10/31

Haunted House Tour

Celebrate, D.I.Y. Project, Halloween, Home Decor
By Emma Chapman

Happy Halloween, everyone! We’re going to give you a little tour of our haunted house we created for our neighborhood to enjoy this year. If you live in Springfield, Missouri and want to walk through with your family, the house is located at 630 South Weller Street and will be open from around 5:30-9 p.m. or earlier if it seems like no one is coming through after awhile.

How does the haunted house work? You walk through the front door and exit through the back door. There are arrows on the floor throughout the house to guide you (not all of the house is open, like you cannot go upstairs). The house is a series of spooky vignettes. It was designed with young children in mind, but it still could be too scary for some (parents know their kids best so you can be the judge on that). It is NOT interactive, like nothing jumps out at you and please do not touch anything (this is for you and your family’s safety). Once you exit through the back door, there is a photo backdrop in the backyard you can take a photo at if you like. We also have candy for trick-or-treating as well as over 50 copies of Goosebumps books if your child is an age where they can enjoy that. Then you leave by the back gate. Please note no bathroom is available and strollers will not fit in the house. Also, hopefully this is obvious but just in case, this is FREE and not at all a commercial event. It’s just meant to be a fun childhood memory for our neighborhood, but anyone is welcome if you’re in the area.

Our haunted house this year is inspired by the Goosebumps book series. There are some nods to various books throughout, but you don’t have to be a Goosebumps fan to enjoy the house.

Here is the front living area, and what you will see when you walk through the front door. As you can see, people have moved out and now the space is haunted by ghosts and our Slappy-inspired dummy. You can kind of see this in the photo, but there are arrows on the ground that lead you around the furniture toward the dining room. But before you get there …

Peek through the arched doors to see some spooky cat eyes looking back at you! (Note: We took these tour photos during the day, but the house will be a little darker in the evening … of course.)

Then you can walk around the dining room table and see a skeleton family having a food fight! They are throwing carrots! And bagels! And cheese! The horror! (Imagine my voice like a Disney-spooky tour guide).

You can also kind of see the window faces I created from these photos. But at night you’ll really only be able to see these after you exit the backyard to leave.

As you leave the dining room you will enter the kitchen. In here there is a very tall, evil witch! And also tubes of Monster Blood behind her. Was it the witch’s magic or the Monster Blood that has brought some of the kitchen items to life?! We’ll never know. But there is now an evil sponge, dish soap, and paper towel floating nearby!

I have always loved crafting with googly-eyes, but this may be my crowning achievement. 🙂

As you exit the kitchen, you’ll find yourself in the back living room, which is now a giant spider’s den complete with past victims! You have to exit through a spider’s legs to leave, but before you do make sure to peek into the open bathroom that is located by the back door because …

There you will find these two skeletons in the bathroom.

We already shared what the Full Moon + Werewolf photo backdrop looks like in the backyard and if you’re coming IRL, be sure to say hi to Gary (Jeremy’s dad) on the back porch, who will be passing out candy and books. Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween! xo. Emma

Decor Details: Werewolf, Swamp Witch, Cat Eye Projector / The Home Depot, Skeletons + Bones / JOANN, Corner Ghosts / Target, lots of random stuff like spider webs, wall decals, and green slime was bought at Walmart. And the dummy is from eBay—I added a kid’s red bow tie and faux carnation.

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman. Photography: Janae Hardy. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop. Project Assistance: Ethan Randolph. And thank you to all our friends and family who helped with the event!

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