In our earliest days of Haunting, my brother and I built a pumpkin-headed cloaked figure for the middle of the porch. We used the flour and water recipe for the mache and dipped strips of newspaper into it (not the glue, water, and paper towel approach I use today). The photo below is from 2001, but I know this guy was standing on my parents' porch on Halloween night for years before that. I was using black and white film as a goof that year, but I really dig how this one came out.
The Devil was something I wanted to build to capture the feel of an old Haunted House on some lonely boardwalk somewhere.
9 comments:
Nicely done.
Thanks!
I love those old stories. When exactly did you start Halloween Haunts? Was paper mache your favorite building material from the start?
My brother and I started in the 80s, when we gave up Trick or Treating. Initially it was SOOOO bad.. rubber masks stuck around my parents' pine tree... ONE pumpkin... a strobe light. Then we just decided one day to make tombstones and a standing skeletal ghost. So all of this was in the 80s. And it all was just some weird feeling that we had to do keep doing it and keep doing it bigger. Like we introduced the pulley prop effect for a number of years, with a Witch, a giant Bat (no photos exist of it), Slimer, a giant Long-armed Ghost.
I find that more than impressive considering the long period of time. Never gave up and have continued to this day. I think this is something very wonderful and very rare. And of course the quality just kept getting better and better. But every Halloween prop has a reason to exist. Whether cheap or ugly, it got you where you are today. And I'm very happy about that.
I'll often think about those pre-internet days of prop building. My brother and I just made a decision to do a Yard Haunt. And it turned into an annual event. Just a creative outlet and a way to enjoy our favorite Holiday.
I forgot to answer a question about mache. We must have learned the flour and water technique at some point when we were in grade school. Later we changed it to elmers glue and water...just a weird feeling that we could change it up and make it more durable that way. No plans to use any other medium. I love the effect/look/feel of mache, and painting it with good old-fashioned brushes.
Killer man! I dig it!🎃🎃🎃
Thanks 🙏
Every time you mention "Old Scratch" in one of your blog posts, I'm reminded of a pic you posted many(?) years back around Christmas.
It was a tree ornament of Old Scratch himself. I've never seen one like it, and I have been looking!
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