PHANTOM MANOR! A gingerbread house for Halloween? Why not?

In this world where Lowes and Home Depot put their Christmas decor on the display floor each October 1st… And where Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas begins in mid-October… It was just a matter of time before some holiday-fluidity developed and our Halloween candy started to mingle with our Christmas gingerbread.

It’s astounding…Time is fleeting… Welcome to our Nightmare Before Christmas. Where the Pet Semetary is decorated with candy-colored Christmas trees. Where Frosty the Snowman is doing the Monster Mash. Where the Little Drummer Boy is bobbing for apples next to Lucy Van Pelt. Where the Season of the Witch is The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Located at the corner of Santa Claus Lane and the Highway to Hell.

A Last-Minute Gingerbread House For Halloween

This is how we (Charlene and Eric Taubert of New England Innkeeper) spent our last few minutes before Halloween, deciding to fill the time between our autumnal scary-movie watching by baking multiple batches of gingerbread, whipping up some royal frosting, and putting our time-honed confectionery skills to ample use.

With hours running low before All Hallows Eve, we jump-started the process by using this Phantom Manor gingerbread house template by Haunted Dimensions that we found online.

We used our favorite tried-and-true gingerbread recipe from Bill Yosses, the former White House pastry chef.

And before long, our New England Innkeeper version of the Phantom Manor Gingerbread House started to take shape.

For this project, every slab of gingerbread became a carefully crafted wall, door, or creepy tower. We cut, baked, and assembled each piece with precision, transforming our kitchen into a ghoulish workshop. The smell of spiced gingerbread filled the air, setting an eerie atmosphere that perfectly complemented the chill of Halloween. But in place of cheerful candy canes and peppermint roofs, we opted for a more sinister color palette.

Once the structure was assembled, it was time to bring it to life (or the afterlife). We adorned the Phantom Manor with ghostly embellishments. Black royal icing was piped in loose patterns, crawling over the roof and down the sides as if the manor had stood untouched for centuries. Orange “window” panes made from melted sugar candies (and lit from the inside) lent a true haunted feel, while Chex cereal roof tiles gave a rickety and creepy feel to the structure. Then, we finished the spectacle off with a dry-ice fog photo shoot!

This Phantom Manor gingerbread house became the centerpiece of our Halloween festivities. Our neighbors and friends were in awe, as the house looked both festive and frightful — a bold new tradition born out of a love for the spookiest night of the year.

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“Phantom Manor is a dark ride attraction in Frontierland at Disneyland Park in Disneyland Paris. Phantom Manor is the park’s version of The Haunted Mansion attractions at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland, although it is designed to be darker in tone compared to other Haunted Mansion rides.

While planning Euro Disneyland, Tony Baxter, executive designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, decided that certain staple Disney attractions would likely have to be modified to fit the altered tastes and preferences of a European audience.

Imagineer Marc Davis disliked the derelict aspect of the Phantom Manor building, stating ‘Walt would never approve of it.’. However, the designers of the attraction thought that many guests would expect a haunted house attraction to look dilapidated and would likely be confused if the façade had a spotless appearance like the American Haunted Mansions.”