Pumpkin Attack !

Fiberglass pumpkins on 10-12ft poles ,
overhanging the pathway to the candy...

Also...notice the orbs in the second pic?
These are some form of energy....

One of the Reapers....

Wall / doorhangers

My version of the wall / doorhangers.

Little styrofoam skulls have LED eyes and I also
added a white bright LED on the bottom of the hanger.
( can't be seen in these pics )
LED's are powered by a 9V battery.
The power switch is located on top of the head.

Haunted chess

A couple of years ago I had this idea of making a haunted chess board.
The board was made out of 1/4" plywood with a printout pattern.
The pieces had to be cut out of 2x2 stock . At least I got 1 piece cut out.
Never got around to cutting the other pieces.
On the bottom of the piece , I put a magnet and also had a magnet under
the board. With the movement of the bottom magnet , it would drag the piece
with it. Here's a small vieo and a pic of "what should have been " a chess board.

For the video : Click HERE

Nosferatu Flash Animation

We had a window projection going on last Halloween.
It's called  HALLOWINDOW
Since I don't know anything about flash animation ,
I thought I'd give it a try and came up with this...

Nosferatu
Nosferatu 2

The files are small , thus easy and fast to download.

Witches Of Belgrove Part 4 : The sign.

The sign is made out of styrofoam , the white stuff.
Letters were cut out with a home-built hot wire foam cutter.
Lots of links are available online if you decide to make your own.

The sign itself is one piece of styrofoam , with wood grain burned in ,
spray painted ( to "eat" the styrofoam ) and the letters are done the same way.
Glued the letters on with Elmer's glue.
Also glued a piece of thick cardboard to the back to make it more sturdy.

Witches Of Belgrove Part 3 : The Cauldron.

The cauldron is made out of 3 rings of wood ( one top , one middle , one bottom) ,
covered with chicken wire and paper mache.
The goo is sprayed-on Great Stuff and painted.
Inside the cauldron , I mounted a car door motor ,
hooked up to a computer power supply.
Also inside was a green spot light , a fog machine and
a small sound system for the sound fx.

Animation for this cauldron was that it was self-stirring.

Witches Of Belgrove Part 2 : The spell book.

The Spell book was made out of cardboard and print-outs.
For the cover , I used a toilet paper roll that I cut in half .
Taped that to two pieces of cardboard.
The decoration is made out of foam board.

Witches Of Belgrove

More easy props.
These type of props can be made in one day if needed.
Starting off with a frame made out of 1x2's and pvc pipe,
covered with some chicken wire,
black plastic trash bags and an old gazebo cover , ripped in pieces.
The masks were bucky lids ( latex masks to put over a bucky skull ) ,
painted green and added some other colors for more realism.
Eyes were painted dirty white and the pupils were printed out graphics that I glued on.
Added a wig and a hat and that's it.

The hands are made out of coat wire hanger and bic pens.
Covered in liquid latex and cotton balls , then painted green also.

When making a display like this , don't forget to add lighting
( Red , green was used , but amber works great too ).

Here are some pics of the hands...

Wacko Jack O-lantern

Easy prop. Start off with a foam pumpkin from your
local craft store and cut out whatever you don't need.
The body for the JoL is made out of PVC pipe ,
covered in newspaper and added some rolled up newspaper
to make vines. Then paint flat black and add some orange ,
brown and other colors you like. The vines with fall leaves
were bought to add some more detail.
The fingers are made out of steel wire ,
wrapped in newspaper.
That way , we can shape the fingers a little.
This prop seems to be a hit every year .
The legs and arms are removable for easy storage.

The birth of Zendor

Here's a prop I built a few years back.
It's a completely animated fortune teller.
There's a built-in sensor that tracks movement.
Once the sensor is triggered , the magic ball lights up
and Zendor tells you your fortune.
The sound player has 14 different fortunes.
The prop controller selects a different fortune everytime
the sensor is tripped , so you don't have to listen to the same fortune twice in a row.
The dummy is a mad scientist made by Gemmy that we fixed up a little to look more like a fortune teller.
The hands are called " stage hands" .
We had to put those on instead of the black gloves he was wearing.
The magic ball is a toilet fixture that was painted yellow.
Here are some pics of the build.