# How to Attract More People to My House on a Cul-de-Sac?



## Ulchabhan (Jun 20, 2018)

First Post!!!  

I am new to this forum, and I am certainly a beginner compared to others! My question is, how do I attract more people to my house on my little cul de sac? This last year (2017), I gave out full size candy bars, played music and had a fog machine, plus several decorations. I am not on the corner of the main road, but people can see my house if they look down the street. I hoped the word would spread, but I didn't see an increase from last year. I could see people passing my street from my house! I am also in the middle of several non-festive houses.

I've been trying to think of ideas. I don't want to play music super loud, that would be annoying. My mother suggested a sign that says "More Candy This Way!", but I don't know if that would be crass. I think my main problem is that the coolest of my decorations are not visible from the main road, but that's a whole other issue. What do you guys think?


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## Hearthfire (Aug 14, 2017)

You could always put signs pointing the way. And go all out if you’re looking for a party. Boil peanuts and have lights and music. Make it a block party. You could even advertise early by placing signs at stores close by. I live in a small town and Halloween cranks it up. People come from far away to walk with their kids and have a good time. Someone does palm reading and others so music and peanuts while others set up haunted walk throughs. It is my favorite time of year! Good luck!


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## HereForTheBoose (Aug 21, 2016)

Did you decorate pretty far in advance last year? I feel like that sometimes helps neighbors' visitors make a mental note to stop by on Halloween if they see you're going big with the decor.

If your town has a Facebook or related social page, you could throw up a post asking people to stop by.


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## Matt12378 (Jul 9, 2017)

Nobody around my house decorates but I had probably 700 to 1,000 people come last year it’s mainly word of mouth i always decorate with large inflatables for Halloween and start early second week of September usually. 
so if you want to attract people to your house I would suggest decorating early and with big inflatables from Home Depot Lowes etc. I love the minions so I always have a section in my yard for minion inflatables then another section for my ghostbusters inflatables and yeah lots of spotlights, pathway marker lights very looud sounds, halloween projector etc. I decorate way too early and put up some huge 16 foot tall inflatables so yeah that’s what I would suggest.


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## mrincredibletou (Sep 17, 2007)

All are good ideas but word of mouth is king. It might take a year or two but they will hear about it and they will come. I live in a tired old cul de sac and have tried the ideas listed above, even had a huge "open house" for charity for the local school district.

Good luck and be patient, if you build it, they will come!


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Yeah, the real question is what did you do in 2016? And what age group are the ToTs that come? 

Full size bars are usually enough to get word of mouth spreading. The more tween-teen kids the faster word spreads.


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## Edmund K (Aug 18, 2017)

Welcome to your first post, and that's a great Gaelic user name, "owl"! 
I suffer from the same conditions- lame location for a great Halloween ToT experience! 
Our neighborhood is built on a hill, with no sidewalks, and the majority of my fellow neighbors on my cul de sac /street are not into ToT. We actually had a new member of the neighborhood tell my kids that she doesn't "do" Halloween; she told them this on Halloween night, since they saw all her house lights blazing, and assumed she was handing out candy. I, too, have put out decorations in late September; a cemetery plot with several life-size "ghouls". Nothing slasher-violent, just creepy. night lighting is adjusted to Halloween levels (lots of orange and red wash lights with some purple-green spot lighting), and a band of pirate skeletons taking over the entire front yard on Halloween night.---I had a grand total of six kids show up! Dag nabitt!! 
Now, I have a neighbor, who is also a member of this forum (cool, right?!) who lives on the main thoroughfare of our neighborhood up the hill from me, and he puts out an awesome display; he said he had at least one hundred visitors to his yard on the same night!
So, it's not that we lack ToT'ers coming to the neighborhood, it is apparently very inconvenient for them to get to my part of it! I am going to try the Facebook advertising, as well as using our "nextdoor" app that the neighborhood has available for local communication. 
It is an understatement to say it's "frustrating" that hardly anyone shows up to take part in our Halloween joy, and I've been at this for three years now in this particular home/neighborhood. If my wife didn't think was crazy, I'd actually move to a more Halloween friendly location! If you come across any "marketing" ideas, please feel free to share!


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## BileFreeze (Jun 12, 2018)

Our first year we put out a little spooky totem-pole thing by the mailbox that was pretty fun and eye catching that said "Trick or Treat". We had a couple dozen kids throughout the night and everyone remarked on our fun graveyard, but as our display grew year after year so did the word and the crowds. Last year it was a constant stream of people for about 2 hours once it started getting dark. 

Just keep building and making and doing. Eventually you will be "that house" and give a bunch of kids fond memories.


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## J-Man (Feb 1, 2011)

A good attractor after dark is a thunder/lightning set up. People can see that from a good distance and it grabs their attention.


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## BileFreeze (Jun 12, 2018)

J-Man said:


> A good attractor after dark is a thunder/lightening set up. People can see that from a good distance and it grabs their attention.


Absolutely! 

We added a lightning setup last year, but put it behind our house pointed up into the trees so that it would silhouette the whole house with flashes of light. People remarked about how it reminded them of classic movies where the lightning illuminates a darkened castle.


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## HauntedWyo (Apr 13, 2017)

I agree with the others when they say, build it and they will come. Add something new every year to your yard. 

I myself don't really do themes, but I do try and make it so everything in my yard is cohesive. 

My first year I decorated I just had a giant spider and some cob webbing. (mind you I live on a fairly busy street, but none of my neighbors really do Halloween) Parents aren't fond of stopping for one house in several blocks and have to deal with loading and unloading the kids. So the first few years that I didn't decorate we would get maybe a dozen kids, mostly older ones. The first year I started decorating we saw an uptick, but not by much. The second year I added a cemetery and a grim reaper along with a few more lights. We saw another uptick in TOTs. Last year I added three large animated witches around a large cauldron, a packing tape ghost and more lights. I set everything up about 2 weeks before Halloween and my yard got noticed by someone from the local paper. They stopped and asked if they could take pics. and do a small write up about my yard. We ended up with so many TOTs on Halloween my hubby had to make an emergency run for more candy. Even though we were about the only house for blocks that handed out candy we had kids and cars streaming in. 

Everyone loved my display. I had adults and children wanting to take pics. with my decorations. I told them that I would be adding more next year so be sure to stop by next year and see what was new.

I have a neighbor on one side of me that said I could use their yard as well to set up my decor. So I will be using their yard this year for my cemetery and will be making a haunted forest in place of the cemetery in my yard. I have so many plans and ideas for decor, that I will be adding more and more new things every year. So just keep adding and building and word will get around. Using social media or a local paper would also help spread the word.


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## thehoghunter (Jul 24, 2007)

Signs place around the main street and at the start of your street pointing down to your house...I have the same situation...on a cul-de-sac but out of view from the start of the road (I put a lighted blowup decoration in my neighbor's yard but it wasn't that helpful).

It's took 2 or 3 years to get kids to come down all the way but now I have folks that moved away that come back on Halloween to see what else is new...but I still only get maybe 50 kids. Maybe they just aren't into it in Florida.


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## Ulchabhan (Jun 20, 2018)

Thanks for the suggestions so far! 

It is true, I didn't do much in 2016, as my little sister was throwing a Halloween party and we were focused on the inside of the house. We certainly didn't hand out full sizers that year! If word of mouth really works, I might have to get an extra box or two! 

Most of the ToTs I saw were literally tots... below 10 yrs old. Many seemed too young to appreciate the candy or decorations. However, I know that there are middle schoolers in the vicinity—I see a dozen every morning on school days at their bus stop a tenth of a mile from my house, and another dozen a quarter of a mile from that! I only saw 3 last year, though (dressed up as the witches from Hocus Pocus). 

I love all the suggestions, especially the sign ideas and the lightning setup idea!

Really, I need to work on the decorations you can see from the main road. My coolest ones last year were concentrated by the front step, which is hidden.

One other thing—has anyone tried giving out beverages, like hot cider? Does that fly with parents?


Edmund K– You got it spot on!


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## Ulchabhan (Jun 20, 2018)

Thanks for the suggestions so far! 

It is true, I didn't do much in 2016, as my little sister was throwing a Halloween party and we were focused on the inside of the house. We certainly didn't hand out full sizers that year! If word of mouth really works, I might have to get an extra box or two! 

Most of the ToTs I saw were literally tots... below 10 yrs old. Many seemed too young to appreciate the candy or decorations. However, I know that there are middle schoolers in the vicinity—I see a dozen every morning on school days at their bus stop a tenth of a mile from my house, and another dozen a quarter of a mile from that! I only saw 3 last year, though (dressed up as the witches from Hocus Pocus). 

I love all the suggestions, especially the sign ideas and the lightning setup idea!

Really, I need to work on the decorations you can see from the main road. My coolest ones last year were concentrated by the front step, which is hidden.

One other thing—has anyone tried giving out beverages, like hot cider? Does that fly with parents?


Edmund K– You got it spot on!


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## SlayKnotV1 (Jul 6, 2012)

*Make a Facebook page. it helped our haunt grow 10 fold. *


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## Famous Pumpkin (Aug 12, 2014)

We are known in our area for having all-out Halloween decor but the kids have been aging out of our area and the ToTers have drasticaly dwindled. Because of that I now pop for the full size bars and post on the neighborhood FB page that we are giving out full size bars. OMG people came out of the woodwork! Still not as busy as it was 10 years ago but it did make a difference!


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## Bobbiejo (Aug 9, 2017)

J-Man said:


> A good attractor after dark is a thunder/lightning set up. People can see that from a good distance and it grabs their attention.


Can you recommend a specific product or brand? I don’t have a stereo system or anything like that, so it would have to be a self contained unit of some sort. The few thunder & Lightning strobe lights I’ve seen online had terrible ratings.


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## HereForTheBoose (Aug 21, 2016)

Bobbiejo said:


> Can you recommend a specific product or brand? I don’t have a stereo system or anything like that, so it would have to be a self contained unit of some sort. The few thunder & Lightning strobe lights I’ve seen online had terrible ratings.


The original Perfect Storm box has pretty good reviews. I saw some people complaining about the microphone on the 2.0 update. It's also not entirely self-contained since you need to make noise into the mic or setup some sort of audio player (the lights dim to the sound input). Playing a phone into it should work or you could buy bluetooth speakers or a cheapo stereo off eBay/Amazon.

Several folks are mentioning how they've gotten less kids over the past few years. I'm wondering how much that has to do with Halloween falling on Sunday to Tuesday. I think in general the years when it falls on a Friday or Saturday, there are larger turnouts. We had a pathetic amount of trick-or-treaters last year and I'm toning down the decor this year in anticipation of the same turnout for a Wednesday night.


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## J-Man (Feb 1, 2011)

Bobbiejo said:


> Can you recommend a specific product or brand? I don’t have a stereo system or anything like that, so it would have to be a self contained unit of some sort. The few thunder & Lightning strobe lights I’ve seen online had terrible ratings.


Well, the bottom line on this is that it takes several elements for a good thunder/lightning system, nothing "self contained" is gonna be very effective. The four elements are 1) good flood lights. 2) a decent amplifier and speakers. 3) a decent lightning unit. 4) an audio player.


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## Ulchabhan (Jun 20, 2018)

Thank you everyone for the suggestions so far! 

I love them all, especially the sign ideas and lightning setup idea.

In reference to some of the questions, I actually didn't do much 2016, as my little sister was having a Halloween party, and we focused on the inside of the house. I definitely didn't have full sizers then! If word of mouth really works, I may have to buy another box or two!

Last year, most of my ToTs were literally tots...under 10 or so. Many of them didn't seem to be impressed by the candy or the decorations because of their age. I only saw three tweens/teens, dressed as the witches from Hocus Pocus (impressive costumes!) I know there are more teens, I see about a dozen every school day morning at a bus stop a tenth of a mile from my door, and another dozen at a stop a quarter mile from that. 

I definitely need to work on the decorations view-able from the road. Most were concentrated in front of the doorway.

One more thing—has anyone tried giving refreshments, like hot cider? Are parents okay with that?

Edmund K–you are spot on!


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## SlayKnotV1 (Jul 6, 2012)

Ulchabhan said:


> Thank you everyone for the suggestions so far!
> 
> I love them all, especially the sign ideas and lightning setup idea.
> 
> ...



*we never handed out drinks but last year we started a thing where we gave out dog treats to any dogs that came in costume. believe it or not we had like 30 dogs come last year LOL *


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## Mayor of Haddonfield (Jul 15, 2015)

My suggestion is to go over the top, and eventually word of mouth will quickly spread. For several years we did just one pumpkin carved for myself and my three children. One year I decided to do around 9 jack o lanterns and everyone that came by said how impressed they were. Now these weren't your normal "cut a couple holes and call it a jack o lantern" jack o lanterns. I downloaded patterns from Zombie Pumpkins and did more interesting ones. 

The year after that we did around 13, the year after that we were around 30, the year after that around 50 and this past year I believe we did 60 patterns on 53 pumpkins. Now granted, our neighborhood usually gets a pretty good number of TOTs, but as my display grew, so did the number of people stopping to check it out. Each year I had more and more people say how they look forward to it every year. 

This past year our yard was packed from the very beginning until after TOT was officially over. I had one lady tell me that she drove 45 minutes because her sister told her that she had to come see our house, and another guy tell me how his son raves about our house every year and that he had to stop by. Each year I start putting the pumpkins that I grew myself, as well as the ones I start purchasing around the middle of September out in the front yard and I have people that are taking a walk by our house tell me how they are so excited and look forward to our display every year. 

If you live at the end of a cul-de-sac you have to give them more incentive to go out of their way, especially if your neighbors don't do much decorating. Definitely put your display out early enough to let people know that you are celebrating and make it interesting enough that they remember to stop there on Halloween night. 

Make the decorations interesting and different than what you can just buy in the store. I made cut outs that are in all of the windows of my house so when the lights are on everyone can see them. These really make the house standout, and I usually put them up a couple weeks before Halloween. People love them and not only are they different than what you can buy in a store, but they are also incredibly cheap, and easy to make. Here's a picture showing part of our front yard. 








Basically, just stand out from the rest of the neighborhood and people will definitely show up. Word of mouth is the easiest way to get people to show up. Over the years I've taken pictures of all of the carvings we've done and posted them on Facebook and each year we have people say how they saw what we've done in previous years and decided they had to see it for themselves. 

Here's a picture from last year that shows a majority of the display:


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## Mayor of Haddonfield (Jul 15, 2015)

SlayKnotV1 said:


> *we never handed out drinks but last year we started a thing where we gave out dog treats to any dogs that came in costume. believe it or not we had like 30 dogs come last year LOL *


I love this idea!!!


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## Famous Pumpkin (Aug 12, 2014)

Ulchabhan said:


> Thank you everyone for the suggestions so far!
> 
> I love them all, especially the sign ideas and lightning setup idea.
> 
> ...


As well as the full size candy for the older kids we also hand out single serve bags of fishy crackers for the toddlers/babies. The parents definitely appreciate that, too.


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## HauntedWyo (Apr 13, 2017)

Oh, one other thing I thought that could help as well. Remember that a lot of kids have food allergies, nuts being the most common. So think about supplying candy or treats that are allergy free. Then if you put signs out or advertise on social media be sure to note that you are offering allergy free treats. A teal pumpkin is the symbol for allergy free treats. Parents will greatly appreciate you thinking about their kids. Here is a bit more info on that. 

https://www.foodallergy.org/education-awareness/teal-pumpkin-project/get-started


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## HauntedWyo (Apr 13, 2017)

My above comment double posted.


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## MrF_ (Jun 21, 2018)

Firs time post here, I've been lurking for a long time, but, this thread here gave me a bit of a push to join, as I face the same issue. First, a bit of intro, and about 2017 Halloween, and what I do to attract more trick-or-treaters.

I'm not on a culdesac, but, it is down a street that terminates, however, there are plenty of houses around. Not lots of auto traffic, since the neighborhood was designed so traffic that enters, is pretty much doing so for the neighborhood, and not to shortcut someplace. Part of the issue for me, is it seems less, and less people trick-or-treat anymore, but, who knows, maybe like rollerskating rinks, trick-or-treating will make a comeback!

I notice some neighbors nearby, they don't even bother trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, they just take their kids to the mall, trunk-or-treat, or one of those things. I think part of it is the, "Safety" thing, also some parents and kids can't be bothered to walk much. Not much fun in that, I think. I have awesome memories of trick-or-treating, I doubt I'd have the same if I had gone to something like that.

Anyway, I had a comment in 2017, I had not had before, some 12+ kids said to me, Halloween night, "You have the BEST HOUSE" (around here)". I had not yet heard that one before, so, I took the compliment, and said thanks. 

Also, later that night, I had a few kids attempt to trick-or-treat a 2nd time. i caught them though, also kids about 12, 13, 14. I gave them a bit of a hard time about it, to let them know I caught them, but still gave them a few small pieces. I like the challenge, to see if I recognized them... 

Also, the next day, I had someone knock on my door, it was a group of mostly older kids from the night before, including 1 or 2 that either did not go trick-or-treating, or missed my home. They asked if I had anything left over.  I had plans for the leftover candy, so I gave them each some bouncy balls and fake bugs. Maybe a few small pieces of candy, I forget.

Less people decorate nowadays, compared to when I was younger. Halloween, when I was younger, was an event. I loved the experience, seeing the house, etc. My mother would get into it, also. Nothing super fancy with the yard, but we decorated, and sometimes with some wacky stuff.

---

Where I am now, for many years, it has been a bit on the decline, like kids can't be bothered, but, I notice more kids in the neighborhood now, than in prior years. Kids grow out of it, or eventually move on someplace new, etc.

I used to do some basic stuff, with Jack-o-lanterns, a spooky "Welcome" sign in the yard, something hanging on the door, etc, then, I many years ago, I had to think back to what I enjoyed when I was younger... What really stood out to me

One of the first things I, 'Brought back" was the spooky sounds Record/cassette/CD. People may recall these from Hallmark, etc. I have a CD, so it is easier for it to be on repeat, loop. I stash a boombox someplace with it. That gives some kids an audible thing to track down. A few of the younger kids are a bit apprehensive about it, but, they are normally with parents, so it's fine.

Decorations, the jack-o-lantern, sounds. Something visual, something audbile. 


What I've, is gradually add things. The person posting above, showed some of the things he puts in his window. I do something similar, for Halloween night, I light up some windows with colored lighting.

I gradually add decorations, but keep to a theme. Try not to clutter it up, and make it too much of a mish-mash. I like skeletons.

Halloween night I leave my storm door closed, and my main door open, so people can see someone is there. Though, i recently stopped having normal lighting there, inside the front door, and I now light it with colored lights. So, from afar, people can see at ground level, an odd light coming through the door. The porch light, i swap that out for a dimmer bulb on Halloween night. Always a good idea, regardless of decorations, to have a porch light on.

So, each year, I try to add a little something extra to the outside. Something a few others in this thread have already mentioned. I also think back to things I enjoyed.

Last year, was the first year I decided to do goodie bags. I've often handed out not just candy, but some other trinket. Usually bouncy balls. Candy will be consumed, then gone. The bouncy balls, hang around, though. I recall one year a kid exclaimed, "WOW! A bouncy ball!"

The goodie bags, and some other additions last year, seem to have got a bit more word around. It was the first time I had kids looking for goodies the next day. I am expecting a bit more this year, 2018.

Also, my number for 2017, was about 65. Not a lot, I've had worse years, I've had better. Though, most of the better years are from at least 10 years ago.

Another suggestion, is to be fair to the older kids, kids not in costume, or in a lazy costume. Especially if you don't get many trick-or-treaters to begin with. Older kids, i leave alone if they are in costume, since I trick-or-treated for a while, and also, why not. If the kid has no costume, I do give them a bit of a hard time. I mention to them they could at least go get an eye patch or something. I had one older kid a few years ago approach the door with his mask tilted up, and talking on his phone. I ask him what do you say, I wait for "trick-or-treat". I also asked him about his mask being propped up, talking on the phone, and asked him to put his mask on proper so i could see what he was, before giving the candy. So, i have some fun with it.

I started doing treat bags, since I remember that being a big deal when i was younger. I would sometimes open the bag while walking away, to see what was inside. The surprise element. Also, it keeps kids from being picky about candy in the bucket. With the goodie bags, it's random. I put an assortment of candy in there, some chocolate, gummy, etc. I also toss in some trinket(s), like the bouncy balls. 

I also keep some loose candy, in case I get more kids then expected, I have enough to hand out. I also keep enough loose candy around for the kids who show-up a 2nd time. No goodie bag for them, but, here's a small treat for trying to fool me. 

Also, i suggest decorating early enough, and not the last few days leading up to Halloween. Getting the decorations out there, lets people know there will be something there Halloween night. I start at the beginning of October, and if I see something cool, I may add to it. I also let some pumpkins sit out front for a while, then, Halloween, I carve them into jack-o-lanterns. A tradition with me, I just always did it that way, even as a child, before going out to trick-or-treat.

I also put a few things in the backyard, so neighbors behind me, who may not otherwise drive by the front of my house, have something to look at 


So, that is what is working for me. Thinking back to things I thought were cool, and just adding a bit every year. Also, people don't really decorate much anymore. A few people where I am do something, but, it's not all that many. So, I try to do something a bit more memorable for people who bother trick-or-treating. If I had more trick-or-treaters, I'd probably slim down the treats per kid, but for now, it's OK.

This year I am adding a fog machine. I have been gathering information, also from this site, about the fog chillers, and methods to diffuse it. It's not a huge cost, seems like it could be fun, so, I'll go for it. I was going to add it last year, but, i added some other stuff in 2017, and I wanted to save something for 2018.

So, I try to do things to keep the house a bit fresh, and also stand-out a bit more. Bring attention to it. Also, have some memorable treats. The goodie bags have added an element of surprise, it has also saved me time, with picky kids who want only Reese's Cups, Snickers, Sour Patch Kids, whatever.

I would like a bit more kids, 100 would be cool. Its been that way before. Having a reasonable amount would allow me to continue being so generous with the treats. If I had 500 trick-or-treaters, like some have mentioned here, I'd have to slim down on the treats. I think this thread, or another, a poster mentioned to, "Be careful what you wish for", if you are trying to get lots of trick-or-treaters.

Well, that's a good first post. I'll post here a bit more often, been lurking for a while. A lot of good information here!


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## Restless Acres (Apr 21, 2016)

I get a lot of traffic (both vehicular always, and pedestrian on Halloween as mine is a perfect Halloween neighborhood) on my not main street, so I can't really relate. I would love to move to a quieter street (cul-de-sac, dead-end) but until how I figure out how to do that financially, I am stuck. That being said, I recognize that it will be different having my large display on a quiet street. 

But, at the end of the day, I understand who I am really decorating for: myself. Yeah my kids enjoy it, other kids enjoy it (I love seeing the school bus stop across the street with all the little faces pressed against the glass), but ultimately it is for me. 

Don't worry about how many people come (or don't); that is ultimately out of your control. Decorate for yourself. If, over a few years, Halloween traffic increases because your display strikes a chord in others, great. If not, who cares? There will still be a number of children who will always remember your house. It might even be more special for them (for a couple of reasons) if it is a little out of the way, less well known, thus spookier, more something of theirs and not everybody's.


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## J-Man (Feb 1, 2011)

Looking back at the original post, the title says "How to attract more people". There is a difference between attracting more TOT's and drawing more people to see your display. Honestly, most TOT's couldn't care less about a great display, they just want candy, and nowadays most areas have TOTing limited to daylight hours. Most home haunts don't really "come alive" until after dark. All of the best home haunts draw people just to view the display, and most have their haunts going well before the big night. So I guess my point is, if you want more TOT's, a big display might not help much. If you want to attract more people to see your haunt, then by all means, keep adding whatever you can.


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## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)

windows projections or the singing pumpkins with a projector should work well


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## nickijs (Mar 20, 2015)

Unfortunately, "if you build it, they will come" isn't always a sure fire way to attract people to your home. Now-a-days it seems you either need to be direct like suggested with signage or...you need to be the crowd that everyone is staring at. Notice if there's a crowd of people, everyone who isn't a part of it wants to look and see what it is?! Throw a party! Invite all your friends and their children to your house every year and have them ToT in your neighborhood, starting and ending at your house. I started this in my neighborhood when my kids were very young and 12 years later, all their friends would text me every year asking for the date for our party. It got so big, and the decore became so outrageous and detailed, that when I had to move and downsize, half the neighborhood came to purchase my stuff. It was crazy but def made me feel good. As another member said, we really do this for ourselves, but knowing all those people got enjoyment and were entertained by my creations was rewarding. Start your own trend!


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## rowlandharris (Sep 14, 2010)

I like the idea of lightning - I can flash light under the tall trees in the front of my yard. I'll need to get a bright spotlight...
Otherwise, last year I advertised on Nextdoor.com to many surrounding neighborhoods and probably got a handful of TOTs from that. Also, some good signs (scary, well printed, and very legible) on the main street, well ahead of Halloween to catch drivers and school buses passing by.


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## lazz (Sep 11, 2005)

I always wanted to do a treasure hunt...get 4 or 5 kinda near folks to help. 
If we made a map of all the houses that wanted to participate . Or maybe just did a list of clues.. The kids could start anywhere and get a map or list of clues. Each house they stopped at could stamped their hand, the map or list of clues... Then the last house could pass out a something fun.... It wouldnt have to be easy.... I would have preferred if only a few kids managed to finish. That way we could have afforded to do a better treat...


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## wackychimp (Jul 16, 2009)

Just a few suggestions...

Do something big that can be seen from the street where you can see people walking by. I have a big projected blinking eye on my house that has become sort of my signature. Kids always comment on it. I hang a white shower curtain over the second story window above the front door and project from the inside. This might not work for your set up but something that would make people take notice.

Make friends with the people on the corner and ask if you can put a creepy sign that says something like "more candy and surprises" or whatever to entice them.

If your neighborhood has an email list,, Facebook page or Nextdoor page, make a post about it explaining what parents will find if they make the trip to your cul-de-sac. Be friendly and positive and talk about how you love Halloween and love to make stuff for the kids to see. 

Good luck! ?


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## caniac (May 26, 2011)

if you are doing a theme maybe a sign pointing the way, had friend do an "enchanted forest" so they made a sign with an arrow that said "this way to the enchanted forest", we let them put the sign in our yard so that as kids were leaving they would see it and go into the cul-de-sac to visit.


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## PunkinGal (Aug 2, 2014)

Ulchabhan said:


> Thank you everyone for the suggestions so far!
> 
> I love them all, especially the sign ideas and lightning setup idea.
> 
> ...



I also live on a cul-de-sac but I find it helps! Our neighborhood doesn’t have many kids but they come from other neighborhoods to TOT in our neighborhood, so the cul-de-sac is a place for parents to park! Unfortunately my neighbors do not get in to the Halloween spirit, but the kids like my house because it’s decorated. We have lots of lights (string lights, strobe lights, black lights, etc), music, and we sit on the porch to hand out our treats. I’ve found the little TOT-ers aren’t impressed by candy... they like toys! I buy glow bracelets & necklaces, spider rings, etc and they LOVE them. I’ve also given out chips and juice boxes in addition to candy. I think some parents are hesitant to take things like cider, but juice boxes are sealed. Another thing I have seen neighbors do is have a “warm up area” where they have a bonfire pit in their driveway. We live in Michigan so there’s a 80% chance Halloween will be cold and rainy or snowy.  the parents seem to like it and they stand around and enjoy an adult beverage or two.


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## Kwll2112 (Sep 14, 2016)

J-Man said:


> Looking back at the original post, the title says "How to attract more people". There is a difference between attracting more TOT's and drawing more people to see your display. Honestly, most TOT's couldn't care less about a great display, they just want candy, and nowadays most areas have TOTing limited to daylight hours. Most home haunts don't really "come alive" until after dark. All of the best home haunts draw people just to view the display, and most have their haunts going well before the big night. So I guess my point is, if you want more TOT's, a big display might not help much. If you want to attract more people to see your haunt, then by all means, keep adding whatever you can.


Yes and no. I agree that many ToT's are only interested in candy, but some of them love the displays, too. Also, the younger ToT's have their parents tagging along, so if you've got a great display set up, word will get around. Many of the kids come from outside our neighborhood to TOT, and the first year we opened our doors to the public, we had a surge of repeats later in the evening. BUT, the repeats were mostly parents bringing their friends to see the house (inside and out).


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## 66539 (Feb 20, 2016)

We live at the end of a one lane road where the rest of the block doesn't do anything. We used to enjoy having kids and parents come from a housing development next door as they would sneak through an opening that gave access to our road via the backside of one of their cul-de-sacs. This year, they fenced it all off. We got six kids who visited us on one of the fist Halloween nights where it wasn't raining in years. We have lighting, we have a graveyard, we have moving props and all manner of fun. The fact is, we live in the wrong place. We frequently will see houses on our travels where we go, "Oh, wouldn't you love to live there?Think what we could do with that place come Halloween."

So, what to do? Follow all the advice you see before, because it's great. And then decide if you do it because you'd do it no matter what. Because that's who we are. Our display grows a bit every year and we put it out early. We post pictures of it on Social Media sites and those are our "visitors" who get to say how much they enjoy it. Come Halloween, we know we won't see a lot of kids. Word of mouth doesn't convince kids to walk a block to see tombstones and cauldron creeps when walking that same distance gets them buckets of candy. 

We've made peace that we may never see the hundreds of kids we see others talking about despite how nice our display might look. But come Halloween, our displays will go up, and we will hope for the best, because it's what we do. It's our holiday where we dress up the house and show off what we've made. In the end, even if it's just us who sees it come Halloween night, we'll still do it. Because it's who we are. We're haunters.


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## 66539 (Feb 20, 2016)

One year we gave the kids options to have candy or pumpkin pie. We live in a neighborhood with a large Latino population, and I was surprised by the number of kids who had no idea what a pumpkin pie was. Cultural differences being what they are, I was still impressed that a number of kids tried it. We had hot cider and pie for the adults if they wanted it, but most politely declined the walk up the stairs to get it. Kids, of course, will happily climb stairs if there's candy and treats at the top next to the skeletons and bats. Whenever offering anything but wrapped candy, we only make the offer to kids with parents who give the okay.

Specialty treats probably won't get you any additional visitors unless it's something that's there every year. This year we're going to give out hot dogs, just because. We have no idea how popular it will be, but we're pretty sure what we'll be eating for the three days after Halloween.


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## marksonnenberg76 (Jun 27, 2012)

best way to attract people to your house on a cul-de-sac.....hmm.. light a car on fire.


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## marksonnenberg76 (Jun 27, 2012)

bright lightning flashes not strobe look up firefly lighting simulator.


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## Engelspook (Jun 11, 2018)

I try to have a little something for everyone. We do a haunted house in our garage for the the brave kids and adults. Little ones don't usually get to close so we have some carnival games in the middle of our driveway like toss the hula hoop on a pumpkin and guess which cup has a candy under it. There are a couple of places where people can take pictures on hay bales.
We also have several places to hand out candy. My 94 year old grandma hands out candy and she is very adamant that it is ONE piece per child. So kids that go thru the haunted house get a prize. And all the games get a prize whether they make it or not. I order Oriental Trading and hit all the 75% off favors to get prizes for next year so we have more than candy for those that have diet restrictions(went vegan this year so have no idea how I am going to treats this year)

I like this set up because parents can stay with little ones while older kids walk thru the garage a few feet away. I've had kids come and say that they were too scared to go through the garage last year but this year they're going to try it . 

We've never given out dog treats before, but after reading the post on this thread, we will definitely be doing that !!!!??


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## Engelspook (Jun 11, 2018)

chubstuff said:


> We live at the end of a one lane road where the rest of the block doesn't do anything. We used to enjoy having kids and parents come from a housing development next door as they would sneak through an opening that gave access to our road via the backside of one of their cul-de-sacs. This year, they fenced it all off. We got six kids who visited us on one of the fist Halloween nights where it wasn't raining in years. We have lighting, we have a graveyard, we have moving props and all manner of fun. The fact is, we live in the wrong place. We frequently will see houses on our travels where we go, "Oh, wouldn't you love to live there?Think what we could do with that place come Halloween."
> 
> So, what to do? Follow all the advice you see before, because it's great. And then decide if you do it because you'd do it no matter what. Because that's who we are. Our display grows a bit every year and we put it out early. We post pictures of it on Social Media sites and those are our "visitors" who get to say how much they enjoy it. Come Halloween, we know we won't see a lot of kids. Word of mouth doesn't convince kids to walk a block to see tombstones and cauldron creeps when walking that same distance gets them buckets of candy.
> 
> We've made peace that we may never see the hundreds of kids we see others talking about despite how nice our display might look. But come Halloween, our displays will go up, and we will hope for the best, because it's what we do. It's our holiday where we dress up the house and show off what we've made. In the end, even if it's just us who sees it come Halloween night, we'll still do it. Because it's who we are. We're haunters.


Love this!


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## Boone6666 (Aug 22, 2014)

HereForTheBoose said:


> Did you decorate pretty far in advance last year? I feel like that sometimes helps neighbors' visitors make a mental note to stop by on Halloween if they see you're going big with the decor.
> 
> If your town has a Facebook or related social page, you could throw up a post asking people to stop by.


I have been doing this for a few years and have grown, I leave on a pretty dark street and no one else decorates but over the years and word of mouth things 
have grown and what is nice the people don't just hit and run the grown ups like to take time and look and talk.


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## dbruner (Aug 23, 2012)

I also live on a cul de sac surrounded by non-decorators. I give out treat bags full of candy. I think I really need to step up my lighting to get people down the street. Also I am going to put a ghost on the roof that people can see from the end of the street. I was also thinking about putting out my jumping spider with the "STep here if you dare" stepper for the kids who do come. Love the idea of dog treats, will do that this year too.

I agree that we do this for ourselves, it just bothers me when I hear kids out and about that walk past my dark street.


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## benjamin (Oct 26, 2016)

I also live on a cul de sac....you can't see it from the main road and I'm the only house on the street that decorates. I've only really gotten into it in a bigger way the last 2 years. The first year I got a lot more people than I did last year, despite my display being better last year. Last year it kept raining in the days leading up to halloween and I kept having to rush it inside....because I was working a lot I wasn't able to get it all back up in a timely manner, so few people saw it. The year before there was less rain and more people saw it before Halloween and more people showed up. I'd love to do the lightning in the back yard but sounds like it's an expensive thing to do? Thought about floating a large ghost high above my house, but think my local council may have rules against it (lol). I think the main thing is to get it out early if you can and get it up on your local Facebook pages so that word of mouth gets people there (here in Australia few people decorate so it's not appropriate to have it out til later in October, but I'm going to be getting all my non-animated stuff out early in October this year). Though I do it for myself for the most part and would do it even if I lived in the middle of nowhere (lol), it brings me extra joy to see little ones enjoy it!


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## doto (Nov 20, 2009)

People have to know you are there, and when you have a bunch of non participant neighbours, TOT's need to know you are worth walking too once they see you from a distance. I suggest taking a very critical view of your display from the end of your cul-de-sac and see what TOTs and their parents see. Remember time is candy, and they have to know your display is worth loosing time(candy) to visit. You may need to change your display to fit your audience. Bold bright lighting, volume and height in your display and loud sound will catch attention from a distance. 

Lots of signage, and social media will get them to the area but if they don't see the value in your place from a distance they may not turn the corner and head down your cul-de-sac. Make your place a "Must See" from a distance.


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## oaklawn Crematory (Jun 25, 2010)

If you live on a cul de-sac , it is paramount to have the correct "bait" to increase traffic at your Haunt. Incorrect types of bait or poor baiting techniques will ultimately result in a failure that will have cascading​ effect; increasing each year; until your Haunt implodes from lack of satisfaction.


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## oaklawn Crematory (Jun 25, 2010)

The first year we set up, we handed out full size candy bars. The next year I expanded the haunt, added new stuff and never looked back. We get between 400 and 600 kids a year depending on the weather.


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## Nypdwife (Oct 13, 2013)

I livei n a cul de sac in rural northern Va There are only 8 homes on the block and they all have 2 to 5 acres, plus the road goes uphill so you cant see it from the ajoining development. When we lived in NY we were on a block with a grammar school and used to get 200 kids. Here in northern va the kids are only allowed to trick or treat from 5 to 8pm ( which I think sucks but whatever they say ) Anyway the first year here we had 8 kids.... Now we get between 55 and 65 . We do have lots of stuff but we use lots of outdoor lights Low watt colors of orange and blue and we have lots of handmade cemeteries in the yard in different places.. We use those cheap battery candles out there on the graves.. We dont have music but we give bags of candy ( like years ago) but all from costco and also toys from oriental traders.. We then give out glow necklaces as well ( also oriental traders) Every year I tell the kids we do it up for them and thats why I give good stuff because they have to come up the block. Many of the parents come and tell us how much they love the yard and they have told others. Many people drive their kids up to the house. We only have 5 kids on our block and we have no kids ourselves.. But we make it fun and we dont use alot of gorey stuff ( my husband being a cop in NYC hes seen enough of that ) We use lots of skeletons... Grim reapers and witches.... pumpkins and lots of tombstones hand made We must be doing something right so if you make it nice for the kids they will tell their friends and come back every year ~ Susan NYpdwife


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