FearField 2016

You might have noticed that I haven't said much about this year's Halloween display...  In years past I could hardly contain my excitement and shared updates leading up to the 31st of October on a fairly regular basis.   However, with the exhausting move my family recently went through I guess I just haven't had the energy and zest that I normally have for my various projects - this blog included, most unfortunately!

Depressing admissions aside, this year's display was probably my favorite so far for a number of reasons!

First...  A little history lesson:

Growing up, my aunt's neighborhood was the happening place for trick-or-treating.  We lived out in the country so going from door to door during Halloween wasn't much of an option.  Meanwhile, my aunt lived in town where my sister and I could be turned loose to trick-or-treat all round the block!  It's silly looking back, but that little bit of freedom was exhilarating at the time and I still think about how awesome it was getting to experience that as a kid.

Around middle school, I was "too old" to trick-or-treat, but I was still determined to make Halloween special.  My aunt would always have me over on Halloween to hand out candy.  This is where it all started!  I found that it was just as much fun to be on the other side.  One year I dressed up as a werewolf and pretended to be a dummy and waited for older kids to reach for the candy bowl only to jump out at them and give them a good scare.  I even set up modest displays like the one pictured above with a few ramshackle props thrown together at the last minute.  Notice poor Zombie Chef on the right.

Flash-forward to this year in which we have moved into a house somewhat in the country.  As great as a situation as it is for our growing family, it's not exactly ideal for attracting droves of trick-or-treaters to enjoy a Halloween display.  But my long-suffering aunt indulged me once again and offered to allow me to take over her yard toward the end of October!

As cheesy as it sounds, I've gotta say...  It felt like coming home!

My aunt's yard is much smaller than our old yard, but I really enjoyed the new layout.

My daughter, on the other hand, did not particularly care for any of it...

A not-so-happy Peppa Pig...

This was a little sad for me, especially considering the fact that she was completely unafraid of the props when they were set up in our previous home's basement.  At least she enjoyed all of the free candy from trick-or-treating around the neighborhood!

The display looked so much more amazing at night.  Once again, I tinkered around with lighting, and think that I finally find the right balance...  Despite the annoying streetlight positioned directly next to the corner of the yard.

Having just moved and feeling perpetually exhausted in the weeks leading up to Halloween, my wife convinced me to not take on any new projects, but to focus instead on refining the existing props.

I did, however, try out at least one new trick...  I bought the AtmosFearFx "Phantasms" DVD and borrowed a projector with hopes of conjuring up some digital ghosts.  I first attempted to produce a hologram-like effect using a screen.  This, sadly, did not work so I tried projecting onto a shower liner mounted over the large window in the front of the house.  It worked marvelously!

The video is not the best quality, but you get the idea.  You can hear my aunt giggle with delight as she filmed the setup with her phone.  This effect turned a lot of heads.  The night we tested it we had a ton of people who drove by stop to ask what exactly was going on.

While the display turned out as good as I hoped it would, the trick-or-treater turnout was just not that great this year.  Last year we had around 300 visitors and this year it was down to 50.  I'm not sure exactly what contributed to such low numbers.

Finally, I present to you this year's Halloween display video put together by my friend Perry Wesley!

Overall, it was another great display.  I'm already making plans for next year!

Happy Halloween!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

It's Halloween!!! Eat some candy, carve a pumpkin, and do something spooky!

Awesome artwork by UnidColor!

Halloween 2015: "FearField Cemetery"

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...

Happy haunting!

Happy Halloween!

The great Tor Johnson wishes you a "Happy Halloween" on behalf of the Cryptic Corridor!

Gary Larson's "Tales from the Far Side"

It's a crime that this isn't broadcast annually along with the other Halloween specials...

Tales from the Far Side originally aired on CBS in 1994.  As far as I know, this is the only time Gary Larson's comic was ever animated.  Larson's dark humor is on full display in vignettes such as a farmer resurrecting undead livestock, arthropods enjoying an in-flight movie (until things go horribly wrong), and zombies hanging out on a dude ranch.  The music is as weird as you would expect and the animation for the characters and creatures are spot-on.

Growing up, I was disappointed year after year to find that this special was rarely replayed.  Perhaps it wasn't kid-friendly enough to be played along with the Charlie Brown and Garfield specials for some reason?

Thankfully, my ever-loving grandma taped it on a VHS so I could enjoy it over and over again whenever.  You know I wore that thing out!

Pumpkin Carving by Ray Villafane

It wouldn't be Halloween without carving a few pumpkins, but artist Ray Villafane's pumpkin sculptures stand out among the patch.   Despite using this long-time Halloween favorite as his medium of choice, Villafane's creations are anything but traditional.  

Villafane's ghoulish gourds feature precise sculptural work and intricate detail.  Sometimes fascinatingly life-like and other times comically exaggerated, his unique jack-o-lantern characters are full of personality.  

Based in Arizona, Villafane was an art teacher for several years before leaving education to pursure a career of sculpting action figures and collectibles.  However, it was during his time in teaching that he discovered his sculpting skills led to a unique talent and passion for carving pumpkins.  For years Villafane carved and sold pumpkins to parents of students before posting photos of his creations on the Internet to wide acclaim and thereby inadvertently creating a second career for himself.  He began carving pumpkins on commission for special events and then it wasn't long before he was invited to show-off his talents on television shows.  He eventually created his own staffed studio and even created a website dedicated to teaching others his method of pumpkin carving.

Villafane's methods are just as interesting as his creations.  He discards the normal pumpkin carving tools in favor of implements normally used in sculpting clay.  He usually doesn't usually bother with cutting open and gutting his pumpkins, instead focusing the outermost layer, carving the outer skin.  This method has its own special challenges.  If he carves too deep he will break into the center.  Thus, pumpkins with thicker skin and "meat" are typically selected.  Another challenge is one much more familiar to most amateur pumpkin carvers.  It isn't long before decay sets in and the pumpkin begins to shrivel.  Villafane uses this pressure to his advantage as a source of inspiration.

During other seasons Villafane turns to other mediums including snow and sand with similarly breathtaking results.  But each year as Halloween nears he returns once again to the pumpkins.

Check out some of Villafane's amazing work below...