Since 1999, Gerry Cardillo has turned her two-car garage into a haunted house with animatronics, scary heads, live “monsters” popping out of corners and lots of candles.
Obviously, someone is obsessed with Halloween. Well, sort of. “Halloween appeals to me because it’s the only holiday where I don’t have to do a lot of cooking,” she said. “It is just fun.”
Grayson Blanchette
Grayson Blanchette
While she may not be preparing big meals, she cooks up a lot of fun and scares for between 250 to 350 people a year for a couple of hours on the big day. The Acworth garage is divided into four rooms and each year there is a theme — witches room, Dracula’s home, a graveyard — and new props and decorations. It’s probably as much work as whipping up a big meal, if not more.
Grayson Blanchette
Grayson Blanchette
“Our garage isn’t massive but it’s amazing how much stuff we put in it. At first we just did one quarter of the garage; now we use the whole space and have a little tent out front, sort of a greeting area,” she said. “We put black plastic sheeting on the walls with push pins — probably thousands of them — and then we decorate. We use between 300 to 400 batteries a year and tons of candles. It’s amazing we’ve never burned the place down.”
She estimates it takes 60 to 80 hours to set up. Taking it down and storing it in the basement used to take “another three weeks but it’s gotten better because my daughter-in-law is really good at setting up and taking town. It’s improved our time,” she said.
Grayson Blanchette
Grayson Blanchette
The fright house is definitely her “thing,” although her two sons, Adam Blanchette, 32, and Grayson Blanchette, 35, were involved as kids and still take a day off of work to dress up as Jason or Michael Myers to add more scares. “My husband, Gil Blanchette, is very funny. He brags about the house and shows pictures and is never involved,” she said. “One year my daughter-in-law got him to dress up as Dracula, but he’s out front greeting people and passing out beer. That’s his thing.”
Grayson Blanchette
Grayson Blanchette
Hannah Thomas lived on the same block and her first Halloween stop was always at the Blanchette house. She’s since moved away but has taken her young son back so he could experience a memorable part of her childhood. “We always looked forward to the Halloween garage spooky house,” she said. “It was the highlight. It was always fun to see which Blanchette dressed as a witch or something else that would jump out and scare you.”
Isabella Sempel, who graduated last year from the University of Georgia, grew up next door and still goes back. “It’s hilarious and I come over now as an adult and love listening to the kids scream all night long,” she said. “When you’re a kid it’s really, really scary. I refused to go for several years as a kid. As an adult, it’s less spooky but you’ll still jump.”
Grayson Blanchette
Grayson Blanchette
Neighbor Kathy Berry’s daughter, Lauren, joined in as one of the live actors. “She was a zombie and I made her up in the best make-up. My daughter really loved going as a child and then was asked to participate. She had a really good time.”
Even though there is a steady stream of visitors, Berry said the traffic was embraced by the neighbors. “We all loved standing outside and watching the people go in and hearing the screams. They put so much work into it and Gerry collects the coolest stuff,” she said. “Sometimes they’ll follow the trends and do a zombie theme like ‘Walking Dead,’ but other times they’ll do classics like ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.’ It’s just crazy but it’s really a family tradition.”
Grayson Blanchette
Grayson Blanchette
It’s a tradition not only for the Blanchette household but for the neighborhood kids who would get excited when they started seeing boxes brought into the garage, Cardillo said. “I love the reaction from the kids. Adults love it too; we’ve had women run out there screaming. It’s all been word of mouth. We don’t advertise but people keep coming.”
There is no charge and at various points they considered asking people to bring a can of food to donate to a food bank but “we haven’t pulled it together. It’s always running late and getting done at the last minute. It’s a lot harder as we get older.”
After every person has left, the family and friends wind down and critique the night. “We always say that it was the best night ever and that we’ll never do it again,” she said. “And, then we start planning the next one.”
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