Welcome to The Haunt

 Welcome to A Bohemian Haunt.

   A little bit about me...

    My name is Ana and I am a bit of a wild child. I love Halloween and all things spooky. I moved from the peninsula of Virginia to Western Pennsylvania in April of 2014. In August, I lost my dad. In what was one of the worst times in my life, I decided the only way to stay sane was to stay active and look for the joy in life again. So, I began cooking and I started to realize that I was coming into the season of holidays every single month. Including my mom's birthday, which was only a few days after the accident; and my own birthday in mid Sept.

    My favorite holiday, Halloween, was rapidly approaching. I thought it would help the healing process to decorate a little bit. I felt a release in the action of preparing for a holiday that was not only a favorite but also, in my mind, symbolic of the time that spirits and loved ones could return and mingle with the living. It began to take on a whole new meaning to me. I took comfort in the spirit of the holiday and finally found a small drop of joy. That leads us to the next chapter.

The First Halloween

    I put my focus so much into decoration for Halloween that it was an escape for me. I still hurt but I felt a sense of pride. I could almost feel my dad with me and approving of what I was doing. He was like me in the love of Halloween, so in my eyes, he was with me. I ended up decorating even more than I had initially planned to. So much so that my yard and decor was a huge hit with the neighborhood. And I had only been living here for seven months. 7 whole months.

The Birth of a Haunt

    Over the course of a couple of years, I added to the decor. The cemetery grew larger, more pumpkins were being carved, and the more kids would come by. I quickly became 'that house' in the town. I had to continue to grow the size and scope of my decorations to keep things fresh and to top the previous years event.

2019... The year it all crashed

    Then we come to the year 2019. I had been in pain since the last few months of 2018 but chalked it up to my fibro and my back issues. I had tried to push through it all year and had a huge display planned. I had new props and an amazing new entryway greeting with a large spider and long flowing gauzy legs. It was perfect. However, by the time it came to decorating the yard, I could barely stand on my own. I forced myself to stand out on the ladder creating my bloody window murder scene. I put out a few Styrofoam tombstones and some hanging ghosts and reapers. And that's all I could manage. I was bummed out about the lack of over the top elements but I just could not physically do it. The day of Trick or Treating came and it came with snow and rain and horribly strong winds. It was the single worst day I had seen in the season. Surveying the damage, I ended up losing numerous tombstones as well as the flowing spider and spider nest. I had so much decor get broken or damaged. I gave up and that was the end of that.

The Brush with Death

    In mid November, everything with my health came to a head. All the pain I had been in for over a year finally culminated in the worst pain I had ever been in. I thought I was having a heart attack. I reluctantly decided to be taken to MedExpress. While waiting in the lobby, the pain was so intense I couldn't sit up and I began getting dizzy. When I finally got called back, the nurses knew immediately something was wrong. I recall a nurse yell for someone to call 911 that they had a bleed. Didn't think anything of it as things were still spinning. They took my blood pressure and as they called out 75/50, everything started to go black. I kept repeating 'Im going, Im going'. Every single nurse and doctor in the building jumped into immediate action and tried to stabilize me before I completely passed out. The main nurse talked to me as I was being wheeled out to the ambulance and reassuring me things were going to be ok and would be moving fast. I don't remember much from there on except for the numerous tests to try and figure out where things were happening at before telling me that I was heading in to surgery. I woke up with a huge incision in my abdomen and now less a part of my intestines. I had ruptured a 2cm ulcer. I had come, literally, within moments of dying. 

The Haunt

    Once I got out of the hospital a week later, beginning my transition through months of healing, a lot of thoughts began circulating in my head. Being thankful to be alive, realizing just how close I came to dying, feeling like I straddled the veil between both worlds; life and death. This feeling has only spurred my passion in Halloween and the spooky, dark corners of this world. So I made a decision. Halloween, this Halloween, was going to be the biggest ever. So I set out on my plans. I could cut costs by building my own props. This would allow me to focus my attention on redesigning my area and introducing new themes. Since I had already become a local interest, I decided that I would test the waters this year as a full fledged yard haunt.

What's to Come

    So, now that you know a bit of the background, what do you have to look forward to with this blog? A lot. Not all of it will be serious in nature. In fact, most of what I do is to give a laugh and/or make you roll your eyes at me. So now that we got the sad part of the story done, sit down, buckle up, and prepare for Halloween. And well, everything in between. Since, you know, there are other days of the year. 

    Follow along for a lot of DIY crafts and projects. As well as some of my photography and my chainmaille. You'll even get to see me in the 'sucky' phase of a new art. Like stated just above, you never really know what you will get with me. Everyday is a new adventure. So, come along and let's enjoy the season we have in front of us.