See Santa At Gingerbread House In Manhattan

MANHATTAN, IL — Holidays at the Hesser's continue to be merry and bright as the man behind Holiday House Projections, 24361 Shawnee Lane, debuted a new scene Sunday night.

"We have a new Gingerbread house scene running tonight, with lots of Santa sightings for the kiddos," Michael Hesser wrote on the Holiday House Projections Facebook page.

People can line up outside or in their cars to see Hesser's Holiday House Projections — done entirely with computers and a creative brain — from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, and until 11 p.m. on weekends.

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Three years ago, Hesser was bidding farewell to another Christmas season at his family's home. He recalls the moment quite fondly.

"I was taking down Christmas lights, I was on a ladder, in about 20 below weather, thinking, how stupid this is that I'm risking my life for a $5 string of lights?" Hesser said. "I was thinking to myself, I've done projections in the windows for Halloween for years. I should just project a picture of lights from the windows."

Using a picture of lights, a projector and a thumb drive, Hesser said he stood on his sidewalk and projected a string of lights on the front of his house.

Hesser said he was never hanging any Christmas lights again.

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Three years later, the "lights" look quite different. Hesser's custom scary movie and Christmas movie montages projected on the house are synced to music broadcast over FM radio, Hesser said, so people can watch from the safety and comfort of their car.

"To keep things fresh I add new scenes throughout the month leading up to Halloween," Hesser told Patch.

What started as a Halloween theme made its way to Christmas, and in 2020, an Easter egg hunt appeared on the house.

Because of this, Hesser said he, his wife and two daughters (12 and 15) decided to name the display "Holiday House Projections."

>> Read more about how Hesser makes the holiday magic larger than life