[im the goddess]

We were out of town for Halloween, and our oldest son ran Halloween for us on the great night. Halloween night he left the coffin running over night, the lid rises and lowers with a windshield wiper motor. The top does not bang or anything, because I have the cam set so it never closes more than 6 inches, as I have a skeleton hand that sticks out as if the skeleton is opening it to get out. The most sound it makes is the cam rubbing on the metal plate I have inside and the motor itself.

He picked us up at the airport yesterday, and driving home he tells us he woke up to continual ringing of the doorbell on Saturday morning. He is a very heavy sleeper, and said he didn't realize it was the doorbell until after it stopped. He went outside sometime yesterday, and noticed the coffin motor was not running. He saw that it was unplugged and plugged it back in. Then the neighbor, a retired man in his 60s, ran across the street and said that thing kept me awake all night, and now it's bothering me while I work in the yard. Geoff unplugged it and went about his business.

We have never had any issues with this neighbor, and only exchanged brief hellos and how are you, but this has left a sour taste in my mouth. They have had construction and major yard landscape projects done at their house, which have started sometimes on the weekend when I have been trying to sleep, and I would never dream of saying anything to them. I sucked it up, because I'm an adult, and went along with my life. I don't know how to respond if he says anything to us. Most likely, I will just say I'm sorry Geoff left it plugged in all night, and let it go, but I really want to say your a Pu$$y and really gore up my yard next year to piss him off.

I really think the underlying problem is not the coffin, but Halloween itself. I think they are very religious based on the fact I say him wearing a tee shirt that quoted "the Lord" and on the Halloweens we have been in town, they are never around, and their lights are always off. Just needed to vent.

On a happier note, Geoff said many people loved the yard, and were taking photos in the cemetery. That't the response I was going for.

 

[im the goddess]

Here is the offending prop.

 

[screamqueen2012]

see, me, id march over there and profusely apologize then bring up what you just said, saying i hope the next time you have work done in your yard that we dont get up with the chickens either and rest on the weekends...........that you endured alot when with his work crews and will make sure your coffin doesnt bother him next year and you are sorry it happened.....

 

[Passi]

I'd totally do what Screamqueen said as well. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'd do that. Heh

 

[Saruman of Many Colours]

I'd say that the neighbor has a legitimate complaint if the coffin prop was indeed left running overnight . . . *shrug*

 

[texmaster]

Holy crap. Does he have balsa wood walls on his house? How the heck could that keep him awake?

We're lucky because we are surrounded by young children who love our setup.

 

[im the goddess]

Saruman, I agree with what you say. I'm just saying it was over the top to come over and complain about it when it is the only time in 4 plus years we ever gave them a reason to complain despite the times they have disturbed my piece.

 

[theworstwitch]

Was it a legitimate noise coplaint? If it was loud enough to be heard in their house it was too loud.
If not, I think you are right, they just find Halloween disturbing

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

Hey, nicely lit cemetary scene! I hear ya. We've been bothered by what some of our neighbors have done in the past and my husband almost always says there are probably things we do that bother them too. No one complains to the other and we all just hold our thoughts. We were one of those neighbors that was doing a landscaping on the front and back yards, and encountered problems with materials and with some of the workers, so it dragged out far longer than we ever thought possible. Believe me I was even annoyed we had started this project and couldn't wait for it to be over. It's such a shame that in our area where land and housing is so expensive most neighborhoods have houses built practically on top of each other and it's hard not to feel some impact from neighbors.

You might be correct about the motivation of your neighbor or could it be possible that while not noise related maybe the light from the coffin was like a slow flashing neon sign in their windows? I know something repeated like that would bug me. Just a thought. Of course that wouldn't explain why it was bothering him during the day doing yard work. Probably the idea of a coffin was disturbing to him LOL. In any event While some people are quick to mouth off to others I find most people I know will hold it in until they just can't take it any more. At that point it kind of becomes sad because sometimes things get said and feelings get hurt when the words or actions come out.

What kind of camera did you take your photos with? They turned out great and you have a nice balance of colors there between the colored lights and the candles.

 

[Countess No]

If you have had 4 halloweens in your home, and he has been your neighbor for 4 years, and this was the first time he complained, maybe he could hear the coffin noise and it bugged him. If he complained and was a jerk every year, I'd think he hated halloween and was out ta get me.

I don't leave halloween or christmas displays run and lit overnight, ever.

Your point about putting up with his noise and him not being able to handle your noise is valid. Neighbors have to be able to give each other a pass once in awhile. You were disturbed by his noise, and he should have been able to take your halloween noise for a few days.

People don't think of that, though.

I wouldn't turn any props off during the day, period, unless I had a very ill neighbor or s neighbor with a baby that couldn't sleep. Adults can take a squeaky motor noise for a few days. I'd research local noise and disturbance codes and use those to run my haunt. I'd stay within those and then he can't complain, legally.

Love your stuff, and the coffin. I hope never to be old (too late) or live next to old people.

 

[sookie]

I never try to give neighbors any reason for any type of complaints. Which is why I decorate day of and I shut it all down at 8pm on Halloween night. It may suck or not be the best, but the last thing I want is a neighbor who has it in their head I am difficult, even though I am not.

Personally I would not have left the prop running. But that's me, and mistakes happen. I've also watched some of my other neighbors go from one small incident to all out war. It never ends well. The man may or may not have a legitimate gripe but unless he's damaging property I'd just apologize he was disturbed by the noise and leave it that. I wouldn't go out of my way to make it annoying the following year, that is inviting trouble.

If he does anything that bothers you I'd bring it up to him then. politely. Just don't give anyone a reason to show you are difficult to deal with, like I said it never ends well.

 

[pumpkinpie]

Though I'm inclined to say it couldn't have been loud enough to prevent him from sleeping I've also sat here for 4 hrs with a massive migraine and the kid across the street has been playing/dribbling a basketball (FOR 4 HOURS!!!!) It's to the point my mind is fixated on it!!!

If it was me I'd take the high road. If I were to confront him at all it would be to request that next time he take his frustrations up with me vs my teenage son.

 

[im the goddess]

Was it a legitimate noise coplaint? If it was loud enough to be heard in their house it was too loud.
If not, I think you are right, they just find Halloween disturbing

I wouldn't think so, but who really knows. His house is at least 125 feet or more across the street from ours. We sleep with our window cracked every night with a fan running, and I wouldn't have been able to hear it myself. My window is over the garage, and the coffin was placed about 12 feet from the garage.

What kind of camera did you take your photos with? They turned out great and you have a nice balance of colors there between the colored lights and the candles.

Thank you, the photos were taken last year, and were either taken with my cell phone, a Samsung S4 or a Nikon cool pix from Costco. Last year was my first year trying to do lighting with spot lights and candles. I used blue spotlights on the tombstones with little mini LED spots on individual tombstones for added effect, and battery operated LED candles (also from Costco).

And, I would never intentionally bother someone. We have been in this house since 2001, and this is the first complaint we have ever received period. It was one night, and a misjudgment of my son. I told him he should have turned it off at the end of Trick or Treating and not let it run all night. If I had been home, I would have put the coffin in the garage at the end of the night, but it would have been too much for him to have moved by himself.

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

I think haunters here put a lot of time and effort into their haunts and as such would never intentionally do something to irritate their neighbors. We love what we do and want to see it continue on and not get the neighborhood in a tizzy. I'm saying that just so you know that has never been a thought in my mind ever.

I find while most cellphone cameras have come a long way since my first Nokia one as far as photo quality, they still aren't there for really low-light shots. We have (although don't use any more) a old Sony Handicam that was made with a really low luxe rating and a Sony Cybershot. Both had memory sticks as I recall but we grew tired of the transferring of photos/videos from them as technology advanced. Hubby said we also had a Casio with an SD card, so yet another file storage factor. Since then we have hated to buy a dedicated camera, so have held off, and make do. It's times like Halloween that I really miss the really low-light capability. I did take a few LED spot-lit shots with my old iPhone 4S this year that came out nicely. The LED spots from Gemmy were pretty intense so that helped. Very happy with my Gemmy spots. Were your regular spots LED or something else? I saw some nice colored tombstones with a CFL too.

BTW were the Costco candles real wax or plastic? I really like their glow and keep my eyes out for plastic ones that can stand up to our inner valley heat during storage. Thanks.

 

[Blarghity]

My reply would have been "tough $h!+, I can make all the noise I want 8 am to 10 pm week days, 9 am to 10 pm weekends. So sayth the LAW." In fact, this has been my response to people who complain that my dog's occasional barking is bothering them. On top of the township ordinance, the police policy is no citations without repeat verified complaints.

Given some of the stuff that happened this year with haunt and display tamperings by neighbors, folks might want to get familiar with noise ordinances in their local jurisdictions and begin operating noisy props and lights according to the limits imposed by those laws. That way the law is on your side.

 

[Gym Whourlfeld]

Coffins are never a joke to some people. The older you get, the more coffins you have seen, with dead bodies residing in them.
Even small towns will have noise rules concerning construction hours because nobody needs to lose sleep because someone is running tools in the dark.
Maybe the disturbed neighbor has very good hearing? Maybe the small metal piece rubbing as the lid opened and closed made a sound he could hear?
Maybe it was calling his name! "E-e-e-d-D!
Depending upon how the next year goes,maybe next October you could make it actually call his name! (Insert Evil laugh here~)
Of course I am just trying to be silly. I live in a very small town and put forth effort everyday to Not upset anyone else, because this world is way too small to willfully create an enemy.

 

[Jenn&MattFromPA]

Oh, ugh! I'd be really frustrated about this too. While I agree that the coffin "should have" been turned off at the end of the night, it's totally true that sometimes mistakes happen and if you've lived in the neighborhood for years and haven't been bothersome in the past, it would have been nice (and polite) to have given you a pass for ONE NIGHT.

My husband lived in this house a few years before I moved in with him. We have neighbors directly across the street from us, and EVERY DAY they park their cars opposite the bottom of our driveway, making it difficult for us to back out at times. Right now, they have one car in their FOUR car driveway, and one car parked right across from our driveway. We have a boat and a trailer that we hitch to the back of our Jeep sometimes & it's near impossible to get it in & out of our driveway with their car there. In fact, some other neighbors/friends/family have even noticed this without us even commenting, because they have experienced the difficulty of getting out of our driveway too. This has gone on pretty much for YEARS now, and last year when our son was born, we had a few family members visit us and our driveway was full. My mom parked on the street and she parked opposite to their driveway. Later my Mom admitted she did that on purpose - LOL! Anyway, you can guess what happened - the across the street neighbor LITERALLY walked over to our house, rang the doorbell and complained about it!!!! Thank goodness my husband answered before I did, because I would have probably exploded on her. Even though this happened almost a year ago, I'm still mad about it and can feel myself getting angry again while I type this out. GRRRR!!!

Anyway, I told that long story just to say that I know how you feel and it IS frustrating. It's the right thing to do to try and let it go, but that's hard when you feel like you've spent years being understanding yourself, and then the FIRST FREAKING TIME you would have appreciated some understanding back, you don't get it. Big hug!

BTW - the coffin looked great!

 

[Countess No]

Though I'm inclined to say it couldn't have been loud enough to prevent him from sleeping I've also sat here for 4 hrs with a massive migraine and the kid across the street has been playing/dribbling a basketball (FOR 4 HOURS!!!!) It's to the point my mind is fixated on it!!!

If it was me I'd take the high road. If I were to confront him at all it would be to request that next time he take his frustrations up with me vs my teenage son.

That is so true. Old dude should never have gone off on your son. iI would get super mad about that issue. Adults should know to deal with other adults, not yell at kids. Especially if it isn't an emergency situation and no crime is being committed.

 

[im the goddess]

My reply would have been "tough $h!+, I can make all the noise I want 8 am to 10 pm week days, 9 am to 10 pm weekends. So sayth the LAW." In fact, this has been my response to people who complain that my dog's occasional barking is bothering them. On top of the township ordinance, the police policy is no citations without repeat verified complaints.

Given some of the stuff that happened this year with haunt and display tamperings by neighbors, folks might want to get familiar with noise ordinances in their local jurisdictions and begin operating noisy props and lights according to the limits imposed by those laws. That way the law is on your side.

Blarghity, the coffin was on over night, so, we were in the wrong for that.

Maybe it was calling his name! "E-e-e-d-D!

Gym Whourlfeld, that really cracked me up, thank you.

BTW - the coffin looked great!

Thank you. the boys and I made that as our first home made prop several years ago. I feel you with the car at the end of the driveway. The same neighbor has workers park opposite of our driveway every time he has something done over there even though he is on a corner lot and has lots of other space for them to park. I just figure they know my son hasn't been driving all that long, (didn't get his license until he was 17.5) and he drives a ford expedition, they take their chances. Tee Hee.

 

[SpiderMonkey]

I have to say that I'm a Christian attend a Southern Baptist church - which is neither here nor there - but I say that to respond that I have no issue with Halloween. So, if that is his excuse, it's pretty lame. I can understand if the lighting was an issue because I've had the neighbors behind us leave their security lights on all night and they shine into the bedroom window. I could go make a big fuss about it, but just tend to let it go since we all have to live together and get along. I HAVE gone over there when their kid was in high school and he threw parties until the wee morning hours when the parents were out of town. It might be a good gesture to go over when he is out next time and just say you're sorry if it bothered him and that your son just forgot to turn it off. You understand how something like that can keep someone up because it bothers you when construction workers start working on a project early on a weekend morning. Tell him to please let you know if there are any other issues in the future and you'll do your best to address them.

Maybe he'll then realize how petty it was to make that one occurrence into an issue.