We were well and truly bit by the bug in 2021 and then we got ambitious! Shopping in the summer led to fabulous finds. From carport tents on sale at Costco (we thought three was plenty), scoring a major find with multiple fog machines, skeletons, witches and a dragon... There was so much that we filled the back of the pickup and had to tie down the load!
I fell in love with the "Newly Dead's" animatronic at Costco and the theme for the year was born! The devil is in the details, so we started planning on a whiteboard. Laying out the map and pulling out allllllll the rest of the "stuff" from the attic. OMG... what a workout!
We began working on the portal and finding small props to layer into the vignettes/ scenes in August. It took us six weeks to prep the portal, lay hundreds (yes hundreds!) of bricks for the dragon's floor and cemetery walls, add details, set lights, add in small and fun details like obelisks and jewelry, string garland in the chapel.
You know I'm hooked when Clifford is out hunting and calls in the evening. "Whatcha doing?" he asks. Me: "Oh, I'm just playing outside. Found a treasure/ stringing lights..."
People who came the previous year were "stalking" us to see "if we were doing", if we posted on the Halloween display page and flyers on the post boxes. They kept driving by to see what we were doing, and were rather excited to see tents. When they saw the portal, they could hardly wait!
Attendance was crazy. Word of mouth spread the news like wildfire, and we made it on "worth the drive" on social. I still don't completely know what it is or how we got there, but we had folks come to share the fun from the far south of Calgary. Who knew that no jump-outs (aside from animatronics), little gore and silly Halloween humor would be such a hit?!
We lost count on Halloween... and when you see the pics of the lineups... small wonder. We saw a total of 1310 people in four days!
It was so much FUN and we were so VERY grateful for our amazing neighbors, family and friends who helped over the 4 days and those who shared as they were able!! Thank you all for sharing the fun, telling us you loved it, signing the wedding guest book, asking for more in 2023 and supporting the community!
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