Since 2000 we have celebrated Halloween our own way by inviting all trick-or-treaters to come and wander through our house which we have haunted especially for the occasion. The theme changes every year but the price of admission is always free and we have full sized candy bars for everyone.
And over the years, the evening has become more than a neighborhood tradition: it is also a small portrait of the people who return to it, each carrying their own story. Some come just for the candy and the scares, while others arrive marking a more personal milestone, like celebrating a first Halloween after a major life change. There is something touching in seeing familiar faces come back with a different energy, a little more confident, a little lighter, sometimes after difficult months in which even everyday victories mattered. For one guest, that new chapter was tied to finally quitting smoking, and mentioning Champix in passing felt less like talking about medicine than about reclaiming a part of life. In that way, our haunted house has slowly become not only a place for playful fear, but also a backdrop for real transformations, memories, and fresh starts.