May be not Halloween display this year

[mixnight]

Since I did my first halloween display last year with 3 pumpkin faces and 8 little pumpkins for chorus, I'm considering to cancel any light show this year, the reason: my neighborhood is very boring with no walkers at night and no one is interested to see my display (halloween and Christmas), last halloween I saw just one car that stop by to see my display.

 

It's really a big effort for me to install/set up/expend money/some times rent a bucket truck to hang up my lights for no one to come to see my display!

[ItsMeBobO]

It will be even more boring with out you!    You seem to be the one with spirit who can add some spice to life.   

Do you try anything to drum up visitors?   Years ago I would pass out little cards at work to friends and on halloween I posted a sign by the school which is about a mile away.  

Sure we all know its a lot of work and expense.   If people dont know about it on your remote street they wont come. 

[Tracy West]

I agree with ItsMeBobO's comment.

When I first started, we only had like 30 Trick O Treater's and a few cars to stop by and look at the displays. Then it started taking off from there. We have grown in popularity each year since.

But... the most important thing is do it for yourself... I enjoy my displays even if nobody else even comes and sees them. I love how to make things work and come together. It is just a bonus if others come and enjoy it too!

[plasmadrive]

In the olden day when I lived on a populated cul de sac in town we did Halloween up right.  Started in 1990 and we got about 100 or so kids.. we ended in 1995 with around 3500 folks in the 3 hrs we put on the show.  Blocked off the street, every house participated after the first year.   High power lasers, wiggle light, fog machines, hugh sound systems, Optokinetic projectors, lighting effect, Strobe lights and so much more.  News crews there all day doing live remotes while we set up... was pretty cool.  aahhh the good ole days.  I do miss em.

 

Now I live out of town a bit farther and in the 7 years we have been here we have had somewhere around 4-6 people ... total in seven years.. so needless to say I don't do Halloween here.

[tjflory]

I did my first Halloween show just for the neighborhood kids... just for fun. (Had the controllers... might as well use em)

 

Now I pass out "business cards", I had a t-shirt made, and put my Halloween show on local event web sites.

 

I don't really know how many people come by, but the comments and smiles from the few that do make it worth it.

 

Heck... I think maybe I enjoy watching my show the most!

 

tj

[calypso11]

I'm in the opposite position , I started last year with 64 channel for Christmas andvsaidbim going to do Halloween this year so I bought 4 pumpkin face , built 2 6' spiders and bMade a bunch of other props and last year without a show I had about 150 of so treaters so right now I'm in crunch mode I had a lot of neighbors come up to me this summer about my Christmas display and now I'm going to make it a lot bigger with about 1500 rgb's this hobby takes a lot of time that I'm falling short this year with my 1year old daughter that takes up a lot of time as well. Lol. Do the show

[Orville]

Since I did my first halloween display last year with 3 pumpkin faces and 8 little pumpkins for chorus, I'm considering to cancel any light show this year, the reason: my neighborhood is very boring with no walkers at night and no one is interested to see my display (halloween and Christmas), last halloween I saw just one car that stop by to see my display.

 

It's really a big effort for me to install/set up/expend money/some times rent a bucket truck to hang up my lights for no one to come to see my display!

 

I know how it is, pretty much the same for me and I'm going on my 3rd year, however my philosophy on this is:

 

#1. Do it for YOURSELF and YOUR FAMILY first and foremost.

#2. Do it for Neighbors/Friends that enjoy it

#3. Do it for any "outside" visitors you may or may not get.

 

I'm in the back of my community where I bought my home, the children all came by word of mouth, but many of the adults in the community still know nothing about my Halloween or Christmas Display, but, their children do {and I posted flyers by the community mailbox, in our park office, etc.}.

 

I got ZERO outside visitors last year, and I'm not doing as elaborate a display this year, very small compared to years past, but I will do one, even though I had stated I wasn't going to.  But the neighborhood children and my neighbors all convinced me of doing something, even if small.   They say it makes the neighborhood in my area more festive and they love to see and listen to the Halloween, then Christmas songs when I change over for each season.

 

I may still get ZERO outside visitors, but I'm still doing the display, not only for myself, because I enjoy watching it myself, but my wife insists I need to have stuff up for the children and neighbors that enjoy it as well.   So if they come fine, if they don't, that's okay with me too.   But don't let that be the focal deciding factor on whether or not you put up a display.

 

The people being the most disappointed may be your children or your spouse, and that may even include yourself, I know it does to me.

 

Good Luck!

Edited September 23, 2013 by Orville

[JF1993]

I know exactly what you're going through. My house is on the busiest street in my small town, and every Halloween I get between 3-5 trick or treaters. It's a sad state of affairs but I just keep adding on to the display year by year in the hopes that the next year will get better. Don't give up if this is something you enjoy doing. You just have to hope for the best, and even if you don't get many people stopping by just know you're not alone. I'd just really hate to see someone give up this awesome hobby.

[indi]

I also know what you're going through. Last year was my first Christmas, this year is my first Halloween. I started last year with two 16 ch. controllers and now I'm up to 3 16 ch. controllers and 8 CCP controllers. I had a few cars stop by last year, but it didn't bother me, as I was going to set my show up in my back yard so I could enjoy it as well as my children when they come by,. But the Queen wanted me to set it up in the front yard, so I did. I think it will pick up this year and if it don't, I will enjoy it anyway.

I just have fun setting it up and programming the show. I'll need this as a hobby when I retire soon. 

[SoCalSouthBay]

I know how it is, pretty much the same for me and I'm going on my 3rd year, however my philosophy on this is:

 

#1. Do it for YOURSELF and YOUR FAMILY first and foremost.

#2. Do it for Neighbors/Friends that enjoy it

#3. Do it for any "outside" visitors you may or may not get.

 

 

I agree that most of us do this hobby first and foremost for ourselves and our family's. For me it is the sense of accomplishment after I see the show up and running for the first time. Even if I lived in the middle of nowhere I would still do my crazy holiday shows. If you get hung up on the details of how many people are or aren't frequenting your display you would go crazy. I think a displays popularity can be a blessing that validates ones hard work and also a curse bringing down the wrath of HOA, angry neighbors and vandals. Our first Halloween we had about 200 visitors on Halloween but still put on a big show. The second year we had over 800 visitors and went thru almost 30lbs of candy, and it increased the next year where we ended up having issues with safety and had to bring in the local police to block off the street. We were lucky to have amazing and supportive neighbors but it could have gotten ugly quickly. Almost had a kid get hit by a car because he was so excited by what he saw and drivers were watching the show instead of the road. With a shows rise in popularity comes other responsibilities and issues as many other extreme decorators here can attest to ( And I have a smaller less popular display than many on here)

 

I have seen too many amazing displays have to be taken down or relocated because large crowds caused too many problems for the display and the surrounding area. I would rather have my show be " the best kept secret" so to speak that have it be the talk of the town and possibly not allowed to do it. We all know member CLD Kevin story. to quote Field of Dreams... "If you build it, they will come." I say if you want to do a Halloween show go for it, You will probably end up having a blast!

[Orville]

There is a ton of excellent advice and stories from many of us on how we started and continue on with it.   

 

What you do and feel about everyone's input, well that is entirely your call.  

 

But we'd hate to see you pull the plug just because you aren't getting a lot of, or any outside visitors, especially if you, yourself enjoy the shows you create, and the work you put into them.  

 

Don't let the crowds, or lack of, ruin your fun, or your determination!

 

But all in all, it's how YOU feel, and what YOU want to do!  And ONLY YOU can determine if you want to persevere on or stop doing it.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Orville

[Reefrus]

 

#1. Do it for YOURSELF and YOUR FAMILY first and foremost.

#2. Do it for Neighbors/Friends that enjoy it

#3. Do it for any "outside" visitors you may or may not get.

 

Best reason ever

 

[caniac]

Since I did my first halloween display last year with 3 pumpkin faces and 8 little pumpkins for chorus, I'm considering to cancel any light show this year, the reason: my neighborhood is very boring with no walkers at night and no one is interested to see my display (halloween and Christmas), last halloween I saw just one car that stop by to see my display.

 

It's really a big effort for me to install/set up/expend money/some times rent a bucket truck to hang up my lights for no one to come to see my display!

you may have heard this line before

 

"if you build it they will come"!!  I already have people asking when we are going to put up Halloween and Christmas plus neighbors are getting in the act.  We started out 5+ years ago with a Mr. Christmas and a hand full of inflatables.   Last year we had 500+ trick or treaters for Halloween plus averaged 2 cars every ten minutes from November 15th on with our Christmas display.

[MonstrousMike]

I like the way caniac put it --- "if you build it they will come"!! It make take a season or two, but word will get out. I've been doing a Halloween display for 11 years. Until the past few, I did not get much traffic from outside of the neighborhood. Once I added Light-O-Rama, the word started to get out. Last year I had lots of people drive up and park in front of my house to watch the show. As long as you enjoy it you should do it! 

[caniac]

to me if only one kid shows up and smiles then it is a good year.  this is year five for us and we have had people ask us when we would get started with Halloween since July!!  You will get there!

[crowninb]

I agree with all of the above, since I have been a child I have decorated my parents house and when I finally bought my own last year I decorated it with 12 ccr tree and 16 channels of lights. Needless to say most my neighbors who put up a strand or two and call it a night aren't biggest fans but I really don't care I do it in hopes that my soon to be born son will have a great experience every year with his dad and also for the one neighbor boy who literally will stand out in front my house and watch the show over and over. I may not get the foot traffic I want but it all comes down to what you want for yourself. You can't help others until you help yourself. So whatever decision you make make sure you make it for yourself and not for those who aren't coming.

Good luck

Brice

[Reefrus]

This is year 3 for me on a Halloween display, My neighbors walk by each night to see if I have added or changed anything or just to see what type of projection I have in the window for the night since I alternate them nightly. Seems like each year it takes longer to set up than the year before or I am just getting older. We had close to 200 trick or treaters last year compared to several years ago when we only had a few dozen. Seems like more people on our block are starting to decorate again for Halloween and Christmas.

[Jay Czerwinski]

Since I did my first halloween display last year with 3 pumpkin faces and 8 little pumpkins for chorus, I'm considering to cancel any light show this year, the reason: my neighborhood is very boring with no walkers at night and no one is interested to see my display (halloween and Christmas), last halloween I saw just one car that stop by to see my display.

It's really a big effort for me to install/set up/expend money/some times rent a bucket truck to hang up my lights for no one to come to see my display!

When I moved in to a new neighborhood, I was making a contingency plan for the HOA not approving my lights. Luckily they did, but if they hadn't, I was thinking of these other options that might be attractive to you.

1. Light up someone else's house in a more popular area. Friend, family, etc.

2. Light up your work or office.

3. Light up a business and maybe get paid - or better yet, a charity store front for the holidays. (Imagine people without a lot of financial resources getting a free show!)

4. Design a portable show that you can take to the park or something for the evening. (I had always envisioned some kind of wagon/train system. It would be wacky, but just part of the fun.

Anyway, just some thoughts that were in mind at some point. But first and foremost, I agree with everyone else that you should just try to stick with it longer and do it for yourself and your family.

Good luck and enjoy the smiles you do create!!

[Dale W]

Do you have any trick or treaters?  If so, go live with the music.  I used a small boom box radio and turned the volume up loud enough that you could hear it down the street. 

Because of this, we got lots of trick-r-treaters that got a kick out of  the display and show.

[scubado]

_{It takes a couple years for word of mouth to get around.  Consider your first year a practice year.  Unless you can and want to deal with a lot of traffic, don't talk to the media.}