To Hell with Themes!

I'm tired - not of haunting, I'll never get tired of that - but of trying to pull off a decent theme. My problem is that I like too many, and being in High School, I have a very limited budget, and it's hard to build a differently themed haunt each year. The voodoo/swamp theme I had planned was no exception. Plus, due to Halloween being on a Monday this year, I have to be at my Dad's house this time because of school, and his house wouldn't work for a swamp theme at all. So, at least for this year, I'm not gonna do a theme - I'm just going to focus on having a fun time on Halloween. Maybe I'll do a them next year; but in the mean time, I'll just focus on having a good time with haunting.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again

I like too many themes. It’s hard for me to make up my mind when choosing the theme for this year’s haunt. It was happening constantly last year, and twice this year. I also recall saying that I’d be doing a smaller haunt at my Dad’s house. Well, that’s changed, too. I’m doing the haunt at my Mom’s house again, and we all decided on a theme, and I think it should really fun, and different. It will be an easy to do theme, but it won’t just be a re-do of the “Scarecrow Hill” theme. I won’t be saying what it is just yet, but I’ll leave you with this clue:

Baron Samedi

See if you can figure out what the theme is….heh heh heh

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!

BIG Haunt Changes!

OK. I know I said I was going to do a dark carnival haunt this year. Things have changed. But definetly for the better.

I've always wanted to do a walk-thru haunt. And after seeing Steve Hickman's Dark Works last year, the urge has been even stronger. Well, I recently ordered the Terror Syndicate Homer Haunter's Prop Building Videos vol. 4 (man that's mouth full), which focuses on building a free-standing walk-thru. Another thing I had wanted to do was host a "party haunt", or a haunt where you open it both for a party as well as to the public on Halloween.
I've made a decision: I'm canceling "Troupe Macabre" this year, to focus on creating a highly elaborate (and probably expensive) walk-thru party haunt for 2011. As for this year, I'm going to experiment with a more atmosphere-based haunt that is less prop oriented. The theme will be an old, decrepit house, the kind every neighborhood in America used to have; the ones kids would call the "haunted house". But that's something for another time. I'm probably going to be doing some postings on HauntForum about this, so if anyone has any questions, just shoot me a note there.

Well, I guess it can't hurt to reveal the party haunt's name:

The 13th Street Morgue

PS: Two big shout-outs:
1) go over to Pumpkin Knight's blog, The Land of Always October - he has some very cool news :)
2) Another shout-out to me first British Follower, Ali. Thanks for joining - now I'm boring on an international level!

2010 Theme video

Music by Nox Arcana

Halloween 2010

I bid you velcome, fellow spookables.

I'm hear to give you all a little clue about my Haunt theme this Halloween. Last year's haunt was great, but I'm going to try and make this year's haunt even better. I've been looking into all sorts of atmosphere effects, such as new lighting, fog FX, and even spooky scents. All to help set a mood. I'm hoping this year will provide a break from my typical Gothic or "Classic Hallowe'en" themes. It's a popular theme I'm doing this year, but I'm doing MY way, which will hopefully be very different from your typical version of this theme. I'll make it gritty and disturbing, with a very angry vibe. I'll create an atmosphere that is haunting and mysterious, yet feeling like something very, very bad is about to happen. The kind of feeling that keeps you looking over your shoulder, looking for that potential attacker. In the backstory I'm working on, the characters from the Haunt are seeking a bloody revenge.....on you! I'm working on a video to annoucne the theme this year; the picture above is a little hint at things to come...

Well, back to work. Scare ya later, kiddies!

ScreamParks (Part 1)

Hello, again, haunters of all ages.

Well, I hope to be busy working on one of my scarecrows this Labor Day weekend, and I've been looking for topics when it came to me: I've covered home haunts, but not any pro haunts! So I've decided to cover some haunted ScreamParks* before Halloween!

* ScreamPark: noun; a Halloween theme park consisting of haunted attractions.

The first one I want to cover is an old favorite: Universal Studios Florida's HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS! Its been around since 1991, and has just gotten better since. This year's theme is RIPPED From the Silver Screen! and it just looks awesome! There are three haunts themed to the movies SAW, Child's Play, and an upcoming remake of The Wolfman. Two of the haunts are themed as re-imaginings of Frankenstein and Dracula, while the other haunts are done in the style of cheesey B-rate horror flicks. There's also a haunt called "Silver Screams" and is themed as an old haunted theatre. The mascot or "Icon" this year is called "The Usher", and is very creepy looking. Other attractions include Scarezones and two Stage Shows. Check out their awesome site, you won't regret it!

Halloween Horror Nights

Tommorow's ScreamPark: Headless Horseman Hayrides & Haunted Houses.

OK, I'm panicking!!!!!

Oh, no. Less than 80 days until Halloween. And not one prop built yet! One thing is certain: I feel so doomed. :(

I was planning on building three scarecrows back in July, but with my mom's wedding, and getting ready for School, I've been busy. My stepdad, Ben, says not to worry, but I still feel doomed. But enough moaning and groaning. On to other news.

I am seriously awaiting the debut of two horror films: Midnight Syndicate's The Dead Matter, and Warner Bros.'s Trick 'r Treat!

I have always been a fan of Midnight Syndicate's music espically Gates of Delirium and The 13th Hour. The make the classiest Halloween music. So, I figure, if anyone can make a great scary movie, it would be them.

Midnight Syndicate

The Dead Matter

Trick 'r Treat justs looks like great bloody good Halloween fun. It looks like the film makers were trying to capture the spirit of the season with this film. Its coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 6th. Can't wait!

Trick 'r Treat at IMDB

And finally, I've decided a theme for next year's haunt. I'm really excited about this theme, and I think I may keep this theme for several seasons! Maybe I'll make a teaser video. :) Well, talk to all you ghoulies later.

Deadly Duo

As you might now know, one of my intentions with this blog is to give praise to yard haunts who deserve it, particularly little known ones. Today, I'll be covering TWO haunts: The Haunting of Ivy Hall, and the Dead's End Yard Haunt.

The Haunting of Ivy Hall is one of the classiest haunts around. The scarecrows, tombstones, jack-o-lanterns, and even the fog simply REEK of Halloween! The theme seems to be a haunted country estate, and they do a really good job of staying on theme. The website and the photography are simply amazing. See for yourself:

The Haunting of Ivy Hall

The second haunt I'm covering today is the Dead's End. Unlike Ivy Hall, which focuses on elegance, Dead's End has an earthy, even rotten texture and look. It has no real theme or story, but simply has different areas, each with its own theme. I noticed that most of their character's heads were masks from Death Studios, not surprising since their very popular among haunters. Unfortunetly, the haunt will not be around for 2009, due to a landslide. Hopefully, they will reappear in the future. Just take a look, you'll enjoy it.

Dead's End Yard Haunt

Brains! BRAINS!!!!!!!

Hello, ghoulies, ghosties, and long-legged beasties.
I actually stumbled across this site almost by accident. One of my favorite sites, Season of Shadows had often mentioned the work of one Victor "the Undertaker" Ives and his company HauntedHotSauce.com. After awhile, I decided to check it out. I was pleasently surprised. I find the idea of Haunted Hot Sauce to be incredibly funny and clever. All the flavors are suposed to be very tasty and, of course, VERY SPICY!!! All the hot sauce is zombie themed; they have names like Ghoul Drool, Mortician's Mold, and Fleashfeast. All the hot sauces come in a cedar coffin filled with a mixture of spanish moss and and rubber maggots. Heck, the bottles even come with a toe-tage around the top! Since the prices are so good, I ordered a double pack for my dad. It should arive anytime this week. I say all fans of Halloween and spicy food should check out the site!

HauntedHotSauce.com

(New) Lair of the HalloweeNut!

Interesting new project! My mom and my stepdad, Ben, have moved to PA, along with my brother and sister. It seems that my siblings will both have a themed room. For my bro, its a rain forest outpost; for my sis, its the beach (you know, dolphins, sea-shells,bla, bla, bla). However, my mom asked me what I wanted to do with my room for when I'm staying with them. So, being the freak I am, I of course said, "I think I'd like to do a Halloween room!" Thank God she didn't say "No". Anyways, the room will have a fiery color scheme; I.E. orange, yellow, red. I will also decorate with pumpkins, skulls, you name it! Now, if only I could do something like THIS:

http://www.jekyllandhydeclub.com/

A Permanent theme?

For years now, a story has been circling in my mind. A story about a man named Emerick Belsco. I don't even remember how I came up with the name "Belsco" (pronounced "Bell-SKO"). This character has gone thru all kinds of variations , from a pirate captain to a British Lord to a gunslinger and back again. But in the end, he's always been a kind of evil overlord, ruling an innocent little town in New England. His home has always been Belsco Manor. And he, in every version of his tale, has a VERY bloody end. But finally, after two years, he is finally coming home. By 2010, there will be a new kind of nightmare on the block. This haunt will focus on the ghosts that are a result of one man's dark obbsessions, and his ruthless quest for something called the "Hangman's Crow". Stay tuned for more....

Halloween Philosophy: Themes

Hello, and welcome to the first Halloween Philosophy of 2009! Our topic today: Themes!

I've always felt themes are a really good thing in haunts. They tie together what could be just random decorations into something truly special! Now, there are two kinds of yard haunts: "Haunt Stews" with no themes, and Themed Haunts.

"Haunt Stews" have no themes and are often more or less no better than the average store bought display. That doesn't mean they can't look very cool; Dark Works in PA is a great walk-thru haunt, yet has no theme to speak of.

On the other hand, Theme Haunts are becoming more and more popular among haunters. One of the best themed (yet little known) haunts is called Haunted Tiki Island. This great little haunt has a very unique theme of of Voodoo and tiki curses, all set in a spooky jungle. Their job themeing the haunt is unbeleivable!

In the end, though, it's the haunter's call to theme or not to theme, but I say, THEME ALL THE WAY!!!