Friday, October 3, 2008

Who Was The First Yard Haunter?

Historically speaking, there had to be one person who was the very first to stick a fake gravemarker or a tombstone on their property. I find myself thinking about that a lot for some strange reason. No cameras to capture it and no strings of lights or foggers to help set the mood. Maybe there was a carved pumpkin. I bet the neighbors weren't too pleased. I wonder who it was.

7 comments:

PerfessorEvil said...

That's interesting... I don't think we'd be able to find that answer, but it got me wondering what the earliest Pro Haunt/Haunted Attraction was.

One google search for "oldest haunt" turned up the "Edge of Hell" in Kansas City, and that was established in 1975. I remember going to a haunted house when I was a kid around the same period of time.

I know Disney's Haunted Mansion opened in 1969, but that's more of a dark ride.

I did find this article:
Haunted Attraction History

Anonymous said...

now i am going to be thinking about this ALL weekend. i will be doing some surfing on the web to see what i come up with. THANKS

Unknown said...

I wonder too. It must have been quite some time ago. What we're doing isn't new, by any means... it's just been revolutionized by sharing photos on the web. :)

Jon Glassett said...

Great post. It brings to mind images of a thatch-roofed hut with a crude, turnip jack o'lantern in the window and a wooden mask hung on the door.

Johnny said...

I'm sure he wasn't the first, but according to The Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book (Amazon ISBN: 1557834539) Dick Van Dyke is a HAlloween fanatic who went to great expense to set up an impressive yard haunt every year.

Thought I'd share that.
:-)

Rot said...

http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2008/03/halloween-1890.html

This was an old post with a photo from 1890. That's a pretty impressive setup, though nothing macabre is present. I'm guessing these sort of people would spread their display onto their front porch, and eventually onto the front lawn?

Dave Lowe said...

I guessing Vlad the Impaler's front yard was a early big draw for the neighborhood kids around October.