Shopping at Michael's!

Hey, everyone! Just got back from a trip to Michael's looking for some stuff to use in the haunt. Ended up getting some really neat stuff for the party and the sideshow haunt at my mom's house!

Some of the stuff I got included an orange candle, and a black candle (they smell like candy corn and black licorice, respectively). Also got a mini foam skull, pack of pumpkin treat holders that I'll put lights in, and a changing portrait! It changes from a medieval noble to a Grim Reaper. Some of the props are going to be working over time, at both the party and the sideshow. I'm gonna turn the mini skull into a paper-mache shrunken head, currently in progress, and I'll display the portrait as a "Demonically-possessed Painting" in the sideshow, and at the party he'll just be another decoration. I've included some pics (sorry if there not great quality, they were taken on a cell phone).

Oh, before I go, I'd like to give a scream-out to my two new followers, Shawn, and Dio. Glad to have you both aboard this terror train!

Next post: a scream-out to Shellhawk, and some photos of the wicked-cool stuff I won from her!

Yes, I know...

I've had a bunch of different haunt and party ideas this year. And It wasn't very fun. I mean, thinking about the different themes was fun, but towards the end I started feeling confused and uncertain about the haunt this year. But Halloween is only 99 days away and I decided to buckle down and decide on my Halloween plans. So here is the final, absolute, super-duper plan of the HalloweeNut (I promise):

Party:
This is my first Halloween party. I mean, EVER. So, I'm gonna keep it simple - no theme, Pizza, chips 'n' dip, music, scary movie. I figure I kinda have to show a scary movie that most people probably won't have seen, but still ties into the season. So I'm gonna show one of my all time favorites: TRICK 'R TREAT! The music will be a mix of Scary Rock/Metal (Rob Zombie, Creature Feature, Powerman 5000) and dark ambient (Midnight Syndicate, Nox Arcana). I've got all kinds of cool of ideas for decorations, and my costume will be the same costume for my haunt. Which leads me to announce the actual theme of my haunt this year....

Haunt:
Well, I've truly come full circle with this year's theme. I've gone from carnival to taking a year off, and I decided to buckle my @$$ down and choose a theme, and start building! So I'm going to go with original theme - Troupe Macabre Haunted Sideshow. I'm changing it from a "carnival" theme to a "sideshow" theme. The front porch will be transformed into a Freak Museum, and the front sidewalk will be the "Midway". Once again, plenty of cool ideas, but there's a lot hard work ahead. But I'll try to take some time to blog. I've got tons of cool circus/sideshow stuff to show you all. But that will have to wait; I've got props to build. Stay Scary!

Carnival Haunt & Prop favorites

Well, I'm all geared up to do a Gothic Carnival this year, and so I've been searching the forums, Google, YouTube, and other sources fir inspiration for the carnival. I decided to share one of my favorite carnival haunts, and one of my favorite carnival props.

#1: the Pivnik Haunt 2009:
OK, so this is another haunt that isn't the world's greatest. But I like how they avoided cliched "evil clowns" for the most part. They used some cool effects to provide a Carnival-type atmosphere, instead of doing a stupid "Funhouse of Fear" theme, where they just painted striped walls and had guys in clown masks jumping around corners. They set design isn't the best, nor is it ultra-scary, but it looks fun and very much what I hope to achieve. Here's a link:

the Pivnik Haunt 2009 YouTube


#2: Oszlar the Magnificent prop:
this is an awesome high-tech prop, and cool variation on your average "Fortune Teller" I found this just after joining the GOE Network, and I love it! It's given me a real kick in the @$$ to improve my witch and turn her into a skull-faced Fortune Teller, like in the movie Big. Definitely check this out:

Oszlar the Magnificent on GOE Network


Well, I hope this is inspiring to readers who hope to do a carnival theme one day. As for me, it's back to work!

2010 Theme video

Music by Nox Arcana