Thread: What's your favorite aspect of home haunting?

Tweet

Is it the planning? The building? The purchasing? The shrieking?

I realized tonight that, for me, it's the researching. I've always been fascinated by folklore, mythology, and comparative religion, and Halloween provides an incredible outlet and focus for those interests.

Halloween gives me an incentive to re-read Dracula, rediscover just how well Lord of the Flies holds up to my adult sensibilities, crack open my old mythology books and say "Oh, that's right, I knew that once", and uncover fascinating new bits of folklore - instead of saying to myself "I should get around to doing those things some day."

At the end of it all, I get to unleash a creative stew based on these ingredients on an unsuspecting public. What could possibly be better?!

For me it is the creative process. It starts with developing a Central Character and building the canvas around it. Hopefully when I am done tinkering everything is as great as I had imagined or as close as I can get.

Mine is unpacking all the boxes and bags and going "Holy crap! how much do I have??? Wow! I totally forgot I got this last Halloween-after-sale!!!" (L)

And seeing the haunt growing each weeks until Halloween night... (Until the wind comes destroy everything hours just before the kids come...ARG!).

and seeing my co-workers rolls their eyes everytime they see me coming back from my breaks with new stuff for my cubicle or home.. (L).

and seeing the parents being more scared than the kids... That, for me, is priceless!!!

For me it's the joy of making others happy/scared. It light's up there face.

I love Halloween, the nostalgia of my childhood and passing that on to my child, and the overall atmosphere surrounding that time of year. Plus I love to build stuff and tinker around in the garage, so it's natural that these two things combine and form a cemetery in my yard. I'm just happy to have this forum to keep the creative juices flowing all year long!

Originally Posted by frughoul

I love Halloween, the nostalgia of my childhood

This is also a big draw for me.. I loved scary stories, dressing up, scaring others and being scared.. Not much has changed!

Now that my display is mature (in other words, it takes up my whole front yard), I find that what I enjoy most is the details. I spend happy hours fussing over the costume on a skeleton, the exact positioning of the lighting, the fence finials, bits of rope and netting. Some people notice and remark on it, some just enjoy the overall effect. I love it either way.

I love creating displays for all to enjoy/be mildly frightened of. The nostalgia is also big.

Last year out of the completely whomping total of 12 TOTs, one very cute girl was able to tell me (dressed in my werewolf mask sitting on the stoop) that my house was scary. Made me light up inside!

I also got some nice compliments...makes me glad to know that I was able to make TOTing more enjoyable in our otherwise dry and spiritless neighborhood.

Even though at my advanced age mundane tasks still threaten to sour me, I still persevere and still love doing the haunted house, taking people through here for the tour, doing the verbal and physical things I do and then watch the funny results.
My enthusiasm for those mere normal construction tasks I have had to do here just to keep the house in operating condition was fired by a sense of a pioneer making his cabin from logs felled by himself, to his liking and plans. (This house was a genuine wilderness when I got it)
Most people may marvel at my originality or creativeness as exhibited herein but maybe I'm not really so creative?
Most of my biggest, most radical ideas come tumbling into my head just before I wake up. Other ideas just appear as items fall apart leaving the concept waiting to be done , sort of like how the grains of sand fall away from kitty's product as the scopp cleans her box.
"Well, look what we have here!"
I am entering into the 23rd year of house ownership. I have been open for tours almost every night for 22 1/2 years now.."Boy, October is a Long Month!"
Ravens Grin Inn-Mount Carroll, Ill.

i would have to say listening to all the music/sounds and deciding what tracks i want to play. it's hard to pick one favorite thing.