The roots of Living Nightmares dates back to 2011, beginning as a simple Halloween display in Frank's front yard. Frank set up tombstones and lights to keep his grandkids entertained while visiting his house, and Devin quickly became fixated on this humble display.

Devin's first contribution came about in 2012 after seeing another Halloween yard with eyeball string lights. Those eye lights captivated the young boy, and after some begging, Frank bought two strings of eye lights for the porch. This would mark the beginning of the duo's work together.

In 2013, the duo built their first custom prop. They crafted a skeleton sitting in a lawn chair by stuffing newspapers into Frank's old clothes, topped off with a Styrofoam skull.

In 2016, the duo purchased their first life-size animatronic, the swinging scarecrow from Spirit Halloween. From this point on, animatronics became a large focus when developing the haunt each year.

2012 Halloween display

Custom Skeleton

swinging scarecrow

The haunt remained as a relatively simple cemetery display throughout the years, but different themes would be added in 2018 to accompany the new farm and carnival animatronics.

2019 would be the most ambitious haunt created at Frank's house. There were now 11 animatronics to work with, and every inch of Frank's yard was reserved for different themes.

The cemetery was overflowing with tombstones and groundbreakers, with the back of the cemetery carrying the farm with scarecrows and cornstalks. Frank's driveway featured the carnival, and his garage contained the new lab for 2019.

This was the first year the haunt was open to the public, with Frank giving out candy on Halloween night. Devin dressed as a clown to scare trick or treaters, and one of his buddies scared guests with him.

2019 was the final year the duo worked at Frank's house, with the haunt moving to Devin's house in 2020.

2016-2018 Halloween display

2019 Halloween display

Devin & Frank at work

2020 was the beginning of the Crown Point Carnival, the most transformative era for the haunt. The haunt was small in 2020 with Devin and Frank still working out the space and many of the themes being in their infancy.

In 2021 the haunt made much more progress. New themes were added such as the spider den and butchershop, and the older themes were optimized to work with the new space. Several of the themes started using canopies to create simple rooms adding some diversity to how each theme was presented.

2022 was a pivotal year for the haunt. Devin and Frank wanted to transform the lab and butchershop into walk-through themes, along with building a farmhouse facade which they had never done. It was really ambitious at the time, and they managed to pull it off while expanding previous themes and adding new smaller themes.

2020 Crown Point Carnival

2021 Crown Point Carnival

2022 Crown Point Carnival

2023 marked the final year that the haunt was open at Devin's house. More walk-throughs were added such as the swamp cabin and vampire manor, and the carnival received a huge overhaul with custom carnival booths and sheets turning the carnival into its own walk-through zone.

The haunt's audience had grown substantially with hundreds of people trick-or-treating and donating. The haunt also gained a consistent acting crew through Devin's buddies, this era of the haunt holds so many wonderful memories for everyone involved.

Unfortunately, the haunt had to move because it was growing too big for the yard. 2023 was also riddled with terrible weather destroying many of the themes, delaying the haunt's opening several times. If the haunt was to continue, building it in the yard didn't seem sustainable with how much it was growing.

That brings us to today, Wenninghoff Farm has allowed the haunt to run in their greenhouse during the Halloween season. Devin and Frank's work on the haunt has never stopped, and it will continue for the foreseeable future.

2023 Crown Point Carnival

Crown point Carnival Acting Crew

Crown point Carnival Construction