Hallowindow...

Mark Gervais has put together a great halloween animation designed to be projected on the windows of your home haunt. The animation shown here is from 2006 and he has 2007's on his website.
http://www.hallowindow.com/

For 2008 he will be selling a DVD with new animations along with some from 2007. He expects to charge around $30 for the DVD and they should be ready by the end of September.

Fog Chiller with irrigation tubing...

If you are like me, you are always looking for a more efficient way to create low lying fog. Subatomix (youtube name) uses irrigation tubing hooked to his fogger with great results.

I've already picked up some irrigation tubing (with slits) and plan to fill it with frozen water bottles and use some Froggy's Swamp Juice in my fogger. I'll post the results after I finish the testing.

Animatronic Host - Funny audition...

I came across this clever Youtube video created by the people at Character Dynamics. They create custom animated props. They have some great stuff although they seemed to be geared more toward commercial customers ($$$). Similar to Skulltronix, this would be a great addition to any haunt.

Life and death of a pumpkin...

Here is a clever and entertaining video that chronicles the sad life of a pumpkin destined to become a Jack O'Lantern.

It was the winner for Best Short Film and Best Concept, 2006 Chicago Horror Film Festival, October (Chicago, IL).

New Werewolf coming soon...

Ever wanted to be the Wofman for Halloween but don't like the typical cheesey commercial werewolf masks? Bump in the Night Productions may have a solution. They will have a Foam Latex Werewolf appliance available in August for Halloween 2008. The price is reasonable at $25.00, but it looks like you'll still need to add the wolf hair and make-up.

For more info, click here.

Thrashing Zombie...

HauntedProps.com has released several new animated props for 2008. They look great and include multiple motion paths (side to side, up/down, independent actuations for head and body, etc.). Some even spray water or smoke. The Zombie Thrasher looks like it would provide a great scare. It's priced at about $1800.

Stirring Witch...

The stirring witch has become a staple of many home haunts over the last few years. I built my witch last year on the inspration from Woody over at ScareFX. Check out the video to see the ScareFX Stirring Witch in action.

Kitty Litter Cake...

The first time my friend Shawn made the Kitty Litter Cake for our Halloween Party, it required some fortitude on my part to even try it. It looks sooooo real (gross) but it tastes amazing.

I don't know Shawn's recipe so I'm going to include one I found online. I do know the "cat poop" is actually melted tootsie rolls and looks pretty realistic.

Click here for the recipe. Give it a try at your next Halloween bash.

Flying Crank Ghost...

Flying crank ghosts (FCG) have become a mainstay for commercial and home haunters in recent years. I probably receive more comments on my FCG than any other prop I have. They are relatively inexpensive to make and can usually be bought for under a couple hundred dollars as well.

Haunt Project has some great info on FCG's if you are looking to make one. Click here to see several different designs for creating your own ghost.

Make your skeletons look their best!

Got some purdy white skeletons that you want to make a little scarier. Corpse them! This will give them an aged, decaying look that will really make the prop stand out.

At a basic level corpsing uses liquid latex (or some other glue-like adhesive), something to duplicate flesh, for example cotton strips or nylon stockings, and some dark stain or paint.

Bucky skeletons (these are the ones you see in anatomy class) can be found for about $150 at places like Bucky's Boneyard (www.buckysboneyard.com) or Ebay (www.ebay.com).

A less expensive option is the blow-molded, plastic skeletons called a "blucky". I've seen people turn these cheap, ugly misfits into horror masterpieces through corpsing.

I'll admit, this Youtube video is pretty cheezy, but it does an adequate job of walking through the steps to corpse a skeleton.

You want big, they got BIG!

I admit it. I like to look at props that I'll never (no way in hell) be able to afford (or even store). Some of the props being developed right now are absolutely amazing, but have price tags that make them sooooo hard to justify unless I open my own amusement park (not likely to happen).

Anyhoo, some of the new 2008 animatronics from Scarefactory are fantastic. They manufacture top notch props for commercial haunters (and rich home haunters). Here's an example of a Dinosaur that's new for this year. It's nearly $15K for the Dino and track, but if you are running a Jurassic Park themed haunt this year, you gotta get one of these!

Fog Chiller: Gotta keep that fog cold!

Do you have a fog machine, but when you use it people think your house is on fire? If so, then you may need a fog chiller. This is a device that passes hot fog through a cooling system. When you can get the fog coming from your unit to be colder than the outside air, the fog will settle nicely on the ground. Our course, wind, humidty and ambient temperature all play a role, so the same set-up could produce completely different results on different days based on these variables.

There are a ton of different designs and opinions on the best way to get your fog cold. A good website that addresses fog and fog chillers is Got Fog. Here is an article from their site to use as a starting point to build your own chiller.

"Filling the night air with menacing fog, which your trick-or-treaters must venture through and wonder what could be lurking within it, a fog machine is an absolute must for a truly creepy Halloween haunt or party. But there are times when you might want the fog to hung the ground rather than disperse through out the air. A perfect example would be for a graveyard scene in your front yard. Instead of filling the air, you want the fog to slowly drift over the ground, around tombstones and over burial mounds, or maybe you'd like it to flow out from under your porch or even over your roof.

Unfortunately, the very nature of how these machines produce fog makes this difficult, as the fog fluid is heated to generate fog which comes out hot and rises in the air. To discourage the fog from rising it has to be cooled down before it is released into the air. The general idea is to build a device that the hot fog enters and is cooled down as it passes through. A Fog Chiller. We designed our Fog Chiller to be easy to build, relatively inexpensive and be a completely self-contained unit that could be moved around as needed."

The rest of the article is here.

Movies: Fright Night...

I found a YouTube video tribute to one of my vampire films from the 80's.

If you haven't seen it before, Fright Night is well worth the investment of an hour and a half. This movie is an 80's classic!

Series: Favorite costumes of Halloween's past...

This costume was a big hit at our 2001 Halloween party. He's an escaped mental hospital patient named "Harry Buttinski".

Amazingly, my friend in the costume managed to stay in character all night (and it didn't really look like he's was trying too hard).

Pumpkinrot Yard Haunt 2007 video...

Pumpkinrot is probably the most well known creator of amazing Scarecrows. These go well beyond just carving a face into a jack o' lantern. The stuff he makes are like hideous works of art!

This video is from his 2007 home haunt, but his website has some great individual images of his creations over the past several years. He has developed his own niche and style with his props that many home haunters strive to replicate.

Take a look at www.pumpkinrot.com.

Using compressed air in your haunts...

Phantasmechanics has a great reference article on using compressed air to animate props. For any home haunter who is looking to take their attraction to the next level, adding a system capable of moving props quickly and powerfully is a sure way to create some great scares. A basic understanding of pneumatics is necessary, as working with compressed air can be dangerous if precautions aren't taken.

Here is an excerpt:

"Compressed air offers a number of advantages over electrical actuators for haunts, and has accordingly been used for many decades in dark attractions. The hiss of air accompanying a scare was a hallmark of the dark rides I grew up with. Utilizing compressed air is the most efficient method to produce sudden and startling kinetic effects. It is safe to use on damp ground outdoors, allows quick and powerful movements without the risk of blown fuses or overheating, and allows for the relatively simple construction of devices that would be expensive or impossible to duplicate using other methods.

The amount of force generated at the output of an air actuator (usually a piston and rod housed in a cylinder and connected to an object to be moved) by even a modest amount of input pressure can be amazing. If you've never considered an air system because it seemed too daunting, peruse this article and discover the basics. It may be just what you're looking for."

Click here to see the full article.

Something Got Into Charlie...

Here's a clip from a recent prop (Halloween 2007) from Woody at Scare FX (http://scarefx.blogspot.com/).

I've had Scare FX bookmarked for quite a while and frequently visit the site when I'm looking for inspiration for creating props or set pieces.

Scare Compilation Video

Since giving a good scare is what haunters enjoy most, I thought it would be fun to share a compilation of fun scares. I believe this was originally from America's Fuuniest Home Videos.

Every once and a while I'll post some of the more creative photos of props or costumes from our annual haunt or party. This prop was hanging in the entryway to our house for Halloween 2002.

We had a green rubber skull and stapled a white wig to it. It was then lit with a blacklight. For some reason, we thought it might look cool to put some flashing lights into the hair and the effect actually turned out pretty well.

Vile Things home haunt...

I use the internet to find inspiration in creating new props. Frequently I'll come across a site that I can get an idea or two from. Sometimes, I'll come across a site that makes me go Wow!!!

Vile Things is such a site. Although it doesn't appear to have been updated in while, this site has fantastic home built props. The site lists the different projects that have been built (up to 2006) and shows quite a bit of detail about the actual construction process for several of the props. Pics and videos of the props in action are also included. I particularly like the Bellicose prop and the Animated Obelisk.

Here is a link to show some detail on the construction for their home haunt in Halloween of 2006.

http://www.vilethings.com/vile_things_2006_home_haunt_2.htm

I hope to see them back in action this year.

SPFX Zombie Mask

SPFX Masks make some of the most impressive masks I've seen. They use silicon which allows the mask to form fit over the head but also allows facial movement, talking (and eating) and expressions.

For commercial haunters, they can eliminate the need for make-up and are fast to put on and take off. This YouTube video show the Zombie mask in action.

They have several different designs. I particularly like the "Old Man" mask. 2 or 3 new characters are added each year and the attention to detail is simply amazing. These masks are however pricey. Last year the masks sold for $200-$300 per mask but this year the prices are closer to the $500-$800 range, depending on the design.
To see more, check out http://www.spfxmasks.com/.

Skulltronix Talking Skull and Skeletron - Transworld 2008

At Transworld this year, Skulltronix announced an animated skeleton body to join it's award winning talking skull. The technology in these products is fantastic.

Unfortunately, the price tag will be a bit steep for most home haunters and probably out of the range even for most commercial haunts. $1600 will get you the skull (dmx) and for another $4000 you can score the animated skeleton.

Several haunt enthusists have built or modified their own talking skulls, but the skills needed to do this are waaaaaay outside of my particular skill set.

Behind the Spider~Wiper prop...

I saw this video from Village Haunts about a year ago and was amazed at the detail of this homemade animatronic prop of a giant spider. This thing moves it legs independently, lunges forward and backwards, turns it's head and even squirts venom (water) at its victim. Amazing!

This should provide plenty of inspiration for do-it yourself home haunters.

Haunted Overload

I had heard about Haunted Overload a while ago. This halloween attraction has been rated in the top 10 in the nation. What amazing about this is that it started as a home haunt and has grown massively each year. The creator/owner Eric Lowther had to move into much bigger property in 07 to support the expansion.

Eric creates most of the props and decorations at his haunt. Some of the stuff he and his team build are amazing. Many effects are giant, some are over 30 feet tall!

If you are a fan of haunts and will be in the New England area this October, you owe it to yourself to check out Haunted Overload. Take a peek at the video to get a small taste of the attraction.

Welcome to my site!

I've created this blog to share my enjoyment of my favorite day of the year - Halloween!

Most neighborhoods have a "Halloween house" and ours is it. I start planning my home haunt in February and have usually commenced building a few props by the time summer rolls around. The neighborhood kids enjoy snooping around while I'm working in the garage to glean a sneak-peek at what unexpected scares might be in store for them.

What I absolutely love about Halloween is the creative freedom that this holiday offers. I enjoy coming up with imaginative ways to turn my normal suburban home into something scary and special, that kids will remember as they grow up.

-Gibber