# What makes a house good to haunt on Halloween?



## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Hello fellow haunters, I am back after a rest with some interesting news, there is a good chance I will be moving up to north Florida, and the wife and I are already looking at houses. I am trying to think of things that make for a better home haunt, and to try and find as many of these things as possible in the next house. So.....

What would you look for in a house to make a better home haunt? Please provide an order of importance. Maybe we could develop the Haunt Forum house buying guide.

Thanks!


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## Sinister (Apr 18, 2004)

Whereabouts in North Florida, HJ?


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Tallahassee


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## Sinister (Apr 18, 2004)

Ah! I'm planning on moving back that way here soon. I'll be within pretty fair range. Maybe we can finally meet. Would be too cool. You also won't be too far from grapegrl or Nefarious1 and Pete.


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## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

if you think that you might ever start doing a small walk-through haunt in like you garage i would look for a garage that has a front door and a back door (entrance and exit) also, i would look for big old trees so you could maybe hang a hangman or 2. Or even an axworthy ghost... just a sugguestion


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

I agree with FYF, trees are good to have. Any good-sized, well planted front yard would make for a good yard display. Skull and Bone's haunt is a great example of how foliage can be creepy. Let the Spanish moss have it's way with the trees, too. I'm not planning any kind of indoor haunt, so I would be looking for mature trees and bushes that the fog can roll around in.


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## NickG (Sep 12, 2006)

I agree about the trees... I would love to be able to do an axworthy ghost but I only have one tree in the front yard and putting up poles would be too obvious...

also think about street lamps too... they're a pain to work with if there is one planted right infront of your door.


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## grapegrl (Jan 3, 2006)

heresjohnny said:


> Tallahassee


Wow! I actually commute about 45 minutes to work in Tallahassee! If you need any info about the area or want a good recommendation for a realtor, let me know, HJ!


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## pyro (Oct 7, 2006)

yep big old trees
and evergreens so you cant see whats on the other side
no street lights in front of the house
and houses not to close together the more room the better


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## Hellrazor (Jun 18, 2006)

My house is situated in the middle of my lot. room on both sides of my house to walk around (down the driveway, through the back yard and out the sideyard) Dont take for granted all houses are situated that way....

I , also in my next home, will be looking for "victorian" style and also a big one for me is an attic window


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## Vlad (Aug 2, 2005)

1. Available TOTers. If you're living too rural, there's no use in home haunting if no one is going to know it.
2. Level or gently sloped property.
3. Enough property to put up storage and work buildings.
4. No corner lots.
5. Adequate electrical power. A big enough breaker box, and outlets outside where you need them.
6. On street parking, adequate street room to handle increased traffic.


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## slimy (Jul 12, 2006)

STORAGE SPACE. An attic, big garage, basement, outbuildings... whatever, you need a place to put your stuff.

Vlad hit the nail on the head as far as parking and all..... 

Don't forget storage space!


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Sinister said:


> Ah! I'm planning on moving back that way here soon. I'll be within pretty fair range. Maybe we can finally meet. Would be too cool. You also won't be too far from grapegrl or Nefarious1 and Pete.


That would be cool Sinister! First I gots to land a job.



grapegrl said:


> Wow! I actually commute about 45 minutes to work in Tallahassee! If you need any info about the area or want a good recommendation for a realtor, let me know, HJ!


Thanks grapegirl, we love the Killearn area, 2 story houses, lots of trees, and lots of families!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I love Oak trees with lots of spanish moss, and the area we are looking in has lots of that, is very family oriented, average size lots so there should be lots of TOTs. Gotta have the work shed and storage, and I am trying to avoid the street light right out front.

Another thing that seems to work in a lot of peoples home haunts is a nice big front porch. Anything else?


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## slightlymad (May 25, 2006)

Goodluck with the search.
1. Victorian Style
2. single door 2 1/12 car garage
3. Atleast 50' of frontage
4. Full length front porch
5. out door power supply
6. between street lights (i make them work for me)
7. Atleast 2 blocks off any main theroughfair
8. Private back yard for experimenting
9. Atleast one set of windows that look like eyes
10. UNDERSTANDING NEIGHBORS


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

I had three interviews in Tally this past Friday (700+ miles on the truck Thursday and Friday), all went good, one went awesome. Hopefully another week or 3 and I will have some news. 

Any other ideas? I think 2 stories, especially dormers are great for hanging things like FCGs (like Hellrazor's attic window). We are looking at one that has a nice slope down into the road, just right to pour the fog down.
What about cul-de-sacs, any experience with those out there?


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## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

we use to live in a culdesac and it was awesome for people looking at our decorations... that way they aren't holding up traffic if they are in their cars + you get to know your neighbors really well.
also, i would aim for a house with some really good sized trees so you have some leaves to cover up your wires and like i said you could do some hangmen or some other spooky things you could hang around


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## Vlad (Aug 2, 2005)

I've read where culdesacs are traffic nightmares once you've established a following. Limited parking, not easy to turn around, neighbors ticked off that their quiet back lane has become a zoo, etc.


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## Ms. Wicked (Nov 14, 2006)

...I really want a front porch and some good trees for hanging things in (make a crank ghost...). They would be top of my list! (Says she who bought a house with neither.) 

I've often joked with my husband about building a "facade" that looks like the Psycho House that we could simply erect and "attach" to the front of our house during October... I don't think even he could pull that off, LOL. So any Victorian house to me, would be perfect!

Oh, lots of outside power outlets...

We're going to plant a tree in the front yard in the spring. I think maybe some sort of maple, but we're not decided yet.


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## Hellrazor (Jun 18, 2006)

Ms. Wicked, when you plant your tree in the front yard, do yourself a favor and run an electrical outlet from the house to the trunk of the tree.. that way you will have an outlet out there too...


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## BobC (Aug 23, 2005)

*what makes a house good to haunt on halloween?*

Im also looking for a house in the NJ area and the one thing Im looking to get away from that totally ruins the mood of my home haunt every year is a damn street light right in from of my house. So Unless you want a spot light on your display stay away from the damn street lights. I have such a hard time using colored spots etc because the street light floods them out. Later all. :jol:


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## HibLaGrande (Sep 25, 2005)

A dark history, try to find one that was built on an ancient indian burial ground, where the owners tend to hang themselves after hacking the family up with an axe. Rats....cockroaches...spiders are all bonus items.

large front porch and three story turrets. a Large creepy old barn with a silo would be cool !


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Well Hib, all this sounds awesome, but I have to live in it too!


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## Ms. Wicked (Nov 14, 2006)

And all I want is a tree to hang things from, and ideally a porch! LOL


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## wormyt (Aug 29, 2005)

Well I will probably be moving in three years.....buy my house!!!! Its good for haunting and you would already be loaded with over 300 Halloweeners LOL


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## Ghostess (Aug 21, 2005)

At least one tree is a must. ( I really REALLY miss my tree that got blown over by Hurricane Frances)

Cul de sac is okay, I live on one, hence my haunt name Dead End. I don't get a WHOLE lot of traffic, but I don't really work it to get quantity ToTs. We live in a gated community with a LOT of kids which has its pros and cons.

LOTS of outlets for outdoor use.

Big garage, and LOTS of storage.

A yard that doesn't have too much big bushy landscaping in it that will keep people from seeing your props. I had to re-landscape mine twice because I wasn't *thinking* in the spring with I planted some foliage and stuff.


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## Ghostess (Aug 21, 2005)

Oh, and welcome to Florida (when you get here). One thing we have going for us here is mild weather. Of course... then there's the rain.


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

I think the ultimate house to haunt is any home with a Victorian look to it. Those houses just look haunted on their own so anything you add to it yourself is just pure bonus points.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Ghostess said:


> Oh, and welcome to Florida (when you get here). One thing we have going for us here is mild weather. Of course... then there's the rain.


Thanks Ghostess! I have actually lived in Florida since 69 (ouch, did I say that out loud!), but we are trying to get out of the peninsula and up into the panhandle where it is more seasonal and insurance is 'currently' half what it is here.


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## Ghostess (Aug 21, 2005)

Ah! Well, then forget the welcome part since you've been here one year longer than I have. LOL I thought you were moving from another state... that's what I get for not paying attention in class.


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## CerysCrow (Jan 22, 2007)

I think any historical style house is great for haunting - a true clapboard colonial, georgian, tudor, etc. All can be very spooky.


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## IshWitch (May 31, 2006)

Which are all common in PA. Unfortunately, down here in FL we are stuck with the stucco arched front homes and spanish style predominantly. There are the older homes that can be found, but you have to really go over them with a fine tooth comb for termite damage and soundness of structure.

I have 3 lots on a corner, (it gives me all that extra frontage, so I haven't had any problems, Vlad, but it gets tricky with people walking all around from off 2 streets) and our house is in the center of the property. That gives me a 30-40x120 backyard with some trees in it. 

I had Halloween in mind when we were house hunting! 
My list for necessary elements would be...
1 Yard layout
2 House location
3 Storage (which I don't have!  )
4 Outlets outside (also which I don't have)


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## slightlymad (May 25, 2006)

But what would be better to have in someone elses ideal location or upgrade to what you want after a few years experience in the house?


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## rasp (Apr 4, 2006)

If your planning a walk through a yard that lets you have well placed in and out spots.
A few trees.

A good driveway and walk. 

A front porch is ok but make sure your side walk is wide enough to handle both coming and going TOT's. 

A place with no gas lights in any of the front lawns. These things tend to be at eye level and can be a danger to TOT's ( can't see where they're going )

Personally any house will do. It's the imagination of the haunter that ultimately makes the place.


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## Long_Tom (Oct 7, 2006)

Pay attention to the stuff that you can't add or subtract easily yourself, like: gorgeous architecture; big lot; established trees; problems with streetlights. Outside outlets, you can put in pretty much anywhere. I wouldn't bother listing that as a criterion. 

Be creative with the problems, though. A house with a terrible streetlight might be fine if you move the display around the side or the back, or it has a good big tree to shade the lamp.

Two stories (or more) are good, because it gives you options on either displaying things in the upstairs windows, or else hanging hardware out of them (say, dropping a spider on a fishing line).

It helps if certain areas are more natural places to plant certain types of props. Your cemetery may look totally convincing in one part of a given yard, and totally out of place in another.

Cracked sidewalks are a hazard, but you usually can have them replaced, if the place is otherwise really good.

I suppose one thing is if there are zoning restrictions or covenants in the homeowners association that would prevent you from putting up as much as you would like.


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## halloweengoddessrn (Feb 14, 2007)

I dunno if building a new home is in the picture- but we just built our home 2 years ago. Our builder allowed us to add us much electrical as we wanted to pay for- it took us over 2 hours to go over the plans when did the purchase and even then on the day the electrician started the wiring- he called me and asked" What are these Halloween lights for?" We have a lot of outlets have way up the house as well as around all the eves. All these outside outlets are switched to 4 switches inside a closet inside our media room- so to turn it all off- I just have to open the closet and flip the switches! We also had a couple of GFCI's put in for water features. It really didnt bump up the cost of the house that much when you look at the big picture because to add them after th fact can get costly and when they start punchin holes into your house- problems ALWAYS rear their ugly little heads! Anyways- just my suggestion.


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## IshWitch (May 31, 2006)

That would totally be me!

I would be planning ahead before the first stud went up. I have to agree, adding electric can be a recipe for disaster. Just having them put cable into our block-wall house was a mess, so I know.


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## EvilQueen1298 (Jul 27, 2007)

For our next home, we're looking for a large front porch, two story, on an extraordinary large lot. Yes, don't forget the wonderful trees!! TREES, TREES, TREES PLEASE!
Chances are we'll probably have fewer ToTers than we're used to but I'll get over it.


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