween night. Thats when I get a good look at who was here & how good a time they had.
I can glide for weeks on the high. Happiness stays there cause I go from seeing all my halloween stuff to seeing all my Xmas stuff.

Yeah, this is the 'brainstorming' season for me. We'll start building after the first of the year, but I sketch and do tests and things in Nov and Dec.


Currently debating the idea of creating some things for a Christmas display.