# one problem with my neighbors



## wheussmann (Sep 30, 2010)

I have been Haunting my nieghborhood from the very begining, I was the second house built in the subdivision 6 years ago. I set up a small but good display for the 20 toters that came thru. and grew it as I had more and more to fright each year

word spread as the community was built and my number grew. last 2 years when the haunt was on friday and saturday. I had about 6 to 700 tot's

this year on a sunday we didnt expect as many due to School night.. but ended with 5 to 600 tot's and had a line waiting to go thru.

everybody on my Cul de Sac loves my haunt but they do have one complaint and that is the amount of candy they are handing out, due to the traffic I draw. they hate to not have candy for the kids as they come down the street and have their lights off.. but it is a lot of money for each house to have enough candy on hand for the kids

so I decided to have a a street party to discuss this with all the families on the street,and sat over several mt beer can, couple of mt bottles of wine and a few Rum and cokes and came up with a plan (before the hang over set in.)

the 11 other houses on my street will pitch in to buy candy and I concentrate on the haunt we will stage props down the street and signs directing kids past the other houses and building the scare. till they get to the end of the street. to the haunt. 

I already have all the teens on the street who come and vollenteer to set up and make props, (now i will have the parents of too,) they love the learning process and how stuff works then they find a place in the haunt to add to the scare...

I have to say I love this community i am in and how it has grown up around me and that the accept halloween. (okay all but one crazy woman and her precious princess) 

the votes are in for next year and it is a tie for Halloween town(disney show) and harry potter... so now my mind is realing on both of these.

before I moved here I lived in a very small town in upper Iowa. and it was a bible thumper town so Halloween wasnt a big thing there and I was an oddity. i maybe had 5 or 6 toter's a year. it really tested my ambition to set up each year, but i did with out fail. after living there for 3 years. i feel blessed by the pumpkin spooks of haunts to have the area I live in. and the support to keep going..


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

What a great neighborhood you live in! I was going to suggest that your neighbors pool their candy together like my neighbors do because of my haunt. Sounds like y'all had the same idea. Congrats! I can't wait to see what this year holds for you.


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

Sounds like a great plan. My neighbors started complaining about the same thing after we moved in and took over the neighborhood..lol. Now they just start buying candy early and have never given us a hard time. Our block is almost half a mile long, and we're almost at the end, so for everyone to do that here would be impossible. When we move in a few years, finding a haunt friendly neighborhood is in the top 5 requirements for a house. I'd LOVE to live in a neighborhood like yours!


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## FRIGHTGUY (Sep 1, 2010)

It's great that you are in a neighborhood that is so accepting of what you do and are now really getting into it along with you. Our neighborhood is hit or miss every year. This year there were maybe 50 tots who came through but no one on the block puts out any display and hardly anyone hands out candy. It's a wonder that we still get kids but I think that is only because people want to see if we are doing our display each year. This year I went to my wifes town that she grew up in to a street called Bender Ave and Man-O-Man do they do it up! They actually close down the block and every house puts on a show...I was drooling! I wanted to live on that block so bad. Trishaanne, you should check it out one year it is in Rossel Park NJ. There were hundreds of people walking that street and the surrounding streets and some really great costumes too. Overall I am jealous.


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

I hope you know how lucky you are. Congrats on the great neighborhood turnout!!! I am jealous, and I bet I am not the only one!!


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## sickNtwisted (Sep 29, 2010)

You're living my dream. I've always wanted to live in a Cul de Sac where all of my neighbors were as enthusiastic as I am or at least be supportive. 
Sounds like you've got a solid plan of action. Good luck!!!


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## wheussmann (Sep 30, 2010)

fist couple of years was ruff as one person on the block hated Halloween. but alas I think i got to him as he moved. and I recieved a good one in his place. 

I think as a selling point if anyone moves they need to be told that this happen on pecan Creek.... might raise the selling value. I know if I was looking and knew that i would pay more lol!!!

now to figure out what to do for the theme that was voted on of Harry potter and halloween town>>> only 342 days left not enough time!!


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## sickNtwisted (Sep 29, 2010)

It would be awesome if you could use a projector to recreate the floating candles and jack o lanterns they glamoured on the ceiling.
If I were you I would start by watching the films and determine what would be practical to do. Also I'd take inventory of my props and see if I could modify any of them to fit the theme.
Let us know how we can help!


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## Dead Things (Apr 4, 2009)

That's so cool to have a neighbourhood like that. There is one other house that decorates, there used to be another house that had a ton of store bought stuff, but he and another neighbour are feuding and I think he's afraid it will get vandalized. I live on a cul-de-sac as well but cars will drive in, drop the TOT's at our house, and then drive out!! 600-700 TOT's! That's crazy!


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## wheussmann (Sep 30, 2010)

I am trying to figure out how far I can run my axe worthy set up. down the street (and checking with the city on if I can attach to it) was thinging of having a snitch and seeker for quiditch on this.

from there i am trying to punt.


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## Vlad (Aug 2, 2005)

That's interesting. It seems that most of the TOTers that come to the haunt here don't even go on to the neighbors houses. My next door neighbor only got 18-20.


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## wheussmann (Sep 30, 2010)

Next year thats their goal.... I am at the end of the culdesac and its a long one so the toters hit em. altho alot do run straight down then afterward do the zigzag crawl back up the street hitting the nieghbors..

I am all for the idea as it gives me a chance to do somethings i have always wanted to try. by stringing things out to build the tension. some static props and trying to figure out how to make my axeworthy set up make the length or most of the street. the tension and line strength i think will be my down fall, but i am going to test the limits.

has anyone had exeriance with doing an axeworthy to cover about a 1/4 mile round trip?
city has given me approval to attach pulleys to the light poles down the street as long as total wieght is under 75 lbs and static lateral pull is less then 30 ft lbs.


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## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

Yes that is the same with my area I was told that the houses that surround my house didn't have many trick or treaters. The guy two units down gives out big candy bars and he still had half his supply left. Good luck to you Weussmann. It is nice to have neighbors that try to work out problems to resolve it. I am blessed to have great neighbors, but I just heard that my one neighbor next door might be moving so that scares me a little.


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## wheussmann (Sep 30, 2010)

Joiseygal said:


> Yes that is the same with my area I was told that the houses that surround my house didn't have many trick or treaters. The guy two units down gives out big candy bars and he still had half his supply left. Good luck to you Weussmann. It is nice to have neighbors that try to work out problems to resolve it. I am blessed to have great neighbors, but I just heard that my one neighbor next door might be moving so that scares me a little.


I fear when a nieghbor thinks of moving... at the end of my street is where dennis the menice lives... i guess that makes me Mr. Wilson.... they looked at moving if they could sell their house...so they went and rented a house for a month in the nieghborhood they we thinking of moving.. and thank gawd they hated it.. so there staying....
having good nieghbors is a great thing my luck i would get

"the unibombing methlab drug pushing bible thumpin overlysensitive to any sound call the cops cuse my dag bark out of turn and i didnt rake my leaves till friday trashcans weren't lined up, saw me naked through my window from the street, anti Halloween person!!"

good luck that you can hopfully keep yours or, get a good one in return.


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## halloween71 (Aug 9, 2007)

What a great neighborhood!


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## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

wheussmann said:


> Next year thats their goal.... I am at the end of the culdesac and its a long one so the toters hit em. altho alot do run straight down then afterward do the zigzag crawl back up the street hitting the nieghbors..
> 
> I am all for the idea as it gives me a chance to do somethings i have always wanted to try. by stringing things out to build the tension. some static props and trying to figure out how to make my axeworthy set up make the length or most of the street. the tension and line strength i think will be my down fall, but i am going to test the limits.
> 
> ...


As far as a type of string that can hold up to it, see if you can find an Army surplus store, and ask the person running it if they can get you a spool of "550 cord" it is parachute riggers cord, and has a tensile strength of 500 lb ft. It also holds up well to the weather. I use it for attaching all kinds of things at Halloween, as well as lashing skellies to trees or giant webs, as it will hold them well, while not showing up much in the dark(it is O.D. green, usually)


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

My brother bought a whole mess of those Xmas candles people put in their windows (battery operated) but made sure they are the ones that come out of the bases (Rite Aid sells them right now...$2.50 each). He then used 3 strands of very fine fishing line to suspend them from the ceiling like the ones in Harry Potter. They looked amazing. he used 3 strands so they wouldnt sway or move.


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## Bodybagging (May 8, 2006)

AHAHAHAHAHA Thats great..... congrats on great Neighbors. Years ago when we moved into a new house, and I started setting up October 1st for Halloween, I had all of my Neighbors stop by and make comments like that sure is alot of work for 20 kids... I told them buy LOTS of candy.... 4500 visitors that weekend the Neighbors were Blown away.


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

another idea. since i am a bit of a Harry Potter fan. you should set up a few dementors. they are freaky! I would also use a few deatheaters here and there to add to the fear! you can even do an old voldemort actor. with HP there's no limit to what you can do!


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

one more thought.

you can add to the realism by placing a small a fan underneith the robes to make it look alive!


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