Friday, February 27, 2009

Now Playing: Sator Absentia

Don't leave an album titled MERCURIAN ORGASMS out on your desk. With tracks called "Chromatic Harmony of Colourless Deities" and "Intraveneous Luciferian Infiltration," you might not be expecting some of the finest dark ambient music that's available. This has become one of my top-played dark ambient albums.


Click for samples.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Flat Scarecrow


i
Image source.

Haunt Theory: Static Props

I'm a static prop haunter. I've always been one. Until my site went live back around 2003, I never even knew there was a name for what I did. If your props move or have a spring-action mechanism which activates when they're approached or if your props are powered by compressed air cylinders, you're an animatronic or pneumatic haunter. If your props are made with tiny animal bones, you're a sociopathic haunter.

As a static prop haunter, my props are motionless. So I have to try to achieve a potential for movement - an appearance that my props are in a moment of rest, or waiting. I've found that the static props that work best are the ones that look like they've just paused for a second:

Corpses that just pushed out of the ground and are now surveying their surroundings...


Witches that are staring into a steaming cauldron thinking dark twisted things...


or a skeleton stretching out its hand seconds before the hand drops to the ground for leverage.



The static props that I've been most disappointed with in my display are the ones that end up looking like they're trapped in time - frozen in movement. That's a totally different animal than a moment of rest. It's like a photograph of a moving creature, rather than a creature about to pounce.

I think that's why I love scarecrows so much. They're motionless by their very nature. Hanging on their posts, waiting. And moving only when the wind blows.

Every Halloween, after I've set up the display, my father will come out and do a casual inspection of the haunt, "It's a shame you can't make these things move and put red lights in their eyes." I'm not about to explain to him that I'm a static prop haunter. He already thinks I'm a whacko.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

A Tribute To Halloween

A very cool site with some really neat decorating ideas.



Large Tree Ghosts



Image source.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Monday, February 23, 2009

Clones

Man, it isn't easy making two identicle props. They always end up being slightly different.


And if anyone knows of a place online I can find those flat foam pumpkins (white is their original color), I'd be eternally grateful. Michael's sold them through the Fall and I was a fool and only picked up a few. They're much more durable than Funkins, and a lot more affordable, and just plain cooler.

Tilt-shift Halloween

Neat filter to create the effect of photographing a miniature.


Make your own here:
TiltShiftMaker.com


Sunday, February 22, 2009

Angry

A new Pumpkin Head Groundbreaker:



Angry little guy.

R.I.P.

I love the washed-out colors of these photos. Old school charm.



Image source.

Rotten II

Another scarecrow for the shoppe.


Pumpkin Hollow

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Brewing

Going to let my Brewing blog simmer a bit. I'll still be featuring new props as I make them and neat links as I discover them, just not as frequently as I've done in the past.

And I'll be sure to post more Halloween memories as they come to me (or as they happen to me).

Orange Sky



Image source.

Pumpkins Of Bread

Crusty heaven.


Image source.

Skin Coat Molding

I'd love to get into mold-making.
Click the pumpkin for a detailed how-to:

Jackson Manor

A wonderful haunt. So much detail. Beautiful photos.


Watercolor

My personal favorite style of painting - to observe, that is. I once took an introductory class to watercolor painting and was the only [young] guy among a room of senior citizens. I did pretty well for a beginner and I think it annoyed the elderly. That didn't make any sense to me until I discovered that the bulk of them had been taking this class for YEARS. The Introduction to watercolor - for years.

These works by Elizabeth Perry are wonderful.

Snow In The Forecast



Image source.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Bleeding Heart

Valentine's Day - via Spook House Dave:

Buzzards

Turkey buzzards watching the Johnny Appleseed photo shoot yesterday.