Deconstructing A Haunted House

In 2006, while still in college, I started a project on my own, pretty much as an excuse to do it. Initially I had the idea of a haunted 12” dollhouse. This was before such things were available to the public, so no Monster High, just yet. It would have been wise to do a posh, spooky quasi Addams Family mansion, complete with all the bells and whistles one would come to expect, but I was troubled by that idea, because up to then I had never made anything so large.

Instead of being brave and trying to pull off the build of an actual mansion, I chose the easy path, opting for a simpler structure, that of a dilapidated farm house. I labored over the house off an on for several years, all the while with a faint idea in the back of my head. A story about a half-dead, crazed doctor / wizard, the last of a humble village that had been wiped out by the magic of an evil entity was a constant companion to the house’s construction. I had foreseen it as a stop-motion short film. It’s an idea I still love and still very much want to do, some day.

But the trouble with lofty dreams and ideals is they require a great deal of dedication and a massive work ethic. By 2008, I had neither of these, having recently discovered online gaming and consequently spent less and less time in pursuit of completion the house.

By 2012, I made the decision to move in with my recently widowed father to help him cops, and simultaneously escape my life in the Midwest. Part of this decision involved leaving the house behind, though I promised myself I would some day move it down to the Keys and finish the project.

Fast-forward to 2020, and here I am taking the house apart. It has been a bittersweet journey with this project, and I’m currently at a standstill. While I desperately want to keep it and move it to the Florida house, I fear that it wouldn’t survive, even if I’d mailed it. The other problem is I’ve changed, and the house is no longer a representation of myself as an artist. So here I am, trying to make a conscientious decision about a project I have long since outgrown, yet put a lot of time and labor into making. What to do?

If I mail it to myself, I risk the possibility of it being damaged or destroyed in the mailing. This build is little more than balsa wood and foamcore board, hot-glued together. The same could happen if I move it with the rest of our belongings. Though I suppose I could always make a new one.

If anybody’s got any ideas, I’m open to them. Thanks for reading, and here are some images of the house, in its various stages.

SLiM

What started out as foamcore board and balsa wood, slowly began to take shape.

While I never got to paint it, I at least managed to prime the house and film it with a colored light bulb (right). Despite it's simple construction, I always liked the way it looked.

Today's decision is a tough one, but I think I might have a way to save it, after all!