Friday, July 31, 2009

Chocolate Carnage

In the 1990s, Shanabrook, who spent his youth working at a chocolate factory, went to morgues in Russia and the US and made molds from the fatal wounds of anonymous people, cast dark chocolate pieces, placing them into luxury chocolate boxes. The series of works, which Shanabrook described as "very close to the edge, the forbidden place for artists," are essentially representations of death or what one critic called "bonbons of mortality."


More images here.

Thank you, Andrea, for forwarding this amazing link.

Michael's Halloween

Some neat stuff at Michael's. They were still loading up the shelves when we got there.




Here's the stuff we bought:

Homegoods Halloween

Bought a Day of the Dead-ish skull and a metal flat jacko at Homegoods.
They had a nice selection of Halloween items, but more stuff was on the way so I'll snap pics of their aisle when it's fully stocked.

The Woods



Image source.

ALIEN Prequel

Directed by Ridley Scott himself. Cool. I mean, if they're going to make one, they might as well have the director of the original do it.

Image source.

DreadCentral.com

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Sleepy Hollow Doorhangers

Going to be making a bunch of these guys.


Pumpkin Hollow

Flaming Skull

Bucket Of Candy



Image source.

Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary

I'm a big fan of the Bloody Mary and this recipe sounds pretty impressive.

I need that pitcher.

Recipe here.

Pie In The Sky

If I ever win the lottery and have a disgusting amount of money, I'm going to make this display for Halloween. To scale.


Or maybe just like ten feet tall (it'll make the trick or treaters feel completely miniscule and displaced). Like the alien ship scene in Ridley Scott's ALIEN.

I wonder how immeasurable wealth would affect a haunter's haunt.

Conjuring Rot



Image source.

Natural



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Pumpkin Ghosts



Instructions here.

Recommended reading (buy a used copy - you won't regret it)

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Spectre

Of the Homewood Haunts Cemetery.


More photos here.

Faces



Image source.

The Demise Of Pumpkin Rot

Experiments attempting to keep pumpkins smiling longer and fresher.


Pumpkin Rot Experiment.

A pillowcase trick or treat bag experiment.

Takaan

[Takaan] molds are unique, hand carved, sculptural wooden folk sculptures made as tools to produce papier-mache art objects. First, positive wood molds (patterns) were coated with wax release agents. Then starch-soaked paper totally covered each wood form. When dry, front and rear halves of paper shells - which mirrored the carvings - were cut off with razor sharp blades and rejoined. Seams were papered over and the papier-mache was decorated with paint and gilding. The process was repeated many times with each wood mold.



CreeksideArtGallery.com

Creepy

I love creepy cloth. I go through tons of the stuff. Witches' cloaks, scarecrow clothes, or tiny scraps dangling from a scarecrow's arm - haunt texture. It spray-paints up really well - light colors for scarecrows.... black for witches.

Just ordered a batch from the Oriental Trading Company, my regular supplier of the stuff.

Witch And Ghost Minions



Image source.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Axeman Cometh

My Tin Man scarecrow is ready to be painted and I anticipate him being finished in a week or so. It's been neat building a scarecrow that I won't be using for my haunt. It allowed me to explore some features that I wouldn't have normally pursued had I intended to use him on Halloween night. That said, he's pretty creepy and clearly a rotten work that'll offend some people.

I'll post some teaser pics when he's done.

Image source.

Tiny Pumpkins

With twisted little faces.

Dripping

January 15, 1949—A dripping noise was heard in his grandmother’s bedroom by the boy and his grandmother. A picture of Christ on the wall shook and scratching noises were heard under the floor boards. From that night on scratching was heard every night from 7 p.m. until midnight. This continued for ten consecutive days. After three days of silence, the boy heard nighttime “squeaking shoes” on his bed that continued for six consecutive nights.
Image source.
Text source.

Nightlight Jacko



Image source.

Daylight Jacko

I think he digs having cobwebs in his mouth.


Image source.

Trees


Ghost Tree

The art of Nick Potter.