Fun Places | Savannah's Haunted House
Hype:
Savannah built a haunted house for trick-or-treaters.
Time:
Fees: None
Recommended Ages:
 | 0-3 |
 | 4-11 |
 | 12-19 |
 | 20-49 |
 | 50-69 |
 | 70+ |
Recommended Months to Visit:
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| Dec |
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Becca Miller, Tiffany Miller, Savannah McKnight, Brookelyn Powell, Lindy, Kailyn Roberts, Miller Dye, Tony Roberts, Killian Wagner, Ondylyn Wagner, Calliope Wagner, Anthony Dye,
This year, the haunted house started in the front yard, where we had a carnival setup. Guests went through a welcome canopy and got tickets they could use for bean bag toss, ring toss, axe throwing, Jack-in-the-box, and a fortune-teller tent. Tara was the fortune teller Monday through Wednesday, and I took over on Thursday. From there, they continued into the side yard by the canoes, where we had a witch and apothecary setup. We built a fog chiller this year, which kind of worked but still needs debugging. Then they went through the garden area, which had green lights, spider webs, and a giant spider. After that came a tarp maze winding around the west half of the grass area. Next was the back porch, which had the cannibal BBQ. From there, guests passed the gallows, boneyard, coffin, and graveyard. Then they entered the castle with the mad scientist. Exiting the castle led them around to the side yard, where we had toxic barrels with plexiglass tops and lights, which was a cool new effect. Then came the electric chair in the shed. Followed by a forgotten nursery filled with toys and dolls. Finally, guests went through the strobe light tunnel with netting and skulls, which led them back to the front yard where they began.
Monday, October 27 - Savannah did lots of homework. She was worried about getting everything done for the haunted house while keeping up with her schoolwork, so Tara offered to paint the signs for the haunted house if Savannah focused on homework. Tara painted some really cool signs for the spider tunnel and witch area. We all worked on last-minute haunted house setup, trying to get everything ready before we started at 7:00. It was very stressful for Savannah.
At 6:00, all her friends came over to do makeup and get into costumes. People who helped included Savannah, Madi, Becca, Savannah McKnight, Tara, Tiffany, Jeremy, Brookelyn, Lindy, Kailyn, Miller, Tony, and Killian. Ondy and Calliope came to hang out. Anthony stopped by for a bit, too. Calliope was very scared at first but then got brave and tried to scare the actors instead. It it was cute. We didn’t have very many people come to the haunted house, and there was a big gap in the middle with no visitors, so all the kids went inside to watch a Netflix show called Is It Cake?
Tara and I stayed outside to watch for customers. We had one final group come right at 9:00, so everyone got one last scare before heading home. We decided to close at 8:30 for the rest of the week. On Monday, we had about 20 people total, including family.
Savannah was disappointed because we didn’t have as many guests as she’d hoped for.
Tuesday, October 28 – Later, we all worked on the haunted house again. It was much less stressful since everything was already set up. We had maybe 25 people come through, though several went twice. During slow times, the kids watched another episode of Is It Cake?
Wednesday, October 29 – We had much better attendance at the haunted house. About 60 people came through.
Thursday, October 30 – By the time Tara got home from work at 7:00, the haunted house was already running. Andy came over after work and hung out with us. We ran the haunted house for the final time with actors. There was a steady flow of people but never a big line. The kids watched another episode of Is It Cake? afterward since there hadn’t been a slow stretch earlier.
Friday, October 31 – Halloween! After dinner, we went trick-or-treating. Cooper went with Dallin, Thorin, and Max for several hours. Tara and Madi did most of the rest of the ward and the area by Marci’s house. Savannah manned the haunted house entrance. She got lots of compliments and loved seeing people enjoy her hard work. Two kids even gave her candy from their bags as a thank-you when they learned she’d built the haunted house—she was so excited.
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Greg Dye, Laura Dye, Anthony Dye, Arianne Dye, Miller Dye, Kingston Dye, Ondylyn Wagner, Jaren Wagner, Killian Wagner, Calliope Wagner, George Stingley, Andrew Stingley, Friends, Neighbors,
Monday - The wind blew down lots of haunted house stuff, so Savannah was super stressed out after school getting everything put back together and finalized. She scheduled haunted house walkthroughs on Monday from 7:30 to 8:30, Wednesday from 7:30 to 8:30, and Thursday (Halloween) all evening but with no actors. She had quite a few friends come help on Monday and everyone had a great time. It was super windy so everything was getting blown all over. Andy and George came to walk through the haunted house, which was a nice surprise. After the haunted house was done, we fed everyone hot chocolate then pulled in all the delicate stuff to protect it from the rain.
Wednesday - We had just few minutes after I got home for everyone to eat dinner then we all ran the haunted house.
Thursday, October 31 - Halloween! A lot of the trick or treaters started right after dinner so there were already a bunch of people walking around as I was driving home from work. We ate dinner really fast then Madi joined up with Summer, Haley, and Chloe to go trick-or-treating with them. Savannah went trick-or-treating with Becca and Quinn. Cooper dressed up as Link from Legend of Zelda. He wanted to wait until Miller and Killian got there so he could go trick-or-treating with them, but we finally convinced them that they probably would be really late and he would miss out if he didn't go earlier. So I took him out. We joined up with the Rasmussens and Brookses and did a couple streets with them. Tara hung out on the bumper of the van to tell people where to go and pass out candy. We switched places later in the evening, but Cooper was pretty pooped out by that point so they didn't go to very many houses. My parents came for the haunted house then left when we went trick-or-treating. Basically all the trick-or-treaters stopped between 8:30 and 9:00 because it was a school night.
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Greg Dye, Laura Dye, Anthony Dye, Arianne Dye, Miller Dye, Kingston Dye, Ondylyn Wagner, Jaren Wagner, Killian Wagner, Calliope Wagner, George Stingley, Andrew Stingley,
On Saturday, I got up early and cleaned the garage. I finally put away the last of the canyoneering stuff and cleaned up my workbench while I was at it. I moved the four wheeler and trailer from the side yard so we could set up tarps for the pathway. We assembled the spider and built a mad scientist lab and made a frame with a screen on it for the projector. We put up posters around town including a couple on Main Street where all the little kids were trick-or-treating at the businesses.
We got all the speakers and lights and fog machines plugged in and got costumes on the kids. We finished right at starting time. It was a bit hectic at 7:00 at starting time because we had to troubleshoot some sound and lighting, so the first couple groups had to wait a few minutes but it wasn't that big a deal. We had maybe 20 groups come through the haunted house including some groups that went through several times. Savannah worked the front entrance. Madi was a witch in the castle playhouse. Kaylyn dressed up as the cannibal butcher. I dressed in camouflage and hid in the tunnel to scare people. Becca hid behind a barrel near the spider. The weather got extremely cold this week, so when there weren't groups coming through the haunted house, the kids warmed up inside watching Hocus Pocus. Whenever a group came, we paused the movie and everyone ran to their places. The Torgerson's from Richfield saw our post on Facebook and dropped by to say hi on their way home from Sea Quest. That was a fun surprise, and they stuck around until about 10:00 catching up and playing puzzles.
On Monday, Tara and I both worked all day. We both got home about a half hour before the haunted house started. We all ate leftovers really quick and then ran the haunted house from 7:00 until 9:00.
On Halloween, Savannah started her haunted house at 7:00 and went until 9:00. She had a lot of people wanting to go through at 6:30, but she made them wait. Savannah had a couple of friends help in spurts but didn't have quite enough consistent help to keep the haunted house fully staffed the whole time.
Tara mostly ran the chip table and Savannah did the front entrance of the haunted house. I dressed up and scared people for a little bit in the middle. Miller was also very enthusiastic about acting in the haunted house. It was a bit stressful for Tara when everyone was trick or treating and she felt like she had to stay at the table but needed to leave to restock things. Also her phone, which was controlling the haunted house music, kept blipping out. Madi did a second round of trick or treating after dinner and she and I jogged up and down to streets. She filled up her whole candy bowl a second time.
By Jeremy Dye
Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Greg Dye, Laura Dye, Lisa, Anthony Dye, Arianne Dye, Miller Dye, Ondylyn Wagner, Jaren Wagner, Killian Wagner, Calliope Wagner, Brenen Dye, Shaylin Dye, Juniper,
Saturday, Savannah and I set up her haunted house. We set up the garage canopy on the side yard, the casket in front of the shed, the projector scree and scary dolls under the shed roof, scary spider stuff in the castle, cannibal BBQ on the patio with a plastic wall along the edge of the concrete, fishing line spider webs from the garden arches, and bones and the toe-pincher coffin on the west side yard. Tara helped a lot when she got home, which was a life-saver. We didn't get the lighting finished, but we got all the decorating done.
Monday, after school, we ran extension cords and lights to Savannah's haunted house. Savannah and Faith ran the haunted house, with Tara and me helping at times. My parents, Lisa and grandkids, Anthony's family, Ondy's family, and Shaylin's family all came over for dinner in a pumpkin and trick or treating.
Halloween
Haunted House