Trick or Treat was on a beautiful autumn day in Michigan. We had a great turnout of children and James handed out a ton of candy and chips. This year we used the flexible trashcans that say toxic waste for the chips and that made the look of the house that much more spooky.

We had a car in the drive and noticed that the skeleton’s shadow were being cast on the car from the display and that really created a cool effect. I think we took a pic of it.

Lots of compliments from the Trick or Treaters and we really did not miss the giant spider and skeleton horse which were sold at a garage sale earlier in the year. We did add a fountain and creepy bird bath to the display but we liked the display so much better without the spider and horse as it was too cramped in the past.

Continue reading “Halloween 2023 Trick or Treat” →

The Halloween party was a blast this year. This was the year of football at the party as there were several big games (OSU/Penn State, Michigan/Michigan State) and we had several tv’s throughout the house, basement and garage tuned to those games.

This year we ordered pizza from the new pizza place, Detroit Pizza Factory and used Mattis Deli for the sandwiches. The party went overtime due in part to the late start of the Michigan game (Michigan won 49-7).

This was the 13th Halloween party that we have had at our home and will certainly go down as one of the best. The house never got too crowded as we had a pretty constant flow of people coming and going throughout the day (we figure our home can comfortably seat maybe 25 people at a time max in the party area)

Continue reading “2023 Halloween Party” →

Mom and Dad went to the annual Haunted Garage Sale in Dearborn Michigan. James had classwork and could not attend, but Mom and Dad represented the family well. We noticed that several people recognized us from past garage sales, both here and the ones we do in the summer to help raise money to buy more Halloween stuff.

Mom and Dad made several trips to the car with goodies and everything we bought was very reasonably priced (which is why we attend, its only $5 to get in).

There was a giant skeleton raffle going on for all attendees but unfortunately we did not win (we never won any of their raffles).

Continue reading “Haunted Garage Sale 2023” →

We started a little later than usual because most of the items that we wanted for the party we ordered online, but none the less it is a very special day when we get to go to the Halloween store and see the latest Halloween props on display with demonstrations and such. We did buy a couple items and we each used our 20 percent off discount coupon which has become a tradition for the family as each person picks out whatever they want.

Dad got a new clown for the kitchen which should be fun.

This was taken in Allen Park where the Best Buy used to be (it closed less than a year ago).

Continue reading “First Trip to the Halloween Store 2023” →

The halfway to Halloween vendor show took us 3 years to attend, but we finally made it this year. We actually never heard of it the prior two years and was hard to find anything about it on the internet. Despite that it was pretty well attended on a beautiful day in early May.

It is located on a farm on Ann Arbor/Saline road and it had 60 Halloween vendors. In addition their was a hearse car show and a Halloween art show. Plenty of concessions and even a couple “preview” haunts and escape rooms. The cost was only $5 per person and only Mom and Dad went to this event as James had to study for his final exam at Wayne County Community College on Monday.

We ended up buying several products including several t-shirts, a “Night of the Living Dead” gumball machine, and a used but full size animatronic. A fun time was had for both Mom and Dad but we missed James and thought he would have enjoyed it, however it was very mature of him to stay home and study, as he will have all of summer for fun and games.
Continue reading “2023 Halfway To Halloween Vendor Show” →

We had another beautiful Halloween night and there were well over a hundred trick or treaters. James handed out trick or treat again and made sure that by the end of the night it was all handed out, even some of the really good stuff that we had hidden away was handed out as it was a very busy Halloween. Afterwards Mom and Dad watched the new Halloween movie (which we both thought was kinda lame). We had done the same thing last year and we thought that Halloween movie was much better. Regardless when all was said and done it was a great Halloween for the entire family! Continue reading “Halloween 2022” →

The weather was perfect for the 2022 Halloween party so we opened up the garage to give the people the option to be inside or outside for it. It worked out really well but we realize we cannot count on it in the future since the weather in October is usually pretty unpredictable.

We had our best turnout since the covid year (2020) and the party was a big success. We had three 6′ submarine sandwiches along with tons of pizza and some of the guests brought salad. James had a pretty good turnout from his VIP camp friends so everyone had a great time.

We look forward to doing it again next year! Continue reading “Halloween Party 2022” →

After spending the night in Coldwater after watching the Spook Show at the Abbott Get Together we stopped off in Jackson on the way home and were shocked to see that the Spirit Halloween store in the indoor mall (just of 94 and 127) was opened. We went inside and bought a few items for our upcoming party in October. We are hoping to have 3 skeletons jumping out of bags and were happy to find 2 of those in stock at this store. Only 1 more to find and our Halloween needs will be complete, at least for now.

After our traditional smelt basket dinner at Audi’s, we went shopping at the tourist traps in Mackinaw city. We saw that the haunted house there was open so we decided to give it a whirl. All three of us went into the house and we all had a great time. The haunted house had some great animatronics and even a talking statue (projection) that gave us an introduction to the house.

Lots of scares in this haunted house and I believe this was the first time any of us had gone through this house (the one on Mackinaw Island is much older and we have done that one several times.

For the record, our favorite scene was the last one with the crazy kid animatronic running around. Continue reading “Haunted House – Mackinaw City 2022” →

Today we took a break from winter and did a little Halloween fun in February!

Believe it or not, this was our second Halloween break since we rang in the New Year, the other happened quite by accident in January. While Dad was getting his car window repaired he walked across the street to Michaels where low and behold, they were unloading a truck load of Halloween props at 80% off. The manager explained they were on the boat for months and just came in so Dad immediately called Mom who went to other Michaels and picked up some great deals of Halloween .. in January. And best of all, since no one knew about it, there was not a Halloween crowd at all and we had our pick of the litter.

James had college today till 11:30, then we picked him up and took him to the Grand Opening of Crypt Keepers on 14 and Van Dyke. The shop was great and we got several cool items including a Cotton Candy Candice Halloween machine and Mom got several t-shirts. We then went 15 minutes down the road to Gratiot and visited Screamers where we got a coffin shaped wine rack for the 2022 Halloween party.

January and February have traditionally been a time for working on repairs and putting together new items that were purchased after Halloween just to make sure they work. After Halloween we are too busy taking down Halloween and putting up Christmas but January and February, with the cold days and sun setting before 6pm, is an ideal time to do the “grunt” work for our Halloween display.

Below are videos of some of the items that we put together after the first of the year including the Cotton Candy Candice prop we just got at Crypt Keepers.

Continue reading “Halloween Store Grand Opening 2022” →