Reese's Haunted Mansion on Brookview Court has become a trick-or-treating tradition for children in The Rapids subdivision.
Billy Reese, often dressed with a cape as Count Reese, is a favorite stop Halloween night for children to tour his haunted house and walk through the smoke-filled cemetery.
Setup in the garage, the haunted house is a maze of black walls with special treats, like a head floating in a jar, and people hiding in the dark.
This year the haunted house moves to Grace United Methodist Church for their Halloween high school Spooktacular Bash, Reese said.
Trick-or-treaters will still be able to see all the other decorations, which include strobe lights and music, and receive the same candy he hands out each year --- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Q: How long have decorated for Halloween? Do you decorate for other holidays?
A: About five years. Christmas some, but there's a lot of competition with Christmas lights so I kind of picked Halloween. It started off with a lot of Christmas lights and it seemed like the more I add, the more everybody else would add.
Q: Why did you start decorating for Halloween?
A: Mainly because of the competition at Christmas. For (my) kids, too. I just thought I'd give them a party and let them invite whoever they want.
Q: What is it that you like about Halloween?
A: I guess the fact that everybody can dress up and have a good time. It gives them a reason to have a good party and dress up.
Q: What is your scariest Halloween decoration?
A: The haunted house (in his garage). It takes a couple tries before people make it all the way through. The object is to make it out the back door, that's where the party is. But a lot of them go in and once we jump out and scare them a few times they are out the door.
Q: Where do you buy most of your decorations?
A: Online there's a Fright Catalog (frightcatalog.com). A lot of my ideas I build myself. I get the idea from a catalog but there's a Web site called Monsterlist (halloweenmonsterlist.info). It's a Web site with thousands of people like me. You have an idea and go share it on the Web site and it teaches you how to build it.
Q: What decorations do you refuse to purchase?
A: I try to keep everything kind of light, on the sillier end of Halloween. I don't want to give the impression that it's a satanic type atmosphere. I try just to have a good time with the season rather than promote the dark side of Halloween.
Q: What is the most interesting decoration you have made?
A: Probably the neatest thing I did is a TV that reflects an image to a piece of lexan plastic that gives a ghost appearance.
Q: What's new to the mix this year?
A: I created a head in a jar with some fluorescent water.
Q: What's been your all-time favorite costume?
A: Probably the Count Reese. It's really dressy and it has a cape. It gives me an excuse to wear a cape.
Q: Where do you store the decorations?
A: My mom actually has a very large storage shed. She lives out Five Notch Road so it's a matter of transporting it back and forth.
Reach Crystal Garcia at
crystal.garcia@northaugustatoday.com.
CRYSTAL GARCIA/STAFF
Billy Reese created Reese's Haunted Mansion on Brookview Court inside The Rapids subdivision. It includes a walk-through haunted house in his garage. The haunted house moves to Grace United Methodist Church on Halloween for a high school party this year. [CAPTION]
CRYSTAL GARCIA/STAFF
The entrance to Reese's Haunted Mansion.
