Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Happy Halloween

Halloween, 1921

Photos probably won't be coming til a couple days from now, but here's a look at how it all ended up.
We're exhausted.  These hurting joints seem to be an annual tradition.  Super pleased with the end result.

The wind has finally died down and it looks like it's going to be a perfect Halloween.

Again, wishing you guys the absolute best and happiest Halloween!

The Twig Witches and Rusty-can Scarecrows are ready for the big night...

Monday, October 30, 2017

October 30, 1921


10/30/17

The day before...
Full day and night of heavy rain and now we're dealing with high winds.
Everything's soggy.
The good news is the timing, as this would have killed a Halloween display.
Fortunately, I'm a madman and have loads of leaves in bags and wrapped in tarps in the garage.  Our corn stalks for the porch are wrapped in plastic in the yard.

Not sure when the photo shoot will occur, as the sogginess is going to slow things down a bit today, so I might not post photos on Halloween morning as I've done in past years, but fingers crossed (as I tend to overreact and catastrophize).

The weather:  High of 54, low of 34 for Halloween.  I'll take it.
We'll definitely have the fire going Halloween night.

Wishing you guys a very magical and DRY Halloween.
And a huge HUGE thank you for following this blog.






Saturday, October 28, 2017

Great Pumpkin'd

So, after a full day of running around prepping for the big day (and tying stuff down in anticipation of a giant wind/rain storm tomorrow), I was on my way back home and saw something up ahead that made me smile - a jack o'lantern in the exact spot as the one we placed for The Great Pumpkin Project two years ago.  Couldn't believe it.

Here's our guy...  the current jacko had circular eyes and a big grin (didn't have a camera to get a shot).

Friday, October 27, 2017

I Don't Want To Talk About It, Sara

Right click to open in new tab or new window to see the large version (so you can read the text).

Now Playing: Someone Chasing Someone Through A House

We're off today prepping for the big day...  listening to insane stuff like this (on our Pandora GOBLIN channel).


Begging For Candy


Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Watching Weather

Hoping this storm moves forward and doesn't slow down and linger...
We were toying with doing the photo shoot on Sunday this year.  But after doing this for this many years, you really can't even LOOK at the weather until a day and a half before.


Michael Dougherty Hopes To Make ‘Trick ‘r Treat 2’ His Next Project

Praying this happens.

Click below for details...



The Curse Of The Wreath Witch

Not lying or embellishing in any way...
The large mechanical doors in the front of the wing in my department are now malfunctioning.  The door with the wreath is actually stuck in the closed position whilst the door without the wreath is propped open with a door jam. 
No one in here feels there is anything odd about the timing of this mechanical failure with the exception of me (the doors have NEVER malfunctioned in the years I've been here).


Advice:  Do NOT carry on and on ranting that if there's a fire in here that we're all going to die like in the chained-doors Triangle Factory Fire of 1911.  Apparently it's too soon.  Just too soon.






Monday, October 23, 2017

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Now Playing: Face Outside The Window

By Dead End Ranch from Atmosfear.

Click below:


Saturday, October 21, 2017

Random Things

We went to a favorite Mexican restaurant and walked into a haunted house.  You have to love when a severed head is dangling from the ceiling in an eatery.  The entire ceiling was covered in three layers of spider webs.  There were giant spiders everywhere.  On the way out I looked back to make sure we didn't leave anything (paranoid) and as I turned back around my face clipped a large spider's leg and its big furry butt.  A proud moment in a crowded restaurant.

This wasn't the guy I got to know...





































Drove around the neighborhood one night this week trying to find Halloween decorations.  Not too many as yet, but found this fun house...

And we saw this creepy scarecrow in the front of a school that normally does a scarecrow event, and this year had more scary ones than previous years...so there's hope.

A Haunted Place



Images by galunlatidreaming.

Invasion On Chestnut Ridge

Again I'm giving my highest recommendation to a Small Town Monsters documentary - Invasion on Chestnut Ridge.  Amazing production value and some truly chilling tales.  And another incredible film score by Brandon Dalo.


Click below for the trailer:


Friday, October 20, 2017

That Old Integrity Discussion Again

Been seeing this guy's pictures popping up more and more in my searches for Halloween images for the blog.  After checking out his website, instagram, and facebook accounts and seeing absolutely no mention of my site anywhere as the source material, well, I wanted to call him out on it.

I simply do not get how someone can feel that they are truly creating if the entire premise of their works, the very end product of their hard work, exists solely because they saw it elsewhere.  And I'm not even going to get into the issues I have when that person starts selling these works.  Is it legal?  Sure it is.  Is it honest?  Absolutely not.

Here's a photo of his "Guardians of the Gate" (Sentinels):

And here's some text from his website:
The scarecrows and corpses you see on this website were designed for this event and I have continued to produce them in varying forms and sizes. They are a culmination of my study of the natural effects of time and the elements on various materials and surfaces, while at the same time designed to have a classic, bygone era appearance that in a curious way simultaneously invites and repels. Using photos I have taken of these creatures, I have designed Halloween greeting cards featuring composites of them on the property and combined with sunset photos I have taken to create a style that is uniquely my own.

"Uniquely"... This guy has some chops.

Anyway, below is the source material for this guy's existence.  My Pumpkin Sentinels.  I love these guys, and am very proud of them.
Here's the guy's site...

Slight update on this issue:  The builder of these Guardians of the Gate, Kerry Lawton, claims that any resemblance to my Pumpkin Sentinels is, and I quote, "purely coincidental."

Unreal.


A Haunting On Dice Road: The Hell House

We bought Small Town Monsters' Invasion on Chestnut Ridge this morning to watch tonight, and while on amazon I spotted this gem available for streaming with Amazon Prime.  Dear God does it look great...going to watch this as well.

Click below for the trailer...


Our New Michael's Scarecrow




Begging For Candy


Thursday, October 19, 2017

Porch Decor

The pre-Halloween "normal" decorations...
Put up the ol' scarecrow from the 2014 display and added some more lights to the garden.








Haunt Photography

Click below for some truly amazing shots by Steve Fretz:


The Skeleton Key: Halloween Playlist

I do believe this is The Skeleton Key blog's finest year...

Click below for a wonderful playlist by K.O. (loved the cover of the Stranger Things theme):




Wednesday, October 18, 2017

October 20th

A great day for releases....John Carpenter's Anthology album and Small Town Monsters' Invasion on Chestnut Ridge.


Click below to stream some tracks from the album (with a great cover/revisit of HALLOWEEN which will surely please Sara)...