Hallowtheme

coming soon

2011-05-22T22:44:00.001-04:00

Haven't posted in a while. more coming soon

Westminster Tower

2010-11-17T12:37:00.001-05:00

Here is the cardboard model of the Westminster Clock Tower (Big Ben) that I made for our Streets of London haunted house. It is made from a box that my weight bench came in and I knew I would find a good use for it. I could have made it more detailed, but I was running out of time. When I began studying pictures of the tower, I quickly became amazed at the intricate details of the architecture.

London Lamp Post

2010-09-19T20:59:00.000-04:00

Here is one of two lightposts that I made for a Halloween Prop.

Helmet Crab

2010-07-30T09:26:00.000-04:00

This is my Helmet Crab, made from an old metal army helmet.
Notice the claws are made from ViseGrip pliers.
I made him as an entry into an art contest. Wish me luck!

Muggles the Clown

2010-07-30T09:22:00.000-04:00

Introducing a good friend of mine- Muggles the Clown.
He is part of the Shriners Clown unit, a pillar of the community, and an all around nice guy.

Fortune Teller's Booth

2010-05-23T22:08:00.001-04:00

At the cub scout pack meeting, we had a game night. Each den had to create and activity for the others to try. We came up with a fortune teller's booth. We had an animated deer head dressed up and there was a kid behind it with the microphone to attract attention. The scouts took turns making the deer talk and also turns at the table reading fortunes to those who sat down.

Tattoo Store

2010-05-23T22:03:00.000-04:00

The boys set up a little tattoo parlor and were giving each other tattoos. According to the sign, they are closed for today.

Homemade Pizzas

2010-04-30T13:36:00.002-04:00

Here are two pizzas that I recently made. The one on the left is is a plain cheese pizza. I bought a ball of dough from Publix. It was okay, not great. I chose a canned pizza sauce that could have been better. The one on the right has a Pillsbury thin pizza dough crust, pesto, broccoli, and spinach. The broccoli was boiled/steamed first, then the spinach was added until it wilted. The little bit of water in the pot basically had disappeared. I then took my ulu knife and chopped up everything in the pot before spreading on the crust. I did bake the dough by itself first to get it cooked and almost crispy. It was a very yummy pizza.

Relay For Life

2010-04-28T12:50:00.003-04:00

Here's the sign that I made for Relay for Life 2010. Our team was Ireland - this year's theme was countries around the world.

Here's the Blarney Stone that I made for our booth. People who came by had to kiss the Blarney Stone.

Here's our booth.

Part of the team walking the first lap.

Halloweens Past

2010-02-06T00:18:00.002-05:00

I have been quite busy lately taking a C# class at a local college and haven't had much time to update my blog. I found these pictures from 2005 while I was copying files to my new computer, and figured I would post them. The theme from that year was Mad Scientist Lab due to the fact that I scored a bunch of lab coats on ebay for real cheap. The the brain in the jar was made from a large cheese puff jar, a plastic cake box, and a bait bucket aerator. The electric chair was just a regular office chair. The victim wore a cap attached to a rope light which connected to an old-fashioned blade "switch." It was really activated by a foot switch, the kind used to turn on your Christmas tree lights.

Haunted House 2009 Pics

2009-11-17T06:30:00.017-05:00

Some pictures from our Haunted House.

Bite Me

2009-11-07T07:19:00.001-05:00

How do you like my Halloween costume? Mask from Amazon.com,overalls from Walmart, pitchfork from garage sale.

My Son's Sign

2009-10-29T10:50:00.002-04:00

My 8 year old son made this sign all by himself. Very creative of him.

Outhouse

2009-10-29T10:31:00.007-04:00

Here's the outhouse for the haunted house. It is designed to be portable (several sections assembled with bolts). It will be near the entrance and guests will have to walk through it- the back is open and has burlap streamers.

Moonshine Still

2009-10-29T10:23:00.005-04:00

Here is the moonshine still that I made for our haunted house. The rusty can is an old gas can, which incidently pours much better than those modern red plastic ones. The cone at the top is just made from posterboard and has a funnel tip coming out of the top. The "copper tubing" is some micro sprinkler line that I painted. The big 5 gallon jug is a loaner from a friend.

Modified Chainsaw

2009-10-29T10:07:00.004-04:00

I never got around to buying a fake chainsaw that I could use in my haunted house, so I modified my broken gas chainsaw. First I took the chain off, then I made an extended blade out of black foam core board, painted the teeth silver, then splattered red paint on the side. I used a light construction adhesive to put the fake blade on. For sounds effects, we are pumping some audio clips from a computer into a guitar amp. It can be as loud as a real chainsaw if we want.

The Three Little Pigs

2009-09-18T06:20:00.003-04:00

I don't think we need to worry about the big bad wolf coming here.

My Homemade Banjo

2009-09-17T22:33:00.021-04:00

I wanted to make a banjo prop for our Hillbilly Halloween Haunt this year. I managed to pull off a decent replica for a minimal cost. Some of the items, I already had on hand. The round part is made from a Christmas cookie tin that I had. I trimmed off some of the height to make the proportions a little more realistic.

The strings are actually electric guitar strings purchased from Target for around $6 or so. The tuning pegs are for an acustic guitar. I ordered them from ebay for $10 for 6. The metal bracket at the end is cut from a spatula/turner, around $4.29. The white dots are puffy stickers from Michaels craft store. The silver metal divider lines are cut from some kind of special coat hanger that someone gave me.

2009-08-27T11:24:00.001-04:00

Upload your picture to star in your own monster video at

http://www.monstermashup.com/

Zombie Robots

2009-07-16T15:29:00.004-04:00

Robots are being developed that can fuel themselves by devouring dead bodies.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,532492,00.html?test=latestnews

HHN 2009

2009-07-09T23:03:00.003-04:00

In case you have not heard, Universal Orlando has their Halloween Horror Nights 2009 page up. I plan on being there a few nights. This will be my second HHN.

http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/eventinfo.html

They don't really have any details yet, but I heard something about the SAW movies, which I have not seen. Guess I need to Netfilx them before Oct.

Zombie vs Shark

2009-07-09T22:54:00.003-04:00

Who would win in this deadly faceoff?
See for yourself in this YouTube Clip!

hello world

2009-05-19T14:10:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Please hang on...

2009-02-03T21:18:00.010-05:00

I just got a new mask that I am planning on using this upcoming Halloween. I showed it to my bro-in-law, who is very much into masks. He liked it, but thought it could use his special touches. I think he did a great job and it turned out quite nice.

2009-01-22T14:53:00.001-05:00

In researching the upcoming theme for Halloween 2009, I have stumbled upon an interesting site: http://www.trailerghost.com/

Happy New Year

2009-01-19T21:34:00.001-05:00

I haven't blogged much lately.
Starting to think about Halloween 2009.
The theme this year will be something related to Rednecks.

2008-11-06T17:06:00.002-05:00

Mummy and egyptian chair prop that I made for halloween. Mummy is made from pvc pipes, wire, table, hot glue, burlap, plastic bags, and newspaper. (not final version). Chair is from one I bought of ebay for $20. Painted it gold and blue, then glued on gemstones.

Bumpy Pumpkins

2008-10-28T22:43:00.002-04:00

Some of the pumpkins at the pumpkin patch had interesting textures.

Evolution of the Anubis

2008-10-28T22:10:00.008-04:00

Here are some masks that I made for our Egyptian Haunted House.

The one on the left is paper mache over a clay form that I had made. For paper mache, I used torn pieces of coffee filters that I dipped in Mod Podge, an all-in-one sealer, glue and finish. Multiple layers made it very hard.

The mask on the right is made from a "Blank Male Mask" that I built up with a foil muzzle and ears. Then I coated those with Celluclay, then Paper Clay. Also, probably some coffee filter layering as well. It was a little heavy, but the mask did not quite fit, the starting blank mask was a little small.

The final mask was made from a $12.99 wolf mask that I got from Kmart. I shaved down the fur, which I thought was too long. This revealled darker fur underneath, much too my liking. I painted the reddish-brown face and ears black, then outlined the eyes and mouth in gold.

The Spooky Lake Hills Chronicle

2008-10-22T10:18:00.004-04:00

Folks in the Myrtle Lake Hills area (Longwood, FL) know how to get into the Halloween Spirit.
Their online newspaper talks about their annual Haunted House and Block Party.
http://www.spookylakehills.com/SpookyLakeHills.com/Welcome.html

This guy can carve pumpkins

2008-10-21T08:35:00.001-04:00

http://www.villafanestudios.com/pumpkins.htm

Monsters do exist

2008-10-08T11:34:00.000-04:00

Montauk Monster and Moscow Monster
http://www.montauk-monster.com/

2008-09-22T16:54:00.001-04:00

Our new employee, Skully. We work him to the bone.

Test your mummy knowledge

2008-09-22T10:49:00.000-04:00

http://html.local6.com/sh/quizine/833717/index.html

Scarab

2008-09-20T15:08:00.003-04:00

I wanted some scarabs for our Egyptian themed haunted house this year. I figured painting some plastic roaches and removing the antenna would be a quick substitute. I have a lot to do, and this is fairly quick and easy. Maybe a little dim lighting to catch their reflective metallic paint.

Scored a Mother Lode

2008-05-13T15:43:00.003-04:00

Stephen Aglio obtained a large quanity of nice Halloween props from a hospital that was thinning out their decorations. In the box came a humungus spider, several large rats, two cats, numerous bats, serveral scorpions, and an amputated leg. He definitely found a good home for them with our yearly haunted house.

A few pics from last Halloween

2008-05-07T22:54:00.008-04:00

We have the cobra

2008-04-22T22:53:00.004-04:00

Jim ordered the cobra from FrightCatalog.com

It should work nicely with our Egyptian theme. Many people are afraid of snakes, especially a 116 inch long one like this.

Of course, this one will get lonesome all by itself, so we'll have to buy some more. Probably a couple of three footers will suffice.

Oct 2008 Theme

2008-04-22T22:43:00.004-04:00

The theme for this year will be "Curse of the Mummy," or something to that effect. I think we need a title that is more original though. Basically the costumes will consist of mummies, egyptian folk (pharoah, Isis, etc), zombies, and maybe a few British explorers. Let me know if you find a good cheap Anubis mask somewhere.

I am not sure what the main focal piece will be yet. A gilded sarcophogus perhaps?

Someone recently asked me when I started planning the 2008 theme. "November 1, 2007," was my response.

2008-04-18T10:42:00.001-04:00

Hello World...Welcome to Hallowtheme. This is my first attempt at Blogging, so please bear with me whilst I learn.