It’s the most wonderful time of year – Halloween!
Tis the season for creative costumes, delicious recipes, and crispy weather. I’ve always admired everyone’s creativity around Halloween, and someone last year specifically caught my eye.
I had the pleasure of trick or treating with my little cousins when we stumbled upon a spooky block. Every house had festive decor, but there was one house that drastically stood out. Between its moving decorations, colorful ambiance, and crowd of people, it was a race between my little cousins and I to see who could get there first.
The Master behind the Mischief
“Halloween is the only holiday where people come out and socialize. Family, friends, neighbors and strangers all come to a neighborhood and experience Halloween. We like them to experience our version of Halloween.”
Meet Brett, an animatronic Halloween guru, who annually creates an immersive haunted house experience in his own home. The best part about this? He makes a majority of it with his own hands.
When I asked how many of his decorations were handmade, he stated, “All static props are handmade, as well as all facades. The animatronics are all modified in some way even if store bought. Handmade animatronic props out number store bought 2-1.”
The Origin Story
Brett’s passion started when he worked at a haunted house with his friend at 15 years old. “I watched him scare a grown, adult woman, and she decked him as a fight or flight response. That was the Genesis moment,” he joked.
The Heart of Halloween
It takes energy, creativity, and passion to pursue such a sophisticated hobby. It also takes some guts to build such an experience from scratch in the unpredictable Michigan weather. Not only is building his haunted houses a labor of love, but it’s a fascinating way to be generous. When I asked what drove him to connect the building to Halloween, besides his friend getting socked in the face, he responded with a beautiful answer: “Halloween is the only holiday where people come out and socialize. Family, friends, neighbors and strangers all come to a neighborhood and experience Halloween. We like them to experience our version of Halloween.”
I’m excited to see what he has planned this year. He assured me that ideas are continuously flowing, and the challenge is to always level up the immersive experience. However, if you’re planning on going before Halloween, hold your horses. Unfortunately, opening up to the public before the big day usually ends in vandalism. If you have the opportunity to explore his haunted house, please make sure to keep it as spooky as you found it.
Even though Brett finds joy in setting up his haunted houses, it’s fun to see kids find excitement in it too. When I asked what keeps his passion going, he exclaimed, ” The kids and their reactions! They experience things in their own way. To watch the majority get excited year after year to see what we’ve added, or a new trick-or-treater seeing it for the first time is special. It really is a lot of fun.”
If you haven’t seen his haunted house before, I recommend you check it out!
A Creative Call to Action
Festive people are my favorite people, and Brett takes the Halloween festivities to a whole new level. Thank you, Brett, for letting me showcase your talents!
My challenge to you readers from meeting Brett is this: what hobbies do you have that you can be generous with?
Photos by Me, 2023
A Thousand Words 