He gutted the pumpkins, the best in the bin.
He stabbed each some eyes, a nose, and a grin.
He stabbed each some eyes, a nose, and a grin.
He rushed to the lawn – The Front Yard of Fear.
And set up his zombies he built through the year.
He constructed his graveyard with tombstones of foam,
And placed a cloth ghost in its gloomy crypt home.
I hate foam. I've long ranted about those small white spheres that end up all over the place when you buy something new and you remove it from its cushioned box. Before you know it, you have tiny white foam dots clinging to you like ticks.
I have never ceased to marvel at the Haunter who masters the medium of foam. They turn ordinary foam sheets into stuff that resembles real stone... and even old rotted wood. That is just something I could never master. And will never ever attempt. I was looking at my old Haunt photos and I cringe at the crudeness of these tombstones my brother and I made back in the 80s. We upgraded them over the years, first with a layer of flour mache and then with added structures/protrusions (the first year was literally just carved foam sheets...and we eye-balled the shapes [and you can totally tell!]).
Below, a visual history of our crimes (but they got the job done):
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12 comments:
I've never used any type of foam to make my props, I've always used 1/2 or 3/4" plywood. I cut them to their rough size, then I use wood glue and screws to put 2 or 3 layers together. Then I cut out their shapes, build a base for them, put the effigy on using wood letters and numbers, and paint them with flat gray paint. Then I apply stone texture paint until I like the way they look.
Many of them are over 15 years old, foam doesn't last and is too fragile in my opinion.
Mr. Macabre
True about them being fragile. We lived in fear of them falling over or a kid knocking into them. And just moving them was always risky.
Really interesting to see the evolution of your tombstones. I love that middle photo, with the warm light of the sunset(rise?) casting long shadows. What year was that photo taken?
That Halloween sunset one is from 2003.
You probably have some of those foam beads lodged in your ears and nose! =)
But The distorted open mouth scream of those G.B.'s are awesome!
I wouldn't doubt it. Terrible things!
And thanks!
Foam tombstones were easy, rusted foam shovel was not... besides who needs foam when you can use cardboard - the cardboard wood planks that you made for your CHURCH display were very convincing.
Thanks! And, yeah, cardboard is kinda my jam. My dad always had a ton of it in the garage, so we used it for everything (except early tombstones). If I ever make tombstones again, you can bet I'll use cardboard.
I used the pink insulation foam that isn't made up of tiny beads it's thicker and easier to work with. If you used the w white foam, hats off to you, they came out pretty good.
Yup...The horrid awful terrible white foam. It was truly a nightmare. Even now, decades later, it ruined me.
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