Haunting Your Yard!

I don’t know if last night was truly a full moon - but it was close enough.  And it was clear enough for Dylan to get some pictures.  He had to be out there at just the right time for the moon to be in a position to be photographed with the graveyard.

In this first picture of the graveyard and the mausoleum you can see the moon peaking out of the tree.

This next picture was kind of odd - which is why I’m posting it.  He used the flash and it almost looks like it was taken during the day and that the moon is the sun.

The lighting was just so….strange.  You can see the flood lights so you know it’s night, but it doesn’t look like night.

Next was this close up of the witch on the roof.

This one came out pretty well considering he had to zoom in.

The last pictures I wanted to post were of the flying crank ghost.  We hadn’t had a chance to take any pictures after setting her up because the weather had gotten so bad.  This is the first year we’ve actually put her outside.

First off, all credit on these pictures goes to our son Dylan.

So far the witch is surviving any wind.  Yesterday we had some nice breezes.  Here she is during the day.  She is quite the sight on the peak of the roof.  The night picture didn’t turn out too bad, all things considered.  We did adjust the lighting and it is now reaching her face.

Now the ultimate picture would be a full moon behind her.  We’ll have to keep watch for when that might happen.

Her presence on the roof is bothering the dog next door!  Hopefully Ginger will get used to her.

Next we have the ghost in the mausoleum during the day and the night, after they used the Webcaster Gun to add the webbing.  Now this is a device we have tried to make ourselves, but were never able to get it to really work.  This year, I decided to just buy one and I bought the least expensive one - so I wasn’t too sure how the results would be.   Well, as you can see, the results turned out great.  It took a little experimenting - and if they had read the “tips” sheet that came with it they would have figured some things out sooner.  But they were so excited to try it out…. they had a lot of fun with it.

Basically it’s a modified glue gun hooked up to an air compressor.  It shoots the warmed glue sticks and creates the web effect.  Very cool and worth the price.  You can get them at BuyCostumes.com.

Finally, we have some general pictures of the graveyard at night with the lighting.  We still haven’t gotten the flying crank ghost set up on the front porch.  But everything else is pretty much done.

So we started the outside setup this past weekend.  Most, but not quite all is done.  From here on out, much of the work will be focused on getting the walk through ready.

So I am posting pictures of the graveyard, mausoleum, etc. during the day.  Once we get the fcg up I’ll post some more.  We have some lighting touches to do regarding the witch - so night photos will be posted later.  These photos were taken during the setup process.  So not all elements are in the photos.

One thing that Shane and Dylan really had fun playing with was the web shooter that we bought.  They webbed up the mausoleum and it looks really cool at night.  I’ll post pictures tomorrow.

I would like to say right off the bat, that I realize some of the things we incorporate into our voodoo room are not voodoo  and this year we will most likely be adding more.  But the overall feel we are going for is that voodoo feel - like what was in Pirates of the Caribbean.

This year, instead of setting up in the bathroom down in the basement, we will be setting up in our garage so that trick-or-treaters will be able to view it.  The past two years we have done it, it has been one of my favorite things we do, but has only been “enjoyed” by our Halloween party guests.  This year that will change.

I am a firm believer that gore is not needed to create a scare.  Not that well placed body parts and such aren’t effective - we have done it before and will most likely do it again this year in some capacity - but the element of the “unknown” can be just as creepy.  We also get a lot of very small children and so we are careful about what we do.

I think we are planning our first walk-through this year, and the voodoo room will be part of it.  The opportunities that can open up to us by moving it out of the bathroom and into the garage are endless.  For now, I’ll describe how we set up in the bathroom.  As the months progress and we start planning out the garage, I’ll add to this.

One thing we did was put a pentagram on the floor.  This was something that freaked people out a bit.  Dylan took great pains in trying to get it right - his advanced math skills came in handy!  I would really like to add more detail this year.

I also did some research regarding symbols.  I printed them out, tore the edges of the paper up and soaked the paper in coffee.  This gave them an older look.  We also drew symbols on mirrors.  I created a spell book - with some authentic spells and I even included the ingredients on the table, so that if anyone got adventurous enough….

The jars were quite a find - they were given to me.  I had made a request on freecycle and someone responded.

Of course you need bones and skulls lying about.  Lots and lots of candles too.  Don’t forget the shrunken heads.  Year one I made them out of apples - this past year I bought them.

This last year we also dressed up our animated butler and turned him into a bit of a voodoo witch.  This next year I will have a live person doing the honors.  I have a particular friend in mind!  The butler will have other responsibilities in another part of the walk-through.

Last but not least, the one element that creates the whole mood is the music.  I was lucky enough to find some that is actual voodoo drums playing.  The music is a must.  For me it was a good sign when some guests would not step over the threshold of the room.  Hopefully this year we can bring it up to the next level.