Thread: Proof that if you build it, they will come.

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I started doing my "yard haunt" 5 years ago. Starting from nothing but a couple pumpkins and a handful of store bought props to filling my 1/2 acre front yard with over 50 mostly self made props, lights and sound system. My first year I had about 3 TOT's. Of course I was happy with even just having one to scare The next year I had a whopping 5. Again, I was still happy with just scaring 1. 3rd year I ended up in the Hopital with Appendicitis on the night of October 29. That was after I had all ready put about 100 flyers out in mailboxes to advertise my haunt and had built about 5 new props and purchased a quite a few decorations. Well needless to say i didnt get to put on my haunt that year. Last Year I put a Sign at the beginning of my neighborhood and had built up a much bigger haunt display over the previous 2 years. I had about 50 TOT's last year. This year My whole front yard was pretty much filled with props and decorations and I put a sign at the beginning of my neighborhood again and a Countdown sign in my front yard with a small display. I easily had about 100 TOT's this year. So I went from 3 to 5 to 50 to 100, showing that " if you build it (and "advertise" a little bit) they will come." I hope everybody that is just starting out and doesnt have much yet or hasnt gotten that many TOT's yet, to hang in there and keep building. Word of mouth and a little advertisement goes a long way after a couple years. I Hope everybody else had as much fun as I did this year and look forward to next year!!

thanks for this post it's my second year and we had 5 more kids than last year but i intend to advertise next year .

Way to build it up. But don't put anything in a mailbox again. That's a federal offense.

Yeah, mailboxes are a definite no-no, but typically (though I'm not a fan) it is legal to leave flyers on doors or doorsteps.

I was also told at work I could no longer leave work advertisements in car windows under the wiper blades for fear of someone saying we damaged their car and sueing :-/

Originally Posted by Screaming Demons

Way to build it up. But don't put anything in a mailbox again. That's a federal offense.

Yeah I did realize that after somebody had told me. So I havent done it since, where were you BEFORE I did it? Luckily I didn't have any problems when I did it though. Since then I just put up the sign at the beginning of my neighborhood and in my front yard. Between the signs and the word of mouth of previous visitors and neighbors, that usually does the trick.

Originally Posted by frenchy

thanks for this post it's my second year and we had 5 more kids than last year but i intend to advertise next year .

Keep it up Frenchy, now those 5 people will tell all their friends and family and it will just spread from there. Definitely advertise next year as well. Signs in your yard, neighborhood where you are able to. Like the other guys said, NO mailboxes

When we first moved to our house, trick 'r treaters were so rare that we typically just sat on the sofa and watched scary movies, only rising occasionally to pass out treats...

About 1998 or so (good grief, 10 years ago) we decided to do something in the yard and the first couple years, we just went with a cemetery scene (and a friend and I in zombie make-up and costume to spook a few kiddies). We saw the number of trick 'r treaters rise a little, but not much.

In 2001, we decided to change the theme and we put together a pirate motif. The number of trick 'r treaters that year didn't surge very much, but the display looked good enough to get the word out.

Since then, we have augmented our display every year and attendance has grown almost expontentially to where we now estimate around 1,000 trick 'r treaters!

Also, in the past three years, a few neighbors, who admit to being inspired by us, have assembled impressive yard haunts, as well, and now our street is a definitely Halloween destination!

If you build it... Ah, you know the rest!

I'm a firm believer in ...."build it & they will come!". Its worked for me in many isolated areas.

Muffy

I am inspired by your stories! We live in a neighborhood with mostly retired adults, and only 4 litte ones! Well, we did a large display, I told a couple of friends and some neighbors behind me, and we had 21 TOTS! I was thrilled...I literally thought we would have 10, if we were lucky. So many neighbors told us how much they love the decor, and how we have brought Halloween to the neighborhood.. One even said there should shoud be a decorating competition..I say, game on!! So next year we will make it a little bigger, and I am going to advertise! We want this to be a yearly even...so I say as well, if you build it...and advertise....they WILL COME!!!