At-Home Imagineering: A Disney Fan’s Recreation of Haunted Mansion Holiday

We’re delighted that Steven Foster reached out to us to share his love for Disney, the Haunted Mansion and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” His home Haunted Mansion Holiday display marries Halloween and Christmas into a Disney inspired whimsical winter wonderland.

A treat for his family and neighborhood is now a treat for you, the Inside the Magic audience as well. Join us, now as we travel to Halloween Town for a Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion Holiday home haunting.

One visit and he was forever hooked. Happily haunted by Disney’s Haunted Mansion at age 5, Steven Foster might as well have been followed home by the hitchhiking ghosts and then put them to work in his amazing homemade Halloween Town inspired annual display.

“Nightmare Before Christmas became a way of life for a while. The love of thinking of ways that Halloween and Xmas could collide and create displays and settings based upon that idea fueled me. After Steve Davison created the Haunted Mansion Holiday, that was a kickoff point for me. I attempted to create my own tiny version and emulated many of the themes he and his team had come up with. I changed my Haunted House into a “Holiday House” that covered Xmas Town to HalloweenTown and into Oogie’s Lair complete with gingerbread and xmas tree scents and different music for each scene packed into my 20×22 garage! My number one goal was to be able to work on that holiday version some day.” –Steven Foster

Thanks to his Haunted Mansion Holiday passion, Steven, a full-time wine salesman, finds himself quite busy from September to January every year. Finding the end result a perfect payoff (over purchasing ready-made items), he crafts his own props, taking inspiration from Topher Adam and Jack Mattson. The final holiday display project is the result of 15 years of planning and perfecting.

“This display means a lot to me and the holidays are the most important time of year. Disneyland taught me this when I was young and the mysterious ways they could make anything happen. I always design in a way that I think is clean enough and polished enough for a Disney-standard. Re-theming and creating is a huge part of my life and it manifests itself wherever I live and work. I love to create for myself and the enjoyment of others as much as my situation allows. If something doesn’t change or get bigger and better each year, then something is wrong. It’s the biggest way I get to give to my community and others online to feel that sense of tradition or nostalgia of the holidays.” –Steven Foster

His passion clearly shows in the incredible display Steven has manufactured. We’re thrilled that he reached out to ITM to share this magical masterpiece. To see more of this delightfully dark display, surf on over to Steven’s Facebook page or Instagram collection.