Sneak Peek: Is This Oceanside's Best Decorated Halloween House?

OCEANSIDE, CA — When Cameron and Rachael Denning moved to Oceanside from Denver last September they brought with them three kids and nearly eight years' worth of Halloween decorations. To say that the Denning Family gets into the spirit of Halloween is putting it mildly.

Their Halloween collection is colossal with displays ranging from hauntingly beautiful to scary good. But perhaps the most impressive aspect is that they handmade almost every item by themselves.

(The Denning Family in front of their Halloween-decorated house.)

"It just became a tradition for us to continue building and adding new things." said Cameron, "My wife and I love horror movies and I've always been somewhat artistic and she's a hair and makeup artist. So we're creative at heart, and we wanted to have a nice Halloween set up, but we could never really find things that worked well for what we wanted. It all started when we made a couple of 6-ft Gargoyles one year and people liked it a lot."

"Then we kept cranking out kids, so this became like our date night." said Rachael, "Just going to the garage and making stuff, since we couldn't really go anywhere. We just keep making Halloween decorations and sometimes Christmas."

"I'm such a nostalgic person." says Cameron, "Halloween is a special time for us and reminds me of being little and I loved being scared ever since I was a kid. So it's cool to be a part of sharing that and we get to kind of relive our childhood. We go upstairs and watch our horror movies and get to enjoy the people walking around the neighborhood, checking everything out.

Ensuring that their Halloween set-up would work was even a consideration when it came to choosing their home in Oceanside. One of their garages is completely dedicated to decorations. The size of the front yard was also a factor, so when they found a home that would fit everything and was located on a cul de sac they knew it was for them.

The Dennings took us on a tour of the yard and pointed out some of the items they made like the stone columns created from styrofoam coolers and pool floaters carved up to look like candles.

The creativity is just over the top. While not every item is handmade, like the teeter-totter clowns that they just had to have, the majority of decorations were painstakingly made by their own hands.

The Dennings are fully committed to the Halloween season and watch only horror movies that are specifically Halloween-themed. Cameron shared some of their favorites.

"The ultimate for me, I really like Trick or Treat. It is probably the best one along with Tales of Halloween. We like the Rob Zombie Halloween movies and we're looking forward to the new one that comes out on Friday, Halloween Kills. I have found some independent directors with really impressive work. So there's a movie called They Live Inside Of Us and a movie called The Barn that have become two of our favorites. They're very atmospheric. We really like movies that have a very strong atmosphere of Halloween that I'm going to enjoy and watch every year. We really like to revel in this time of year, we've got our pumpkin beer and a home theater that we set up with lights and we watch movies together every night. Of course, we started the kids on the Simpsons Treehouse of Horrors and Home Improvement Halloween episodes. I love them just as much as when I was a kid."

This year the Dennings will all be dressing up in a Scary Circus theme. The girls will be acrobats and the three-year-old is going to be the strongman. Dad is going to be the Carnival Barker decked out with a giant mask, while mom is planning a cool costume to compliment dad. And yes, they are making the costumes, too.

Do yourself a favor this Halloween season and visit the Denning's Halloween House located at 1050 Bells Drive in Oceanside, near the Arrowood Golf Course.

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