Comet Lodge Haunt

10/01/2026

Wondering if any of our electrical savvy followers has some advice for us. My pre-med physics curriculum has this far not proven helpful for the haunt. 🤣

Many of you experienced our power issues in person either last year or the year prior. (Our first year apparently having been "beginner's luck" thanks to being an uncharacteristically dry October.)

It has become a tradition to test the electrical hookups for the haunt, only for them to fail 20 minutes before our first opening.

We've had it evaluated more than once, with the prevailing diagnosis being rain plus arc fault circuitry dark ages.

I'm not overloading. I do the math to make sure we're well within the threshold. Our neighbors on both sides have kindly allowed us to throw extension cords over the fence. We use solar and battery powered lights and props where we can. This year we have a generator juuuuuust in case. It would power about 1/3 of the haunt.

We staked them off the ground last year, use those plastic protector boxes where we can, to no avail.

Does anybody have some advice for a protective system? Maybe something slightly more sophisticated than 9,500 teeny umbrellas? 🤣

Thanks in advance for any input!

10/01/2026

10/01/2026

The Comet lodge opens two weeks from tomorrow.

Our main theme will be a tribute to Michael Jackson’s thriller.
After the performance
Audience members will be invited to join the slow speed version.
Here are links to instructions and videos you can practice at home.
You can also attend practices at the Redmond Senior Center on Saturdays between 6-8 P.M.

The Annual Worldwide Simultaneous Dance To "Thriller"

09/27/2026

Putting up our faux theatre marque today! And attaching it to the house in about 90,000 different ways because otherwise our typical October wind here would promptly es**rt this thing to Portland. 🤣

I'm usually the creative one, but this is all Marc. And the full set isn't in the video, either. It gets even better. I've created a monster, and I couldn't be more proud. ❤️

09/26/2026

Our 15 foot scarecrow tipped, and it made him look like he was mid-Shakespearean soliloquy.

Thus, he shall now be named Romeo.

09/26/2026

I've been meaning to make this post for a while, but it made sense to do so closer to operation. This is in regard to our two co-managers.

Marc and I title ourselves as the owners of the haunt because we obviously are.

But this haunt belongs as much to our managers, who devote literally hundreds of hours to the build. During their precious summer break, they come to our house to design and help build sets, paint and assemble props, w**d the trail, make merch, etc. During the operation, they do our scare acting, line management, security monitoring, monitor the trail for props or set pieces that may need attention during opening hours..in the pouring rain, in the cold, in the hours our power went out and they had to close off the trail to disappointed guests while I ran around trying to get everything back on, they've been with us.

They ARE our managers.

They are also 15 and 12 years old.

Because of this, their authority was ignored a few times last year.

I need to emphasize that their manager titles are not "cutesy" because they're minors. They are very real, very deserved titles and they execute their duties with the level of professionalism expected of adults in the real world workplace. They more than earn their volunteer hours for school.

I refrain from using their names or posting photos for the most part because of their age, but to those of you who haven't already had the privilege of meeting them, they will have name tags proving their title during the haunt.

Second to Marc and I, they are in charge. It is imperative that they be respected as the managers they are. They more than earned that authority and respect. ❤️

09/25/2026

Instead of the progress video we've owed you, here's a regression video!

We'll be out in the storm pretending that fighting the weather isn't a futile battle filled to the brim with human hubris.🤣

I couldn't use the first take because it was my first time seeing it and the language I used wasn't suitable for the Internet. Or anywhere else, for that matter. Truck stops included.

We were so far ahead. We turned down offers of help because between Marc, myself, and our teenage powerhouse managers who dedicated a lot of their precious summer to the build, we were on top of things. Then MCAS and TOS entered the chat. (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, both of which are common comorbidities found in Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.)

THEN enter the corn earworm moth infestation which is incredibly severe. I have a few entomologist friends who basically just told me "RIP" or gave me a sympathetic look.

The common cold I have right now isn't horrible, it just feels like a personal insult. 🤣🤣🤣

I can't help but laugh right now. This is year four, so while we're still relative haunt newbies, I knew well enough to expect this.

Would you all be disappointed if we 3D printed 1,400 corn stalks next year? Because good lord. 🤣

We'll get there. Really.

09/18/2026

The Halloween Harvest Fest is another free Halloween event in our neighborhood. It’s only 1.6 miles away from the Comet Lodge Haunt so you can easily visit both in the same night. Unlike us they are putting up all their decorations in one day and could use some help. Below is their contact info.

09/18/2026

🤯🤯🤯🤯❤️❤️❤️