[GOMG]

Yard Haunt vs. Yard Display

Today I pose a question to Halloween enthusiasts alike. Which do you do: a yard haunt or a yard display? When I started my Halloween roots I was destined to build props and create a yard haunt. I had friends come over and we would portray Movie Maniacs to get the best scares while roaming the graveyard. My display got bigger and bigger, I added some vintage pieces and even modern inflatables. Over time I wanted to do less scary and more “Classic Spooky” As my display evolved I kept leaning toward loving that vintage look. So here we are now in current time in a new house and there are no elements of a yard haunt left. I would consider this a “yard display” I couldn’t be happier with the look “although my farmer has not delivered the corn stalks yet”. I have three other scenes not pictured to the display but all are decorative following the vintage motif.

So my question is: Do you have a yard haunt or a yard display? Secondly how has your decorating evolved over time? Also I want it to be very clear I love all Halloween Displays from only one pumpkin on the porch to a full on Asylum in the front yard  PLEASE FEEL FREE POST PICS TOO!!!

Halloween 2012


Halloween 2014

 

[blowmoldcrazy]

The pumpkin buntings look awesome!!!! great idea!! I rather a yard display, my display has evolved from being just a few randomly placed blowmolds outside, to a display that has scenes for each type of blowmold.

 

[Palladino]

I guess it depends on the definition. I define 'yard display' as non-interactive. That's what I do in the front yard. A 'haunt' has people going through and getting up close and personal with the displays and the haunters. I do a yard haunt in the garage and back yard. The workshop is attached to the garage but is a display because I don't allow people to walk through there - only haunters who pop in to scare them through the glass!

 

[huchon]

I would say I have a yard display as the tots do not walk through the display. It would be great to make a haunt one year but I am too afraid of someone tripping or getting hurt then turning around to sue me.

 

[Skeletoncrew]

I love the buntings and vintage blow molds!!

Ummm .. I guess our house could be a little of both display and haunt. I make it a tad spooky, but also approachable for the smaller kids, since we get a lot!

This was last year. We also had singing pumpkins and a fog machine/ chiller running.

 

[Madame Leota]

Mine would be a display, as everything is contained inside the cemetery fence and no one can walk through. Occasionally, we've had someone in costume provide a scare or two but nothing really interactive.

 

[GOMG]

the pumpkin buntings look awesome!!!! Great idea!! I rather a yard display, my display has evolved from being just a few randomly placed blowmolds outside, to a display that has scenes for each type of blowmold.

thanks bmc!!!!!

 

[GOMG]

Skeleton crew I love those pics!!! That leaping skeleton is epic!!!

 

[GOMG]

I think I gather what most think thus far is a yard haunt would need to be interactive while a display would be simply for viewing. I have seen some yard haunts that are jaw dropping but not interactive. For example a yard that looks "haunted" graves, skeletons, corpses etc vs. a yard that looks more approachable I suppose is the word. I wonder have we come up with a definition for what a yard haunt is exactly? To me I would think it is a form of yard decorating in which was designed to frighten and or entertain its guests with or without human interaction. To make one believe the presence of paranormal or unexplained danger may dwell within the display

 

[RedSonja]

Mine is certainly more of a display. Although, I do try to "haunt" my porch up a bit by adding more animated props.

My niece asked me if someone was gonna jump out at her when she came by for trick-or-treats...I said... maybe! (Gotta keep her on her toes!)

 

[Jenn&MattFromPA]

Hmm... I don't think I have a very good picture to illustrate it (photos & a good video are more of a priority this year), but I consider our yard to be more of a haunt than a display. To me a "yard display" is just for looking at with a path right to the front door for candy. It could be any kind of scene, but mainly just still/static props & decor.

I consider a "yard haunt" to still be a display, but with added moving props, startle props, perhaps people dressing up & moving around the haunt, and a slightly more interactive path that might get you closer to different scenes. And that is what we have/we do.

The center of our front yard has a big tree with a round planting bed underneath it. We stage our graveyard on the right front corner of the house and that is fenced off so people can't get into it due to a LOT of electrical cords, spotlights, etc. But we make a meandering path around the tree that takes the TOT'ers around multiple scenes as well as by the door for candy.

Just my own opinion on the subject. I don't know if there's really a definition that will work for everyone.

 

[Oak Lane Cemetery]

More display here too. My son dresses up, but stays a part of the scenery. I go more for the awe than the shock.

 

[DarkhavenManor]

Always considered my yard to be more of a haunt. Given, there are no moving props other than the fogging cauldron we have. My reason for calling it a yard haunt rather than a display is because I've always felt that a display is temporary, but a haunted yard will forever be haunted, and I'm not about to stop doing that anytime soon!

 

[DaveintheGrave]

Yea, mines a yard display. Not a haunt.

 

[GOMG]

I love the different takes on decorating we all have. I do like the feeling that with a display I am not as on edge to make a scare work or have one of my "actors" tangle into electrical cords like the good ol days.

 

[DavyKnoles]

Ours is a full-on haunt complete with scareactors. The front of the house is highly decorated, of course, and it's gotten more elaborate year after year. But the only store-bought animated prop we use is that marvelous jumping spider from Spirit. The rest of the stuff sort of looks like the entry way to Party City if you know what I mean. Most everybody's seen it, so not many are going to be scared by it. Most of the props we use I make myself, and they're for the scareactors to interact with as the ToTers (victims! heh,heh,heh) pass by. This year we're adding a corn field to the graveyard that will host a couple of scarecrows - only one is alive, and a walk-though mausoleum that will most likely be totally webbed and house the jumping spider. I found a video on how to make cheap fake cornstalks for the cornfield, so now the living room is filled with them. It's amazing what you can make with some bamboo garden stakes, Hefty trash bags, small Crystal Guizer water bottles, floral wire, raffia, hot glue, tape and spray paint. Rose is making her own scarecrow costume - and a similar one for the real scarecrow that will be standing on the other side of the path from her. Since the theme has shifted from Rose's Haunted Graveyard to Rose's Family plot, we'll also have a scareactor dressed like a 19th century country girl being burned at the stake for witchcraft. For this we'll the witch burning stand prop I built last year. It has a fake fire controlled by a foot switch and it was super effective.

 

[Penumbra]

I really do a combination of both. I put up a "display" in the yard and "haunts" on the porch and in the garage.

 

[Boone6666]

hhhmmmm well I always considered mine a display although it is on my side lot and you have to walk though it to get to my door with some animated
pieces strewn about but no actors to scare but, my son said that if he did not go to the concert this year he would like too it just so hard when
it can be awhile between groups of kids but plenty seem to like to find something to take a pic with,
setting up today and problely the next two will post when I', done though so you can tell me what you think it is.

 

[LurkerNDdark]

Display. Very few moving props, no actors. As my building skills improve (hopefully), animated props will be added, but visitors will still be expected to stay outside the fence. I do this by myself, so I'm limited as to how elaborate the decorations can be, even if I had money to buy props.

 

[mariem]

I think of my yard decorations as a display rather than a haunt. I have a cemetery that I walk through when I am not giving out treats. Anyone can walk through my yard and take pictures with the tombstones (they do that a lot) and I have a ghost that flies from one section of the yard to the house and back again. I have a fog machine, some lighting and sometimes I play scary music from a store bought disc. My display goes up on Halloween day and comes back down that night. I am learning to make tombstones but other than that there is not a lot of effort put into it. I don't really think of it as a haunt though because to me a haunt is when people in costume/character are interacting with the visitors and scaring them. It is usually gory displays and trying to scare the bejeebies out of everyone. I think of the people that put a lot of time & effort into their haunts with animatronics, lighting etc and have help to run a "show" or do some kind of theme for thier visitors. I know some people invest a lot of time and effort into it and those are the ones I think of as haunts.I have never actually seen a haunt in person but some of the ones that I see on this site are "haunts" They don't have to be done on a massive scale or cover every conceivable square inch of real estate but it is what actually takes place on Halloween night that differentiates a display and a haunt to me. That is how I think of a "haunt" but everyone's definition is unique.

I go back and forth between the deck and the cemetery at the beginning of the night and as the kids are slowing calling it quits. During the busiest time of the night I stay on the deck.