2 days until Halloween

People close to my husband and I know that Halloween is our holiday. Ever since we have met we have done something to celebrate this day. Our yard had been home to a ghostly cemetary by night, dog log habitat by day.

The first year we really committed to doing the yard I had seen easy directions for making a "cemetary" fence using pvc pipes and wood. Michael worked hard and made 6 panels and tombstones. We put up some tiki torches, jack-o-lanterns, and spooky music. LOL OK, cheesy music. The neighborhood kids loved it.

The next year we added more panels to the fence and a gate in the center. I cut out finnials for the tops of the posts. It was beginning to look a little creepier. We added Marcus the carcus. He consisted of light-up bones & head and stuck him in a bed of leaves. Also, a few more heavy duty tombstones.

By the 3rd year the neighborhood parents would stop on by on their walk-abouts and ask what we had planned for the upcoming holiday. We would start setting up at the beginning of October and just have some lights on throughout the yard. This year I decided I wanted a casket in the yard. All I wanted was a 3' by 6' box. Keith (friend) & Michael went to work on it. What I ended up with was a 150lb, lined coffin with double doors. This thing is HUGE. I bought a glow-in-the-dark mask, feet, hands. We strung up a strobe light and fog machine. Zack, 13 at the time, dressed up, climbed into the coffin. When the kids would come, he would get out slowly (coffin was on a slant) and either start dancing or chasing kids through the yard. It was a very dark night and you could only see head, hands, and feet. This was our best year! We had a great time. The neighborhood husband even went trick-or-treating with their kids this year.

The last year we added an electric chair. The kids didn't realize it was a real person sitting in it until he started to get up each time. We put a strobe light up by it to get some sparking effects, but it wasn't really what we wanted.

Are kids were getting older and not really wanting to participate in the yard anymore. A friend of ours was helping out at our local Boys & Girls Club Haunted House. So who better to suck into this than Michael & I. That will be my next installment.

Oh, that coffin we made, now houses our rakes, shovel, and etc. You wouldn't believe the looks we get when someone new comes over and sees this massive coffin in the garage.