My youngest brother returned from a backpacking trip with his roommates to find a disturbing voicemail from his landlord on the cell phone. “WHAT is the meaning of this?” she asked. His roomates all had similar messages. They knew it must have something to do with the open house. She had called them all constantly in the days leading up to the trip, to make sure everything in the house would be just right and none of the quirky college guys would be around when potential buyers came through. Like good renters, the boys did their duty, cleaning and tidying and absenting themselves. What could it be? they wondered. Did they overlook something?

Well, just one little thing: A dozen signs taped all over the house, threatening violence and destruction in giant red letters.
“You dine in hell tonight!”
“A thousand nations descend upon you! Our arrows will blot out the sun!”
“Picture it reduced to ash at my whim.”

and so on.

They were quotes from the movie 300– decorations for a movie-watching party the guys had held the night before their trip. Whoops. It created a very nice, homey feel, as you might imagine.