Halloween Yard Haunt in 8mm
December 2nd, 2009 by John WolfeAs a yard haunter, I’m totally loving this 8mm Halloween footage! The film appears to have been shot in the late 60′s or early 70′s and depicts some very cool, very retro, store-bought and homemade yard haunt decor. Keep an eye out for the innovative, animated groundbreaker arm at 1:36 and the priceless ocular expression on the beckoning ghoul’s mask at 1:52 (reminds of what was done to Lady Gaga’s eyes in her “Bad Romance” vid 
) — great stuff!
Though it has no audio, this film still has to be one of my favorite finds for old Halloween footage.
Video source: You Tube user, sirgraves
Related Posts
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Oh my gosh! What a find!!! I have to admit that I had a “Texas Chainsaw” feeling (vintage version). I wish that were an actual movie. It had the creepiest feel to it. Why didn’t these people live in my neighborhood? They were way ahead of their time for that era!
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:48 am
Wow, that was kick ass John! What a tremendous find dear one. Not many people went out of their way to decorate for Halloween like that. I still adore seeing the style of homes and the cars from the 60′s parked along the streets. The arm moving from the ground is a priceless idea! It made it seem so real that something was really trying to come out from the grave, most excellent. I also think it’s a fabulous idea for Dracula to wake from his slumber and give out the candy from his coffin. This is one family who loved to go all out for Halloween. I thoroughly enjoyed watching that video, thank you for sharing with us.
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:26 pm
autumnforest,
Now that you mention it, it does seem like “Grandpa” should be making an appearance at any second during the film.
You’re so right about them being ahead of their time. It would be cool to find out who and where the first yard haunt developed. While these guys may not have been the very first, they still had to be some of the earliest pioneers.
Goldie,
Glad you liked it! Like you, I was checking out the cars and the homes, and since Sirgraves didn’t mention when this one was filmed, it just had that late 60′s look to me. How did you like how the vampire slapped the candy into their hands? That whole last segment with “Dracula’s lair” was awesome, but humorous at the same time!
December 4th, 2009 at 6:19 am
Wow, very cool stuff. The guy at the end looked like Zackerly.
December 4th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Funny you should ask that question because that was another aspect about the whole experience of their yard haunt I appreciated; how the man portraying Dracula was in total character all the way through. If I were the Count and a bunch of kids woke me from my slumber, my hand would be just as slow and cumbersome finding their candy and handing it to them. I thought he did a fantastic job, as did the rest of the family.
Also, I found a regret
I regret that the Wolfe family didn’t video tape their Halloween Haunts back when the whole family had characters to play out. What I would give to see that in motion my friend 
December 4th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Ethan,
I agree 100%. As a kid, hell, even as an adult, I would have been in heaven at that haunt.
Goldie,
Yeah, I think about that often too and how I wish we had taped our haunts back in the 90′s. While we never taped the haunt as it was unfolding, I do remember recording the entire set-up once everything was built, minus the “actors” in their positions. All of that footage may be stored somewhere – I’ll have to look for it. Thanks for the reminder.