Welcome One and All!

For all you Halloween Fanatics....this will be a review and links site of the Best Haunted Houses in the country that my wife Lisa and I have had the pleasure - or displeasure - of gracing....

I've been a *huge* Halloween and horror fan since I can remember...I dunno...it just brings the kid in me out...by the end of September, our place is suitably adorned and we await each weekend with anticipation of which haunts to hit next....

We've been blessed enough to be able to travel quite a bit around the country and see some wonderful attractions and the cities they lurk in...and we're hoping to pass on the fun we've had on to anyone willing to listen in....

Friday, November 1, 2019

HALLOWEEN 2019 - Celebrating 15 Years of Apartment Haunting with The Great Pumpkin, 40 Years of Svengoolie, and Final Curtain Calls....

The 2019 Season proved to be one of major changes on a lot of levels...


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