Shortly past the 2018 season, after working at my former
employer for sixteen years, I found myself promptly jobless, just in time
for Christmas, no less....
I found employment again in the New Year, but did not start
working until the tail end of February...in the meantime, after Christmas, as the search for a new job began, I found I had a lot of extra time on my hands, and began the
lengthy process of tombstone reconstruction....
Simply put - a lot of the stones we've made are quite old -
some over seven years - and while they have held up beautifully, some needed
some serious TLC....and this is where a lot of my free time was spent -
in addition to which, all lettering was refurbished with glow in the dark
and/or fluorescent colors...
Once finished - and that ate up most of January and February
- in between binge-watching entire seasons of Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Daredevil
and The Defenders on Netflix - we got
down to the nitty-gritty of what our haunt theme would be.
Our original plan was to do a Creature form the Black Lagoon
scene - we had been promising ourselves this for the last five or six years - but,
with the knowledge that this season would be our final one
here at Oakwood Apartments, we opted for a lighter and more classic ideal - we decided
this pretty much at the top of January, as we both agreed the Creature would
take too much time, and we did not want to invest it right then and there.
The Peanuts Great Pumpkin theme came almost on a whim, but,
the more we thought about it, the more we realized how well it could come
off....and indeed it did...sweet, spooky, and nostalgic all in one...
The various pieces took very little time, Lisa and I working together again, bouncing ideas around like we had not in a few years, and the main prop of
the Peanuts Gang Trick or Treating literally flew together in a few hours.
Also worthy of note is that 2019 marked the 40th anniversary
of the Chicago based horror host Svengoolie, whom I had been watching since his
first broadcast on June 16, 1979, the day after my 12th birthday....now how's
THAT for a present...?
The coffin lid we created took most of August to complete,
and we finished just before Labor Day weekend, in the nick of time, as they
say, as we begin our set up at that point.
Overall, we think it came off nearly flawless, our blow ups
worked marvelously, and the last minute addition of Snoopy on his Doghouse as the World War I Flying
Ace was a fantastic find at Goodwill for $5....
...and that Giant Skull?
We came back from a weekend road trip and found it plopped
right in our display, no note, no bill, nothing. We'd still like to know who
gave us it so we could at least say THANK YOU!!!
We know where we are going next, so the Haunted Vista *will*
continue in 2020, but in a completely new location, and probably with just a bit
more room for us to operate as well.
I want to extend my gratitude and thanks to Oakwood
Apartments (formerly Carrollton Pointe) for allowing us to indulge like this
over the last fifteen years, but, in particular, to the wonderful ladies who
worked in the office and encouraged us so highly, including TC, Amanda Trux,
Shelley Nicholls, and Amanda Gleim.
Dedicated with love and affection in memory of our dear friends
Tim Doakes, Annette Johnson and Kim Moore
...and where would this all be without some videos...?
....and to conclude THIS edition of the haunted Vista, a smattering of the creepy fun we had this season at various haunts and what our neighbors threw at us...
....and NO Halloween would be complete here in Dayton without a visit to the Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow....
....in conclusion, Dear Readers, remember this:
Halloween 2020 falls on a Saturday, it's also when we fall back an hour, and, in particular, it's the night of the Full Moon, which should give a clue to what our first theme in our new place will be...
...Lycanthropy is so under-appreciated these days...
UNTIL NEXT TIME
