I'm really not trying to make a habit of going on such long hiatuses, but the truth is that life has gotten very busy lately! Between chasing a one-year old and the selling of our home along with the subsequent move there simply hasn't been much time for my other projects.
With it being October, the blog has been on my mind more and more lately. This is honestly the first time I've logged on in a very long time. I definitely want to get back to making posts on a regular basis - as much as my schedule will allow anyway.
So, to what few readers are still hanging around... Please ignore the dust and cobwebs, and let's get back to business here at the Cryptic Corridor!
I hope everyone had a happy Halloween this year. I'm pleased to report that ours was a smashing success! Thankfully, the weather was cooperative enough to let us set out our entire display for the big night!
The goal for this year's display was bigger and better. To create a more immersive atmosphere I wanted to have a graveyard with tombstones this year and enclose the whole thing in a run-down fence. The tombstones were a bit of a challenge since I have no wood-working ability whatsoever. Thankfully, the local technical school was kind enough to carve the graves for me... All I had to do was send them my designs and then paint them up! The fence came together very quickly and easily using old pallet wood from a weekend dumpster-diving adventure.
Of course, one thing led to another and I ended up constructed a simple archway to go along with the fence... Which then of course had to have sign... Which of course necessitated that the whole thing needed a name to put on the sign! For whatever reason, the phrase "fearful symmetry" from the William Blake poem The Tyger popped into my head while I was working and I thought about how cool it would be to have a "Fearful Cemetery". But eventually, I ended up really liking the name "FearField Cemetery" instead. A friend with a fancy laser wood-burner created the amazing sign for the archway.
Overall, the end result is the closest to what I had envisioned all along: A rickety old graveyard filled with monsters!
Another aspect I wanted to improve this year was the lighting. I felt like last year's lighting was a good step in the right direction. Rather than depend on ambient light as I had in the past, I found that the lights enhanced the props and made them really stand out against the darkness (Who would have thought?!?). So this year I took it to another level, incorporating lights throughout the whole thing, illuminating individual props and using light sources as accents.
I also set out to improve older props. Unfortunately, many had fallen into disrepair, so it was time to make improvements in those areas. Additionally, I wanted to enhance the character of a few characters in taking them to another level. Zombie Chef is one of my oldest props and he was always more of a zombie waiter, just holding his tray of brains and such.
So this year I decided to give him a grill. I didn't get to work on the grill as much as I would have liked... I didn't add coals or a fog machine to simulate smoke, but I think it turned out alright anyway.
As you know, I made Cousin Eerie last year, but he was not able to make his Halloween debut due to the inclement weather. Since he had been patiently waiting in the basement all year I decided that he needed a whimsical companion to oversee the madness of the night with.
Enter: "Classy Cthulhu", this year's only new character. My version of Cthulhu is a sophisticated, fez-wearing lounge dweller who strikes up witty conversation when he's not destroying the sanity of mere mortals. Interestingly enough, I was able to find an antique chair of the same make as Cousin Eerie's so I guess it was meant to be!
Meanwhile, Fly Guy, our resident mad scientist was all alone on the porch this year. For whatever reason most of the kids braved the graveyard, but wouldn't venture into the lab! Fly Guy was a real sport and terrorized the best he could from his post just the same.
The ground-breaker Toxic Zombie now has a grave to call home and I guess a new name... Cleetus Wormwood. The tombstone was inspired by an award-winning DIY grave prop. I really liked the name and it seemed to fit my character.
The only prop I had some trouble with was Lantern Ghoul who kept leaning over and his arm just kept falling off for some reason! Thankfully, the arm held during Halloween and he never toppled over on anyone. This guy will need some major repairs before next year!
Of course Hagatha was the show-stealing fan-favorite once again. All of the trick-or-treaters had to go check her out up-close and try to see what she was concocting in that pot... Only to be startled by the fog machine suddenly coming on as she let out a piercing cackle!
Ultimately, it was a great night! We lost count of how many trick-or-treaters we ended up with, but I'm confident that it was well over 200. Everyone seemed to enjoy the display. A lot of the kids wanted pictures with the props and there were plenty of "oohs" and "aahs"...and I'm sure I overheard few "eeks" and "groans" as well. It's great to see all of the hard work was appreciated. I hope that in some way I have helped the kids have the opportunity to make some life-long Halloween memories.
I'm too exhausted to even begin thinking about plans for next year's display at this point...
You may have noticed that I haven't said much (or anything at all) about this year's Halloween display, but I'm doing a lot of work behind the scenes. I've expanded things quite a bit and I'm very excited to share the updates, but I'm going to wait just a little longer.
In the meantime, check out the picture of "the gang" above. My monstrous menagerie of home-made props just keeps getting bigger. We're going to run out of room in our basement pretty soon! This picture was taken for a photo contest for the awesome Fright Props catalog. Sadly, our entry didn't win, but it was cool to get the whole collection into one image anyway...
While we're at it, here's a panoramic shot of what the basement looks like throughout the year (with a [debatably] cool filter). Just click to enlarge and bask in the wonder.
We've had many guests ask us how we don't get creeped out when we're down there, but my wife asserts (and I agree) that it's actually spookier down there when the props are elsewhere. And, yes, the back wall features a mural of dragon, which was actually already there before we moved in. It's obviously too awesome to paint over and fits well enough with the stuff in our Halloween Headquarters 24/7/365 (as we like to call it).
Well... I guess I better get back to putting the finishing touches on my remaining projects.
Stay tuned for the unveiling of this year's display!
But it's good to be back after a long hiatus! I've been quite busy in the "real world" as of late and, unfortunately, the blog had to be sidelined.
Without going into too much detail, my life has changed dramatically in the previous months... I became the father of a beautiful baby girl in February! This has obviously put a decrease on the amount of time I can spend blogging with many late nights devoted to other activities. On top of that, I have begun taking classes once again in hopes of graduating with a Master's degree in addition to other responsibilities.
But... With the familiar chill in the air signalling the oncoming approach of Fall (and Halloween!), I began to miss the blog.
I hope that I'm able to make posts on a more regular basis, shake some dust off of these old bones, and get back in the groove...
So settle in once again here at the Cryptic Corridor... Creepy comics, awe-inspiring artwork, macabre music, and more are on the horizon!
It's hard to believe that another Halloween has now come and gone...
Above is a picture of this year's yard display. At least this is how it would have looked had the weather not turned so nasty. Between frigid winds and nearly constant precipitation, we were forced to bring the majority of the props inside to avoid damaging them.
Thankfully, I did set everything up just the night before to fine-tune the lighting and took some pictures!
You'll notice a new prop next to Cousin Eerie in the picture above. I call him Fly Guy and he's a prop I put together earlier this week. I envisioned him as being a mad scientist of sorts, so of course I also had to make him a laboratory complete with glowing, bubbling chemicals, spooky specimens, and advanced, yet antiquated, scientific equipment. Fly Guy's mask and gloves were made by Ghoulish Productions.
Anyway... In total, we would have had around 10 full-sized props on display. Unfortunately however, as I previously mentioned, the weather just didn't cooperate this year. Any props we set up in the yard either blew over or were at risk of being ruined by the freezing rain. It was only midway through trick-or-treating that we were able to put three props out on the porch. Thus, we ended up having a bare bones (pun intended) setup last night. Hagatha, the Toxic Zombie, and Fly Guy made the cut while the others had to be put back inside.
To say that I was disappointed with last night's weather is an understatement. It's frustrating to spend a whole year preparing for one night just to have it ruined by some nasty weather.
In spite of it all, we had fun and the trick-or-treaters seemed to get a kick out of the props we were able to display.
As an added bonus, Jacob Vaught - my cousin, who is a talented up-and-coming filmmaker - shot and edited together footage of the display! Enjoy...
Well... I guess it's time to start planning for next year!
It's been a while since I posted an update on my Halloween projects, but I promise you I haven't been sitting on my thumbs. Above is a picture I took of the front porch during the last Full Moon which turned out looking very spooky I think.
I'm sorry to say that pretty much all I've gotten set up for my front yard display so far is some spiderwebs, the Grim Reaper you can't really make out in the picture, and - one of my favorite new purchases - a 5 foot tall poseable skeleton.
This thing is a hoot!
I would put out more, but the weather has been very rainy here lately. I'd hate for any of my props to get ruined, so I've got them set up all around the inside of the house, much to my wife's delight! Actually, she doesn't mind. She's awesome that way.
The real reason for this post, however, is to present my newest prop: an animatronic cauldron-stirring witch I call Hagatha Christie!
Hagatha is the by far the most complicated prop that I've attempted so far. She was made using PVC pipe and chicken wire, like my other props. The mask I used, called Bruja in most online stores, was made by Ghoulish Productions.
Unlike my other props, Hagatha is animated, which required a lot of help from one of my friends who is much more mechanically inclined that I. I'll attempt to explain our process: We mounted a windshield wiper motor to a wooden base placed inside the cauldron and connected a metal attachment to the motor for the witch's staff to rest upon. As the motor turns the the attachment the witch's staff moves as if it is stirring the cauldron. The top arm is stationary and merely holds onto the staff as the lower arm marionette-like and moves along with the staff, which completes the effect marvelously. I wish I could take the credit for the genius behind this prop's design, but sadly, I cannot. This type of prop is called a "cauldron creep" and you can find more detailed instructions here.
Once the animation mechanism was complete I had some more help, this time from my aunt who assisted me in tracking down fabric that matched the hood on the witch mask. She also helped me make a robe for the witch to cover the up the PVC pipe and chicken wire armature.
The completed prop looks much, much better at night...
The coals beneath the cauldron were made using Great Stuff spray foam insulation which adhered itself to a chicken wire frame attached to a wooden stand the cauldron rests on. I painted the foam black and wired some flickering Christmas lights underneath to get a burning effect. It looks great at night (although not such much during the day).
Inside the cauldron is a small fog machine hooked up to timer that allows the fog to spurt out at a regular interval, making it appear as if the contents are steaming. A color changing LED spotlight illuminates the witch from below. With her eyes looking directly at you as she stirs the cauldron, it's kind of unnerving and very creepy.
After spending so much time working to complete Hagatha, I'm not sure whether or not I will be able to complete the last prop I planned on building this year. Even if I don't I'm pretty pleased with what I've done so far. The trick-or-treaters are going to love it I think!
My hometown hosted their 4th annual zombie walk event last night. Despite the rain and cold, I couldn't resist the urge to participate! *
Every time I get involved with a zombie walk I am surprised by the amount of people that turn out to dress up like the undead. It's so weird considering that just 15 years ago something like this would have been considered disturbing and taboo to most (You like ZOMBIES?!? There must be something WRONG with you!!!).
Today, zombie walks are apparently considered "fun for the whole family" with everyone from toddlers to little old ladies participating! You wouldn't believe the number of children that are totally unafraid to approach you when you're dressed as a monster. I had so many kids wanting to have their picture taken with me, I might as well have been wearing a fat suit and a big white beard!
* Yes, that's me in the picture... Zombie walks are especially convenient for me seeing that no special preparations are required. I need only show up!
Since they're taking so much of my time away from blogging, I thought it would only be right to share some of my Halloween projects with you. My first (nearly) complete prop for this year is Cousin Eerie which is obviously based on the host of Warren's Eerie Magazine!
I came up with the idea for this prop shortly after last year's Halloween festivities (That's usually how it goes, just as soon as one season is over it's time to prepare for next year!). I thought it would be kind of creepy to have a character sitting in the dark just kind of laughing to himself. I had just recently started collecting Warren's Creepy and Eerie magazines, so I thought it would be cool to incorporate one of those characters.
I was very pleased to find that the mask company Trick or Treat Studios produced an excellent Cousin Eerie mask, so it wasn't long before I placed an order... And the mask sat on my shelf for several months. It's a bad habit, but I typically don't feel like building props until two or three months prior to Halloween. So in the meantime I sat down and drew up some "concept art" - something that I hadn't done before, at least not for Halloween props - to get my ideas down on paper... Plus, they're fun to draw!
Flash forward: The months went on and on and I finally realized that I could not wait any longer to start on prop-building. It was time to take the mask of the shelf and construct a body. When I first started building props I stumbled upon some great plans for building life-size figures out of PVC pipe. I've been using these same plans ever since. It takes a little while, but soon you end up with a rough "skeleton" for your prop. Once I finished the frame work it was time to begin bulking the body out so it didn't look too gaunt. I've found that chicken wire works great for creating lightweight chest cavities and other body parts.
I usually glue my PVC pipe together for additional structural support. However, if you are going to attempt to try this yourself, I recommend taking your time with this particular step because the glue dries and hardens very quickly. Make sure that your figure is positioned exactly how you want it before gluing. Another tip: glue the non-moving joints first to allow you additional time to get posing and dressing correct.
The clothes all came from the local Goodwill store. I was really lucky to pick them up all in one trip. With some slight modifications I was able to emulate Eerie's garb quite successfully I think. I suppose I should also mention where Cousin Eerie's hands came from. It's very difficult to find creature hands that match up with a mask unless it's a package deal. Luckily, Ghoulish Productions has some zombie gloves that match the mask's flesh tone closely enough.
Come Halloween night I plan on having Cousin Eerie sitting on the edge of our yard display, his features illuminated only by a television screen. He will be blissfully gazing into the television set which will be playing a loop of old black and white horror movie trailers, chuckling to himself amidst all of the mayhem...
This is my one hundredth post on the Cryptic Corridor. I guess that's significant or something. Actually, I did think it pretty nifty!
Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything profound to share to mark the occasion... So here's a poorly photoshopped image I created of the 16th President of the United States and a Triceratops!
As I have alluded to before, I am something of an amateur monster-maker and home haunter. Emphasis on the "amateur"! As I gear up to begin building this year's new props (off to a late start, I know...), I thought I would share a sampling of some of my props from recent years.
This Grim Reaper is the first prop I made. I think I put it together just before the trick-or-treaters showed up a few Halloweens back. It turned out pretty good considering it was thrown together in just a short amount of time. I used a broomstick, a coat hanger, a graduation gown with some creepy cloth draped over it, and, of course, an old mask and some leftover skeleton hands. It looks really eerie swaying back and forth in the wind.
I got "serious" two years ago and made this guy. He's probably my favorite prop I've made. I call him the "Zombie Chef" and, as you can see, he's got some treats for the little monsters on Halloween night. I found some great plans online for making stationary, full-size dummies using PVC pipe and chicken wire.
My "Lantern Ghoul" is another PVC pipe and chicken wire creation. I wanted him to look tall and gaunt and I think I succeeded. Unfortunately, he's very difficult to move around. Last year I used a tea light for his lantern, but this year I'm going more sophisticated with an electronic flickering Christmas candle that will be integrated.
I can't decide if my "Evil Garden Gnome" will make the cut (no pun intended, really) this year. He's probably my least favorite and is constantly falling apart. Maybe if I do some tinkering he'll stick around.
The "Toxic Zombie" is my first attempt at making a making a moving prop. I saw some "ground-breaker" zombies that spat fog and decided to try building my own. I took an old osculating fan and rigged it up in such a way to make the head move. I put a radio in the chest cavity and had it growling, which actually spooked more adults than kids. Unfortunately, I couldn't manage get the fog to come from his mouth in a fully satisfying way. The prop just ended up looking like it was on fire or something. Pretty cool, but not exactly what I was going for. I can't decide if I want to try to make it work again this year or not.
With Halloween being less than 75 days away, it's well past time to kick preparations into high gear.
As far as the blog is concerned, I'm afraid I may have to take a bit of a hiatus. However, I am toying with the idea of sharing some "how-to" posts complete with pictures in the future, if anyone would be interested in such a thing. The only problem is that such posts may end up being published after Halloween considering the amount of work I'm planning on undertaking in the coming weeks...
I got bored the other day and decided to take some pictures of a portion of my collection of masks, busts, and action figures and then put them through some filters... Enjoy.
