SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — If you think your house is scary for Halloween, wait until you see what one Valley man came up with.
For 37 years in a row, Chris Birkett who lives in Scottsdale has been going all out when it comes to Halloween. Not only transforming the outside of his home, with custom-made decorations including a fire-breathing dragon but also the inside.
“It’s a 13-minute haunted house with 31 actors," Birkett said. “Part of the house is used for the haunt so you are going through a section of my house that’s hard to talk your wife into.”
He calls it Haunted Graveyard Arizona a free attraction for all ages and this year Birkett says the crowds have been bigger than ever.
“It's really busy every single evening which is not always the case.” Believing social media is the main reason why.
On Sunday, 12News saw hundreds of people line up to see the production. People wait up to an hour just to check out the haunted house. Birkett says just a few days ago the wait was almost too much,
"We went from two to two-and-a-half hour lines all the way down to maybe about 45 minutes," he said.
The process of setting everything up began at the tail end of summer.
“I am sweating out here all the way through August and September.”
Pulling out all the decorations he has from three storage units. The cost of everything seen at his home he estimates at about $160,000.
It's located three blocks north of the intersection of Granite Reef Road and McDonald Drive in Scottsdale. The road it sits on actually closes because of how many people show up.
Neighbors like TJ Beam say they don't mind the attraction.
"It's such a great community feel. It's such a blessing to have him do what he is doing," Beam said.
But it hasn't always been the case for Birkett. He says he moved to this neighborhood after a previous neighbor filed a lawsuit against him and won.
"I’m the first man in the United States of America that actually got convicted for the holiday decorations,” Birkett said.
However, that didn't stop him from continuing his long tradition of bringing people together one scream at a time.
“That is an honor as a human being to put your time effort and sweat equity into it to really make that magic come to life,” Birkett says.
The final day to see the haunted house is Halloween.
Birkett said they are open from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. While it is free, they do take donations to keep everything running.
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