All decked out for Halloween; one man’s spooky, kooky, tech-savvy gift to neighborhood

A creepy zombie peeks over the fence at the home of Brent Martin whose house is all decked out for Halloween, Washington City, Utah, Oct. 23, 2014 | Photo by Hollie Reina, St. George News

WASHINGTON CITY – It’s creepy and it’s kooky, tech savvy and it’s spooky. While not technically a museum, the Washington City home of Brent Martin, with its oversized inflatables and creative projection system, has been “spookified” and is ready for people to come and see it.

Homeowner Brent Martin and his zombie pal invite guests to come see what is in store for them on the other side, Washington City, Utah, Oct. 23, 2014 | Photo by Hollie Reina, St. George News
Homeowner Brent Martin and his zombie pal invite guests to come see what is in store for them on the other side, Washington City, Utah, Oct. 23, 2014 | Photo by Hollie Reina, St. George News

A self-proclaimed holiday fanatic, Martin has been a fan of Halloween ever since he was a young boy, he said, a passion he got from his parents.

“My folks were real big into Halloween,” Martin said. “When we were kids we would dig up our front yard and make mounds of grass for a cemetery.”

Martin and his twin brother Brian Martin continued their love of Allhallows Eve through their young adult lives and into adulthood operating a haunted house in High School and later running the Corpse Nightmare haunted house at the Red Cliffs Mall for five years, Martin said.

“We just have a real passion and a real knack for creating an experience for people that they will never forget,” Martin said. “It’s in our blood, we are constantly thinking about Halloween.”

When the economy collapsed the haunted house business went on hold, Martin said, but his passion and creativity never ended and he hopes to one day team up with his brother again and bring more screams and thrills to Southern Utah.

For the time being, Martin has reignited his passion by creating a spooky and exciting Halloween projection system that syncs dancing skeletons, eery lighting, all the best Halloween tunes and a whole lot more and projects them onto his home making one gigantic screen of screams.

The audio can be heard outside or from the inside of a vehicle by tuning into 98.3 FM on your radio dial.

“I wanted to do something that was a little spectacular,” Martin said.

While the video files can be easily purchased the entire process of creating the holiday magic is pretty technical, Martin said, and includes sketching the entire house and measuring the square footage along with syncing the audio and video files so that everything is properly lined up.

A spooky and creative projection system turns the home of Brent Martin into a Halloween spectacle for the whole community to enjoy, Washington City, Utah, Oct. 23, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Brent Martin, St. George News
A spooky and creative projection system turns the home of Brent Martin into a Halloween spectacle for the whole community to enjoy, Washington City, Utah, Oct. 23, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Brent Martin, St. George News

So why do it? Martin is no stranger to creating over-the-top holiday displays, but now they have an even greater purpose.

In December 2013, Martin’s home, along with several in the neighborhood, was vandalized. An alleged vandal was caught on Martin’s video surveillance system slashing his Christmas inflatables and beheading reindeer – the alleged vandal was eventually caught and the inflatables repaired though there has been no resolution to the incident as of yet, Martin said.


Read and see more: Caught on camera: Christmas vandal slashes blow-up ornaments, beheads reindeer


Martin, who could have easily given up, said that he is not going to let something like that get him down or deprive the neighborhood of the holiday joy and is planning something equally as big for this coming Christmas.

Martin said the community response to his Halloween display has been great and that there is usually a steady stream of cars parked outside watching the show until 11 p.m.

“People love this stuff,” Martin said, “they drive by and stare forever.”

Martin’s spooky projection display begins at dark and will play nightly through Halloween.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Event details

  • When: Nightly through Halloween at dark
  • Where: 2038 South Great Basin Drive, Washington City

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3 Comments

  • kaci October 26, 2014 at 8:10 am

    So what is the address? It says that people are invited, then it gives no address…

    • Avatar photo Joyce Kuzmanic October 26, 2014 at 9:43 am

      Hey kaci, it’s under event details at the bottom – 2038 S Great Basin Drive, Washington City. Go, enjoy! And thank you.
      😀
      ST. GEORGE NEWS | STGnews.com
      Joyce Kuzmanic
      Editor in Chief

  • kaci October 26, 2014 at 11:46 am

    Thank you so much!

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