A little peek into my world...
First of all, for those who ask why I do what I do...
For as long as I can remember, I have loved and been fascinated by Halloween. When I was a child, I recall going to my Grandmother's neighborhood to trick-or-treat and celebrate my sister's birthday, which fell on Halloween. Some of my favorite houses were the ones who, every year, put out displays of cemeteries and witches, dressed up to respond to the phrase "TRICK-OR-TREAT!", and played soundtracks with scary stories or haunted sounds. The candy was the best part to most kids, but to me, the very best part was seeing what everyone had to offer in the way of decorating, and what costumes were worn. It was then my favorite holiday, even more so than Christmas was. As I got older, my love for Halloween only grew; when for many of the kids I grew up with, it faded.
Now that I am an adult, with my own home to haunt, I have taken Halloween decorating to what some people call extreme. For the past few years, my love for a holiday has grown into an obsession of sorts. Starting off many years back with just a stuffed shirt and pair of jeans in the yard and a looping tape of haunted house sounds, I have built, bought, created and conjured up enough of a Halloween collection to completely transform my entire house into a creepy and haunted dwelling. Every year, it grows larger and larger.
In 1999, I did a search on
the internet for "Halloween". That search led me to the Halloween-L. I quickly
subscribed and soon found a whole online community of like-minded
spirits to inspire me, to bounce ideas off of, and to answer any
questions I might have. They have truly been the greatest help of all
and like a second family to me, and it is certainly wonderful to know
that there are so many other people out there with the same passion for
the greatest holiday on the calendar. Later, I also joined the
Howl2000 list, and the
CreepCrafters
group, and in 2006 started my own
Florida
Home Haunters Group. In early 2007, I took over the Florida Haunters website and forum. The most awesome sites to find new ideas and
how-to's on the web are Mark Butler's site, Monster List Of Links to
Halloween Do-It-Yourself Projects (halloweenmonsterlist.info)
and Perfessor Evil's site,
HauntProject.com.
I live in Orange Park, Florida, just outside of Jacksonville where I was born and raised. I have an unbelievably supportive husband, Andrew; three great kids: Brandon, Taylor and Emily; three cats: Jeeperz, Rubi, and Bloo; two hamsters: Friskies and Meow Mix; a mouse: Peanut butter; and a bearded dragon, Speedster. The rest of the family is not as involved in the Halloween spirit as I am, but they help out often in the months leading up to it. My kids are all artistic and creative, and I'm very proud of them. I'm into natural, abstract and dark art and most my creations are a mixed media form. I have no formal training other than high school art classes, and I just do what comes naturally in most cases and am almost always never satisfied with any of my work.
I'm extremely shy and quiet and prefer solitude on most occasions. Being a Gemini, I'm like a two-sided coin on almost every level. I'm not a "Goth" though some people think I am, nor do I fall into any other stereotypes. I'm pretty eclectic in almost every area of my life and most people that know me think I'm just plain weird - and that's okay with me. It's the normal people that you have to watch out for!
People ask me all the time how Andy handles my Halloween obsession. He has his own hobby, RC helis and planes, to keep him busy year 'round, which leads people to ask him how I handle his hobby. He just sends them to my website, which explains it all. Between helicopter parts and Halloween stuff, we have a pretty crowded house and garage!
Other than working on Halloween stuff, I enjoy reading, jogging, Geocaching and four-wheeling in the Jeep, beachcombing, camping, dabbling in photography, doing house projects, and working in the yard.
That's me in a big nutshell...
Happy Haunting!
Ghostess Deanna
