Ghouls night out: Some residents take Halloween decorations seriously.

Byline: Wendy Victora

Oct. 31--FORT WALTON BEACH -- Halloween couldn't arrive until Baal Hauck finished building his coffin.

It was the finishing touch for a ghoulish yard that already featured a loosely dug grave with bones protruding, numerous tombstones, and ghostly apparitions swinging from trees.

"This was our first house here and we thought it would be cool," said Hauck.

The house on Rodney Avenue that Hauck shares with his wife, Country, and their two children is one of dozens in the area putting on the ghoul for Halloween.

The Haucks say they were inspired by a house at 325 Hollywood Blvd. N.E., which has a small front yard but an enormous appetite for outrageous Halloween decorations.

"They had a guy that had been run over by a lawnmower," Hauck said. "It was really neat. I wanted to do that, but my wife wouldn't let me mess up the lawnmower."