Family prepares haunted house

By: EDWARD GRAHAM - For the North County Times | Saturday, October 30, 2004 11:38 PM PDT ∞

SAN MARCOS ---- In a house in the neighborhood of Santa Fe Hills, Chris and Patti Rogers are completing their garage's transition to a haunted house. Having spent countless hours and thousands of dollars on everything from foam walls to zombies that rise from the grave, the couple this year hopes to terrify and delight hundreds of children once again.

The tradition stretches back decades, to when Chris Rogers and his younger brother fell in love with Disneyland's classic attraction, the Haunted Mansion.

"When we were kids growing up in Escondido, we would try to recreate the Haunted Mansion on Halloween night," said Rogers. "When I went to medical school, I got really into haunted houses, since I would decorate a huge old 10-story fraternity house each year."

Chris and Patti Rogers have been married 12 years, and the Halloween tradition has woven its way into their life. They have assembled haunted houses while living in Texas, and in several San Diego homes. This is their second year living in San Marcos, where, as usual, the haunted house has helped bring the neighborhood together.

"We love Halloween since it starts off the holiday season," said Chris Rogers. "Our families and neighbors always pitch in to help with the haunted house."

Patti Rogers said that she liked planning out the house and doing all of the shopping for the event, and the couple expect more than the 103 children who attended last year.

"I think the fun is in the anticipation," said Patti Rogers. "People don't know what to expect, which is always intriguing."

This year, groups of only three children at a time will be allowed in the garage. The haunted house will start with an entry hall filled with screams, creepy hanging mesh and a Halloween poem of warning. Next up is a haunted library, with a forbidding, old female spirit. Turning the corner, the guest will next face an incredibly elaborate graveyard, with a zombie that rises from the dead to give a huge fright.

Exiting the graveyard, a friend of the Rogers dressed as a vampire will scare the children into a funeral parlor, which contains a holographic painting that changes to a skull as the observer passes by. Another room with a hanging ghost is next, followed by a giant motorized black widow that descends upon its victims. Finally, guests will get one last scare from a monster with giant movable hands as they run back out into the safety of the street.

Most of the props have been bought through the years on the Internet, or from Halloween stores, and each year, more items are added to the collection.

Lighting, fog machines, darkness, creepy music and a graveyard outside will complete the ambiance of fear. Most of the voices and the zombie will be triggered by motion sensors, and some of the children's reactions will be monitored by Chris Rogers from outside, through a video camera hooked up to his laptop.

The videotaped reactions will complete the last part of a movie that documents the entire process, starting from the house's inception in early September.

"Definitely, the best part is when the kids come and we get to see their expressions," said Chris Rogers. "We don't have our own kids, so we do it for the neighborhood kids and our nieces and nephews, and it is just a lot of fun. We all have so much fun."

The event will run from 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday.