I have to say that I think the world of Corinne Galarneau of Artistic Petals & Scents in Hanna Alberta. Though we’ve never crossed borders to shake hands, Corinne keeps us entertained and awed. Everyone at Corinne’s trendy Hanna AB flower shop is always a step ahead when it comes to implementing creative ideas like the haunted house they do each year for Halloween. It’s a clever idea in many ways, but I’ll let Corinne tell you more about it.

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The Fun Florist’s Halloween Haunted House:

This was last year (08) which was our first year. There were 150- 175 people that went through in two nights (30th & 31st) We are in a very small town pop. 3000…

As I stated in the post to Flower Shop Network post we do this free of charge, just ask for a donation to the local food bank. No one is turned away and everyone gets a goodie bag at the end of the scares and screams :-)

Again we have the opportunity to utilize our seasonal garden center at the back of our store but this could easily be adapted to either a store front or a rental space…or something a business could do as a community event… arena? community center? etc….

I act as the ‘Tour Guide’ dressed as the Grimm Reaper.. and my business partner is my surgery victum… We ask our families and friends to assist us in the haunting. We have spooky music, fog machine and things popping out from nowhere. As I walk in the back door I announce the presence of ‘young ones or older kids’ We take care not to really scare the young kids.. just enough to make it fun.

As you can see from the pics, we have ghouls hiding in corners, under tables, in coffins and what you don’t see is the goblins hidden under all the leaves… they all reach , grab legs or move slowly (depending on who is going through). We have an 8 foot spider web with a bunch of spiderlings as well as a 3 foot momma spider. Also as I walk from one room to another there is a 4 1/2 foot helium filled balloon spider that I reach over and grab her leg and have her float down in front of the kids… we complete the effect by adding in ghosts, bats, fun lighting, intestines (chowmein noodles dyed red) ‘eyeballs (water pearls) carved watermelon ‘brain’ , styrofoam tombstones, dead trees and plants and lots of fun things. The possibilities are endless. And the cost is very minimal… as much as you want to put into it.. lots of the items can be made at home. (bonus!)

Last year it was a ton of fun…. everyone had awesome feed back.

And if that weren’t enough, here’s a little spoiler. There’s also a town festival in July that is a huge hit. People from towns more than 300 miles away visit for this event. Want more info on that tasty morsel for promoting summer sales and fun? Check the Bloomin’ Blog again soon!

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