Haunted Mansion-Witch's Lair

Last room in the Haunted Mansion was the witch's lair...husband put a motor in the pot and then I attached the hand so it looked as tho' the disembodied hand was stirring away for the witch. Had live ghoul crouching in here as well so while people were busy looking at all the jars and potions, they were not aware of the ghoul slowly creeping up on them. (another son did duty here!). All in all, this was a great time--no one broke or stole anything--my faith in humanity restored (for awhile anyway!)

Haunted Mansion - Bridal Party & Crypt

So, in addition to the baby ghoul's funeral party set-up, I had a 'bridal party' with the unfortunate bride having lost her head. She was a hacked (no pun intended) Gemmy bride...cake made from cardboard and styrofoam covered in monster mud and great stuff foam. Also had a 'vampire's crypt' where I had my best special effect. Husband constructed a wood coffin with both sides opening. On one side I attached a skeleton in rotted clothes with a stake through his heart. As I explained to my visitors, while I removed the stake and shut the door..we had nothing to worry about--well,except for the skeletons lying about and the abandoned vampire hunter's kit. Hmmm "Oh no!! I forgot to put the stake back in the vampire's skeleton!" When I open the door again to replace the stake, out jumps a live vampire (my son). He would wait behind the door and then get in where the skeleton had been. It was so cool! Unfortunately, don't have pics of son but he was dressed as Nosferatu.

Haunted Mansion--Funeral Party

I survived the "Haunted Mansion Walk-Through"! I didn't really know what to expect...put flyers out in the neighborhood and ran it for two nights...the first night (Saturday) had about 30 people but Sunday was a mob scene. So cool! lines down the driveway and plenty of excitement so I am quite smug and feeling like it was all well worth it! In addition to the four rooms I had some dark tunnels with live ghouls lurking. More info in my next post! In the meantime, here are some pics of the inside of the 'haunted mansion'...this is the "baby ghoul's funeral party"...

Halloween Mood

Been busy lately...been rephotographing some old sculpts since I have a better camera now and also because I THINK my skills have improved in that area. (maybe) Anyway, was asked to submit some stuff for an upcoming book; of course, I panicked about this and tried to get some better shots...who knows if my stuff will be accepted but since I exhausted myself in the process of "contributing", thought I'd share a couple of the new and enhanced 'old' sculpts...Halloween ain't far off now, folks...

Last Chance

Anybody interested in taking a chance in my giveaway--well, that chance expires at midnight, tonite! Just a brief reminder...for more info, please see previous blog entry!

A Little Halloween Giveaway- (Mood Enhancer...)

Okay! Even tho' it doesn't seem to be the right atmosphere lately for a Halloween giveaway (I've noticed that some of my fellow bloggers have been giving away some terrific presents and there have been few participants trying to throttle each other for the prize which has been good for me of course since I've entered all of 'em), I'm gonna' go for it, bend before the storm, throw in the towel, and have my own giveaway, regardless of crappy atmosphere. Excuse me while I take a breath. Continuing along in the same vein...all one has to do in order to be entered in this 'fantastic' giveaway is read my preceding blog entry, watch the 16 minute video "Harker" and comment on it. That's it!
The winner will receive a skull and crossbones totebag, a ceramic Halloween mug, a set of 4 glass votive candles and a CD entitled "Broom with a View", a collection of Halloween carols by Kristen Lawrence. I shall randomly choose the lucky recipient of the above listed items next Tuesday evening after midnight. (which means you have one week to do your homework...)

In a Halloween Mood

I was really starting to get into the old Halloween spirit--getting ready to do a little Halloween goodies giveaway, ready to sculpt a few zombies, etc. Then I happened upon this pic and I found it quite sobering...this was far more horrific than any zombie I had in mind. hehe...just a little Sunday morning humor...

thanks to MarZel who featured this pic on her blog in November...just couldn't resist.

oh, if any of you gentlemen happen to be interested in acquiring this rather sublime outfit, go here.

post halloween blues

well,I'm gonna' try this one more time...sat down to write this a couple days ago and then deleted the whole thing by accident. So, I finally got some words down for the second time, my daughter sits down at MY computer and deletes all those! Thoroughly pissed off by this time, I shoved my chair away from the damn computer and well, took a break (with the help of a nice glass of merlot). Anyway, here I am, hoping against hope that the evil little gargoyle who lives inside my computer won't come up with another little prank...
So! The big day has come and gone and my first real Halloween yardhaunt/party/haunted house was a success. I've been feeling quite smug about the whole thing and I must say that the toil and trouble and feverish activities I've engaged in for the past few months were definitely worth it! All had a great time and enjoyed the spooky decor and graveyard. Unfortunately, the pics proving my success came out poorly--well, actually, they DIDN'T come out. As I was running about like a mad woman tending to the party and the graveyard, I delegated photographer duties to my sister. Neither she nor I have experience in taking photos of haunts and that became obvious as we previewed the pics. Hopefully, some of the party attendees will have a few good ones I can share. All in all, I had a blast and I thank all the 'Haunter Greats' out there who so generously shared their knowledge and expertise with all of us newbies to the HauntWorld!
That's about it...have shifted my creative energies back to the art doll world for now and have made some belated progress with my little 'monster under the bed'...
Enjoy Life!

bad blogger

haven't been working on dolls lately; no blogging,etc.--too focused on creating props for our halloween haunted house/cemetery/etc....have one more "half-bucky" to corpsify, a crank ghost to put together, and then, I think(!), I'll be ready to take a bit of a breather before we start to put everything up for the big day--yeah, 31 October. will be adding some pics of the stuff I've been creating and some cool websites I've found...apologies again for being a "bad blogger"....you can always check out pumpkinrot's blog--pumpkinrot.com What's Brewing for inspiration, etc. rot and bean are awesome....later, all