Step Right Up (or, A Really Long Post)

Like I said in an earlier post, I've modified the exact theme of Troupe Macabre ever so slightly. The original theme was simply "carnival"; I thought it would be more interesting to focus on a part of carnivals that isn't really done in haunts: Sideshow! Granted, I'm on a budget, so I can't very well hire a bunch of performers to wonder around doing their stunts, like sword swallowing, the Human Blockhead, fire-eating, and all other forms of extreme entertainment (it's neat idea, though). So what I'll be doing instead is turning my sidewalk into a midway, and my front porch into a circus freak museum. Instead showcasing "freaks" which would have people more ticked off than scarred, MY museum would display creepy "artifacts" like shrunken heads, the Fiji Mermaid, the Mummy, and much more! Now for the real meat of my post today: the biggest influence over my haunt this year, the Carnival Diablo Circus Sideshow!!!
This sideshow has a long and interesting history. It's run out of Toronto Canada, by owner Scott McCelland, AKA "Nikolia Diablo" who performs as head freak and Ringmonster of the show. It originally opened as a tourist attraction in Calgary, but became so popular it took to the road. Scott apparently got his inspiration from his grandfather, who owned Canada's largest traveling carnival, which ran from 1920 through 1968. This sideshow is different from the usual fare because it takes a theatrical approach to sideshow, instead the more common "Hey-look-what-I-can-do" approach. Also, it doesn't hurt that the whole show is done in the style of old fashioned horror movies. To give you an idea of the show, There's a video of the show below, but be warned: the video contains "Graphic and Unusual Performances" and keep in mind, NO SPECIAL EFFECTS HERE! It's all real. So please, don't little any little kids be watching this. It's, well, freaky:



Now for some more lighthearted fare: Scott also owns a traveling museum, called the Carnival Diablo World of Wonders. Here's a video of Scott, in character as "Nikolai" performing as the barker. Don't worry - this one is kid-friendly:



Both barker's spiels in the videos have given me inspiration, as I'll be playing the barker at my haunt. Well, gotta run. For those interested, here's the Carnival Diablo website:

CarnivalDiablo.com

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!

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!

Happy Fourth!

And a hearty welcome to one of the reining Kings of Halloween blogging: Mr. Macabre, of Mr. Macabre's Hallowe'en Celebrations! I'm now at 15 followers (I know Blogger says I have 16, but my dad's girlfriend Luci joined twice by mistake). I'm starting to feel like some sort of cult leader.

Hope you all have a Happy Fourth of July, and Stay Freaky!!!

PS: the above Photoshop'ed masterpiece is not my work. I wish I knew who's it was, 'cause it's great!

OK, for those that didn't know already...

I'm quite indecisive when it comes to my haunt. My plan for this year was to take the year "off" (so to speak) and let my stepdad take over the haunt in PA, while I prepared for a walk-thru party haunt in 2011. Well, it didn't work out exactly as planned. Not that I got distracted by another theme, but I got overwhelmed by the size, scale, and EXPENSE of the walk-thru project. Remember, I'm only in high school, so I don't have a huge budget! So I've made a slight change of plans: my Stepdad will still run the porch haunt in PA this year, and I'll be focusing my energy and personal budget on a Halloween party for my friends. This one doesn't have a theme (unless "general Halloween stuff" counts as a theme). But it should be fun and I'm looking forward to it.

PS: the above image is one of many cool pics from the Love Manor Flickr page

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! ;)

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!