Thread: Leaving up your haunts

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I was just wondering how many people leave up their haunts thru out the month of Oct. I have always been scared someone will take the stuff I worked so hard to get. One year we decided not to take down on Halloween after everything was over and not more than a few minutes of going to bed we can hear teens messing with our stuff so we took everything in that night so we basically set up and take down all on the 31st. Makes it a lot of work for one night but I still enjoy it.

Mine is going to be in my parents' backyard so I don't have to worry about such things. If security is such a problem where you are, you could always rig a motion sensor to a bunch of whooping alarms, high intensity floodlights and strobes to scare the living heck out of them. It would also wake you up to "knock" some sense into those idiots!

This year I'd like to make a better secure fence, add some motion activated flood lights then I'd be able to keep the cemetary scene up for the whole month. Usally it's all put up on Halloween down, then taken down 7-8 hours later.

I set up on Halloween and take everything in the same night also; more work, but at least it means less worrying about whether everything will still be there.

Last year, for the first time, I put out most everything by the first weekend of October and left it up all month. Putting out everything over a couple of days (let alone one day) is too much hassle, and besides, the neighbors love the display (as long as it's down by the first weekend of Nov.)

I was worried a bit about vandals although I don't live on a major road. I made sure to tie down nearly everything with wire. I even made a low faux chain fence to let the kiddies know to stay out of the yard.

The only damage was on the first day when a smart-ass 5th grader decided to show his friends that he could jump over the fence and touch one of the props without getting caught. I startled him and he knocked over the prop and then he high-tailed it out the yard fast. At the end of the month, nothing was taken.

By setting up your display early, you'll be able to tweak it to near perfection, your neighbors will enjoy it, and, more importantly, you'll be able to enjoy it longer. Just be sure to secure everything and take in the valuable props every night or keep them just for Halloween night.

I do everything what HAUNTER said above me. I start on October first and add more bit by bit, then put everything on Halloween night. in 2008, some stupid teens did damage some stuff and threw a huge rock on our car aroung at 2:00am. Really pissed me and my wife off, it really killed the mood and we almost removed everything the next day. But when people saw what happened, begged us not to stop decorating and continue. We did, and I did end up staying late beside the window, with a baseball bat in my hands, but they never came back. Nothing happened in 2009, thank God, and this year, I will be putting alarms and motion lights on the haunt.

Last year I put up some inexpensive props close to the house, items I preferred not to lose to theives or vandals but nothing I couldn't live without, and did fine. However, I am mindful of a neighbor who had some straw bales in her display lit on fire, only to have the police officer called out to the scene say that she deserved for it to happen! We've also had an expensive wooden bear prop stolen from next to our front door in the past, so I'm skittish about leaving out anything expensive or hard to replace.

Weather is a major issue in October as well, and many of my props are not weather-resistant. Those that are tend to be on the pricier side, like my resin tombstones, so I'm torn on how much to put out earlier. My best items are up on the day for just a few hours, which sucks but is safer for them and for anyone intent on mischief (because if I caught someone stealing or vandalizing my Halloween stuff, the results would NOT be pretty).

I'm all for putting up in a day or 2.....I never leave anything expensive out. Everything is back in the gararge by the end of Halloween Night.

I put everything up the first of Oct and take it down a couple days after Halloween

Another good thing and kinda cheap is security cameras, plus the alarms. I put up little by little and everything else haunt night. But I do take it down as soon as the haunt is over because i don't want anything to happen to my stuff while i'm sleeping in