HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween from Darkrose Manor!




Have a Wonderful Night of All Nights, Everyone!!!!!!
-The Roses

Test Night...

Went fairly well. :)
We have a few dead foggers that we'll try to replace this afternoon.

It was so great to have family and friends come by to see us and wish us lcuk!

Bryan and Dena... we love you guys! You're the best and your whole family is completely FABULOUS! Can't wait to see you again in November.

Jamie, Jenny, CJ & Bridgette... we are so lucky to have you as neighbors and friends! Thank you for the photos, video and your amazing little jacko carvers!

Fraz & Jan... Much of this year's haunt couldn't have been possible without you two! Thank You!!!!!!

For now... here's a few photos taken last night - we still have some tweaking to do.

The Associated Press...

We found out this morning that The Associated Press picked up Adam Goldstein's story on us from the Aurora Sentinel. Congratulations Adam & Gabriel! Thanks so much for everything! This is very exciting!

We've found the story in the following publications:

The Aurora Sentinel
The San Francisco Examiner
The Denver Post
USA Today (via Delaware Online)
Wyoming's Gillette News Record
USA Today (via Coloradoan.com)
The Washington Examiner
The Denver Channel (ABC 7 News)

Thank you Adam & Gabriel!! We hope to see you again soon! :)

Windy

Windy Tree, originally uploaded by Mohain.

The wind yesterday produced gusts up to 50mph. It wreaked some havoc on the display but nothing catastrophic as of yet. (knock on wood)

It is supposed to continue today and then die off for tomorrow. There isn't much point to starting any repairs just yet. So if you are someone who plans to drive by the yard later - you may want to wait until tomorrow night. :)

We were joking last night that the effect the wind created in the windows and the banging shell chimes were sounds that we would usually download and use as atmospheric effects in the haunt. And yet, here it was in real life! It's too bad we didn't have any great recording equipment or we might have tried it.

Truthfully, we'll take wind over masses of Halloween snow or rain any day!

The countdown has begun!

Thank You Lynn & Tracy!!!!

Do we have enough?, originally uploaded by E V Peters.

Our wonderful neighbors Lynn and her son Tracy stopped by yesterday to see the haunt. They were so kind and and complimentary of the haunt. It was truly amazing to get to know them a bit.

We had been a bit nervous about our candy stock for the big night, as the traffic and interest has been much higher this year than the last.

Lo & Behold...

These two wonderful people were kind enough to come back by a bit later with an INCREDIBLY GENEROUS contribution of 32 BAGS OF HALLOWEEN CANDY!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU LYNN & TRACY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have set our minds at ease and sincerely warmed our hearts! Thank you!!!!!


(Flickr Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/evpeters/ )

The Aurora Sentinel

We were paid a visit by the wonderful Adam Goldstein and Gabriel Christus from The Aurora Sentinel this week. Thank you gentlemen! We just might make our Trick-R-Treater goal after all! :)


You can read the full story here:
Aurora couple’s dedication to Halloween decoration continues

Goldenrod Crab Spider

Unknown White Spider (Goldenrod Crab Spider), originally uploaded by LeeLeFever.

We've had a beautiful Goldenrod Crab Spider like this one take up residence under our coach light by the front door.

She's quite large and very agile. She's been with us nearly 3 weeks now, though lately she's been hiding under a leaf in a fake plant that hangs there due to all the rucus with haunt setup. Or maybe she's incubating babies.... hard to say what the true reason is.

I keep going out later at night to see if she is spinning a new web again, so that she might let me photograph her. Though, she's been playing camera shy.

It's truly an amazing and beautiful thing when she lets us watch her and we check every day to see that she is still there. We hope she sticks around for the haunt - there's nothing quite like a real spider and web for authenticity. :)

You know you're a haunter if...

...in October, you clean your garage more than your house;

your house & yard becomes a visual speed bump;

you make more trips to the hardware store than the grocery store;

you have to schedule a media night;

children walk by and say WTF...



...your neighbors complain that THEY have to buy more candy because of YOU;

you have more skulls in your garage than friends on FB;

you actually consider how your home improvements will affect your haunt;

you can think of something to add to this list...



...you need to fill out a vacation request for the day AFTER Halloween;

you stop doing yard work in August;

you provide an additional 60 amp power supply to your electrical service;

your countdown to Halloween starts in July;

you think your countdown SHOULD have started in May.

Darkrose Manor 2010 - Build in Progress