11-Year-Old's 'Scream House' Back To Frighten Pleasanton

PLEASANTON, CA — It’s that time of year again in Pleasanton: when an 11-year-old boy teams up with his family to scare the bejesus out of the town.

Porter Warren, a fifth-grader at Lydiksen Elementary School, has set up elaborate haunted houses since he was five years old at his dad’s home on 245 Rose Avenue, an Craftsman just off Main Street that’s reportedly one of the oldest homes in town.

Porter has always been fascinated by Halloween and monsters, and filled up early sketchbooks with detailed monster drawings, his father Dave told Patch. “When he turned five, it was like maybe we could transition this into a bigger Halloween thing, and every year, it gets a little bigger and a little bigger and now, it’s pretty astronomical,” Dave said.

For the month of October, the property starts resembling an elaborate horror movie set. There are several large hearses bathed in eerie light with skeletons still inside; dismembered corpses and killer clowns dangling from trees; skeletons in cages, and even animatronics that jump out to startle passersby. You’ve been warned.

The 2022 setup boasts an additional $3,000 worth of creepiness, including a new coffin and a horse driven by an animatronic horse. Dave and Porter have been preparing for this year’s Halloween extravaganza since November 1, 2021. “Throughout the whole year, we look for creepy props that we find in certain prop houses, like severed heads, and we’ll build little props and sets around those things,” Dave said. Everything is subject to Porter’s discerning eye.

“He’ll say this should be a blue light, this one should be over there - it’s definitely all him,” Dave noted. Porter has also been hired by Carl Cox from Cox Family Stores to turn three of their car washes into “haunted car washes.” The car washes are located at 3192 Santa Rita Road, 5251 Hopyard Road, and 6750 Santa Rita Road.

Each night throughout October, a giant screen outside the home shows two different scary movies. The first movie is always a little bit tamer than the later showing, Dave said.

This weekend, two movies will play every night until Monday. Stop by and visit - if you dare.