[Myra Mains]

"Who are the people in your neighbourhood" I was wondering if anyone was willing to share some personal background and let the Forum understand who are the people that enjoy striking fear in others or just use halloween as a excuse to party? Who are all of us crazy Halloween freaks. List should include everyone from mother and homemaker to the unemployed.

 

[Myra Mains]

I'm a builder/contractor been in business 14yrs. Enjoy design and construction, this tends to come in handy for Halloween prop design and building. I enjoy the reaction other endure from my display.

 

[UknowMyname]

im a school photographer. little do these kids know that the man behind the camera is just waiting to scare the living daylights out of them >:') muahahahaha

im 24 , live in socal, and i enjoy going to concerts. im a huge punk fan and a little bit of a metal head oh and i loooove video games. Left 4 Dead is my current favorite.

 

[Bubbels]

I am a programmer, but love building things with my hands. Building things in the virtual world pays the bills, but building props comes with its own satisfaction. A couple years ago we bought our first home and my display has grown from there. Scaring ToTs is fun, but I think leaving them with a bit of awe is even more satisfying.

I love horror movies and have a rather large collection, specifically Zombie movies.

Hoping to get a PS3 this year so I can play Left 4 Dead, but for the time being, Dead Rising is my all time favorite!

 

[Moonie]

I am 28...and holding....LOL... I am a painter and a house keeper. I enjoy both and they give me extra time to do things around the haunting season

 

[Moonie]

I'm a builder/contractor been in business 14yrs. Enjoy design and construction, this tends to come in handy for Halloween prop design and building. I enjoy the reaction other endure from my display.

I need you to come to texas and build some stuff for me LOL
Gosh i wish I knew someone with your skills that liked excuse me LOVE halloween like we all do

 

[MsMeeple]

I'm an American who has been living in the Netherlands for the past 9 years. I work as a social worker with young people between the ages of 16 and 23 with a psychiatric problem like ADHD, autisme, borderline, etc....helping them to live a full independent life.
And oh yeah, I'm just into it for the party
No tricker treaters here, so not much choice!
Do make props though for the parties (see webpage)
Our obsession began when a dutch friend of ours wanted to experience an 'american' halloween party. I told him I'd give the party if he'd come in costume. Didn't figure he'd do it but he did. The rest is history lol Going seven years strong and the parties keep getting better and better!

MsM

 

[Muffy]

I'm Muffy, 51 yrs.old, come from a family that decorated every holiday & had block parties in between. My Grandmother started all this! She use to dress up every year as Anut Jamima from the pancake syrup bottle, she sewed all our costumes every year!

I've taken those traditions where ever I have moved, had a diner for 11 yrs in Nebraska thats where I really went crazy, we dug a hole to stick a 20 ft. tree in as part of our outdoor decorations! I keep buying every year, but when I found this forum I completely lost my mind! All this wonderful creativity & great people to share their ideas( and OH the IDEAS!!!) & the help in building things or just help & advice in general.

I started the "North Carolina Haunters" club & now I get to meet monthly here locally with other fanatics just like me!! I'm always on the hunt for new members to solicit, I even found some on Craig's List!lol Fact is ...in this group they all are way more advanced in their haunts than me & my builder....but we are learnin. I also started the online building group here on the forum!

As far as my neighborhood, well they don't do to much here but since I moved in people are putting more out & I just love that! This will be my 4th season here and when I moved in my neighbor told me they don't get tot's here. Well the school bus goes right past my house & that 1st yr. them kids watched me puttin all this stuff in the yard. We had 147, next year 179, & last year we lost count at 275. More & more are coming.

Our haunt is outside decorations but the most fun of it is in the house. We decorate every room & they come thru the house & also get a family photo which I take of each family. First year they were afraid to let the kids come in alone, so I invited the parents in & that was the start of it......now whole families come. We have a commercial popcorn machine & give a bag of that plus a goodie bag. I bake for the parents, they come to eat here>>>>no one is afraid to eat at our house! This year, because we have so many adults come, I am handing out small coffins to the adults with 5 of the gourmet chocolates we make. You can find the construction plans for the coffins on my web site.

I absolutely love what I do & I do it for Xmas too!
I have hords & hords of decorations for Valentines & St. Patrick's Day but they never come out of the boxes>>>>know why.......In those months I'm still recovering from Halloween & Xmas!!!!lol

My advice to you younger people>>>>DO IT NOW!!!! When you get older its much harder but still just as much fun!!

I'm a self-employed Chocolatier, we make candy for stores. Hobbies are surfin the net, making halloween projects, and anything Eric Clapton!! I love him ....he just doesn't know it!!lol

Glad to be in all the company of you fine fellow halloween folks as our beloved season approaches! May the force be with you!

the Muffster

 

[kloey74]

I'm a second grade teacher. Even though I don't live in my school's neighborhood, I've been recognized by students when they come through mine. They get really excited to see me dressed up. Our YMCA has been doing a halloween night for a few years and I was just asked to help out for this year's. I know I will get recognized and for those don't know it's me---I'm going to ask them in a creepy voice if they did their homework!

My husband has a computer background and now works for Xerox as a tech. He is quite useful for building things and making sound effects with computers.

 

[Johnson724]

I'm 40. I am in Law Enforcement. I have been an investigator in violent crimes and homicide. I am currently a Crime Scene Investigator and love it. My wife and I bought a house in a small nearby town to where I work. I have a 21 year old step daughter living at home with a beautiful 3 year old. (I'm Papa). I started decorating two years ago. We did a haunted garage thing and last year we moved it into the backyard and it was a huge success. I plan on doing the backyard thing again and thanks to this site have come up with a plethora of ideas.

I am camera shy (i.e. my posts in Members Photos).

Basically I go to work and deal with blood and gore and them come home and make blood and gore.

 

[runswithvampires]

I am 24 year old proof Operator for the past 3 1/2 years. I am a copycat artist ( finally labeled myself that) I also do some original pieces. I have my own accessories line in the works. I can make almost anything old or beat up new again. I'm very good at crafting.

I am the odd one out of my family and friends. I have always been very into Gothic stuff. I loved phantom of the opera , classic horror monsters ( Frankenstein , wolf man ect) and witches. I hope to go to school for monster makeup beginning of next year. very excited.

basically my life in 2 words art and books.

 

[nightrideproductions]

I'm a 16 year old student. I'm going to be a senior in high school this year. Building props lets me relax from school work. I usually try to build most of my props during the summer, since I'm home most of the time, and I have less time during the school year. However, I have been slacking this summer for some reason.

I also work in the kitchen of a local bowling alley. I also enjoy hiking, camping, fishing, etc.

 

[creepyhomemaker]

I am 35 yrs. old. I am a property manager/Landlord. Not the most glamorous job in the world but it leaves me lots of time for Halloween and my family. I am married with two teenage children 1 boy and 1 girl. In fact today is my sons birthday. My husband and I love to build things. Houses or props. The houses leave lots of leftovers to build props. I also love designing and decorative painting.
About 15 years ago we bought a farm that once belonged to my husbands family and we built a house in the back in what used to be a corn field. In the woods in front we built a "barn" that serves as our haunt 365 days a year. We get no TOTs. But have a huge Halloween party that gets bigger every year. I spend most of my free time working on my haunt, planning the party or some other weird stuff.

 

[heavymetalmama]

I'm a 29-year-old medical transcriptionist, wife, and mom of 2 boys, a 5yo and almost 1yo. I work from home, so get to spend LOTS of time with my boys. Hopefully soon will be able to quit my job to be a SAHM as we're planning on moving to a smaller community. Just looking for the "right" house and need to finish our current house. It sounds absolutely insane, but I keep searching for a new house, but it just has to be in a good trick or treating neighborhood and it has to be conducive to Halloween decorating (inside and out). I'm not sure what started my Halloween obsession, but it seems to get worse every year! I love it though, and when my friends and family think of Halloween or horror, they think of me! I love scary movies. I'm also a huge music fan, especially metal, but really have a huge range of stuff I like to listen to. I'm a True Blood fan and am currently working on the Sookie Stackhouse series of books! They're fabulous! In my free time (what's that?) I like to go to garage sales, thrift and antique stores, read, cook, and play Scrabble.

 

[Tish]

I'm 31 years old and unemployed right now. I live with my boyfriend and 3 cats near San Francisco in a town with tons of Victorian houses, ours is one. When I do work, I'm a preschool teacher. My dad passed away 3 years ago and left me our house and a little inheritance, so it has definitely helped, it has been tough finding work. I've decorated the house since I was in high school, last year we entered a neighborhood contest so we bumped it up a few notches. This year I hope to do bigger than last year, or at least get the FCG done. I enjoy going to concerts and reality tv. Hey, you need something to fill your time when unemployed and reality tv just sucks you in. I also love kids and hope to have some of my own in the next few years.

 

[TribalBellydancer]

I'm self-employed as a Medical Transcriptionist and a Tribal Fusion Bellydance Instructor and Performer. I also make costumes as a hobby. I'm currently going to school to become a Court Reporter (not as in a news reporter... as in the person on the steno machine in court or other proceedings, etc). I'm married and have a 15-year-old daughter, a 19-year-old stepdaughter, a 14 -year-old stepson, and a 10-year-old stepdaughter.

I've always had an obsession with Halloween and my husband and I had our first Halloween party last year. We ended up with 112 guests and had such a blast that we decided to make it an annual event.

 

[HeatherEve1234]

I am 29, married, no kids, 1 naughty dog. I work an uber-boring desk job, but it pays the bills. I also coach speech and debate, and my passion is planning parties & events. I like crafts and recently set up a dream craft room, now I just need to get myself up there to use it. I blog about my creations here:
My Craftastic Creations

I'm currently beseiged by weddings & the related parties - we have 6 friends/family weddings from July - October, + all the showers, a total of only 3 free weekends from now through Halloween- YIKES!

I "do Halloween" for the costumes & the parties. We (sadly) don't get many TOT's, I over-estimate them every year and end up disappointed. I don't do much to the yard except things related to the party, and I'm just not into haunted houses or slasher movies. I'm not into the gore, but I do like a dark/twisted tone, anything glittery, bright colors, and whimsy. This year's party theme is Wonderland - probably call it "Wicked Wonderland" or "Asylum in Wonderland" or something dark. I love puns, theme parties, and baking/decorating cakes & cupcakes.

I don't know how to build anything, but I just got a saw and a drill, so who knows what I might start trying

 

[Haunty]

Hi. My name is Scott & I'm a movieholic.
It's been 8 hrs since I last viewed a movie. lol Love most types of movies. Totally love the horror classics & can't get enough. Just turned 44 yrs old. But, I'm a kid at heart & refuse to grow old. Am married & have a couple kids. Have always been very creative all through my life, & used to draw a lot. After completing all the art courses in school, interviewed for Commercial Arts classes at local Votec. Instructor liked my portfolio but, didn't have enough sample pieces to get into the class. Took two years of Graphic Arts & graduated with honors.

Finding a job in the field was more difficult then usual & relocated 100 miles north of my home town. Worked for 2 yrs as a color proofer in a large printing company. We decided that we didn't want to raise kids in the metro area, & relocated back to our home town. Have always been a restless spirit when it comes to jobs. Maybe that's because of my art skills & get bored? It's been a year since the trauma of being laid off from my previous job as a Dental lab tech for 6 1/2 yrs. Still hurts but each day gets better. After two months of unemployment (was denied any benefits- unemployment, unpaid vacation, etc. Don't want to get into the messy details. But, I was forced to sign papers that weren't true.) I worked temp & searched for jobs. Finally found a job in Electronic Assembly (have 6 yrs previous experience) for a local company. Being over qualified & taking a pay cut of $3 less an hour hurts but, somehow I survive.

Volunteer at my local video store that I frequent, helping customers with suggestions. Am good friends with the owner & get rewarded with free movie rentals & sharing the latest movie news. Do have fish & a dog for pets. My allergies prevent me from having a black cat or even a raven. Would love to have a tarantula but, am out voted.

Have always loved Halloween & the love for it grows each year. Is that possible? lol Started Haunting in 1990 with our first Halloween party & haunted maze. Ended up taking the whole thing over after relocating back here. The party is different every year & so is haunt. Last year the haunted maze was 3,000 sq. ft., our biggest yet!

Have attended Horrorfind Weekends in Baltimore, Maryland every year since 2005. Am also on the haunt crew for the convention haunted house. Volunteer with the design, setup build, Q & A / lights on tour, & tear down. I'm a non-profit haunt consulter online & do that 7 days a week. Find it rewarding helping others all across the world & continue to learn things myself. This year was my first Hauntcon & even though I had to do it on a budget, I had a blast!

I'm so close with my haunting skills to open a professional haunt, just lack the funds to do it. It will happen some day just don't know when.

 

[DayTek]

My name is Morgan. I'm 23 and married. We have a cat named Tobias.
I live in Southern Ontario, Canada.
I've been a bank teller for 4 years and will probably stay in that position for a while until I feel the desire to do another role within the bank.
I love folkart/country stuff (although I'm definately not a country girl, I live in the heart of a city of 30,000) and that is my favourite stuff to decorate with. Gore does not do it for me, and although the cute stuff is, well, cute, it's not my decorative style.

I've loved Halloween since childhood and enjoy dressing up the house. Our neighbourhood does not vividly decorate, but does generally parcipate in the season.

I'd say I enjoy the party side of it more than anything

 

[MorbidMariah]

Currently, my husband and I work from home running our own business. And it pays the bills rather nicely, but it's not what I am INTO. I am a graduate of the Theatre Arts dept. of the University of AZ, with a BFA in Costume Design and Technology. I have worked in professional theatres from San Diego to Massachusetts, with my longest gig being a 3 1/2 year sewing staff person at The Old Globe Theatre in san Diego. I miss it, but I don't miss being broke all the time. Now I indulge my creative side for fun instead of for a paycheck.

We have 2 kitties who are spoiled rotten, no kids. Not sure if we will ever have any...we can't decide.

I do a yearly Haunted Halloween House Party, with a smallish crowd (12-30 guests usually). I have always focused more on the inside of my house and the party than a Yard Haunt...until this year. Now I am trying to build up my yard display to be as cool as the inside of my house.