Every October 31st, the Herzog Mansion comes to life.
For most of the year, Herzog Mansion is our private family home, a historic residence built in 1886 that we are carefully restoring and preserving for future generations.
But on Halloween, something changes.
The grounds fill with decorations, pumpkins glow, the mansion takes on an entirely different personality, and our little corner of Hermann becomes a gathering place for families, friends, and neighbors.
What began as a simple love of Halloween has grown into one of our favorite traditions. And each year, we try to make it a little more special.
A Tradition Since 2020
When we purchased Herzog Mansion in December 2019, we knew we wanted to make it our forever home. We also knew we wanted to share our love of the property with the community.
Our first Halloween here was in 2020.
Like so many people, we have always loved the creativity and imagination that Halloween brings out. It’s one of those rare occasions when adults can be children again, neighborhoods come together, and a little bit of magic feels entirely appropriate.
Over the years, our Halloween celebrations have steadily grown.
The decorations became more elaborate. We added lighting, animated displays, and new surprises. And, of course, there were always plenty of treats. Full-size candy bars, snacks, and some less traditional Halloween favorites became part of the fun.
But the best part has never been the decorations or the candy.
It’s watching families arrive together, hearing children laugh, seeing familiar faces return year after year, and meeting neighbors we might otherwise never have had the opportunity to know.
Hermann has given us so much since we made it our home. Halloween is one small way we can give something back.
A New Chapter: Halloween 2026
In 2026, our seventh Halloween at Herzog Mansion, we decided to try something entirely different.
Rather than simply adding more decorations, we wanted to create an experience.
After months of planning, construction, filming, programming, and more than a few late nights, we introduced Herzog Subterranean Research Park, our first immersive Halloween walkthrough.
The fictional underground research facility came to life through cinematic projections, automated scenes, interactive effects, theatrical lighting, animatronics, and a storyline that took visitors from a cheerful research park welcome to a rather unexpected encounter with the unknown.
Built on the mansion grounds, the attraction combined our love of Halloween with storytelling, technology, and a healthy dose of imagination.
We weren’t entirely sure what to expect.
What happened that evening exceeded anything we had imagined.
Visitors began arriving before sunset. As darkness fell, the line stretched down the street, eventually extending approximately two blocks. Families patiently waited their turn, the mansion glowed red against the night sky, and the entire property felt alive with excitement.
We spent part of the evening walking through the experience alongside visitors, watching their reactions and hearing their laughter, surprise, and enthusiasm.
It was an extraordinary feeling to see something we had spent so many months imagining finally come to life.
And we couldn’t have done it without the wonderful people who helped us operate the event, or the community that came out to support it.
Halloween Makes History
On November 5, 2026, the Hermann Advertiser-Courier published an article titled “Hermann’s Herzog Mansion Transforms for Community Halloween Spectacle,” written by Tony Carosella.
The article captured the excitement of the evening, including a photograph of the mansion and the remarkable line of visitors waiting to experience the walkthrough.
For us, seeing the event documented in our hometown newspaper was especially meaningful.
We have spent years researching the history of Herzog Mansion, learning about William Herzog, the families who lived here, and the many people who helped shape this remarkable property.
It is a special feeling to realize that, in some small way, we’re now contributing a story of our own to its history.
Hermann Advertiser-Courier, November 5, 2026. Article by Tony Carosella.
Experience Halloween 2026
For those who couldn’t join us, or those who would like to relive the evening, we’ve preserved a look inside Herzog Subterranean Research Park.
What you see represents months of creative work, but only a few hours of actual operation. That’s part of what makes Halloween so special to us. An enormous amount of preparation goes into creating an experience that exists for just one evening.
Fortunately, the memories last considerably longer.
The Tradition Continues
We have often said that owning a historic home means becoming part of a story that began long before us and will hopefully continue long after we’re gone.
For us, preserving Herzog Mansion isn’t only about maintaining its architecture or documenting its past. It’s also about creating new memories and finding ways for this remarkable place to remain connected to the community around it.
Halloween has become one of our favorite ways to do that.
We have plenty of ideas for the years ahead, and we’re excited to see where this tradition takes us.
But whatever Halloween at Herzog Mansion becomes, we hope it will always retain the spirit that started it all: creativity, generosity, a little bit of mischief, and the simple joy of bringing people together.
Thank you, Hermann, for being part of our story.
Michael & Alexandria Morgan