It all started one Halloween night when Glen Miller hung himself from a tree on Third Avenue in Kalispell.

Actually, there were cables and a safety harness involved along with a hangman's noose - but it looked authentic.

"I really freaked a lot of people out," Miller relished.

The prank was a steppingstone to what has become a full-blown Halloween extravaganza at the Miller home at 1221 Sixth Ave. E. in Kalispell.

The outdoor show has grown exponentially over the past four years. Last year, staffers from U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' campaign bus were among the 450 people who went through the freaky maze.

This year's show - Ghoulish Grounds: Saturday Night Fright - promises to be the biggest and best yet, Miller said.

He and his wife, Jenine, whose day jobs are at Semitool, have recruited 13 friends and family members to operate various stations on the haunted display. More than 200 hours of prep work have gone into the display, and Miller has spent about $2,500 on costumes and props. Actors in the show likewise have pitched in time and money.

With child-like zeal, Miller explained the variety of automated props and trickery that await those who dare to enter. The insane asylum "will be really freaky," he promised. Witches, creepy scarecrows and scary clowns with actual chain saws (minus the chains) are among the many characters.

Some of the haunted effects will be set up in a simulated cornfield. The Millers painstakingly set up 400 individual cornstalks, tying each stalk to a stake to create the field effect.

"My mom [Connie MacLean] is the witch," Miller said. "There will be potions and all kinds of nifty stuff. It's very visual."

MacLean said she's still trying to track down just the right witch's chin. She, too, has Halloween fever.

"I'm getting more and more excited," she said. "It's great. All of our grandchildren are coming from Spokane."

Miller himself will be stationed at the entrance.

"I time it at the door so everyone gets a really good show," he said.

Miller would like to rent a bigger facility next year to accommodate the ever-expanding fright show. He'd love to start a business, a novelty store perhaps, that could feed his Halloween fetish.

His love of the holiday goes back to childhood when he would spend time at Knott's Scary Farm - Knott's Berry Farm's conversion to a "Halloween Haunt" in the off-season - in Southern California.

Miller has spent 25 years in the Flathead Valley, and when he and his wife got married five years ago, she knew Halloween would always be a special time for them.

"He gave me a coffin for our anniversary last year," she said with a laugh as she worked on props for tonight's display. "You know what they say: 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.'"

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com