As for this year's HUGE announcement:
We're about to welcome you to our new Nightmare... Before Christmas!
A TWO NIGHT EVENT!
Halloween Night: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
November 1: Halloween Party! (Bring a dish and come hang out!)
And welcome you we did, to a Nightmare so many years in the making, we honestly lost count.
 |
| Welcome to our very own Nightmare! |
For those who wanted to hang around Halloween Town for a full presentation, we managed to pare down the story of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" to less than 10 minutes. Jack Skellington played the music, while an unexpected visitor, who'd quickly picked up the story, sang along. Even better, some of our trick-or-treaters sang along with us—a few knowing every word!—making the evening that much more fun.
The following is our rough script, minus most of the lyrics, which were shortened and shifted around to retain the highlights.
 |
| So, you think you know the stories and you know the rhymes? |
JACK SKELLINGTON: [GREETING VISITORS] Oh, how wonderful. Trick-or-treaters! Welcome, everyone! Gather round!
We recently received a strange package here in Halloween Town, and discovered we had a special visitor… Spiney!
 |
| An unexpected package and visitor who fit right in. |
[TO SPINEY] Would you like to welcome our guests?
SPINEY: [SINGS]
Welcome to our nightmare
We think you’re gonna like it
We think you’re gonna feel you belong here
In Halloween Town!
So welcome to our nightmare, yeah...
SPINEY: Ah, perhaps we should introduce you to the residents of Halloween Town.
[SPINEY SINGS "This Is Halloween" IN CHARACTER VOICES]
JACK: Isn’t this creature remarkable? [SPINEY SHRUGS] In fact, it can tell my story almost better than I can. Are you ready to hear it?
[SPINEY SINGS "Jack's Lament"]
 |
| Reciting Shakespearean quotations. |
SPINEY: That was a rough year for you wasn’t it, Jack?
JACK: [SADLY] Indeed, it was.
SPINEY: But then you discovered someplace new…
[SPINEY SINGS "What's This?"]
 |
| Jack sure rocks the keys with those boney fingers. |
SPINEY: What was it, Jack?
JACK: Christmas Town!
SPINEY: Hmmm, but that left you with a few questions, didn't it?
[SPINEY SINGS "Jack's Obsession"]
 |
| Halloween Town will never be the same. |
JACK: Eureka! This year Christmas will be ours!
[SPINEY SINGS "Making Christmas"]
 |
| Jack has seriously embraced this Christmas thing. |
SPINEY: So, you actually did it, Jack.
JACK: Indeed, we did!
SPINEY: But that Christmas didn’t go exactly as you’d planned, did it? [JACK SHRUGS] Did you ever make up with that, what did you call him? Sandy Claws?
JACK: Oh, Santa and I are now the best of friends! As a matter of fact, that reminds me. I have a present for all you trick-or-treaters!
Happy Halloween! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
 |
| Grab a holiday treat from the Pumpkin King! Which holiday is up to you. |
And now, for our much requested full performance video. (And keep an eye out for bonus video content below!)
▶ "WELCOME TO OUR NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS" COMPLETE PRESENTATION VIDEO
This year was likely our biggest ever, taking an inordinate amount of prep, practice and time, and we spent months putting it all together. But the story of how we got here began a long time ago, longer now than it seems. So, please enjoy all the Freaky Facts behind this year's very special event.
FREAKY FACTS: We originally planned to do "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 2020, but fairly early that year realized we didn't know if Halloween as we knew it would even be a thing. With a lot of DIY expectations, and not wanting to spend extraordinary time or funds building props given all the unknowns, we ended up that year with "Halloween in Quarantine," and this concept continuing to percolate ever since.
But, to be fair—and just in case it's not yet apparent—this also happens to be my favorite movie. I still recall my first transfixed theater experience with friends not long out of high school, and was thrilled to watch the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra perform the soundtrack live against the film in 2018, complete with intro from recently departed STL local Ken Page (the voice of Oogie Boogie). Between those events, in 2011, we visited Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Holiday, when the ride gets a macabre makeover for several months. After years of singing along to the soundtrack in the car and countless viewings, it's pretty safe to say I've been practicing and prepping for Halloween 2025 ever since 1993.
 |
| We may have learned a thing or two along the way. |
SPLITTING THE SCENE
Our Nightmare was always intended to be a massive set production, focused heavily on the scene itself. A dark Halloween side featuring many of our regular props, a bright Christmas side and a tree splitting the scene down the middle, with one theme flowing into the other, were all original design concepts. The larger tree on the Christmas side was first planned to be that scene splitter—that is, until our neighbors decided to put one out on the curb in September, which we didn't hesitate to grab. It ended up being just taller than the other and perfect for the split.
 |
| Christmas? Halloween? How about both? |
The split tree was topped with a festive Jack Skellington bow, and included lights on only one side, with several Halloween and Nightmare props on the other, including the Mayor of Halloween Town and trick-or-treater Barrel's lollipop. A fun DIY on the tree was Jack's attempt to cut a snowflake, which naturally ends up in the shape of a spider.
 |
| A closer look at the Nightmare props. |
 |
| Now THAT'S a snowflake! |
CHRISTMAS TOWN
The Christmas side became a combination of three scenes in which Jack delivers presents to homes. This became a living room style setup—perhaps Jack and Sally's place—complete with a fireplace which first appeared in Ebenezer Scrooge's room last year.
 |
| With all our tricks we're making Christmastime! |
 |
| Jack and Sally's portraits hang on the wall. |
Vampire Teddy (also the film's hidden Mickey), which Jack places on a red chair, was purchased end of season from Spirit Halloween a few years ago, and we just happened to have a small chair rescued from the trash heap and repainted red for teddy to lay on. His Evil Duck companion, which apparently goes by many names, was a must for this scene given our reputation for ducky giveaways. Since we were unable to find an officially licensed version, the original plan was to carve out of foam or, more recently, maybe 3D print Evil Duck. However, we were thrilled to support an artist online who'd already done the work for us.
 |
Just innocent toys, right? |
 |
| This 3D printed and painted Evil Duck is legit. |
Evil Duck's gift box was a fairly easy DIY, with printable wrapping paper available for download. A restructured Amazon box and some black ribbon in a somewhat distorted arrangement similar to the screen appearance completed the look.
 |
| Another look at the box, ribbon and paper. |
 |
| Is that snake wearing a top hat and eye makeup? |
Our favorite DIY prop is known to some as the Tiger Wreath or Man-Eating Wreath, which in the film is hung on the inside of a door and reaches for an elderly lady in a rocking chair. While not particularly complex, we took a while to compile all the parts for this character, and it was fun to see him finally come to life. The eyes were two halves of a plastic Easter egg spray painted white and a couple half inch black stickers. The wreath itself was given by a friend several years ago, and our scavenged Christmas tree provided the final touch of some subtle, red berries.
 |
| That's our tiger, always reaching out. |
 |
| Don't turn your back! He really is a grabby one. |
The Halloween Town side included several elements, including the photo backdrop from 2017's "Night of the Wolf," and a giant spider web we'd had for years and finally used for the first time.
 |
| Come with us and you will see this our town of Halloween! |
The masks of trick-or-treaters Lock, Shock and Barrel, were another last year Spirit Halloween purchase and got a prominent position on the wall, pairing nicely with our trick-or-treat banner and some previously gifted bat lights.
 |
| Featured from left to right: Shock, Barrel and Lock. |
 |
| A little corner of the Halloween Town graveyard. |
 |
| Good boy, Zero. |
 |
| Zero floats above his doghouse. |
 |
| Sally's picked some lovely flowers. |
 |
| Such a cute couple. |
Several other planned DIYs that didn't make the final cut included Jack's chalkboard, the "Days to Xmas" countdown clock and the pumpkin-in-a-box toy. We actually missed an opportunity to grab a well built Halloween Town sign from a California Hot Topic in 2022, and never located one to purchase later. We also expected the Christmas side to include the grandmother clock from last year's presentation. Ultimately, time and space would not allow more, as we kept the scene from being overcrowded yet intentionally a bit overwhelming.
Because this was such a massive undertaking, this year we captured our first-ever walk through bonus video for all you haunt lovers.
THE CHARACTERS
In another major change, we were initially considering just one song, which was ultimately cut from the production altogether. In earlier concepts, Sally would have joined Jack to simply sing "Sally's Song." We even obtained a complete Sally outfit and makeup kit a few years back around the same time as Jack's suit. But we recognized this was a deeper and less enthusiastic cut, and wanted to include the very recognizable "This is Halloween" with a character that could logically tell more of the story.
Enter our homage to Alice Cooper, the very musical Spiney, who, instead of traveling with the Carnival of Souls, decided to ship itself over to Halloween Town for a visit. As a quick study, who could even imitate some tonality and voicing, Spiney simply took over to tell the tale in song.
Spiney's box was wrapped as an opened Christmas present, with Oogie Boogie peeking out from below. This was another promotional piece acquired from Spirit's display last year which we initially were unsure how to include, but were glad to feature in memory of Ken Page.
 |
| For someone with no legs, Spiney sure gets around. |
For any who've seen our shows before, you may recall an oft-included skull prop, first purchased as a slightly damaged and discounted display piece from Spencer's at Northwest Plaza Mall in the early 90's. The skull has since been known as Yorick, in reference to Shakespeare's Hamlet, and so of course had a most prominent place in this production, as Jack makes reference to the same when removing his own head.
 |
| Yorick finally lives up to his name. |
And then, of course, there's our Jack Skellington, in full suit and complete with bat bow tie, which we finally found in the perfect size and design this year.
 |
| A better look at the entire costume and keyboard setup. |
Our Pumpkin King actually grew his own pumpkins, which were featured around the front of the keyboard, and even crafted his own Sandy Claws bag out of black pumpkin print fabric.
Jack's hands, as noticed by one young visitor last year, were intentionally featured on the Ghost of Christmas Future as a hint of things to come.
 |
| Turns out that spirit actually WAS pointing to the future! |
 |
| Serious dedication. |
It was really great to finally see this character come together after all these years, and naturally have him take some time to skulk around the graveyard.
 |
| Truly a master of fright. _____________________ |
THANK YOUS!
An awful lot of help went into this year's production, so very much thanks to all, including:
- My bro and fam for letting Sally hang out at our place a while
- Jenny the Giraffe, for helping with crowds and capturing images
- The neighbors, for putting out their old Christmas tree that ultimately split the scene
- This old DIY blog that helped develop part of this crazy idea in the first place
- Leftovers, Etc. and a friend sharing his inheritance to help create Tiger Wreath and wrap the ribbon around Evil Duck's box
- Ebay/Etsy seller battlewornarmory for printing and painting Evil Duck
- Our church fam, for loaning the tent for night two and a phone/camera stand, plus providing the snow around the split tree's base about 6 years ago
- Everyone who stopped by and sang with us on Halloween, and all who hung out to party on November 1!
 |
| The party crew from Spiney's POV, out braving the cold snap! |
With Halloween landing on a Friday and featuring incredibly warm weather, massive crowds effectively wiped Jack out of all 120 prepped duck bags before we hit 7:30 p.m., which was definitely a record. Thankfully, we had plenty of extras, so another 20 or so visitors did not leave empty handed. Jack would never allow it!
 |
| Just make sure these pranksters don't steal your candy. Or ducks! |
This year's special ducks were slightly delayed, and far more diverse than expected. Odds were in favor of our guests receiving one of 16 Christmas ducks, with another possible four Halloween ducks. With a chance of six Nightmare Before Christmas temporary tattoos, and a random mix of candy, including various colored candy canes, no two treat bags were alike! And some of our older trick-or-treaters were offered a special bonus of an orange or purple Halloween jingle bell.
 |
| That is a whole lot of ducks, tho. |
And, while Christmas might make it pretty easy to talk about Jesus, a concept I've affectionately referred to as "The Gospel According to Jack Skellington" has been rolling around in my head for at least the past 15 years or so as I process themes throughout the movie. Here's how it finally turned out in miniature on back of a very orange card.
Journey through our past nightmares at
HallowsGarage.blogspot.com | #HallowsGarage