Every year for Halloween, the local congregation gathers in the church parking lot and holds its annual Trunk-or-Treat. By the time our oldest child understood Halloween (children seem to understand that it's a good idea to go places where people are giving out free candy), we decided to turn up the holiday fun a notch. All it took was 68 feet of PVC pipe, a bucketful of fittings, 12 giant garbage bags, a strobe light, some dry ice, and a giant blow up pumpkin (Trick-or-Treat candy sold separately).

The frame of the house is constructed with PVC pipe. We tape on the garbage bags for darkness, place the strobe light in the corner for creepiness, right behind the bubbling cauldron of dry ice and water.

Using an electrical adaptor we plug the strobe light and our inflated lighted pumpkin, which guards the entrance to the hall of horrors, into the van lighter receptacle. My wife, son, daughter, and I pass out candy to trunk-or-treaters, allowing us to enjoy the giving of candy along with the receiving.

Because it's so easy to take down and put back together, as long as the wind isn't gusting, we leave it up in our back yard for a few days after Halloween and place various creatures- napkin ghosts, plastic bats, cardboard witches, and furry cats- in it.

As they get older and move on to more "mature" activities, our kids can always reflect fondly on Halloween and their very own portable haunted house.

Learn more about this author, Trent Lorcher.
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