Halloween 2023

 

It's Halloween ( and ya feel like dancin')

 Over the past few years, I have been through a sort of a Halloween revival. Slowly rebuilding what I have done before.  Here are a few pics from last year that got the wheels turning.  And "Halloween" by The Dead Kennedys, which is a new anthem going forward.🎃

Halloween 2009

                                   

Toilet Paper Gremlin

This post came from an idea that the Gremlins were wrecking my display.  This one is wrapped up in toilet paper after hijinks.

Jack O' The Lantern (part 4) Lighting

Now it's time to light your pumpkin.  You can use a Christmas village light (I got mine from Walmart's Christmas section)

You could also use LED candles or LED tea candles.


Carefully cut a keyhole shape in the bottom of your pumpkin.

This is how to put the Christmas light in:
You can use any color, I painted the clear light.  Yellow paint works, Maybe Orange.
one coat of paint will do.

Place light in the center of the bottom and tape it down.


     

                         

Mark for two holes on both sides of the cord

Jack O' The Lantern (part 2) The Hat

Here's where we make the witch hat. This step is optional.  You can put any hat on your pumpkin.

This is where the poster board comes in.  It can be any color.  I have chosen to paint it black.


I used fan covers to make the big circles. The first circle is going to be 18 inches (45.72cm)

Lay the fan cover or another big circle in the middle of the poster board and trace it.

 Carefully cut it out with scissors.

Next cut about halfway down from the bottom, then cut halfway from the side

 

The circle should have a quarter removed.

Take one side of the gap and fold or roll to the other side making a cone.  You can adjust it to the  size of your pumpkin.

                                         


After adjustments, you can glue or tape the cone together.

Jack O' The Lantern (part 1)

project concept

I have been waiting for this project for 5 years.  A Jack O' Lantern project based on the"Big Jack" or "bandit pumpkin" blow mold.

For this project you will need:

• Foam crafting pumpkin (from Michael's, Walmart or probably any craft store)
• Two sheets of large poster board, any color (optional )
• paintbrushes
• Orange, Yellow, or Apricot colored paint (craft section of Walmart or craft store)
• Black paint 
• String
• Felt or sheets of craft foam (optional)
• pumpkin carving knife or carving tool
• scissors
• glue
• marker or pen

This could a fun project for the weekend.  It should take about 2 to 4 hours to complete. If you have children, maybe they could help.

Maybe a black cat too

Let's start with the Jack O' Lantern.  The design of the face is up to you.  For this project I am going with a classic pattern.

Now when using a knife or any blade, make sure you exercise extreme caution.  Take your time when carving the face.  The foam could be hard or soft.



If the knife made rough edges on the shapes, use a file, rasp, or sandpaper to make it smooth.  This will be messy.



Now here's an optional step.  I like to paint the carved edges golden yellow or orange to look like a real pumpkin.

Hard to see, but the edges look real

     

Next time: The Witch Hat

Scary Christmas

Haunted Mansion Ghost Bride Project( new music)

In 2004, I took a hiatus from my haunted house project, mostly because of surfing the web.  I came upon the now defunct "doombuggyproductions.com" and there was a ghost bride project, so I transformed my main ghost into the attic bride for 3 straight Halloween seasons.  The blinking heart started out as a flashing Christmas light.
Eventually I would like to make a flip-flop blinking circuit with LED's or similarly bright lights.

The music is now the " Adagio sostenuto" movement from Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor,  Op. 27, No. 2 by Ludwig Van Beethoven.  I recently chose this piece to give the video a melancholy reflection.

Pumpkinhead Gremlin

digital art

This is a concept for a gremlin that had a pumpkin  dropped on it's head.  The gremlin is in the style of Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

Bat Spinner

           





 This is my bat spinner made two days before Halloween 2009.  It uses the flapping bats momentum to spin the bar. I will post a slideshow with instructions in the future.   Everyone can agree on how cool those motorized flapping bats can be every Halloween, but what about two? This project was three years in the making.  I can conjecture that this spinning bar was based on the circling sharks from the "graveyard of ships" scene from the old "Submarine Voyage" at Disneyland.  i'm not quite sure yet.                                                

Ghost Bride Day Shot

Behind the scenes of CREEPSHOW

Now some of you may not like horror movies at all, but there is some interesting behind the scenes footage of how a movie is made.  Most of the skills you need or already have are being used.   I watch this footage now and again to study casting and sculpting.   I happen to be a fan of the movie CREEPSHOW , and the special effects were done by Tom Savini and his assistant.  The footage has been saved to a playlist which can be viewed here

Ghost Lighting Set-up Still Pictures

These are still pictures from The Ghost Lighting set-up Video from Halloween 2007.  This lighting consists of two blacklights, and a blue party lightbulb.  Also featured are two of the "Haunted Candleabra" props made by Trendmasters in the mid 1990's.   They have been painted to look old.
(click on pics to enlarge)

This is the bottom of The set-up, with a blue light, a powerstrip, and a blacklight.
Also featured is a replica of the candle held by the Ghost Bride from the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

 

This is the top blacklight of the set-up, it is  24 inches

This picture features the ghost that is to be lit with her arm held by a rope attached to a crank motor to move the arm up and down.  The motor ran well in tests but did not work on the big night.

 

 

 

 

This is the same ghost from Halloween 2006, also in the shot is the "Haunted Candleabra" made by Trendmasters in the mid 1990's

From October 2011

The Grave Jumper with shroud

I thought I would post this picture of the grave jumper skull with it's shroud since it was too fast to be seen in the Halloween video I posted last November.

Haunted Library projects

Some of these projects were done before the blog existed.  A couple will be surprises from the haunted house blog.

Things to do

The following list of projects are projects that I would like to complete and post pictures, a couple of them might be tutorials

• Giant spider web (maybe spider victim)
• Cinderblock plinth *
• Blinking ghost bride heart circut*
• Six Dave Lowe style candles (being painted)
• Pine Casket (plans are being drafted)

*possible tutorial

All lit up

What the picture doesn't show is the five different shades of yellow lights. It really is a sight to see live.

more pumpkin quintet

Not a how to, just a Halloween picture .  
The pumpkin quintet.  In 2008, I had the idea to make singing pumpkins as a side project.  They were inspired by the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.  These five were named after the singing busts in the graveyard jamboree scene at the end.
Their names are starting with the top titled one: Uncle Theodore
Row 2: the one with the left is Rollo Rumkin, the one on the right is Cousin Al.
Row 3: The one on the left with the goofy grin is Phineas Pock, the one on the right with the crescent shaped eyes is Ned Nub.

things to know

Phantom of the Opera organ 10/31/2000

Over the past few Halloween seasons I have realized that what I have done by building my set-ups is become my own production company. My skills are the same as what would be used in a movie or stage play.

Here is the list I made up as I went along.

*Set Design

*Set Decoration(placement of props and spider webs)

*Lighting

*Carpentry
*Electrical Work

*Art Department (painting and making props)

*Costume Design

*Costuming

*Sound Design(recording and editing sound effects)

*Concept artist

My brother also helps with setting things up and adds his own props.

He's also his own hair and Make-up department. I guess the fog machine would be considered special effects.

Lost in Schlock has a link to an article on the categories of props.

So, in summary the key skills that will help you build your Halloween set-ups should include:

*Sewing

*Soldering

*Carpentry

*Welding (building metal frames)

*Painting {includes painting props} (you don't have to paint like Van Gogh, but I study old paintings to help me)

*Electrical(if you're nervous about wiring things, don't do it, get help.)

*Electronics

*Study how machines work(Like the now defunct Phantasmechanics.com put it, take apart old machines to see how they work, that should help when you're ready to build animated props)

*Sculpting and Casting

*Papier Mache( Some haunters do amazing things with just paper and glue)