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For Rocky Mountain Haunters, Halloween is more than a hobby
If you do one thing this week ... Decorate for Halloween
For Rocky Mountain Haunters, Halloween is more than a hobby
By Tom Wharton
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:10/13/2008 06:56:49 AM MDT
Paul Venturella's Halloween obsession began with a simple pumpkin on the porch about 15 years ago.
It's been a downward slide ever since for the Provo resident.
He now spends much of the year preparing Halloween decorations and props for his yard with a 70-member Utah group called the Rocky Mountain Haunters (www.rockymountainhaunters.com).
Venturella's obsession is so extreme that storing the tombstones, ghosts, ghouls and skeletons takes up his entire garage and much of his attic, a sore point with his wife.
"Cars have never seen the inside of the garage," he said.
And his home on the west side of Provo (he asked that his exact address not be published because he can barely handle the crowds as it is) has become a major Halloween destination.
Last year, on Halloween night, he hosted about 1,300 kids. In the past, Venturella has spent almost $500 on full-size candy bars and hot chocolate for his trick-or-treaters. He's thinking he might have to cut down a bit on the treats.
The Provo home features about 20 or 30 tombstones enhanced by fog machines to create atmosphere. There are a number of animated props, some operated with windshield-wiper motors, and more sophisticated ones using pneumatic air compressors that allow a skeleton to sit up in a coffin and tell visitors that "you shouldn't have buried me."
Venturella uses soundboards to help his monsters come to life and talk. He purchases singing Santas on sale and turns them into growling, moving Halloween monsters.
"I stay away from gore and chainsaws," said Venturella, whose display is usually up about two weeks before Halloween. "Being an old guy, the great Halloweens to me involved classic monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy. The new horror with gore and blood, we stay away from that. But even without that, we do have kids afraid to come up to the doors."
He said that despite the increasing traffic each year, his neighbors enjoy the display and have been supportive.
"The part I like the most is building the props," said Venturella. "That to me is the most fun of it."
Jeff Baird in Lehi also puts up a popular display and draws crowds each year, even though it is on a cul de sac. He uses windshield wiper motors to bring ghosts, skeletons, gremlins, scarecrows and pumpkins to life.
"My Dad always did a small haunt when we were little kids," said Baird. "As a Scout, I remember going to a person's house who decorated with a whole bunch of Halloween things. That was ingrained and got me interested in doing this for future generations. It's a family event."
The Rocky Mountain Haunters get together about six times a year to work on projects. They keep in touch with each other via e-mail and plan events and talk Halloween almost on a daily basis.
"It's one of those hobbies that you get into and it becomes extreme," said Jason Bates of Herriman, who decorates his home with a graveyard and has flying ghosts in the windows. "It's Halloween 24-7, 365. I spend all year long looking for things I can use. It's pathetic, really."
Membership in the group is free and open to anyone. Information on how to join is on the Web site.
Some members, such as Dave Bates of Taylorsville, take a different approach to Halloween decorations. Instead of props, he uses a sophisticated video and projection system placed in a neighbor's backyard across the street to haunt his house.
The effects are so good that, in 2005, he won a national award from the U.S. haunting organization as the home enthusiast of the year.
"There's lots of fun things I can do," he said. "When kids come into the house, they get treats from a glowing hand - kind of like Thing - which drops treats into your bag."
Bates says only one thing scares him.
"It's too scary having your favorite video projector and laptop outside," he said.
Tom Wharton can be contacted at wharton@ sltrib.com or 801-257-8909. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
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