The Dimmick Family's Halloween Haunt
Archive for October, 2009
“Scaretaker” Hands
Oct 22nd
I’ve been meaning to put a post or two on the progress of my “Scaretaker” of my graveyard. If I can find the pictures on my wife’s computer, I’ll post them. Last night I worked on the hands. They needed to be strong, so they will hold the weight of the lantern I got for it and maybe a shovel or other prop.
I used the wires from an old wire pantry shelf we took out a few years ago.
I made the palm out of cardboard and cut the fingers individually. I slid the wire down inside the cardboard and used hot glue to hold it in place.
I shaped the cardboard a little and used hot glue to hold it in place.
I used expanding foam to bulk up the fingers and hands.
When they’re completely dry I will carve and sand the hands to shape them, then I will apply a few layers of papier mache to make them hard.
Hallowindow Projections
Oct 22nd
After experimenting with the Grim Grinning Ghosts the other day, I was curious about projections in windows. Hallowindow.com has some great animations made specifically for window displays. I got the “Eye of Fire” and “Ghosts” downloads and tried both. I first tried them in the downstairs window. The green ghosts looked way cool, however, with Trick-or-Treaters coming to the door, they’d see the projector and it would diminish the effect. The Eye of Fire looked really cool in my upstairs window. Here are some pictures of what it looked like. I tried it with a blacklight illuminating the white sheet and without. I will probably do it without the blacklight for Halloween. What do you think looks better?
Shot to show window placement on house.
Eye of Fire with blacklight underneath.
Eye of Fire without blacklight. Flash on camera went off too.
Grim Grinning Ghosts Singing Busts Test
Oct 19th
I was curious about how good of a “Grim Grinning Ghosts” Halloween prop I could make, so I tested it tonight. I don’t have any video, but here is a still image. I only have two foam heads, so the third character isn’t there, but it was pretty good. If I actually do this in our haunt I will carve the foam to be more masculine OR add papier mache to it to build up the masculine features of each character. I downloaded the video from YouTube.
Grim Grinning Ghosts Test
Haunted Poe
Oct 16th
160 years after his mysterious death, Edgar Allan Poe returns from the grave to haunt you with his most terrifying tales and poems. In a 10,000 square foot warehouse in South Philadelphia, Brat Productions presents a unique and utterly theatrical take on a Halloween tradition—the Haunted House. You move from room to room. Down twisting hallways. Through the heart of darkness. Into the unknown.
Haunted Poe
Papier Mache Pumpkins – Part 1
Oct 5th
I’ve been a big fan of Halloween since I was a kid and I’ve always enjoyed setting up haunted houses and having really cool costumes. I joined the Rocky Mountain Haunters group last year shortly after Halloween. I didn’t attend any of the gatherings this year because of other commitments and, to be honest, I was a little intimidated by some of the projects. In one of the threads in our group, someone mentioned the pumpkins at Stolloween.com and I immediately knew that I could do the same kinds of projects that Scott Stoll makes. These are my first attempt at using papier mache techniques to create inexpensive, simple Halloween props.
Fill a bag with newspaper.
Wrap string around the bag to create the bumps in the pumpkin.
Put masking tape over the string and tape down any lose parts of the bag.
My boys had fun helping me. It's really not a hard process.
Mix up the papier mache glue in a bowl or bucket. Check out Stolloween.com's Basics page for the recipe.
Apply the papier mache layers and let it dry between layers.
When finished with all the layers cut a hole in the bottom and remove the newspaper and bag.
We made a bunch of different sizes and shapes.
Be creative and add arms or whatever you want.
So, this is part 1 for the pumpkins. I will follow with cutting out the faces and building up the features. Then we will paint them.
