Hey kids check out this house tonight!

Derick and Julie Lehmann have set up a holiday display at their house at 321 Carmichael Drive and want to share it with other people who share their love for Halloween.


Derick tells BayToday that it is not your typical display and that it is a first for North Bay.

“We have 16 channels of computer controlled lighting integrated with some props in the front yard,” he notes.

“The display is programmed to music and it broadcasts the music on 88.9 FM when you are within about 100 feet of the house and repeats every 25 minutes. It features some fun Halloween songs including Thriller, Ghostbusters, Monster Mash and a few others.”

“On Halloween night the display will 'come alive' with fog machines and people to scare the kids that are trick-or-treating. We're not taking donations for anything although we would like to encourage people to support the firehouse which is a really great Halloween event in North Bay.”

Lehmann also says the last year he went trick or treating was Grade 8 last but that he has never forgotten one particular house on his route that would have a scarecrow on the front porch that would be an actual person who would give out candy and scare all the kids as they went up to the front door.

“After that year, my dad and I would setup up our own display and scare the kids that came by our house.”

“Once Julie and I bought our own house, I thought it would be fun to set it up like my dad and I did when I was younger. It all started out with a few gravestones and lights, and thunder & lighting effect that I rigged up.”

“On Halloween night, we setup a few stuffed dummies with masks on, and of course the one closest to the door was me in a costume to scare the kids. This summer I started looking at some videos on the Internet to get some ideas for changes to this year’s display and I noticed a lot that had lighting synced to music and thought it would be interesting to try and do that.”

Lehmann says the system consists of a laptop computer with the lighting controller software, a 30amp lighting controller and a FM transmitter. The laptop is in the basement and the audio out jack is attached to a low-range FM transmitter so that they don’t annoy their neighbours with the music. A network cable runs from the laptop to the lighting controller and the software controls when each light turns on and off, shimmers or fades.

“It can take a few hours per song to program because the software doesn't automatically program the lights to go to the music. The controller can run up to 16 channels of lighting. Some of the hobbyists on the Internet hook multiple controllers up and have 100's of channels of lights.”

“On Halloween night, the display comes alive because I add fog machines around the yard, some additional props and of course have a scare setup before the kids get their candy at the door. I think one of the funniest things that tends to happen is seeing parents laugh as their kids as they run screaming from the door after getting their candy. It will be worth the trip up Carmichael Drive to have some fun Halloween night!”

Lehmann also notes that if there is enough interest he will likely do a Christmas display for people to enjoy.

Check out Lehmann’s handy work on YouTube:


Adams Family: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBDkFZ1cGdk

Beetlejuice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLvlpBICmt8