Additions coming to our BIG Halloween event!

Ok, friends we officially have less than 11 weeks until OPENING NIGHT of Damian's Not-So-Haunted House!

Our biggest fundraiser of the year (so far, at least!) is going to be even bigger OF COURSE and I'm excited to share my wish list of additions & "plussing up" to our not-so-haunted walkthrough attraction!

Here's the plan from last year, for reference:

NEW ADDITIONS for 2026

1. Corridor of Doors MAKEOVER

Our Corridor of Doors is a precious large amount of real estate that has largely been untouched since our first edition of Damian's Not-So-Haunted House.

I always wanted this hall to be more fun and include more characters and more magical effects - and be more reminiscent of the Corridor of Doors in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (in a not-so-spooky way of course). This year, this hall is going to get some long-awaited attention!

Maybe the wallpaper will have some characters hidden in them, maybe there will be a magical portrait on the wall... I'm hoping to finally be able to add my magical working grandfather clock in here!

Rough sketch for Corridor of Doors update!

2. Mickey's Ghost Room Finale UPDATE

Last year this room got a BIG update with the addition of a talking, animated Mickey ghost that pops out in the "endless hallway." It's one of my favorite things in the whole walkthrough!

But as far as this room has come, I know it can be even better. And hopefully bigger - literally! Right now, there are a few big pieces of equipment (garage stuff and an old, non-functional cabinet that I hide with tarp) and it takes up a lot of space. If I can get those big things out of the garage, that could open up some cool possibilities in here - potentially enough to make ANOTHER "room" to walk through. If I can do that, that would allow me to have a lot more control over the light in the ghost room and maybe, just maaaybe, even do the quintessential Haunted Mansion special effect: the Pepper's Ghost effect!

It's a bit too science-y to explain in this blog post (there's an entire Magic School Bus episode devoted to it!) but I really REALLY hope I can make it work in here this year!!

I also want to make my cutie ghosts a little more substantial and easier to hang in years to come - ideally I will make them out of fabric!

3. Madame Minnie ADDITIONS

This is my favorite part of the whole walkthrough, but Madame Minnie still needs some updating (and additions!) Last year I really really wanted to make my first animatronic, but it was at the bottom of the priority list and so it didn't make the cut. This year I'm putting this task up near the top because it would just be SO CUTE to have Minnie Mouse's cat Figaro in this scene!

It's about time I give Minnie a proper bow atop her crystal ball as well - and maybe I can have some more items floating above her just like Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion ride and fill this room up a bit more!

Other updates and additions

The 3 updates I already talked about are going to eat up quite a bit of time, but there are quite a few other things on my wish list to plus up our attraction! Things like:

• Adding more portraits to the portrait gallery (including an animated one!)

• Repairing, patching up, and painting existing elements (including putting new lights in our big Pumpkin Mickey)

• Giving a fresh paint job to the big train engine out front and adding a train tunnel (and hopefully figure out how to make it puff smoke out the top!)

• Building planter boxes to put outside (and if I have time - sculpting some familiar-looking busts and more Disney characters to put in them!)

• Building a nice big sign that includes the name of our attraction and dates and times of the full run (I plan to build it so I can change out the sign for Christmas too!)

As you can see, I've got my work cut out for me - and the next 10 weeks are going to go by FAST! It's time to get a move on!!

Let me know what you are most excited to see come to life!!

<3