2008

2008 Leftovers

2008 Video [Enhanced]

After watching hours and hours of Haunt videos over the last few days to select my favorites, I decided to make some changes to my 2008 video. It's slightly brighter and slightly longer now. I think it flows much better.



We had a ton of fun watching so many haunters' works. So many wonderful displays.

Flash Vs. Digital

Charred

Perspective

Finally got those photos that my mother snapped with her disposable camera. I have to admit there's a grainy quality that I dig. A rawness that's a little unforgiving. A crude honesty.

Extra Footage

Click to play...

Trespass

Halloween Morning

Snapped during setup.

Blue

2008 Pumpkins

Scarecrow Shadows

Extra 2008 Photos

2008 Haunt Video

And the youtube link.

2008 Pumpkinrot Yard Haunt

 

Almost There

I'm almost ready with the 2008 photo page on my site - I overdid it again and there will be 80 photos on the page. It should be going up mid-day and I'll post an entry when it's complete. I'll be working on the video this weekend and should have it up on Sunday.

Here's a thumbnail teaser of a bunch of pics.

Leaves And Posts

The Light Of Day

Still working on the 2008 page.
Going to take my time with the pics, so I'm thinking it'll be up by the end of the week.

The Rules

Every Halloween, I haunt the house where my parents live. I never had enough trick or treaters wherever I lived, so it made sense to make a homecoming each year and continue the haunt that I had started in the years when I actually DID live there. This way the neighborhood kids could enjoy the haunt that they grew to expect each year - something to look forward to each Halloween season. I never knew I'd eventually see children that were too scared to come up to get candy grow up and marry and have kids of their own that were too scared to come up for candy. (Though I've come to realize that the number of kids no longer matters to me.)

Anyway, I have two basic rules that I kindly explain to my mother, father, and sister (who visits each year with her sons).

THE RULES:

1. Please keep the front door closed so the light from inside the house doesn't break the mood and atmosphere of the darkened porch.

2. Please wait to go in or out of the house until trick or treaters have passed.

Both seem like easy rules to follow. And even if they seemed irrational or silly, surely you could humor me and abide by them. Right? On that one night a year I live for, right?

So I've created a tradition of becoming Michael Myers in order to hand out candy on Halloween night. I just sit there motionless until a child comes up for candy. Then I slowly drop some candy into their bag. No jumping or startling scares. Not my style.

So this year, a small child dressed as Michael Myers comes up for candy. A golden moment. He and I realize the significance of what's happening as we both do the famed Myers head-tilt at each other. I reach inside the bowl of candy slowly and grab five pieces of candy for this mini Michael Myers. "OH LOOK!!!! IT'S MICHAEL MYERS!!!!!!! OH LOOK AT THAT!!!!! LOOK-AT-IT!!!! LOOK-AT-IT!!!!!!!" shrieks my mother from behind me, the front door wide open, light streaming onto the porch. The kid looking up at her in an unspoken "Let's both kill her" sort of way. The moment was gone. Spoiled. Dried up and lost forever. Magic no more. And that's my point. It happened a few more times over the night. Then things got a little better, rules were followed to some degree, probably by accident.

Then my sister stepped into the candy bowl when trying to squeeze past me, and fell face first onto the walkway, landing on spilled candy that her foot didn't already squish. My only hope was that approaching trick or treaters assumed Myers had killed another victim and that it was all part of the show.

I'm glad she didn't land on any of my pumpkins.

Carcass

We took Carcass out to a field today since we didn't really get many cool shots of him on Halloween night. His face was always in a shadow.