Haunt Dilemma – “Phantom” or Pirates?

OK, first things first: I’m a flip-flopper when it comes to themes. Remember last year? I went from carnival to year-off then back to carnival before repeating the “Scarecrow Hill” theme. My problem is both indecisiveness and a enjoyment of many haunt themes. While I like all kinds (except for aliens/sci-fi), very few actually inspire me. Ever since I posted that teaser video for a redo of my old “Phantom of the Opera” haunt from 2006, I just haven’t been feeling the whole “Phantom” thing.Lately, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at a different theme – pirates. Now, before you start groaning, let me explain my reasoning.

1) It’s a theme I love, and have thought was fun and cool for most of life.

2) I haven’t actually built any props or sets yet, so the window of opportunity is still open.

3) Both sets would be similar in design – a cave, but instead of a Gothic style lair, I’d be doing a hidden tavern for the scoundrels.

4) With a pirate theme, there’s opportunity for a façade over the garage door.

5) Finally, while there are many excellent pirate haunts out there, none of them have been done the way I’d done it, with other haunts going very Disneyland instead of dark and frightening (along the lines of Nox Arcana’s Phantoms of the High Seas album).

So, before I start making any changes to my haunt plans, I’m going to get as many opinions as I can. If you have any ideas or opinions, please comment below. So, my fellow spookables, what do you think: Phantom or Pirates?

2011 Home Haunt theme

I gave you guys a clue to my costume this year, which in turn has helped inspire my haunt's theme this year. It was my original theme, and the silent horror film it's based on is what got me started haunting. Being back in my old stomping grounds has given me a sense of Halloween nostalgia. So I've decided to give an old theme another go. So, without further ado, here it is, my theme announcement video:

Official Haunt Video!

Here it is, Cool Ghouls, my official Scarecrow Hill 2010 video (or slide show, if you prefer).

2011 Costume Clue...

My original costume from when I started haunting, in 2006.
And welcome to the Dismal Trader, Movie-Prop maker extraordinaire!

Picnik and Photoshop - how I love you both!

Top - Before
Bottom - After

Hey, Kid! Wanna see something scary?

Frankenstein (1931) has always been a favorite. It's the first horror film I ever saw. Now, Dutch filmmaker Richard Raaphorst has begun putting together a frightening and grotesque new twist on the story. He calls it Army of Frankenstein. The basic premise is that at the end of WWII, an increasingly desperate and occult-obsessed Hitler found the journals of Victor Frankenstein, and sets about to create an army of creatures built from the bodies of fallen Nazi soldiers. It was interesting that I found the trailer now, right as I'm doing a report on Nazi Propaganda for my school. The trailer seriously gives me the creeps. Probably 'cause it's so damn convincing (not to mention the soundtrack is nightmare fuel)! It's been made to look like footage of Nazi graverobbers at work. If you're not frightened easily, click here to see the trailer at TwitchFilm.com.

UPDATE: TwitchFilm has announced that shooting for Frankenstein's Army will begin shooting this Spring!

A lost story, "The Hollow"

I was browsing through old files on a computer I haven't used in a while. It's fun, remembering old concepts and ideas for haunt themes. But then I came across this document called "The Hollow". No idea what this story is for, or what was supposed to happen next. Here's all that was on the document:

"It was about midnight when the three men stepped out of the fog. No-one was there to see the strange sight of men literally popping out of nowhere, save for a half-starved alley cat. Two of the men resembled gunslingers, with their brown dusters, wide-brimmed hats, leather boots, and the rifles slung on their backs. This was 1967, in rural Pennsylvania; gunslingers were no more. Yet the two men with the guns weren’t the strangest members of the trio. No, the man in front of them was much more…….unusual. He wore an old corduroy jacket, an earth-colored shirt, jeans, and boots like the ones his comrades wore. But over his head, he wore an old burlap sack, like the head of a scarecrow."

It also had the picture I posted above. I thought I'd post it because I still think it's a pretty atmospheric exert (although I think my writing's gotten better since then).