The OTHER Scary Dream

Well, it happened again. It's Halloween night and Trick-or-Treat is only a few hours away. And I have nothing set up. Complete panic sets in as I realize that there's not enough time to get the display up. Only this time, there's an added, more harrowing twist... I only have a handful of my props with me and I'm supposed to set up at someone else's house all together.

And then I'm awakened with a jolt only to realize that it's 3 am and Halloween is still 2 months away. The dreaded Halloween nightmare has visited me again, leaving me sweaty and shaken in the darkness of my bed.

I've had this dream before, but having to set up a few props at someone else's house is new and more off-putting. Yuck! I can laugh about it now, but deep down I know that my conscience is telling me it's time to get moving!

The project list is almost complete and there's a lot of work to do, so it's time to get at it. Stick around and see what's on tap for Highbury Cemetery, 2025.

Pleasant dreams!

  

The Nightmare

 

So here I am, enjoying these warm summer days when it hits. Out of nowhere...

It's October 31st, roughly 5:00 pm and dusk is approaching fast. And there I am, caught completely off-guard. Completely oblivious to the sudden realization that nothing has been set up in the front yard. Not one prop lit, not one tombstone placed, not one jack-o-lantern carved. The paralyzing panic is real. It's too late now. There's no way I can make it. I'm going to miss Halloween... 

I jolt violently from a deep sleep, sitting up in a sweat, trying to make sense of the completely dark room around me. After a few quick, shallow breaths it all becomes clearer. Sitting in the darkness of my bedroom on a summer July morning, I realize that I just had "my Halloween nightmare." Again.

It's been a few years since I've experienced my nightmare, but the thoughts of the upcoming haunt season (buried deep in the back of my brain while I take time away to enjoy the summer) have finally boiled back to the top. A warning that it is time to get back to work. Especially with the added pressure of haunt season number twenty and a need to do something really big.

I decided to take the summer off completely to prevent mental and physical haunt fatigue, and it was working rather well, but the internal alarm has sounded. Time to get back to it. Three months until the big night. It's now time to start planning, time to start sketching, time to start creating again.

It's time to fire up this old blog for another run in to the Halloween season. I have been sitting on a handful of posts, so I'll be dropping them shortly. It's the perfect way to get things going again. Come hang out for the annual black-and-orange transformation, I think it's going to be a great one! So much to do, so much to share.

102 days to go until All Hallow's Eve. Let's do this...

  

A Halloween Nightmare

So it happened again. That nightmarish dream that always catches me off-guard in the days leading up to Halloween night. You know the one. Where it’s Halloween night, trick-or-treat is beginning and I suddenly realize that I don’t have anything set up. Nothing. I’m immediately smothered under a blanket of panic and dread…

And then I wake up. It’s completely dark and I have no idea where I’m at. Confused, I look around. I see the clock. 3:12 am. It was all just a nightmare. Again…

For the past 3 or 4 years, I have had this happen, and I’m actually used to it by now. The stress of the Halloween season manifests itself in this same dream that always seems too real. It almost serves as a warning to make sure that everything is ready to go.

And even this year, with our new location and a scaled-back display, the stress begins to mount and the nightmare still arrives. Luckily, I seem to be ahead of the game this time around. I’ve brought most of my props to the new house, and I now know when my official neighborhood trick-or-treat is (Sunday the 27th, from 5-7, which actually kinda sucks, but I’ll go into that a bit more at another date…).

So my internal warning has gone off and the final run-in to Halloween is on! Time to get those last few things checked off the list and hope that we have a good turnout. 16 days until the big night. Are you ready?

I'm headed back out to the garage. Good luck, everyone.

 

I Will Be Ready...

I snapped to attention upon realizing what day it was. It was already far too close to dusk as the jolt of sudden horror materialized within me. As I looked out across the grey front yard, I noticed a side-by-side, single file line of tombstones stretching from one end to the other. I found it bizarre that my wife had placed them in such an odd array. Fencing formed a makeshift path from the driveway over to the neighbor's yard, ending roughly near the empty, cracked sidewalk. My dumbfounded gaze quickly flashed to anger as I realized that the yard was still barren. As the darkness settled in, I panicked at the realization that no one was on the street. Void of any movement throughout the entirety of the lifeless neighborhood. Where was everybody? 

No reason to visit this house tonight...

I jolted again, struggling to focus my blurred vision in the darkness of my surroundings. Where was I? I searched the space around me, trying to find some reference of location. My heart pounded in my chest as I noticed the red numbers beside me. 513... 

As the numbers registered, the reality finally became clearer.

5:13 am. I was lying in the darkness of my pre-dawn bedroom, dripping with sweat and heart still pounding. September 9. Another 52 days until Halloween...



It seems that every year at this time, the anxiety of Halloween preparation manifests itself into a chillingly nightmarish dream. And it's always the same thing. I realize far too late that it is Halloween night and I have nothing set up. And nobody comes to the house. I always jolt awake, fearing that what has just played out in my sleep-filled confusion is reality. Until I slowly realize that I am, in fact, still in bed, in the middle of the night, with weeks left to go before the big night.

This vivid, strange nightmare caught me off guard, as I realize that I am again behind in my yearly build schedule. It serves and an alarm to get going on some major prop building. And because of it, I buckled down this past weekend and really started cranking out the work. A few more trips to Lowe's and some serious building time in the garage will ensure that everything on my list will get done. My enthusiasm has returned (yet again) and I'm amped to make some seriously kick ass new display work. We're already half way through September, and come October 1, the real fun begins. Or is it madness? Either way, I will be ready...

  

And So It Begins...

The sun has just gone down, and it's nearing dark. October 31st. But I'm 45 minutes away, having dinner with my family. I check the watch. 7:30 pm. Oh my God! I'm missing Halloween!! I haven't put anything up! There's no way I'm going to get home in time to put any of my props out for the trick-or-treaters! Doesn't anyone in my family even care?? Panic turns to hysteria. How did it become so late and how in the world did I forget about Halloween!? HALLOWEEN!? The people in my neighborhood will be so disappointed...

And then I wake up. It's dark. The clock reads 4:17 am. Saturday, July 9. The sheets are damp with sweat and my head is pounding with a dull headache behind my eyeballs. Just a nightmare. The same one I had last year at this time.

114 days until Halloween. Time to get going on this year's props...