I stumbled on here by accident back in 2003. A much smaller community back then but in all truthfulness there seemed to be more serious haunters and more Halloween related threads. As the board grew, it has taken a different direction. We've been haunting for over 20 years and got some great ideas here and on other forums/site (like monsterlist, GOE, etc) Seems a lot of the heavy hitters from years past are either no longer in the game or just don't post on forums any more.

 

I'm in a batting slump......


I think I'm twisting my hips in my swing.......

 

I only found out about this forum a couple of years ago and wish I had known of it WAY earlier. Just happened to stumbled upon it looking for Halloween props to decorate my house with. I used to do a small haunt when I lived in CA for I was in a neighborhood and had a lot of ToTs but since moving to WA and out in a country setting being off the main road quite a bit, I only decorate the yard for myself since no one else can see it which lead to no more doing a haunt I miss it. Mine in CA was just getting to be really noticed when I moved. Oh well. Such is life.

I have continued to really enjoy this forum and the many people in it. The community here is amazing!

 

I have had an extremely dark aesthetic for a looong time and have always enjoyed Halloween shopping, in addition to setup, so that figures into how I found out about the forum - I learned of the place through a search engine a few years before I actually joined and began posting, when I was still relegated to a dial-up connection, and would mostly come around when the threads showing new items would begin to appear. I agree that it has changed much over the years, and not entirely for the better. C'est la vie...

 

My current display started in '09.
I was haunting in a bubble until last July/August.
I knew there were people doing cool stuff, but somehow I didn't bother looking around.
When I started my mantis, I Googled variations of Giant/Mantis/Halloween/Prop/ etc. just out of curiosity.

It lead me to finding YouTube prop videos, then "Haunter's Hangout" vids.
Then I sought out Halloween enthusiast forums and ended up here, I'm happy to say!
I kind of wish I absorbed others' wisdom earlier, but my stuff being unique (so I'm told) may have come in part due to my ignorance.

I don't know about the good old days- but I've really enjoyed the current quality of talent and people!
I'm getting acquainted with the nice Haunter's Hangout folks, but halloweenforum already feels like a "safe haven".

 

Found and joined this forum in 2009. Started haunting in 2005 when we bought our current house and found
out almost everyone on our street gets into Halloween. Now our yard is the one to see and we have a blast
every year. Love this forum for all the info and ideas.

 

I apparently signed up in 2010! I thought it was 2008 I started out with simple plywood headstones (that I still use!!) and came here while looking for more ideas. Love all the talent & ideas!

 

I've only been a member for 1 year. I found this forum while doing research for my haunt, I wish I had found it years ago!
I don't know what it was like before, but it's a great place and the people are friendly and willing to share information and ideas, that's amazing.

 

I was building a coffin in my side yard, it was a grey day. A truck pulled up, stopped . the driver told me he owned a haunted house in Michigan.
as few minutes later a van stopped, the driver told me he owned a haunted house in Missouri.
A few minutes later another truck stopped he owned a haunted house in...
"What the heck is going on?" I live in an alley behind a small downtown in a town that might actually qualify as a "Village" in the vast Illinois cornfield, how are these guys finding me? I thought the only haunted house left was in Disneyland!
Then the next stopper told me about Trans World!
"What's That?" 2-21/2 hrs away!?
A young local farmer handed me a tiny magazine highlighting odd businesses. There was a story about some guy named Leonard Pickle? He designed haunts!?
I wrote him a letter, he never got it.
I finally got a telephone, it rang one day.. "Hello, my name is Leonard Pickle, and.. " "The Haunted House Architect?" "Silence... ???
("How does this Jim Warfield" know about ME?")
I actually entertained and impressed Leonard with my house and my house tour and had difficulty believing his lavish (to me,) compliments!?
Probably Leonard suggested I take a look at a computer ? Leonard's article about Ravens Grin said something like "There is actually no way to find or get to Ravens Grin using any map?"
I had no-nothing for a computer, no knowledge, no money. The Library around the corner from me had a computer , someone there got me on-line for the very first time. I "clicked" a search for my own name and had mixed feelings to find total strangers talking about me!?
One of them raised the following question:"Does anyone know how to really scare a customer without using a chainsaw?"
I was very surprised (and a bit pleased) when someone answered :"A guy named Jim Warfield sure does, his haunt is in Mount Carroll, illinois! "
This was still many years before I owned a computer, or even thought of trying to get one ($$) but then I was very busy doing this house. I discovered this site and could not believe the amount of information here and the number of people using this incredible resource !
Thank you Very Much, Larry!!

 

This past weekend, I too visited MonsterList. It's kinda sad over there.. Where did the creative prop builders go? I miss stealing their ideas.

I've been decorating for Halloween as long as I can remember. Have been a member of this forum off/ on since around Feb 2009. And I found it by accident. At the time it was a happy accident. I absolutely loved this forum; would smack someone if they disagreed. Met many great forum friends. {Halloween71 included. } And, I also miss some of the members that were on here. They were friendly, helpful; always willing to answer the dumbest questions I asked, and they loved to build . But, things changed. Such is life.

Currently, I am in full- blown prop building mode so I may stop in here to glance around & look for a prop idea to steal. But, most times I'll just google what I'm looking for and see where it takes me.

edited: please don't think that I think there are no creative prop builders on this forum. I know there may be 'sensitive' folks that may read something into my post. (rolling eyes) {Reason # 14 this forum has changed. }

 

Love ya girl!!!still want to come visit you sometime.

 

I'm curious as to how this place has changed? I've been here since 2008 and other than posters cycling through, it seems the same.

 

Yea, I too found this site by accident on a snowbound, icy day back in February of 2004. I don't think the forum has changed a whole lot since then. Seen a lot of members come and go over the years. Even seen one or two get banned.
This place has always had the friendliest and most helpful members of any forum I've seen. And that's still true today, from what I see.

I guess the biggest change I've noticed since 2004 is back then, most props posted were either static, motorized or pneumatic. Today, technology has advanced so much and become so affordable for the home haunter, I see a lot more programmable and computerized props than ever before.
I'm not really into that kind of thing myself, but it's amazing to see what some members come up with.

This will always be my #1 place to browse on the internet.

 

I think I was one of the first people to get internet service in my town circa 1995....Phone modem,Netscape browser,166Mhz processor, Win 95,etc....One of the first searches I did was Halloween....Wasn't much to find from what I remember....Halloween L was the first site I subscribed to that I can remember.....I lurked here at Halloween Forum for a long time before joining.....Anyway, when I feel like a little nostalgia, I head over to Allen's Halloween page....It's been up since 1997 and is still there!....The page even looks like it did in 1997 (old school).... http://softlyspokenmagicspells.com/halloween/index.html ....ZR

 

I visited that site the other day to.

 

Before I owned a computer someone showed me a site called "Adams Haunted Web Pages?" There were pictures on it of the outside of my house!
"Isn't this cute! Some little boy thinks my house is nice!
Later I discovered the "Little Boy" was not as little as I thought he was. This was Adam Drendel's first haunted attempt, who later created and still owns "Haunted Illinois.com, a very serious promoter of all haunts within this state, he also had a standing cash reward for anyone who will show him where that ten-story haunted house is that nobody can ever get all the way through, and nobody can ever find where it is located either!
(It would require a very rich person to own such a haunt, and then keep it a huge secret, not needing any paying patrons or fans. Just it's parking lot would give it away!)

 

Started "haunting" in 1985. As much as a 9 year old boy can, I guess.

Did a yard haunt at my parents till '94, then had to break for a few years in the apartment life. Tried again in '97-'99 at the new house and found no one ever come. (1 ToT in 3 years) Wound up doing a professional haunt in 2000 and 2001, then took another break till 2005 when we moved into our present location.

Joined here in 2007 it tells me. Got here from a tutorial on making molds.

 

Your haunt blows me away every year.

 

Something on Pinterest led me here last year. Can't remember what. Maybe I was doing research for my tree?

Haunting on and off for Halloween since I was a kid. Haunting inside as my primary mode of decor and my personal mode of dress since before college. I'm a goth, and an old one at that, so it just kind of comes with the territory.