The haunt for 2000 was our best yet. I can't thank my crazy family enough for putting up with this insane hobby! Those in attendance were Evil Joey, Doctor Melanie, Evil Kris, Leslie the Spider Lady, and Kate the Zombie Chevron Employee. Evil Peg and Evil Joe Sr. were in the background, as always.

This year was a lot of work! Inspired by Steve's props on his TerrorSyndicate Website (check it out on my links page), I finally got around to building with Monster Mud. For more information on this go to my projects page, or, better yet, check out www.terrorsyndicate.com. My first design is a direct rip off of one of Steve's props, but I fully plan on coming up with some of my own creatures next year. The hooded figure (posing with Kate) is very realistic, especially when dimly lit. People thought it was a real person standing very still, waiting to jump at them!

I rebuilt Barlow and hung him upside down like a giant bat. Unfortuately, the lighting was minimal and many people had a hard time seeing him. Chaney's character stayed the same, but I rebuilt Rot with folded arms so he could fit in the new coffin. I constructed some large wrought iron cemetary gates for placement by the evil door. Skeletons were hung from chains over the entryway, and skulls were left in piles near the door. Fog and sound were applied, as usual, and strobe lights were installed way up in the alcove where the chains were attached. They were activated by remote control at random. There were no new additions to the gravestones this year, but I think I'll repaint them for next year. Since Barlow was placed in front of the living room window I had to move the Flying Crank Ghost to one of the upper windows.

The turnout this year was great! At one point, our entire yard was filled with people who had come to see the display. Word had finally gotten around after all these years! I really feel that so many other people have much more elaborate setups than I do, so it was really cool when a lot of people showed up to see it. After all, this is just a yard haunt, not a walk-thru haunted house (although I would love to do that sometime).

So what's up for next year? I'm not sure yet. Leslie and I recently purchased our first house together, and for a while, I couldn't decide if I wanted to continue haunting in our traditional spot, or to bring the concept to a whole new neighborhood. Ultimately, I think the haunt will continue on where it is - why break tradition, right? I'm planning to repaint the graves, install more lighting, and possibly to rebuild Chaney and Barlow as Monster Mud props. I'm also toying with the idea to build a Mausoleum for the front yard that could hold the Flying Crank Ghost, but I'm not sure if I have enough time. Stay tuned for details!