Mad_Tinkerer's Haunt

New ghoul prop for 9 bucks!

2009-09-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Well, nothing new to report on my haunt prep or prop-building activities this week. I did score a new prop from Rite-Aid (of all places) for a whopping 9 bucks! It is a skull and upper-torso type "floater" ghoul with poseable wire arms and decent details. I got it to replace a damaged hand-made prop, based on the Tooth Fairy spook from the movie "Darkness Falls". I had intended to simply repair the Tooth Fairy, but it looks like the frame is not sturdy enough and it needs a total rebuild.

I have begun my pre-October inventory of unfinished prop projects and survey of prop repairs needed. With a late start, looks like I will be burning the midnight oil.

Stormy Thursday Night

2008-10-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

Mother nature does not like me much this week. Thursday night after I did all that work on the graveyard, the rain starts and the wind kicks up. Gusts of wind. I get up early in the a.m. and see that my Styrofoam tombstones have been blown about. The plywood tombstones did not move at all (that was a brilliant idea!) due to their weight.

Haunt Setup in progress

2008-10-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

So I pulled a late one last night, worked on getting my yard haunt setup. Just did not have much time this past week to put anything out until now. Tombstones are up in the front yard, lighting is setup and tested (red floodlights washing the house and green floodlights on the graveyard). It is starting to look good and creepy!
While I was working on it, I noticed some of my neighbors were taking a look at what I was doing. One lady walked her dog slowly by my house at least twice. That's part of the fun of living in a small town; everyone knows what everyone else is up to! :)

2008-10-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite Halloween props... the Grim Reaper was the first life-size figure prop that I built years ago, and he has been through more than a few modifications since. Would you believe that this guy started out life as a cheapo torchiere lamp? The skull that is his head lights up (green) and now has a black scrim cloth over it to obscure his features (and dims the green light a bit).

The next major upgrade/overhaul planned for him will be Bucky skeleton arms/hands and an improved voicebox/sound effect system... sometime next year (or maybe this winter!)

The other favorite of mine is my Jeepers Creepers scarecrow, which I usually put out early. Based on the main character from the Jeepers Creepers movies, the "creeper". It is a static prop, but effective. I've updated his look and will have to take a new photo!

Work in progress

2008-10-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of some of my main props for my yard haunt:

And here are some photos of my prop construction.