So I finally took the initiative and started working on the head for my $20 Halloween prop. I was pretty intimidated by the thought of trying to make a one dollar plastic skull into a monkey head, but it actually worked pretty well. I started out trying to use modeling clay, but it was extremely heavy and wasn’t shaping up the way I wanted. It turns out that a little bit of newspaper and masking tape works great to build up a monkey jaw. Amazing, no? Oh, and cardboard makes pretty good monkey ears. I’m going to give it a few coats of paint tonight, then will add some monkey fur to the parts that are supposed to be furry after that dries. Anyway, enough jibba jabba, here’s a picture:
My wife teaches 4th grade, and is trying to get her students to use their vocabulary words and get creative in their talking and writing. Her kids have also been overusing a number of nasty phrases that she is trying to eradicate.
I am obviously rubbing off on her, since she came to me a few days ago and said that she would like to “bury” these words and phrases under tombstones. Basically, she wanted me to make her little tombstones with her pet peeve words and phrases on them, just as a reminder to her kids to stop using them. I finally made them tonight, and here is the result:
I created the documents in Word, printed them out, and freehanded the outline with a razor blade. Next I traced the outline onto white cardboard and cut it out, adding a few inches to the bottom for the stand. Then I mounted the paper to the cardboard with basic white glue, scored the cardboard so as to bend ot to create the base so they are completely self sufficient like so:
I wouls assume that this could be used to make full sized tombstones too, maybe using some rocks or other weights on the base to keep them standing up. These guys are about 8″ tall.
Anyway, that’s my project for the night. Not too shabby for a quickie, right?
The pool noodle build out is proceeding as planned. I have cut the pieces to fit, but need to glue the PVC skeleton together before permanently affixing the foam. Once the foam is secured, the fake fur and maybe some paper mache will come into the picture and hopefully make this guy looks like what he’s supposed to look like. We’ll see…hehe. Anyone have any great ideas on attaching fake fur to pool noodles?
Alright, so I’m making good progress with my $20 prop contest entry. I got a good hour of work in tonight, and am ready to start building it out. I’m still not saying what it is, but you are welcome to guess. You probably won’t get it though, so HA! When you see the finished product, I think you’ll be pretty pleased. I hope so anyway…
If you’re curious, after reading my materials list for the $20 prop contest, I have a hint for you. If you have been following my posts on Halloween-L, you may indeed be able to put the pieces together and figure out what exactly I’m making. If not, you’ll see soon enough.
So, without further hesitation or babble, here is your hint. A big part of my prop (possibly even the defining feature) will be much like the skeleton marionette wings here on Vile Things.
Does that help at all? If not, keep checking back to see my progress. I finished the wire skeleton for my wings last night, and am going to try and build them up tonight. Hopefully I’ll have some good pics to share soon.
Halloween-L is having a $20 prop contest. Basically what that means is that you have to make the best Halloween prop for $20 or less. Whoever wins gets some kind of prize, and the coveted title of “Miss/Mr. $20 Prop Contest 2007.” Needless to say, I signed up.
This here is my first post in the contest. Technically it’s supposed to end on May 1, 2007, but it’s looking like there may be an extension. Anyway, this is my list of materials:
Fake fur (2 yards)…………………………………….$3 on sale from Joann Fabric
9 gauge multi use wire (12.5 feet)…………………$2 (1/4 of a 50 foot roll for $8 from Lowe’s)
If you’re a horror fan, I wanted to direct you to an indie horror flick that sounds pretty good. It’s been in production for quite some time, and is finally starting to be screened in preliminary previews. It’s called The House at the End of the Drive, and is about paranormal goings-on in the area surrounding the Sharon Tate mansion where the Manson murders occured in 1969.
I have not seen this movie mind you, but have followed its progress through its website (http://www.thehouseattheendofthedrive.com). I hope that the preliminary screenings go well and that this film makes its way to theatres. There’s a screening going on in LA next weekend, but I’m going to be out of town unfortunately. Check out the website and sign up for the mailing list for more info on that.
Here I sit in the Long Beach Airport, waiting for my flight to Salt Lake City. For those of you not in the know, I am going to Utah to participate in the last ever Rocky Point Haunted House Fright Nights this weekend, March 30th and 31st. So basically I’m taking advantage of the free wireless access here at the airport to blog about my upcoming trip.
OK, just as I was typing that last paragraph, the airport operator paged “Elian Gonzales” to the ticket counter for an “important message.” Now that’s funny.
Rocky Point Haunted House (RPHH) has been in business for 27 years. It’s run by a lady named Cydney Neil. The way I heard about RPHH is that she did a Q&A session at Haunt-X in February. After hearing her ideas and understanding her keen business sense, I decided that I had to go visit RPHH before it closed.
So yeah, a haunted house in the Spring? Indeed. They have been opening during Spring break for a few years now, which I personally think is really cool.
And what of these “Fright Nights” I speak of? Right. RPHH Fright Nights are a special event reserved for 50 lucky guests to come and have dinner in the haunt, followed by a panel discussion and a full night’s pass for the haunt. The next day, there is a full backstage walk-through with Cydney and some of her crew. She allows her guests to take unlimited pictures, and will answer whatever questions about how they do things.
Needless to say, I am extremely excited for this trip. I live for Halloween, and to get to see the inner workings of a truly profitable haunted house that is someone’s full time business is enormously exciting for me. I’ll be updating my blog hopefully on at least a daily basis with stories and pictures, so stay tuned to follow my exciting trip this week!
I have finally finished editing the daytime and twilight versions of my 2006 haunt and posted it to YouTube. Looking back on it, I am really happy with the way it turned out. I didn’t get to do even half of what I had hoped, but but it was still really cool, and was certainly the most elaborate haunt I have ever done in my many years of home haunting. Enjoy!
