FALLBROOK -- For one month of the year, the quaint three-bedroom home on a manicured street in Bonsall is transformed into an eerie, swampy graveyard and haunted house, where black cats, ancient rum bottles and Spanish moss are the chosen decor.

It's Love Manor, and in October, 19-year-old John Love is the lord of the house.

"You can definitely have more fun on Halloween," he said, adding that when November rolls around, and the decorations are taken down, the house is bare.

This year's Halloween-themed makeover, Love said, was inspired by the movies "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Haunted House."

Outside, chilled fog billows from a machine hidden among piles of autumn leaves and half a dozen tombstones. A foreboding black wrought-iron fence lines the perimeter.

Inside, a manufactured thunderstorm -- a strobe light, fan and tape recording -- simulates a tumultuous night on the high seas, while draped cheese cloth and tarnished antiques age the home.

"It's hard to top myself every year," said Love, who donned a blue-and-gold trimmed jacket, with a frilly pirate's shirt underneath.

He added, however, that he will always try.

"Just wait until next year," Love said, smiling. "Whatever can't get done that year, I try and do the next."

This is Love's second year of rolling out a "Hollywood-like" set production for the fall holiday. While he has always enjoyed decorating the house for special occasions and events, building props and bringing the holiday's theme to every crevice of the home is a new creation, he said.

With the help of his dad, Steve, several trips back and forth to Home Depot, key buys at the swap meet and some home-haunters chat-room sites online, Love redecorated everything from the yard to the guest bathroom.

The family spent more than $1,000 on everything, Steve Love said, not counting the hundreds of hours both father and son spent building in the garage.

"At first the neighbors thought we were doing a new addition to the house … then they saw the tombstones," Love said.

One the most ambitious projects the pair took on this year, he added, was the wrought iron fence. The movable graveyard fence and its 80-pound columns were built from PVC pipe, wood and plastic spikes, and then spray painted for effect.

Construction on the fence and other props began early in the summer.

"Now we have built so much that I'm going to have to build a shed to put it all in," Steve Love said.

Storing holiday-themed props and decorations, however, would not be the only use for a shed.

Love said that when his manor goes up, all of his parent's day-to-day items and decorations are cleared out.

The books on the bookcase? Boxed and replaced by used novels sprayed in spider webs. The pictures on the wall? Taken down and swapped for faded paintings and antique mirrors, draped in cobwebs and shawls.

Still, Love's mother, Amy, said she doesn't really miss her everyday decorations because she's knows how much her son enjoys creating the haunted home.

"I see it as an investment, 'cause I think this is what he will do with his life," she said.

Love, who takes acting classes at Palomar Community College, said he is working toward a career in design and theatre.

Part of the motivation for decking out the house each holiday is to help pave his way for his future, he said.

"I like to do all this setup, to make a portfolio to show people," Love said.

The house, at 31242 Old River Drive in Bonsall will be open to the public and tours Halloween night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information about the project or Love, visit www.lovemanor.com.

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 631-6604 or schabner@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.