This is the time of year when gargantuan spiders may take over your home and feed on your visitors...

When ghosts and witches descend on your neighborhood,...

and gory monsters inhabit the front yards,...

turning them into grave yards.

In my Olympia neighborhood, many residents like to go all out with their Halloween efforts. That is part of the reason the neighborhood is so popular with Trick-or-Treaters. It's spooky, the homes are close together and there are safe sidewalks throughout the neighborhood. Some home-owners are so dedicated to the "Spook" they invite visitors to tour their haunted yards in exchange for donations to the local food bank.

This home at 520 North St. in Olympia is open every evening from now until Halloween for a haunted yard tour. Visitors who bring five food items, or a donation of five dollars for the Thurston County Food Bank, are entered in a raffle to win one of the spooky exhibits.

This home in the South Capitol Neighborhood, lovingly called "The Pumpkin House" has a team of dedicated volunteers, who artistically carve dozens of pumpkins on display for the public. On Halloween night the sounds of scary music, dense fog, and animated creatures will greet the "Trick-or-Treaters" to the "Pumpkin House".

I love to see the neighborhood transformation that occurs each October and look forward to the many spooky visitors coming to my door on Halloween night.

Sandy Nelson
Realtor for Olympia Area Real Estate
www.sandynelsonrealestate.com