Ok. Well, the day started out OK. It was sunny & Warm(er), around 50. We were still ridiculously behind. I had decided to not bother making my Lily Munster costume (maybe this week) & was going to just wear the dress I wore last year. None of the props were in place, nor were the fog machines. In fact, there was still stuff to be built. I had cooking to do, so I was of no help.

We threw stuff together like crazed people & as the actors showed up, we put them to work as well. I gave them a 4:45 call time to get dressed & put makeup on. So, needless to say there was a TON of stuff that didn't get done. Of course, I kept telling myself, it was all minute details that no one else would notice but Dustin, I, & the Whole of the Halloween List community. ;-)

Basically what DIDN'T get done was, different colors in the glow bottles, tombstones never got touched up, the pillars & walls never got shading or moss. Spanish moss was to go on everything, as was Hot Glue Spiderwebs. We never got cornstalks or straw bales for the trees or scarecrow area. The pumpkins are still sitting in my dining room, rotting, never carved. The Sky Racer never got put out, though we had lots of fun with it IN the house. Also the Monster Box trick for the Electric Chair didn't get done, nor did a few frames for my Haunted Portrait Hallway. We also never spliced Boris for the reaper & stuck in a Green Glowey Skull. I blew fuses on some of my flicker light controllers......I need to order at least 6 more for next year, as the effect in the one room it worked it was great!

Also, things got so busy, pics didn't get all done - as well as my web cam doesn't have flash & didn't work in the haunt itself or at night. Dusty said the little bit of video I took turned out great. I still haven't watched it. I had to tape it backwards, because we had long lines already.

By 5pm, when we were to open, we weren't ready. We had trick or treaters coming up & I had to give them candy & get the actors dressed & in makeup. We had a few last minute actors that wanted to help & came with their own costumes. Cool! We were finally ready to go at about 5:20 pm. We took some of the kids out in capes so no one could guess where they would be in the haunt. First, people were to enter through the cemetery, where we had a Zombie & I was supposed to be in the coffin as a Vampire & get their candy, then make their way down the side of the house, past a witch & the ghost in the crypt, then into the haunt itself. But only the little ones went for Candy & generally didn't go into the Haunt & those going into the haunt didn't go through the cemetery. So, I opted to find a spot in the haunt & left the Zombie in the Cemetery to entertain the little ones (he wasn't so scary anyway).

People Ooohed & Ahhed over the Flying Crank Ghost in the Crypt. It was lit well with Black light & the crypt had gargoyle sconces on either side of the doorway. We do need to figure a better way to light the inside of the crypt without disrupting the Blacklight effect of the FCG. We also had one of those flying bats circling in the crypt, as well as a small crows cage with a Mr. Thrifty 36" skeleton, a coffin with another skeleton, & various bones & body parts amongst the rats.

The greeter allowed 3-4 people into the haunt at a time & swept aside the drapery covering the doorway.

First turn we had a Freddy Krueger Dummy that was loaned to us along with a Frankenstein Dummy. Another Turn & we had the talking Boris Skull on a table with a guy talking through it hiding behind a panel.

Another turn & we had a girl wrapped in spiderwebbing & spiders with a rattle can.

3rd turn & you were in the dot room where we had an evil skeleton jester with a glow in the dark knife right ahead of you. This actor moved side to side, like an oscillating fan to give the illusion of being a prop. She scared the victims, then the dot person jumped out & scared them. We got a lot of good screams out of this room.

You left the room to find yourself in the Haunted portrait Hallway. This room was another good scare, but worked slightly opposite how I wanted it to. We had an actor outside the garage window & created a frame for him & cut out a circle for his face. We sprayed his hair & face with Glow in the dark hairspray & when the Blacklight was on everything, he blended in with it all. When the regular lights came up, he would talk, scream, or laugh & people ran! This was one of the actors that just showed up with a costume & had a GREAT time doing this. He's promised to do this for many years to come!

After leaving this room, then you come into the dungeon area. We had a cage built in a *shed* area of the garage that was added to let a large model car fit into the existing garage. In it we had the stocks & 2 skeletons in shackles, as well as fake candles & lots of spiders & rats. Also in this room was a metal cabinet with a faux flames on top of it (that was Supposed to go in the hands of our big reaper). In the cabinet we had a red light & a bumble ball attached to make the thing shake like something was trying to get out. I ended up getting into the cabinet & waited for people to just stare at the dungeon, or as they were leaving to burst open the cabinet doors & scream or hiss at them. I did get a few good screams out of people.

Then, they made a turn & here we had 2 reapers under blue lighting standing sentry. One was a prop, the other an actor. The actor also had a rattle can & scared the Bejeezus out of a LOT of people. He also kept switching spots with the dummy to confuse those who went through more than once.

After that room was the Mad scientist lab. We put up shelves with some neat stuff on them. Lots of glowey stuff under a black light, and tubes & bottles everywhere. I bought a fishtank & had it bubbling with a brain in it. We had a *Half* victim on the table. We built a table with a chunk missing & had an actor in a hospital gown sitting in a chair, leaning back on a pillow. We built a fake torso from chicken wire that the gown covered & made Great Stuff intestines. We also had bones & other stuff to look like his bottom half had been melted away. We had a stand from which there were IV bags & tubes going to him. We had a Barrell with a skeleton hanging out of it & Foam painted neon colors to look like a radioactive barrell. We also had in here the electric chair with a skeleton in prison garb in it & a strobe & fog machine under it. Dustin was the Mad scientist & he really didn't say much, but the actor sometimes opened his eyes & screamed. Then they exited. After a while, when the Trick or treaters were all gone, the zombie came into this final hall where there really wasn't anything & found that he blended all too well with the walls & all he had to do was say *Braaaaaaiiiiiiiiins* & people screamed.

All in all I think we had about a 300 person turn out, not including those who went through more than once (sometimes up to 7 times!!!!). We didn't take in many donations, mostly because the donation box wasn't very visible, nor did it say *Donations* on it. It was just one of those things that never got done.

But, a great time was had by all, including the actors. During the slow times, some of them would go through the haunt or get together to tell about how they scared someone. Things got really slow & we ended up closing down by 8:45pm, put away some of the pricey stuff & went in to eat & clean up a bit.

Things are still out of place, though the big stuff is all packed away in the garage. We're hoping to buy some more storage tubs, as the cardboard boxes have taken a beating over the years.

Once again, I'm amazed at what we were able to do in just under a months time!!!! All major building did not get started until the first weekend in October & it still turned out cool.

A few of our sponsors came through the haunt & were all very pleased at what we had done. Of course, we have bigger & better plans for next year & actually hope that starting in January that we will work on one major prop per month until October. Thankfully, the major building of the haunt is out of the way & can just be put together next year.

We will be sitting down in the next few weeks, when work & social commitments settle, to discuss what we liked & what we didn't & make the notes for 2003.


Thanks again, to everyone who gave advice & ideas. It was a blast!