[Big Nick]

I see a lot of people on here go for different themes each year. One year they will go pirates then, circus, then...well you get the point. I'm just curious how many of you out there stick with the same theme year after year? I am one of them, but instead of not changing my theme i like to add different props to my front yard. Like this year i have 2 grave diggers, a ground breaker, 5 new tombstones and a Resident Evil Dog. I basically kept all of my old props from last year and just added more to it. I guess you could say that my theme is Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets The Night of the Living Dead. I like that theme and plan to run with it for years before i change anything. Anyone else on board with me?

 

[The Pod]

I'm like you Nick, I just seem to keep the same stuff but add more and more each year.

 

[selz]

I try to move stuff to different places in the house/garden if I can...but yeah, I figure if I'm going to spend out of stuff, I want my moneys worth

 

[NewbieHaunter]

my outside display stays the same with something new added. This year the addition is a giant spider scene with victim.

 

[Nevergoback]

I also use most of the same props every year. But I did do pirates one year, I have the airblown pirate 'skiff?". I try change it up, arrange it diffently and add something new or take out something old. I've got my homemade tombstones and store bought ones, as they are getting better and cheaper every year. This year I have the airblown skeleton on a motorcycle driving out of my graveyard. Have yet to take any pictures. If the weather cools down this weekend I'll put up the ghouls planned for my entry way and take some pictures.

 

[Johan]

All the kids and parents refer to our place as the scary corner pirate house. I can't let them down and confuse them with something different now. Oh the humanity.

I do all four sides of the house and full yard and change the scenery around so it isn't in the same place. I also build new things and spend thousands more every year to help dillute the repeat performance issue.

 

[blackfog]

Mine is the same as well but with new props added each year and some improving on the old thanks to you guys here. My tombstones are over 10 years old and made out of plywood painted. Now that I know how to do them from the foam boards I will replace them.

 

[JohnnyAppleseed]

Raven's Caw Cemetery, always a cemetery with upgrades and changes each year to keep the Tot's and their parents on their toes!

 

[BevAnn]

I'd love to do a new one each year, but time and money prohibit that from happening!

I was just saying to hubby last night, I have worked so much on my new inside theme - Witches Kitchen - that I haven't done one thing to my outside graveyard this year. I'm just not too excited about it for some reason, and have neglected it.

 

[HauntedPumpkin]

I keep the same props out there but change it up year to year as I intergrate the new ones into it, though my FCG flys yr to yr in a tree which is right on the corner of our property facing the intersection and when my neighbors ask where things are going they tell me just don't move her.

 

[UnOrthodOx]

This is our 6th year on the whole "headhunter/witchdoctor theme". It's also the final year.

While it was intended to just be added to each year...Frankly, I've done everything I wanted to do with the idea, and am looking to expand my own creativiy in other directions, so a theme change was needed. A few elements are going to stick around, if scaled back, like the Tzompotli. Others will be re-purposed, a few are going away to clear storage.

 

[cinders]

Well, I know you're asking about those who don't change, but I'm chiming in here even though I do change each year (for the past several). The theme changing is becoming a serious issue for me. Most of the stuff I already have will not even be used this year. Nothing fits with my theme, so I have to make or buy all new stuff. I've spent way way too much time and money for things that won't be used again. Storage is an issue (I just can't part with stuff). So I am somewhat remorseful about deciding to change up each year.

I'm making a decision, looking forward, to go back to my original more traditional theme and then building on that each year. I think the outlay of money and time spent in adding to an existing theme will be well worth it. My haunt is just my front yard and I don't get that many TOTs. Not all that many people see it because I don't get my stuff set up until close to Halloween.

So: Theme changing in the future is not for me.

 

[devilangel]

we do not change either usually add a few new things each year, however thanks to mother nature and a bad ice storm we lost the 2 trees in the front yard that was a large part of our display, So this year will be alot different, however we will still have our pumpkin patch heavily expanded and the cemetary will be there

 

[jdubbya]

We also keep the same theme each year. It's developed over the past few years to be a haunted manor of sorts. This year, for the first time, we've developed a back story to set the stage as they pass through the castle door and into the actual walk through. Front yard cemetery (expands/changes a bit each year). A walk through to a scene on our back patio which ties in to the theme, and then a related scene in the garage. We move things around to keep it fresh, and don't use every prop every year. People know what to expect as far as the idea, but we throw in new scares and props each year to keep them on their toes. We've added three new animatronic props, all new tombstones and columns, and some great new scares that I'm sure are going to elicit some good screams.

 

[Frankie's Girl]

Same theme every year.

We change stuff out as we make new stuff, things get placed in different locations, and some stuff gets retired - either temporarily or permanently.

I like keeping with the theme. I can use lighting and other stuff that I KNOW worked well instead of trying to figure out all new stuff for all new props and I can't imagine trying to store several different themes' worth of props!

 

[CaliforniaMelanie]

Actually, this is the first year I've ever had a theme rather than a mish-mash! Or, I had two themes. The first (at the end of September) was Autumn Harvest. Then beginning last week, it turned into A Night in the Graveyard. (This is how I planned it--for two stages.)

Every year before this I've had stuff just...everywhere, without a real theme.

 

[DaveintheGrave]

I do the smae theme every year--Classic/Gothic Halloween.
Ghosts, skeletons, witches, black cats, pumpkins, tombstones, spider webs, fog.........
That's Halloween to me!

 

[OpenTrackRacer]

Our theme and setup evolves every year. We always have general Halloween elements outside... skeletons, body parts, ghouls, a cemetery, etc. This stuff is pretty much a mishmash. We've also had a central element that has a theme. One year it was a crime scene and others it was a toxic spill. This year we have an indoor haunted house with mad scientist scene. With all the props we've built for this, I expect we'll be doing it (with adjustments) for a while.

We always try to add new elements. This year we have five or six new outdoor elements. I have some others that I've already started working on but I'm going to leave them for next year rather than pushing out all this new stuff at one.

 

[MorbidMariah]

My Haunt is pretty much the same each year with new stuff added here and there that sticks to my basic theme (haunted house/gothic style) but I like to add a little theme tweak here and there. For instance, the kitchen last year became Mrs. Lovett's kitchen. This year there will be hints of Mrs. Lovett's kitchen, but mostly the usual witchy haunted type stuff. I think thos elittle tweaks and twists are great fun, without having to totally change your entire theme. No way I could afford a change that major every year! I'd probably also lose my mind.

 

[geigerwolf]

same each year

I add each year, until now. I will only have small additions after this as I have run out of storage room. I may go to the new three axis skulls from gys and will change the pirate jokes my skeletons tell, but aside from that I'm pretty much done now.

Even if I add it will be a pirate ship wreck with cemetary from here on in.