Halloween Double Feature!

Well, I've been working like mad on my party and the Scarecrow Hill haunt. The party is exactly a week from today, and I feel like watching like stayin' up late tonight and watching two flicks that have become Halloween-must sees for me. First up is Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow:



Mind you, this isn't a particularly *great* movie, but it's alright. Visually, it's wonderfully spooky, but the plot is pretty hokey towards the end. But hey, it's a live-action flick with a kick-ass Headless Horseman, and some pretty iconic imagery. It's worth a see. Next up is one of my all time favorite movies, Trick 'r Treat.



If you haven't seen the movie, that tribute video I found should give you a nice bloody taste of what this awesome horror anthology is. Nothing much too say, just WATCH IT!!!

Now, I'm off to make some popcorn and grab a glass of apple cider, then dream some Halloween dreams. We're almost there people. Just carve yer pumpkins, pour a glass of cider and say your prayers!

PS: With any luck, I'll be visiting Cleveland's own Carnival of Horrors haunted attraction on Thursday. Sounds fun!

Haunt Review: THE SCAREHOUSE

It all started yesterday, on the way in to visit my mom at for the weekend in Pittsburgh, PA. My dad and I left early, but he didn't say why...when I saw my mom, she told me why - we had gotten VIP tickets to Pittsburgh's biggest and baddest haunted attraction - THE SCAREHOUSE!!!!!!!!

After washing down my excitement with a bottle of blue Mountain Dew (drink of the gods), We drove to Etna, PA, home of Scarehouse. The building was something to be seen: a tall, Greco-Roman style building lit with purple and green lights. We wound our way around the block to the back of the building to the entrance, were entertained by the crazy actor dressed as Steampunk transvestite (a very fun concept for a haunt actor) and got to the front of the line (a perk of getting VIP tickets), and after watching old '70's horror and exploitation movie trailers playing for the queue line, we entered the Mouth of Hell!

The first haunt was more of a creepy, subtler haunt, with no consistent theme called "The Forsaken" (my favorite haunt of the evening); each scene was different there was a dark carnival, a ruined church, a swamp, backwoods butcher shop, and a haunted mansion.

Next up was the wacky "Delirium 3D". For those who don't know, a 3D haunt is where they put blacklight paint of the wall, and you wear special glasses to the paint look like it's coming off the walls. Unlike your typical 3D haunt, which is clown themed, "Delirium" had a insane nightclub theme, with some of the best SFX I saw all night.

Finally, there was the gory, Steampunk-themed "RAMPAGE"! We found ourselves plunged head first into a futuristic totalitarian society during a rebellion. The rebel soldiers kept trying to recruit us to join the fight against the "DieRector" and the gun-totting, gas mask-wearing "Daphne". The final scene of RAMPAGE (and the whole attraction) was pure insanity. There were machine guns, chainsaws, robots, cannons, mutants, and lots of strobe lights! Finally, we were spat out back onto the street and into relative saftey. We picked up some souvenirs, and headed home.

Now, I have to say something - I LOVE SCAREHOUSE!!!!!! This place rocks, and generally kicks ass. If your are in the Western PA area in October, you've GOT to check out Scarehouse! As for souvenirs, I got a killer rabbit t-shirt, and the official soundtrack (yes, the haunt actually write their own music!) and it has some cool industrial/dance tunes that I'm gonna use for my party. Overall, great haunt, great actors, and very nice staff. Kudos to you, ScareHouse!

Oh, and those pictures above are cell phone pics of me and my mom with killer rabbit and the Steampunk transvestite.

Scarehouse Official site

Halloween Stores

Well, I made my first trip to a Spirit Halloween store today. A great start to the season! This particular store was AMAZING! Normally, I don't really like Spirit stores, but this place was so spectacularly decorated, with an insane circus theme. Being the bad haunter I am, I forgot my camera. But I did pick up some neat stuff for my haunt and party. This browsing of the store reminded me of the photos I saw of Roger's Garden store in California. I first saw this incredible take on the seasonal store via Pumpkinrot's blog. They even go so far as to theme the store's displays! I've included some pics of it to give you an idea of what I mean by incredible! Here's the site. Enjoy your Halloween shopping, everyone!

Northern Ohio Haunter's Make-n-Take Today

Courtesy of WitchOtastic from Garage of Evil Network. I'll be leaving in like 45 minutes, so I wanted to do a quick blog post before I go. It should be a lot of fun. There's gonna be a prop show n tell, a skull plaster-casting demo, and, of course, the MnT. They'll be building the Laser Vortex illusion. I would be, too, be the stupid laser I ordered off e-bay hasn't arrived yet. Then again, it's coming from China. I'll try to do as much as I can at the make n take, and of course, show off my Celtic tombstone and Pumpkinrot-inspired witch jars. I've included a video of the vortex I'll be trying to make. And here's a link to the site of WitchOtastic's AMAZING haunt. Well, gotta run!

I WON!!!

Cool news!!! I just learned that I won a mini clay Jack-o-lantern from ShellHawk, of the ShellHawk's Nest blog, and the Misstres of Mayhem on Hauntcast. Her ceramic pumpkins are wicked cool, and so are the clay mini's. I can't get wait to get my bloody hands on one of these awesome little guys. This is especially cool, because I'm the type who has never won a contest in my life. I'll share pictures when I get it!

ShellHawk's Nest:

Next Post (hopefully): I'll try and post about a rather unusual form of entertainment that has had a rather large influence over the exact style of my haunt. I guess it can't hurt to reveal the name of this creepy bit theater: Carnival Diablo Circus Sideshow!

WARNING: Long Post!

Well, I've got some good news, some and bad news, and a haunt review! First the bad news: I won't be going to the Great Lakes FrightFest this year. Suffice to say, things just didn't work out. This is a pretty big bummer for me, as I was really hoping to go see the entire event this year. Oh well.

Good news (though some might consider this bad news): Remember how I said that for 2010 I was going to do a atmosphere-based haunt, themed to the "creepy house on the corner"? Well, to help me focus my energy and what little money I have on the 13th Street Morgue walk-thru for 2011, my step-dad Ben volunteered to take the reigns of the haunt in Pennsylvania for 2010. I consider this good news because it takes some weight of my shoulders. I guess I'll to put the "creepy house" theme in the recesses of me fiendish noggin for another time.

Haunt review: The Radley Haunted House (pictures above). I recently discovered this ultra-creepy haunt via another haunter's channel on YouTube. This is an INCREDIBLE home haunt, the likes of which I've never seen before. This sets look REAL, the soundscape gives you the chills, and the atmosphere is dead on! I've done some digging and found some stuff out about this haunt; It's in St. Petersburg Florida, and was orginally themed as a tribute to Disney's haunted mansion, but the year after became the haunt it is today. I highly recamend you check out this guy's Youtube channel - you won't be disappointed.

MstGracey's Channel

Well, that's all I've got! But to work, you freaks! ;)