Ghoulish fun

Lt. Col. T.M. Weisz, of Evans, says he's always been a Halloween fanatic.

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The U.S. Army reassigned him to Fort Gordon last year, but no matter where the family went, Weisz said he still managed to put together elaborate Halloween displays.

Tonight, Weisz will share his love of ghoulish fun with trick-or-treaters, with a haunted house and graveyard at his Parkside Trail residence in the Rivershyre subdivision on Hardy-McManus Road, in Evans.

"It's just a lot of fun," he said. "People kind of like to act funny on that one day of the year, and you can pretty much do whatever you want as an adult and people buy it."

Outside the home, the family arranges a haunted graveyard featuring a giant spider and web. Those who dare enter his garage should keep their eyes peeled for a mad scientist, a Frankenstein's monster, a zombie dissection and something Weisz calls "the meat market."

The haunted house is appropriate for ages 10 to 12, he said. Weisz said nothing will jump out at visitors, but last Halloween, a few neighborhood children were afraid to enter, so his wife handed out candy in the driveway.

Most decorations and costumes are homemade with materials collected at yard sales and flea markets, Weisz said.

The 42-year-old grandfather and father of three said he starts assembling props months in advance. One new piece, a fence to surround the graveyard, took him three months to build.

The haunted house is such a production, Weisz said he has to take leave for Halloween just to put the finishing touches together.

"It takes me about 10 hours to set up that day," he said.

Halloween set pieces fill more than half the home's attic, and there isn't much room for Christmas decorations, he said.

Halloween decorations are also popular gift ideas on his birthday, Weisz said. This year, his wife bought him a zombie head and torso.

"My youngest daughter, she doesn't care for it," Weisz said. "She doesn't like walking into a closet and it's staring at her."