CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For one veteran in the Clarksville area, Halloween is taking on a whole new meaning. He's found a creative outlet that may take you by surprise.
"My son tells kids at school, 'my dad makes monsters,'" smiled David Cowger of Clarksville. "They didn't believe him!"
What is it people say when they step into the home of David Cowger?
Unafraid? Get a sneak peek above.
"Oh! Didn't expect that," he laughed, sitting the midst of monster masks and various horror creations.
"Zomumrow!" he said holding up one mask. "It's the combination of zombie, mummy and scarecrow mixed together."
There's a path that led David to this work.
"I went into the service in 2009," he said. "I was in the Coast Guard. I had a brain injury and went into the brain trauma recovery program provided by the Navy. They had us making paper mache masks. Just the hands-on aspect, of taking our internal emotions and putting it into a physical form, was just empowering."
David kept going with the work until he built his company, Unknown Origin FX. Lately, there's been another outlet.
"This is what the business calls curtain chaos!" David said, walking through a maze he created in his backyard.
David took NewsChannel 5 through the large-scale Halloween-time attraction he's made around his Southern Drive home. He's built a lot of this himself. What appears to be carved pumpkins is largely made from latex and foam.
David said last year they had 450 people visit. They were only open for two days, and it was their first year. Who knows how many they're going to have come by this year.
"It's artistic, a big outlet," he said.
What started as a trauma recovery has grown into a new Clarksville community tradition.
"Yeah, and that's the real payoff," David said. "We're doing this and getting this kind of response that's encouraging. Maybe I'm doing what I need to be doing."
The Unknown Haunted House is on Southern Drive in Clarksville.
It runs on Oct. 20, 21, 27, and 29 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. It's also open on Halloween night from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
