# Losing the spark?



## chriss_nc (Nov 6, 2008)

I've been doing my haunt for 13 years to varying degrees. Almost every year I have added new stuff to it or reworked older stuff to make it better. The haunt has grown every year with the exception of the year that all my tombstones and cemetery fencing had to be replaced. The props got better and more technical each year. The crowd of ToTs also increased yearly.

Leading into the big day this year I just couldn't seem to get into the spirit of things. I had ideas for new props and props that needed work but zero motivation. I took apart some older props to be reworks and they still remain in pieces today. I ended up putting up a minimum amount of stuff and going through the motions. No FCG, no Axworthy and no cemetery. I was hoping that the ToTs would bring the spark back. No such luck. On a whole I just didn't want to deal with the haunt at all. Now I am trying to decide if I am going to wait an see how I feel next year or liquidate some of the props.

I've heard that there were a few folks that had the same lackluster feeling this year so I wonder it it was something about the position of the moon, day of the week or alignment of the planets. Normally by now I would be working on something for next year but there is even less interest than before. I just don't know why or what I should do now.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Not an uncommon problem for a lot of haunters, myself included I guess. You somewhat answered your own question when you said "the haunt has grown every year....the props got better and more technical each year. The crowd of TOTs also increased yearly." I think that many of us feel we have to up our game and make our haunts bigger and better each year in order to keep the draw. IMO, this can be the biggest factor in haunter burnout. Brad Goodspeed of "Butcher of Provincetown" home haunt fame said it very well. At some point you can't keep upping your game or you become a "former haunter" It makes sense when you think about it. You're at a crossroads right now. You obviously have a love of Halloween and the craft of haunting. Rather than sell everything off, re-invent your haunt to a smaller one. Downsize rather than make it larger. Simplify rather than make it more technically elaborate. The TOTs will still love anything you do and won't be disappointed. You might really enjoy a scaled back effort and that could fan the embers a bit. I know others will chime in as this comes up frequently. Don't give it up! The world needs more good haunters like you!!


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## Abunai (Oct 28, 2007)

I had the opposite attitude this year. 

I've been doing this for 9 years, and this year was one in which I was very motivated and put in a lot of extra effort to go bigger and to create a lot of new props.

I think it just goes in cycles for everyone. 

One thing that kicked me into gear this year was that I attended several (3) of the Halloween trade shows/conventions. I see that you are less than 500 miles from Columbus, OH. The Midwest Haunter's Convention takes place in Columbus, OH in late May this year. 

You should go.

Even if you are undecided as to whether or not you want to continue as a home haunter, you will have a blast at MHC. Lots of fun people. Lots of cool merchandise to look at. Lots of great educational opportunities. Lots of parties. You'd have a good time.

(I don't work for MHC, BTW  )


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## Plastic Ninja (Sep 30, 2010)

Honestly, the best advice I have is to take a break. Skip a year. Heck, skip two years even. Wait for that special thing to hit you, and make you go "Man, I'd really like to do that". 

Halloween should be fun. If you aren't enjoying it, back off from it. Don't flat out give up on it, but let yourself have time to enjoy it again.


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## matrixmom (Aug 20, 2011)

I feel exhausted after this year. I sold it all - (mostly because of storage issues). I kept the basics though - all my lighting, my skellies, some unique items, and the hardware- rebar,pvc etc. Def downsizing next year - my oldest starts college and there are priorities right??? Need the $$
Dont worry - you will get the feeling of doing something soon. And if not next year, maybe the next. Dont stress. Maybe just make one cool new animatronic and thats it. Something new for the kiddos, not alot of hassle and worry for you.


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## chriss_nc (Nov 6, 2008)

Thanks for all the input. I heard what Brad Godspeed said in his commentary video and it's absolutely right. I just need to decide which way to go but I don't think I will get rid of everything. Maybe a couple of simple years and see if the spark returns.


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## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

I felt like you 3 Halloweens ago as I was finishing up 2012 I'd lost the mojo. 

So with life getting in the way for the most part in 2013 I didn't do the big Halloween display I had been for 10 years and for me it felt GREAT! We put out a blow up and that was it! Not having to lug everything out and then put it back away was a welcome break. 

However, many people still came to the house looking for Halloween only to leave disappointed. Luckily for them, I got the mojo back this year, did the display, nothing new other than store bought and now I have the fever again. I've pretty much done nothing but think about Halloween stuff since the big night.

I think taking a break and not really doing anything new for almost 2 years was key for me getting back the feeling needed to renew my enthusiasm to do this crazy hobby at the level we do.


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## imax (May 22, 2006)

I understand a lot of the sentiment of the comments above. However, it all boils down to you and what's really wrong (and sometimes it takes a while to figure that out!)

So some time of inflection is a good thing. Take some time off if you want to. Go see other haunts. Nothing riles me up like seeing a great haunt (or even a terrible one!). See what others are doing, go to a commercial attraction near you (we're going to one TOMORROW that's doing a Christmas haunt! sqeee!), and if you live near Illinois, go on a road trip and visit Jim at the Ravens Grin Inn (it's a year round haunt)

One of the reasons I love haunting is that it offers me a creative and challenging way to do SOMETHING with my own two hands. Things that are different enough from the day job, but things I feel very accomplished with when I complete them. Is it possible that you've hit the level of expertise where the types of things you are building are no longer challenging? Maybe it's time to go learn that thing you've always wanted to but haven't explored.

The point is - explore something different and new before you write off haunting. Look inward and see what's really bugging you. Maybe it's an easy fix 

Happy Haunting,

-- I


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## Grimm Pickins (Nov 4, 2013)

This may be a little off topic, or looking in from a different lens - but my ever growing love for haunting came from my increasing disappointment in a life long pursuit - music. 

I have always been that odd duck, and the initial outpouring of my creative Halloween spirit was more in music than my yard. It was never something I did to replace the day job, but I was quite serious about performing for years. When my Lovecraft inspired country band dissolved (2006 or so) - I started looking elsewhere to get my macabre fix. This is when my friends and I started making more elaborate yard displays and carving dozens of pumpkins each year. 

I returned again and again to music, over the years. In between each time, I would take increasingly longer breaks as a bedroom musician. This year, for the first time in years, I attempted to put together a band. It looked really hopeful at first, distracting me from my haunting goals - but when Halloween was close, everything sort of fell flat. A lot of this had to do with my disappointment in finding committed players - but I suspect I also learned some valuable stuff about myself. 

I'm fairly obsessive about my hobbies - and I like to share them (playing music alone was never as motivating as playing with others). My passion can burn very brightly, and it can also scorch me when I reach beyond what is feasible. When that candle is out, is really hurts - at the end of Arkham Hollow (2006) I wasn't sure I was ever going to play out or record again. This band never made it that far, but I devoted lots of energy to it - and got little in return. 

In music, in order to get gigs and play out consistently, you need to devote a lot of yourself and time (not to mention money). Haunting is much the same way - save that you usually answer to yourself more than the ToTs - who are just happy to see anything you put out. Professional Haunting and Music have A LOT in common from what I have seen, even if it has taken me years to see it. 

So, maybe, let your weary soul rest somewhere else whilst you recoup and regroup. I know that someday I may just hit that point with haunting, and maybe, just maybe, what I've learned will allow me to take my rest in music (instead of my stress). 

And seeing what others are doing is good for the soul, to be a spectator instead of an instigator. Live music keeps my desire to keep plugging away, even if less often than when I'm active with others.


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## GrimFinger (Oct 20, 2014)

chriss_nc said:


> I've been doing my haunt for 13 years to varying degrees. Almost every year I have added new stuff to it or reworked older stuff to make it better. The haunt has grown every year with the exception of the year that all my tombstones and cemetery fencing had to be replaced. The props got better and more technical each year. The crowd of ToTs also increased yearly.
> 
> Leading into the big day this year I just couldn't seem to get into the spirit of things. I had ideas for new props and props that needed work but zero motivation. I took apart some older props to be reworks and they still remain in pieces today. I ended up putting up a minimum amount of stuff and going through the motions. No FCG, no Axworthy and no cemetery. I was hoping that the ToTs would bring the spark back. No such luck. On a whole I just didn't want to deal with the haunt at all. Now I am trying to decide if I am going to wait an see how I feel next year or liquidate some of the props.
> 
> I've heard that there were a few folks that had the same lackluster feeling this year so I wonder it it was something about the position of the moon, day of the week or alignment of the planets. Normally by now I would be working on something for next year but there is even less interest than before. I just don't know why or what I should do now.


It's not my place to go around kicking over the tombstones of uncertainty. You question whether you're losing the spark, even though it might be well worth considering whether you're even asking the right question, to begin with.

You, sir, are a collector of hobbies, a dad of all trades. I can't even begin to imagine what Brunhilde might have to say about this predicament that you now find yourself in.

For thirteen years, you invested time, energy, and effort into trying to make things bigger and better. Since money grows on trees, we won't even factor that into the equation.

Are you losing the spark?

Which spark? The one that you fanned for thirteen years straight?

Maybe it isn't the spark that has gotten lost.

Other things interest you. That's quite normal. You posted here for a reason, though.

Why?

If you've managed to lose a spark that accompanied you for over a decade, then it likely won't be found here. If it's here, then you never really lost it, to begin with.

You claim to be married to the most wonderful woman in the world, so the problem doesn't lie there.

You enjoy tinkering in the shop. Imagine the horror of not having a shop.

Speaking as someone who has NOT been a haunter for over half a century straight, now, I really have my doubts that being less of a haunter is any sort of real fix for the dilemma that you find yourself in.

Have you lost the spark? Or have you ceased to really, truly challenge yourself?

The spark of imagination originates in the imagination. It never leaves that domain. It is where it ever has been, where it ever will be.

The world will never have too many haunts. It can, however, have too few.

The spark hasn't left your imagination - You have. Trick or Treaters don't just visit your haunt - They visit bits and piece and glimpses of your imagination. The light in their eyes, the glint and the gleam and the flash, it all originates from that very same spark that you can no longer see.

That you don't see it, though, does not mean that it's no longer there.


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## Abunai (Oct 28, 2007)

Wow, GrimFinger. You are quite the wordsmith, and quite cerebral. 
I need to have you write my backstory for next year's haunt.


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## GrimFinger (Oct 20, 2014)

Abunai said:


> Wow, GrimFinger. You are quite the wordsmith, and quite cerebral.
> I need to have you write my backstory for next year's haunt.


And why do you need or want a backstory? What was it that you said in another thread?



Abunai said:


> This will be our 9th year, and we've NEVER had a backstory or a cohesive theme; just a hodge-podge of differently themed props.


SOURCE: http://www.hauntforum.com/showpost.php?p=804668&postcount=3

Create a thread for it, if you want one, and we can try to cobble something together. If you do, though, make sure that you send me the link to it, so that I don't overlook it.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I think occasionally losing the spark of interest in something you've done for a while is a pretty normal part of the creative cycle. Sometimes the well runs dry temporarily, sometimes you feel as if you're in a rut, sometimes you just get tired, and sometimes you just don't want to be responsible for providing all the entertainment.

Going minimal as a change of pace is a tried and true method that a lot of folks here have done when they weren't feeling the Halloween love in a particular year. It makes for a refreshing break and also makes the tear down a whole lot easier afterwards:jol: Some of those folks used the time to go and see all the other haunts they could never enjoy because they were so busy with their own displays.

As noted above, the spark likely never really goes away, but there are times when it benefits from being banked down for a bit before fanning the flame again.


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## WingThing (Nov 14, 2014)

Yes I loose interest once in awhile every few years. The weather here is not the best at Halloween. Now the mall does TOTing. My neighbors are mostly military and some move in and out every year. I gotten to the point were I lend out my props to them. It seems to help me keep going. I don't even use half every year so a lending I will go. The lost/theft has dropped a lot also.

What I was trying to say if your neighbors get more into it. It gives you a big boost for the year. I also try to talk to the parents and offer them some apple cider. You can't carry it on your own. This is what seems to work for me.


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## Dr. Maniaco (Sep 7, 2012)

Here's my two-cents-worth. (And by today's inflation, it's worth even less) During the year, I write down "Theme Ideas." Cemetery, Carnival, Spider Hole, VooDoo, Steampunk ... you get it. I find myself drawn to one more than the others, and the ideas start flowing for that theme. If it's something I haven't done before, (which is the whole point) the newness energizes me and gives me that spark. 

Then it's off to Pinterest where other's ideas are quite inspiring. I have to admit, I had more interest in the Office Haunt than my Home Haunt this year because it was something new, and I HAD HELP. Sharing your hobby can be energizing, too.

I have no clue for next year yet. I just don't feel it. Yet. (Maybe because it's Christmas) And I might not get that spark this year. But I'm going to go through the routine, and start jotting down Theme Ideas, and see where that takes me.


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## Papa Bones (Jul 27, 2005)

Good to see others get this feeling. Back in 2013 a woman I really thought was "the one" for me pretty much tore my heart out and stomped the hell out of it about two weeks before Halloween and I was still more into the spirit of things then than I could seem to get last year. I thought I was getting old.. Or maybe doing that "grow up" thing the family keeps saying I need to do.. Looks like that might not be it


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## thenightmarefamily (Feb 13, 2015)

Haunters burnout....Been there. I actually quit my dads haunt for a couple of seasons because I was just plain tired of all the work for a couple of hours of fun, but I got the spark back and even took over my dads haunt went pro for 2 seasons(wasn't the best idea) but it gave me a new appreciation for home haunting and I even opened a prop studio. Don't worry it will come back.


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## Troll Wizard (May 3, 2012)

_*Wow....lots of different thoughts and ideas about why your feeling the way you are about your haunt. This is why this forum is what it is, and it's not only designed to let people know about what's happening for Halloween, but it's also designed to help fellow haunters.

Anyone who belongs to this forum, understands what it's like to one day throw their hands up in the air and ask....why? Why do I do this year after year? What does it really accomplish, is it for me or for the kids and parents who come by to see what I've done?

Is there really a right or wrong answer to your delema? I don't really know. People here are willing to help and try to encourage you to keep on going with your haunt. Some say to downsize, some say to take some time off. There are those who've suggested that you need to see other haunts and get new and freash ideas (not that there is anything wrong with that suggestion, new ideas are always good).

But what it really boils down to is that....what do you really want to do? If you want to take some time off, then do so. If you want to downsize, then do so. If things have become so overwhelming, when you set up your haunt, then maybe you need to ask for some help in setting up and take down after it's over.

Maybe you need to let someone else run the show and you just kind of sit back and for once enjoy it from the other side! Maybe it's because you do the same thing over and over every year that it's become mundane? If there is someone you can trust and let them run it this year, it gives you the chance to mix with the parents and others who come to see it.

Each and everyone of us (including myself) can offer ideas and suggestions, and to encourage you to continue on. But as I said before it really comes down to one thing and one thing only.....what do you want to do!

I will offer some advice of my own for when after you make your decision....just remember to be happy with it! Don't second guess on what you decided to do for this year. So whatever you do choose to do......know that everyone here will respect your decision, whatever it may be! :jol: *_


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## chriss_nc (Nov 6, 2008)

Thanks All. After taking last year really light and only doing it half way I have gotten my spark back I believe. I believe that a lot of the issues I was having were lack of direction with my haunt. I just didn't feel like it had a theme. I'm going to work to resolve that over the next several years. 

My haunt started with and has always had a cemetery as the central attraction. Then six years ago I built a witch that flies above my garage and is very realistic. After trying several things to bring them together, including adding other witches, it just didn't feel right. Now I feel like I know what the long term vision is, thanks to some inspiration from some of Halstaff's products, I am feeling better and more motivated than I have in several years.


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