# Eerie Manor is creeping to life



## jdubbya

Began erecting a portion of the walk through today. A long section of the driveway will be a narrow path through corn walls; pallets with corn stalks between the slats. There will be about 20 pallets used and I've already got ten of them placed, using a pick up truck load of stalks. Need at least one more truck load. There will be boxed in areas for scare actors as well.
We did a smaller version of this last year and it was very creepy with dim lighting and actors hidden in the corn.

Walking towards the garage where there will be an actor in a scene. The entire driveway you see will be a narrow walk way of pallets



















This is one of the actor spots; a 12 foot long area they can hide in and do whatever comes to mind as the patrons walk by in near pitch dark. There will be three of these scare zones









Figuring this year's set-up will need at least 11-12 actors/helpers to make it all happen and I have plenty of volunteers.
This will be an ongoing thread as we make progress, up to and including Halloween night so check in as time permits.

More to come!


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## [email protected]

The scare potential is HIGH. I love it.


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## jdubbya

[email protected] said:


> The scare potential is HIGH. I love it.


Agreed! Corn stalks are creepy to begin with, more so at night, especially if it's breezey and they're rustling. We're planning a compressed air scare, along with some "things" pushing through the stalks as people walk by. We can do a lot with this I think. I'm letting the actors come up with their own ideas so we'll see what they conjure up. I remember last year how it freaked people out being in close quarters with the corn stalks surrounding them. The corridor will be around three foot wide so we're playing on the claustrophobia factor.:jol:


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## Hairazor

Lots and lots of corn stalks give me a shiver. That looks like it has potential for some good scares!


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## CreeepyCathy

jdubbya said:


> Corn stalks are creepy to begin with, more so at night, especially if it's breezey and they're rustling.


EXACTLY!!! Corn fields/ mazes creep me out. Love everything about this. 
Have _always_ wanted to do the corn thing.  
Looking forward to watching this thread.


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## BIGANT

Looking good!!! I swear one year I will eventually do a walk through!


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## RoxyBlue

You go, JD!


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## jdubbya

Hairazor said:


> Lots and lots of corn stalks give me a shiver. That looks like it has potential for some good scares!


I think it will give us a lot of opportunities!



CreeepyCathy said:


> EXACTLY!!! Corn fields/ mazes creep me out. Love everything about this.
> Have _always_ wanted to do the corn thing.
> Looking forward to watching this thread.


Thanks. For us it was an inexpensive and easy way to make some corridors for visitors to have to walk through. It was all free!



BIGANT said:


> Looking good!!! I swear one year I will eventually do a walk through!


This is our last year for the walk through. It has been a lot of fun and given us a lot of great scares but it has become a lot of work in terms of set-up and tear down. I think we'll still use the pallet/corn walls in our driveway scene from here on in, just not have a big walk through haunt.



RoxyBlue said:


> You go, JD!


Mrs. dubbya says that frequently, while pointing to the front door.


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## The Halloween Lady

This is going to be a really spectacular end to a great run! I'll bet your neighborhood kids are going to be really sad to see the haunt end. But as long as you keep decorating and handing out candy I'm sure all will be forgiven!


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## CreeepyCathy

You got free corn stalks?  So jealous. The reason I haven't done the corn thing is because the corn stalks are so expensive. (And hubby won't let me plant a corn field in the front yard, dammit) Pallets I can find free, tho.
Sooo jealous. 
Again, It looks fantastic. 
Again, so jealous.


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## jdubbya

Got some more of the infrastructure done today. Fence and columns are up. Also staked in some dead branches for the witch forest scene. Love rebar and black zip ties.


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## RoxyBlue

I would so want to keep that fence and those columns up all year if I were you.


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## deadSusan

Very nice!


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## jdubbya

RoxyBlue said:


> I would so want to keep that fence and those columns up all year if I were you.


But if you were Mrs. Dubbya, you would not, and that's the dilemna!



deadSusan said:


> Very nice!


Thank you!


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## MotelSixx

Nice work. May have to borrow pallet idea next year. Or this year hahah hahah


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## jdubbya

*Finished the corn walkway*

Picked up another load of corn stalks this morning and got a few more pallets so was able to finish up the corn wall section. The first two were taken from the garage roof looking down.


















Patron will be walking towards the garage where there will be a cage façade spanning the door opening and a maniacal guy in a straight jacket running back and forth reaching for them.

Looking from the garage door down where people will be walking










One of the little alcoves where we'll have a scare actor to keep everyone moving and screaming










Another scare zone with a boxed in area for an actor, right at the exit to the corn walk and as the start through the back yard.


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## jdubbya

The narrow space they have to walk. The patio will have cage bars and two lunatic guys who will be reaching through the bars at them. They only have about 2 feet to back up!










One or two actors will be in this area, behind the patrons as the make their way through the corn. They can reach through, whisper, scream or whatever. We'll also have a compressed air scare in here somewhere



















You can see how dense and narrow the walkway is. We played around with some strobe lighting the other night and it is really creepy. Glad this piece is done. On to other things.


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## RoxyBlue

I see your shadow!

You've out a lot of work into this walk-through. Your visitors are going to love it.


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## deadSusan

WOW! That is fantastic!


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## jdubbya

RoxyBlue said:


> I see your shadow!
> 
> You've out a lot of work into this walk-through. Your visitors are going to love it.


We're hoping so!



deadSusan said:


> WOW! That is fantastic!


Thanks! It worked out pretty well and we got a lot of maze in for the space we have. I had the dog out last night and walked her through the corn walls. It was freaky! Made the hair on my neck stand up. We are setting up lighting. There will be a red strobe flashing down the main corridor and an axe wielding crazy guy will come charging the patrons in the narrowest part. My son and and I tested the effect and it looks really great!


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## [email protected]

Love the front yard (I'm a sucker for gargoyles) and the cornstalk alley of doom!


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## MotelSixx

Jerry, I didn't see the first aid station, the off duty cop, nor the table for the lawyers to sit at. Or was that only for 2011? On a serious note please say there is no corn in those stalks. You'll attract Bambi!


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## Headless

jdubbya said:


>


Jdubbya I just love watching your haunt come together every year. The dead trees look great but I have to say looking at this picture gave me a shudder down my spine as it is - I can only imagine how creepy it's going to be at night with the corn stalks rustling and brushing you as you walk past. A lot of work but I'm sure it's going to pay off nicely.


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## jdubbya

MotelSixx said:


> Jerry, I didn't see the first aid station, the off duty cop, nor the table for the lawyers to sit at. Or was that only for 2011? On a serious note please say there is no corn in those stalks. You'll attract Bambi!


We plucked all the corn ears off the stocks and there were a lot of them! The lawyers are coming over on the 31st, just in case!



Headless said:


> Jdubbya I just love watching your haunt come together every year. The dead trees look great but I have to say looking at this picture gave me a shudder down my spine as it is - I can only imagine how creepy it's going to be at night with the corn stalks rustling and brushing you as you walk past. A lot of work but I'm sure it's going to pay off nicely.


Thanks friend! Appreciate that. I'm glad I got an early start. I'd hate to be doing all this the week of Halloween. I'm hoping it will be a lot of fun and scares for our guests.


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## CreeepyCathy

WOW! WOW! WOW!!! 
I know you're not finished, but this is the BEST haunt I've seen.  Creeps me out. Love it!!!

still so very jealous....


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## lewlew

Thanks for the tour the other day Jerry! Can't say enough how creepy that was even in daylight. The idea of the corn in the pallets is just fantastic. A very modular idea and pretty easy to put up and take down. Looking forward to seeing more!

(Sixx: Lawyer, first aid, security guard...That's really funny!!!!)


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## jdubbya

lewlew said:


> Thanks for the tour the other day Jerry! Can't say enough how creepy that was even in daylight. The idea of the corn in the pallets is just fantastic. A very modular idea and pretty easy to put up and take down. Looking forward to seeing more!
> 
> (Sixx: Lawyer, first aid, security guard...That's really funny!!!!)


Thanks for all the help and inspiration over the years Mark! As this is our last year too for the full walk through, I'm glad you could see it being set up. The corn thing was your inspiration and I love it. I took your advice and reinforced the walls with supports. A world of difference. They're not budging! Hoping for an awesome year for both of us and to more good haunting down the road!


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## jdubbya

*Cemetery set up*

Did a trial set-up of the cemetery to get an idea of placement/spacing. It's in the back yard as an exit scene to the walkthrough. Will test lighting tonight. All the stones are marked where they go and will come back in the garage until the night before, since no one will see them anyway. It looks respectable.


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## RoxyBlue

(drooling over all the beautiful stones and wondering if JD would notice if we did a drive-by and snagged a few):googly:


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## Spider Rider

Sorry to hear that the walk through will be ending. Looking great and the corn stalk maze is fantastic. Love the stones every time I see them and can't wait for the witches! (Your tombstones, never have seen the Rolling Stones.)


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## Hairazor

I went through a corn maze a few years back and really enjoyed it, yours looks like even creepier! And your tombstones are to "die" for!


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## jdubbya

RoxyBlue said:


> (drooling over all the beautiful stones and wondering if JD would notice if we did a drive-by and snagged a few):googly:


I think I might notice. My "radar" is on high alert this time of year!



Spider Rider said:


> Sorry to hear that the walk through will be ending. Looking great and the corn stalk maze is fantastic. Love the stones every time I see them and can't wait for the witches! (Your tombstones, never have seen the Rolling Stones.)


Thanks! The end of the walk through is bittersweet. It has been a lot of fun but just setting up over the past two weeks has reinforced why we're scaling back. The corn maze is the biggest thing we've ever done in the back portion and should be a lot of kicks! We wanted to go out with a bang. I'm keeping the witches under wraps until the big night. If the weather cooperates and the whole thing comes together as planned, I could die a happy man!:smoking:



Hairazor said:


> I went through a corn maze a few years back and really enjoyed it, yours looks like even creepier! And your tombstones are to "die" for!


Thank you my friend. We're using a few less stones this year to allow room for an actor to meander through the graveyard. I'll put a couple out front and leave a few behind. Still have enough to go around!


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## jdubbya

*light test*

Loving the blue led spots from Spirit this year. The effect is very creepy and elegant.


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## ATLfun

OMG, that cemetery looks so professional. Thank God, your not in my neighborhood. I know it is not a contest but damn, I am already going to steal the corn stalk idea next year, and now your cemetery is on par with the best on the forum.

PS. Corn stalks were $5 for three/four stalk bunches at one place here and $25 for two three/four stalk bunches at another place. I see me growing some corn next year. :jol:



.


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## scareme

I love it all! The corn stalks look great. I want your fence so bad I can hardly stand it. And now the cemetery bathed in that blue glow is so creepy. Adding the witches will be the icing on the cake. Talk about going out with a bang. The neighbors will be talking about this years haunt for years to come. Good luck on the 31st.


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## jdubbya

ATLfun said:


> OMG, that cemetery looks so professional. Thank God, your not in my neighborhood. I know it is not a contest but damn, I am already going to steal the corn stalk idea next year, and now your cemetery is on par with the best on the forum.
> 
> PS. Corn stalks were $5 for three/four stalk bunches at one place here and $25 for two three/four stalk bunches at another place. I see me growing some corn next year. :jol:
> 
> .


Thanks! This is the most excited I've been about our haunt for years, in large part due to the lighting. I should load a big truck with corn stalks next year and drive down south selling them to haunters for cheap! I can't believe how much they get for them, when the farmers mow them down and compost them!



scareme said:


> I love it all! The corn stalks look great. I want your fence so bad I can hardly stand it. And now the cemetery bathed in that blue glow is so creepy. Adding the witches will be the icing on the cake. Talk about going out with a bang. The neighbors will be talking about this years haunt for years to come. Good luck on the 31st.


Thanks so much! So hoping for nice weather so it all comes to fruition. The witch forest will be pretty cool if it all comes together like we plan! I'm excited!


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## Great Pumpkin

AWESOME JDubbya! That looks Wonderful! Love everything!


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## lewlew

That lighting is just fantastic! Gives a lot of depth. I'll be up sometime this week to see the final look!


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## [email protected]

Great work Jdubbya! Your cemetery looks amazing. Almost as nice as my Walgreens version :googly: Thanks again for the house, spooky tree and cemetery decorations btw!


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## jdubbya

Did a dry run set up tonight and took advantage of the nice weather. My son took a lot of nice pics, as it looks pretty wet and windy for Halloween night itself. I'll have some video and pics in the next few days but here is a full frontal shot!


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## ATLfun

jdubbya said:


> I'll have some video and pics in the next few days but here is a *full frontal shot*!


Thought I had logged onto the wrong forum. :zombie: I seem to just set stuff up and you create fantastic scenes. I had a neighbor ask how I was going to improve next year, and I thought to myself- if he only knew how far I had to go to.

.


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## jdubbya

We had two local TV stations send crews over to film our display. Here is one of them. I'm the second guy in the feature, NOT the chainsaw wielding clown!

http://www.yourerie.com/news/news-a...en/d/news/news-article/_b4y03xSMky3zHEk7oLlqA


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## [email protected]

You're famous Jdubbya! I'm working my way up to that level of local notoriety. Slowly.


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## jdubbya

It wasn't one of my more photogenic moments! Soaked to the skin and windblown, but hey, the price of fame!


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## RoxyBlue

The video wasn't working for me (except for the commercial), so I'll try again later.

I love your display (but you knew that already, didn't you?)


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## ATLfun

I could not get the video portion to work either. However, that is still great recognition. I would love to hear stories about the corn maze section- what worked and what did not. I am totally doing the corn maze. It is within my building skill set and seems like a cool way to make use of space.



.


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## lewlew

Love it!!!


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## jdubbya

Another clip!

http://www.erietvnews.com/story/238...aws-crowds-on-halloween#.UnOiu8A6o2s.facebook


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## goneferal

Cool! Great job!


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## jdubbya

ATLfun said:


> I could not get the video portion to work either. However, that is still great recognition. I would love to hear stories about the corn maze section- what worked and what did not. I am totally doing the corn maze. It is within my building skill set and seems like a cool way to make use of space.
> 
> .


The corn maze was outstanding! Easy to make and take down. We made the pathways very narrow and had actors hiding behind the walls, who would poke their heads through the corn as guests walked though. The scares were incredible. So many people trying to back out saying they wouldn't go through it. A lot of them just put their hands up around their faces trying to avoid the inevitable! It was great and we're doing a version of it next year too in our scaled back set-up.


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## Headless

Love it Jdubbya!!!!! Well done!


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## jdubbya

*Eerie Manor 2013: Curtain call, pics and video*

So here is the final product for this year. Some pics and video taken by my son and myself. It was a bittersweet night as we closed the book on our walk through but we went out on a high note. So many great comments of appreciation from our more than 400 visitors. For two hours, we forgot about all the work involved and just reveled in the moment. While the weather could have been a bit more accommodating, no one complained and we filled the neighborhood with screams and laughter. So many great memories of the many years we did the "big haunt", but looking forward to scaling back and making our smaller set-up just as fun. On with the show.


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## jdubbya




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## jdubbya




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## jdubbya




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## jdubbya




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## jdubbya

My son made the video and did a kind of schizophrenic take on it. It's rather dark, but this actually reflected the mood we had set for the walk through.
Thanks for looking!!


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## Mattimus

It is great to see so many wonderful elements come together. Way to go jdub!


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## RoxyBlue

Your son did a great job on that video. Your haunt packs a lot of punch in a small space.


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## Hairazor

Yay for you, another celeb in the Haunt!


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## kauldron

Awesome!! Your set up was great. The video was really good too. Great job.


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## jdubbya

Thanks! It did all come together after so many weeks of work and planning. Just a fun night. RB, one of the things we've always had to contend with is space constraints but that's what made it kind of fun; to see how much haunt we could get into our small yard and narrow drive. This will really be interesting now that we're essentially cutting our haunt in half, so we'll have to get pretty creative in order to come up with some good stuff using less room.


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## Pumpkin5

:jol:Just an amazing haunt with so many wonderful details and wicked perfection. Really just a gorgeous display, beautifully put together!


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## jdubbya

Pumpkin5 said:


> :jol:Just an amazing haunt with so many wonderful details and wicked perfection. Really just a gorgeous display, beautifully put together!


Too kind Jana! Thanks so much! We had a great time and the visitors loved it!


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## BIGANT

Looks great!!!


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## fick209

Year after year, your haunt remains as one of my favorites! Incredible props! I am always amazed and just love all your pictures! Your son did a wonderful job on the video, LOVE IT!


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## fick209

Oh, I am NOT loving that huge snake in the tree, but it does look good


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## jdubbya

fick209 said:


> Year after year, your haunt remains as one of my favorites! Incredible props! I am always amazed and just love all your pictures! Your son did a wonderful job on the video, LOVE IT!


Thanks fick! Appreciate that!



fick209 said:


> Oh, I am NOT loving that huge snake in the tree, but it does look good


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## lewlew

Cannot express enough just how fantastic your haunt was this year (and every year)!! So many wonderful little details and elements in your haunt. Seems like every time I see the pictures something else I missed jumps out at me.

Fantastic job on the video. Your son did a great job of capturing the frightening experience of Eerie Manor this year. I look forward to checking out what you have coming up for the next year. even though you're scaling back, it just means you'll have even more detail to work into your display!

Congrats on a great night and certainly hitting your mark of a premier haunt experience in Erie.


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## jdubbya

lewlew said:


> Cannot express enough just how fantastic your haunt was this year (and every year)!! So many wonderful little details and elements in your haunt. Seems like every time I see the pictures something else I missed jumps out at me.
> 
> Fantastic job on the video. Your son did a great job of capturing the frightening experience of Eerie Manor this year. I look forward to checking out what you have coming up for the next year. even though you're scaling back, it just means you'll have even more detail to work into your display!
> 
> Congrats on a great night and certainly hitting your mark of a premier haunt experience in Erie.


Thanks Mark! Truly appreciated coming from one of my partners in scare! A lot of my ideas were spin-offs of things I'd seen you and others accomplish. Obviously good original ideas to begin with as they still worked well. The haunt landscape in NW PA is changing with Roads End taking a break and Eerie Manor downsizing. That can only mean one thing! Motel Sixx! It's all on you buddy!! Can't wait to see your pics from this year Mark! Your haunt is always top notch!


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## Kraken

Those are great pictures! Perfect lighting and grouping of props...well done.


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## IMU

Awesome job!


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## SCEYEDOC

J Dubbya Great job. Love the cornstalk/pallet idea. may borrow that idea in the future. like yourself, it is time for me to scale back. my driveway is not growing but the crowds are. my son starts college next year and as you know, haunts this size are not a one man show.Glad you got to spend time with your son in bringing something this memorable for kids to life.


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## CrazedHaunter

Nice job JDubbya, and tv coverage to boot! Love the lighting.


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## niblique71

I am amazed at your creatures, along with the entire haunt. Your stones are always spectacular. 

I love everything about it. I'll be sad to see it scaled down, but then again, I need to scale down myself soon. Either that or get help (mental and physical LOL)


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## jdubbya

Kraken said:


> Those are great pictures! Perfect lighting and grouping of props...well done.


Thank you so much



IMU said:


> Awesome job!


Thanks IMU



SCEYEDOC said:


> J Dubbya Great job. Love the cornstalk/pallet idea. may borrow that idea in the future. like yourself, it is time for me to scale back. my driveway is not growing but the crowds are. my son starts college next year and as you know, haunts this size are not a one man show.Glad you got to spend time with your son in bringing something this memorable for kids to life.


You and I are kind of in the same boat. My son is a junior in H.S and when he graduates, I'll lose my main helper. He and his friends have always been my main actors and I've watched these kids grow up and be my haunters for the past few years. Scaling back is the right thing to do so I can manage it with less help. I'm looking forward to seeing your haunt video. Always a crowd favorite!



CrazedHaunter said:


> Nice job JDubbya, and tv coverage to boot! Love the lighting.


Thanks! I was finally happy with my lighting this year.



niblique71 said:


> I am amazed at your creatures, along with the entire haunt. Your stones are always spectacular.
> 
> I love everything about it. I'll be sad to see it scaled down, but then again, I need to scale down myself soon. Either that or get help (mental and physical LOL)


Gracias! Downsizing it wasn't a hard decision. I'm not getting any younger, and while part of me will miss the bigger walkthrough, we have some ideas that will allow a smaller mini walk through in less space, with a lot less work. Looking forward to that!


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## theundeadofnight

Fine work jdubbya . This photo is my favorite . 


jdubbya said:


>


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## hpropman

another great haunt!


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## halloween71

As always perfect!!!!


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