The Lighting FX was a nifty little gadget in to which you could plug your lamps. It came with a CD, or you could use one of your own, and when you set your player near the machine the lights would flicker to the sounds or music.
I own a couple of these and they work pretty well. I don't think they are made any more as we haven't had them in stock for a few years and I often see people inquiring about them in Halloween forums. If you do come across one they usually have a hefty price tag.
If you missed out don't fret. Here's a how-to to make your own similar contraption:
There are also detailed instructions on the website.
P.S. They also made a Christmas version that features a tree instead of the lightning bolt. If you come across one at a yard sale you might want to snag it.
This hit my Twitter feed several times this morning. I guess there is a new player in town, FearMart.com. Here's what they say on their Twitter bio:
Providing professional and home haunters with State of the art media for marketing purposes and video props. I popped over to the website and was greeted by their CEO in this video:
Kind of clever there with the zombie greeting. I don't speak zombie so I was thankful for the subtitles.
Dawn (of Nickols Manor fame) posted back in May about The Baker Hotel located in Mineral Wells, Texas. The Baker was built in the 1920s and abandoned some 40-50 years later. Vacant and deteriorating, it reminded me of something I had come across earlier in the year.
Oh it all began innocently enough. My BFF, Google, and I were trolling the internet looking for dilapidated buildings for haunt inspiration when I came upon Yves Merchand & Romain Meffre Photography and their Ruins of Detroit. The book had not yet come out (but is now available on Amazon) so I just poked around the site.
I love old buildings and have been known to nose around in abandoned structures if the opportunity presents itself. Akin to snooping around the graveyard, feeling the soul of it's old bones and wondering what used to be.
I have a soft spot for Detroit though I've never been there. See, the hubby is in the car business and has been for over 25 years. When you think of cars you can't help but think of Motor City. I was especially pleased to see Chrysler with their recent ad campaign focus on Detroit. (Adding Eminem to the mix didn't hurt either.) Let me add here that hubby was not amused with my fascination with the ads. We don't sell Chrysler. Ehhh - but that's not the point.
So what is the point of this post? I know I was going somewhere with this.
The falling down buildings with their haunting rooms and peeling walls are ideal backdrops for a haunt and a look that many try to obtain. You will find some inspiration within the Ruins of Detroit but it's also a reminder that nothing stays the same and these old relics host the ghosts of dreams and disappointment from those that came before.
Honestly! I'm lucky if can find my butt with both hands and a flashlight - and it's not like my butt is a small target! Part of my problem is that I am on the other side over 40 but I think my biggest problem is too much on my plate.
The good news (if there really is any) is that one of my many obligations caused a brain spark and I remembered a haunting trick from several years back.
It began as I was cleaning out the theater Green Room at my oldest son's high school. Why was I cleaning this room? Well, my fiendish friends, this is what happens when a drama program is cut and you open your mouth to get it back. Yep, yours truly ended up the Drama Director. [Note to self: super glue lips shut]
This room was a wreck. I brought in lawn and leaf bags and went to work. Tattered fabric - trash. Ancient makeup - trash. Old, gross vat of yellow hair gel - trash - WAIT! Hold the hair gel! (This is where my memory kicked in.)
Several years ago I created a simple haunt in our garage for my son's Halloween party. One section was a mad scientist's laboratory for which I had gathered an assortment of odd shaped glassware and other oddities. I wanted something besides liquid in a couple of the jars and I found the perfect solution at the Dollar Store - a tub of clear hair gel (also available in green, yellow or blue).
I globed the hair gel into a glass and shoved squishy eyeballs into the goo. Then I topped off the surface with a bit of faux blood. Here's a couple of pics I managed to scrounge up.
I think this gelatinous goo might work well in other areas of a haunt. Let it drip off a tree or smear it on walls and allow it to drip down. I do know that it looks pretty sinister in a mad lab setting from a 4th grader's point of view. Plus it has the added benefit of being heavily perfumed making your haunt smelly good and it will be at the ready should your Bride of Franky character's hair start to fall.
I think I have an obsessive personality. If you've been following us for anytime at all you know that I have a thing for vids and music. I can't help it. ::sigh::
Tracy tolerates my obsessions probably because they mostly tie in with Halloween. God bless her dark little heart.
I'll be brief today as it's Friday and I know you are all planning hot date nights, parties and all the fun, wild things I left behind in my youth. For those of you staying in and scampering to finish props and other haunted goodies I've got some dark/haunting tunes for you. (First two vids provided just for the music - there really is no vid for these.)
Still dark but going to pick up the pace a bit with this one as I don't want you falling to sleep at the prop. I so miss Skin(she's my age and looks just too damn good) and the boys but she's been working on a solo career (though I hear SA is getting back together).
Skunk Anansie - Charlie Big Potato from Post Orgasmic Chill
P.S. If this last one brings you visions of Warrick Brown (yum, drool) from CSI you are not hallucinating. The song was featured in Table Stakes (Season I Episode 15).
Why yes, I am speaking a different language today but there's good reason for it. Some time ago in my many web wanderings I came across Erikde Vries photo album with the most spectacular haunt pics. Why did I wait so long to share it? I'm selfish. [hangs head in shame]
Het Spookslot is the main show of the Haunted Castle ride in the Dutch theme park Efteling. From what I can gather it is a ten minute show in an indoor graveyard setting housed in the largest theme park in the Netherlands. In other words it's the Dutch equivilant of Disney's Haunted Mansion.
The park opened in 1952 and the haunted walk through attraction has been running since 1978. Reveiws are mixed on the scares and animatronics but the setting and music (Danse Macabre) appear to make up for it.
I don't care about reviews. One look at this place and I'm hooked! The setting is awesome with excellent architecture and I just love the lighting. Someone definitely knows what they're doing here.
So now, how to go about convincing the hubby we need to head to the Netherlands???
Blood. The life of a haunt? Perhaps to some but I am a simple ghoulie girl. I prefer gothic mystery over startles and the deadly silence of a cemetery scene to a slice 'em and dice 'em, fire up that chainsaw, approach.
Nevertheless, I may be in the minority... or not. I know that I sell a lot of gory stuff (and I thank those that purchase it) but I think there are a lot of DIY prop builders out there that tend to lean away from a full fledged blood bath. That is not to say that a severed head or a fountain running red couldn't end up in my yard haunt but Ed Gein in all his gory glory is not welcome. I don't know why as I get a kick out of going to haunts of this sort but for some reason I don't tend to add this type of prop to my own scenes.
To each his own right? Well sometimes I need to get out and see how the other half lives so I'm stepping outside my comfort zone to seek out the gory haunting goodies out there.
I don't think anyone was harmed in the making of this Bag of Flesh from Haunted Props but I could be wrong. Don't hold me to it. Gives a whole new meaning to making your skin crawl eh?
Skinned bear anyone? From Fright Props comes this menacing menagerie of mucus and muscle (say that five times fast).
Got guts? Well I know where you can get some or at least where you can find out how to make some. Halloween-Haunted-House has the great foam (pun intended) how-to (if you've been hiding under a rock and didn't know how this was done).
Well, I'm completely grossed out so I'm outta here. But before I go I leave you with one last sick and twisted bloody goody from The Horror Dome. For those of you who desire a full size human carcass your wish is my command.
Just goes to show you can find nearly anything on the web.
It's official. Haunted Attraction Magazine released it's 2009 America's Best Haunts list earlier this month. Sadly none of them are in my area but hopefully there's one or two near you.
The list features the 12 best haunts across the country. Top of the list is Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary located in Philadelphia. This is the real deal! The Penitentiary was completed in October 1829 and closed in January of 1970. It is a National Historic Landmark, is known by the acronym ESP, once housed Al Capone and the haunt takes place behind 30' prison walls. I really don't know what could be more creepy.
The prison is owned by the city of Philadelphia and daytime prison and museum tours are available. For the Halloween season five haunted attractions come to life at the prison. They also offer Family Nights which is the same show but actors are on the look out for kids who can tell the monsters to "be good" if they are too scary.
Not to surprising is that there have been reports of hauntings within the prison. The site has several videos of shows you can view including Most Haunted Live (Travel Channel), America's Ghost Hunters (TLC), Ghost Hunters (Sci-Fi) and MTV's Fear which explore some of these sightings.
It will probably be a while before I can justify to the hubby the need to swing over to Philly for the Halloween season to check out this haunt so if you get a chance to go be sure to give me the scoop.
As for the other 11 haunts rounding out the top 12? Well, you'll have to check them out yourself on Haunted Attraction Magazine.
In this life both of us are the quintessential "soccer" mom (though neither of us have children that play soccer). We're married with the standard 2.5 children (Tracy has three, I have two - do the math). We work, taxi kids, cook meals, do laundry, etc., etc. Yet we're drawn to the darker side. Perhaps an escape from a routine that revolves around things mundane?
I love cemeteries - always have. What is morbid and eerie to some seems utterly peaceful to me. Wandering around a cemetery reading headstones curious as to how these souls lived and died probably would give some (cough *husband* cough) reason to have me committed. But I figure since I'll spend more time below ground than above it I might as well get familiar. As they say, memento mori.
Time does not always allow an on site cemetery excursion but there are plenty of resources online. Several months ago I stumbled upon Dark Destiny. I must warn you before you visit - if you love old cemeteries you can waste some serious time at this site.
Quote from the site:
...To the uninitiated a Cemetery conjures up images of almost identical headstones set out in symmetrical rows, for the modern day Cemetery this wouldn't be too far from the truth.
But step back through time to the Victorian age and you'll find vast gardens of the dead. Mausoleums, tombs and catacombs aplenty, still shelter thousands of ornate coffins with their Victorian inhabitance over a century into their eternal slumber...
(Gardens of the dead?! OMG - I think I just drooled on my keyboard!)
Loaded with photos of tombstones from over 20 cemeteries in England, including the Magnificent Seven, it's a visual delight. You can even download a photo slide show from most of the locations. In addition to the photos there is a history on each cemetery, stories on any myths associated with the location, notables buried at the cemetery and what bus to take if you're so fortunate to visit in person.
Whether your passion is cemeteries in general or if you need a little tombstone inspiration for your haunt this site can not be missed. But - don't blame us if you get lost and don't remerge for several hours.
We blog in batches. Yep, the secret is out! I know, I know, you thought we popped in here in the wee hours of the morning with a coffee IV to bang out our blog. This is not possible because I am NOT a morning person and Tracy is usually at work somewhere between 4:30-6:30 am. (freak)
Another secret... we don't finish one blog and go to the next. We grab pieces here and there and fill in until the blog is complete. I can't even count the number of half written blogs we have. Some are awaiting pictures, witty commentary (ha!) or some other little thing.
In an effort to clean up some of the chaos behind the scenes I was going through these half written blogs and trying to get them finished up. That's when I came across HowCast.com that I mentioned yesterday which then led me to VideoJug.com.
Now many of you know my fascination with vid sites. (Yes, yes - I'm in a 10 step program) So, when I came across these sites I completely forgot I was finishing up old blogs and started watching vid after vid after vid. (I can't help it. It's like eatting candy corn - can't eat just one.)
I came upon a video titled Monster Painter so of course I had to check it out:
Now, these are basically presented as haunted yard art. However, I thought some of these might be fun to add to walls in a haunt maybe with a strobe light. Perhaps try them with glow-in-the-dark paint? Or do the white on black and cast a black light over them.
The creator of these "critters" (as they are called) offers 10 varieties that are available via download (Hey! No waiting!). The prices are reasonable especially since you get a PDF file and you use the same "critter" many times.
So, if you don't have enough on your Halloween to-do list you might want to check this out at MonsterPainter.com.
Sorry, gotta run! I just did a Halloween search on Google videos and it returned 352,000 results. I've got a lot of watching to do....
I don't know about your location but here it's hotter than Dante's seventh level of Hell. We get excited if the temperature is going to stay in the "cooler" 90s.
My youngest sister sent me an email the other day that showcased some amazing sand sculptures. I suppose she was surfing the web in an effort to stay cool (no waves for surfing here in Kansas). Always thinking in the Halloween mode I wondered if anyone had taken the opportunity to combine this art form with Halloween. Needless to say, I was not disappointed:
This first one (posted by serakatie on flickr) is Charlie Brown's Snoopy resting on a pumpkin:
Next up everyone's favorite vampire, Dracula (found on TravelPod.com)
Here's a couple of cool skeleton sculptures we found. The first one was posted by alabax on flickr
This one came up in a google image search:
And finally, a Hellraiser's PinHead sculpture found at Oddee.com:
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