How it started:
We've been geocachers for many years. A few years ago (2006 to be exact) we were asked if we would like to host a halloween geocaching party on our property. Of course we said YES. So, with a little planning....and over planning... the party soon took on a "haunted house" sort-of feel, and since our house is small, we did it outside. Of course, an outside 'haunted house' needs walls, and that first year, we made a simple maze out of plastic walls and 2x4s on one side of our house.
That first event was a 'simple' one night party for geocachers, but we invited our neighbor over to go through the maze before the wind tore it down. She loved it, and we figured maybe other nieghbors might want to go through it too. So we left it up a few more days (and repaired it every day it seemed) while she spread the word around the area. We ended up with a handful of families who went through and seemed to love it.
In 2007 we made the maze larger and more elaborate. We used our tax return to purchase wood to build stronger walls that the wind won't blow down.Every year we use a new maze layout so it's never exactly the same from year to year. We *try* to add something new every year so it doesn't get boring. :)
|
|
Monsters and blood:
We have a young child, and we know that parents with young children often have an internal struggle between their desire to get themselves spooked during Halloween and their desire to not freak the kids out "too much." So with that in mind, our maze has developed into what we consider a pretty nice balance of "Oh Cool!" with "Ahh! Scary!" We have some monsters, ghouls, ghosts and blood but we draw the line at what has become "normal" halloween fare. We do not employ actors to follow guests around and jump out.
However, some guests do desire to be scared in that way, and we encourage their family members to go back through and scare their own kids (or parents) if they choose to. |
|
What we aren't:
We aren't a big production. We have no funding or sponsorships from companies. We are simply a family that builds this every year for the pure joy of having something fun for our local community to do with their children. And so we can have a Halloween party for our geocaching community every year. We sometimes get the local businesses to help us by distributing flyers (most noteable has been Papa Murphy's Pizza in the past) but so far, we have not asked for nor gotten any funding from any outside source.
***If you're expecting something on the scale of "Mind Seizure" we don't want you to be disappointed, so.... don't expect that. |
