Setting up the haunt this year has been a special, fun challenge. Our front yard no longer is grass. We have xeriscape. This type of yard is perfect for our desert environment, but I had concerns that a cemetery-themed yard display would seem out of place.
With trepidation I began setting out the headstones and, in short order, I found that they rock looked pretty good. To my mind it looked like a desert pioneer graveyard. Phoenix has such a graveyard. It's rocky and dry and completely different from what one would expect when you hear the word. But it's still creepy.
Because our new house is a little closer to the street, I was able to incorporate the lighting that I have used on previous haunts to make our home part of the display.
As you can see the street light makes the blue a little washed out. I want to add a few lore lights next year to punch up the color to something similar to previous years.
The coffin has made a reappearance, although it is more of a crate. This was actually a shipping crate for a piece of artwork. It's made of wood so it will last a few Halloweens.
Here you can see the rock against the tombstones. I used the same method as in the old house, but this time I also buried the tombstones in the rock a little bit. This gives them a little more support and it looks cleaner than simply setting the stones on top of the rock.
