Friday, November 6, 2009

Halloween Candy

Every year I anxiously await this guy's new haunt photos. I think he's tapped into my memories of what it was like as a kid trick-or-treating at a house with an elaborate display. I remember feeling a bit confused as a child. Adults weren't supposed to do things like this. Where'd all this stuff come from? MY parents put out a few paper decorations and one pumpkin.

There's an uneasiness as a trick-or-treater when you contemplate a massive undertaking like a yard and home haunt. A creepiness. You wandered onto a complete stranger's property to get some candy, surrounded by tombstones and ghosts and webs and angry pumpkins and shadows. It's a very unnatural gathering of all the things that are scary and horrifying in one quick and fleeting dose. And I totally miss it.

I'm glad I can get a taste of it at Katzper's Haunt. A big sweet, going-to-ruin-your-dinner-because-you've-eaten-a-pile-of-Halloween-candy taste of it.



Katzper's Haunt 2009

11 comments:

NecroBones said...

I love that photo of the steps! Simple, and yet very Halloween.

Rot said...

Those grave candles are terrific.

Love granny in the chair. I bet kids cried.

: )

NecroBones said...

I definitely love the candles. Actually, I'm already planning to add candles to my display for next year as well.

Rot said...

I actually forgot mine this year...they were in a box that I left behind!

Sara said...

Dude, this guy's haunt looks on par with Knott's Scary Farm. Very well done. Very....gross.

Rot said...

As a kid, I'd keep checking to see if my mom was still there behind me cause there's no WAY I would go into that basement without a parent/guardian/firearm.

NoahFentz said...

WOW Mr. Rot

You definitely hit it right on the head with a blunt instrument the feeling I wanted to convey. Most haunters do not have the luxury of using their basement for their haunt. I take advantage of it. Cant tell you how many kids could not get past the doctor's lab. I think it was the possibility that it could be real.

I love my candles but I am rethinking to mason jars now.

Thanks for the link. Love the pics you chose.

Anonymous said...

I would of never gone down in that basement with that one prop peering around the corner like that!
( I think I would of wet myself....)

Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...

So impressed.... love the detail and the use of the basement!! How clever!

Cheers!

FoolishCop said...

Rot,

I actually have the benefit of living near this haunt and was given a tour of it, up close and personal (I think I even interrupted this photo shoot when I stopped by unannounced!). It's even better in person!

The creep factor is evident from the moment you pass under his cemetary gates and continues throughout the twists and turns of the basement maze. There's a loving attention to detail throughout and he creates a spooky atmosphere without having to resort to scares -- though there's plenty of opportunity for that!

Like you, you can tell he loves his craft. I'm new to all of this Halloween haunting but it's easy to get sucked in when there's inspiration provided by the likes of you, Katzper's Haunt, and others.

Cheers,
Rich

Rot said...

That's really cool, Rich.
Thanks for posting this.

I have to check this haunt out one year. I used to live in Northern Jersey, so I'm familiar with the area. Road trip for 2010.