Wicked Woods Cemetery 2014

Mother Nature had her way with us again. She brought old man winter to help! We woke up early on Halloween morning to a sunny clear day. By 1pm, it had turned seriously cold and the rain started. It continues to rain, almost non stop, for the rest of the day and up until around 8:30pm...then it started to snow. The wind had picked up so that it was causing issues with props. Due to the weather, we did not put out even a third of our normal haunt stuff. Animatronics and larger props were left snug in their boxes waiting for a dry Halloween. With the wind and rain/snow, it was also impossible to video or photo on Halloween night so we have to work with pre Halloween footage this year.

 We still had a big turnout for Halloween. In our new neighborhood, we were told to expect between 600 to 1000 tots. We got around 300 due to the weather and I scared every one of them! At times, we would have huge lines of kids waiting to come up on the porch, and I loved every minute of it! I cannot wait for good weather to really put on a show.

I had intended for M and I to go as Zombies, but with the weather as it was, we opted for long robes to cut the wind.

 I went as Death and M went as a feral looking Vampire. Even my dear old wicKED mother came up and scared the kids by just sitting on the porch and screaming at them.

This year was a learning experience to say the least. Everything was new to us, almost like starting over at square 1! With my new job duties, stress levels were extremely high and time was extremely low. I hope with the learning from this season, 2015 will not only go smoother but better than ever!

Some fun facts about Halloween in the Wicked Woods:

• I own an obscene amount of Extension cords! I mean really! If you play the stockmarket, find a company that has extension cord manufacturing in it's portfolio.....it will go up from sales to me alone! 
• I am almost ashamed at the volume of fluorescent black light screw bulbs I own. We had to buy 20 this season just to convert the entire basement into the a total black light area for the party!



• Between the Facebook Page and the Blog, we gained 77 new followers this season!
• Views of the Blog were way up! We averaged about 1500 clicks per day with over 4100 clicks  on October 30th alone!
• Speaking of the party, it was a HUGE success and we plan to expand on this years to make 2015 even bigger.

• My worries about kids going to the front door and not the main side entrance were unfounded. I even put a sign up, but really nobody even attempted it. Good to know for next year.

• I believe I scared just as many parents as I did adults this year. 
• I would ask random children to share their candy with me, if they did, I gave them extra! If they refused, I would tell them I was going to follow them home and get it while they slept. 
• The Spoils! The next day we found some sacrificed items from the running kids/parents. A new umbrella, several coloring books, A HUGE treat bag from another house who spent way more on candy than we did! A brand new, unopened pack of AA batteries. A zip lock bag FULL of orange fudge. A pocked LED flashlight. A free blizzard treat Coupon at Dairy Queen. A tiny shoe. A fairy wand and un unopened Pepsi can.
• We tentatively spent 100 bucks on candy this year. If the weather is better, I plan on spending upwards of 200. 
• Community support was overwhelming. We had people drive by from day 1 and take pictures, video, and shout encouragement. On Halloween night, the comments from parents and kids alike made it all worth wild! I cannot believe the parents that thanked me for doing this for their kids and making their Halloween special. I truly was not expecting this reaction.
  Actually had the owner of a local funeral home tell me to call him, he would give me a casket for next year! 
• I am going to need more lighting. Going to special order some LED Green and Blue this summer for the haunt. 
• Going to incorporate a lot more wind ghosts. Had so many comments about how cool they looked blowing in the wind. 

• Need to plan something better for the upstairs Balcony. Weather did not allow me for much artistic license this year. 

• Going to invest in at least 2 more projectors. The Ghost projection really got a lot of attention. I would see people parked outside our house for 30 minute or more just watching it go through it's various routines. 

Enough talk! Here are the pictures of the 2014 Wicked Woods Cemetery. 

My favorite pic this year.

He is watching you!

The next day cleanup was brutal! Driving winds and snow! I was soaked and chilled to the bone. Due to work and my own personal set of rules around Halloween, I always clean up as soon as possible on November 1st. Old Man Winter be damned,we pulled it off.

We took this:

And turned it into this:

In just under 10 hours.

I had a kid pass by and ask "Hey, wasn't your house decorated for Halloween?" I told him yes but it all disappears at midnight....I think he believed me. 

The only thing left to even show there was something going on at this house is a vaguely coffin shaped print in the grass, a half a treat bag and a pile of ice from the fog machine:

You can still see the snow left over from Halloween night on the mountains outside our house:

Hope your Halloween was Truly wicKED!