Nightmare on Magnolia Street house returns scarier than ever

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The spooky season is in full effect, and one family is taking it a bit further for the community to enjoy Halloween.

Nightmare on Magnolia in Bowling Green is a family-based scary experience that takes nearly a month to plan.

“We start by mid-September on actually preparing and getting everything set up,” said Melanie Chaffin, the homeowner for the Nightmare on Magnolia Street.

The theme this year is Carn-Evil. It’s a set up like no other. In Chaffin’s yard, you can find Halloween props and live actors.

“The stuff that we have, like you’re not going to see in other yard displays because they’ve actually physically built these props,” she said.

The setup takes a little more time to complete than your average Halloween prop.

“It definitely takes a good two and a half weeks to get it all out and set up and one and a half days of running all the wiring,” Chaffin said.

The budget creeps a little bit over $10,000 split between the family.

“They take care of the storage bills, which runs about $7,000 a year for the storage bill but to stair all the stuff and the candy, me and mom buy the candy, and we spent about $3,500 on candy this year,” she said.

You think that’s where the funds stop, but Melanie said her electricity bills cost hundreds.

“…$800 every year, which is not bad to run all of this for a month long,” she said.

She said the price doesn’t compare to the priceless smiles every year even seeing returning trick-or-treaters.

“We want them to have fun and experience the things we got to experience when we were kids. It makes us go back to our childhoods,” Melanie said.

If you want to visit the Carn-Evil, you can swing by Magnolia Street, and you won’t miss it.