CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT You never know who you'll run into at the Baumgartens'. Advertisement

Chris Baumgarten has always loved Halloween. Some would say he loves it a lot more than most.

In July, when residents were thinking about sunshine and swimming pools, Baumgarten was busy building an electric chair.

And in August, when most people simply wanted to get out of the heat, he spent his free time building a coffin.

Also during the summer months, his backyard was constantly filled with "hundreds and hundreds" of king-size sheets that Baumgarten had dyed black, hanging out to dry. They are destined to become the walls for his haunted house, which he created in his combined six- and two-car garages.

It started at a young age. When Baumgarten was 18, he would go down to the local butcher shop and get "things people wouldn't buy," such as the guts and bones from slaughtered animals.

He would then use these as props for his Halloween party.

"They'd only be good for a day, though," said Baumgarten, one could almost say regrettably.

Since then, Baumgarten's parties have only gotten bigger, to the extent that he's taken to building what he likes to call a "home haunt" every year.

Going to a Baumgarten Halloween party is not like attending a traditional ghoulish fest.

In fact, Baumgarten said many of his friends have been avoiding coming over to their house during the last few weeks because they did not want to spoil the surprise that is waiting for them or their children.

"Most people I talk to, it's their favorite holiday," said Baumgarten. "People have a chance to let their hair down, and I just want to make it the best I can make it."

As his wife, Joanne, puts it, referring to Chevy Chase's National Lampoon movies, "He's the Griswold of Halloween."

Throughout the year, he said, "If I see something, I just grab it."

Guests will have to walk through a tunnel that will be fogged up with flashing strobe lights, so that even getting to the house in the first place may be a frightful experience.

Then they will be escorted through a haunted maze, where they will be subjected to various surprises, witness a rather disconcerting autopsy with a still beating heart already removed, and enjoy a particularly disturbing wedding ceremony.

And whatever the guests are subjected to, they can rest assured that it may be bloody, disgusting, terrifying, or weird and, as Baumgarten emphatically stated, "not cute."

Once guests reach the cauldron of refreshments and goodies, they will see some rather dead "guests" who are programmed to dance with the music that will be blasting from Bose speakers and Baumgarten's professional sound system. (Baumgarten has a side business as a D.J., and uses his skills to make sure that the sound affects for the haunt are the best possible.)

He is planning on opening a professional haunted house next year, and is considering a site next to Pahrump Party Supply.

He said he wanted to give the people in Pahrump a way to enjoy the holiday, because as he said, "There's no Halloween here, not really."

He said he understands that trick-or-treating is difficult because houses are so spread out, but he still wants it to become a bigger holiday here.

Baumgarten said he wanted to make sure that his haunted house would be affordable, and that one of the reasons many of the haunted houses, such as the Black Box in Las Vegas, were so expensive was because the props cost so much.

He also does not want to just shove people through quickly but let groups enjoy the house with the people they came with. For Baumgarten, it's not about the money but about people having a good time.

Although Baumgarten has invested much of his own money in his Halloween parties, he does get around some of the costs by building many of his mannequins and props (many of which move and are activated by motion detectors) himself.

He did not want the secret of how he made many of his impressive creations known, but they are so elaborate that it's nothing short of shocking to hear that his work for Clark County Public Works has nothing to do with engineering.

Baumgarten said his home haunt took about six weeks to complete, but said that was just working a few hours each day after work. He first lays out the props, then hangs the sheet maze up around them from a rope grid on the ceiling.

He is constantly thinking about timing and effects and tinkering with everything to make sure it's just right. He doesn't want to have live actors jump out at people because, in his mind, "that's cheating."

For those who wish to attend, contact Baumgarten at chris7613@hotmail.com.