Made a good big of progress on the wall panels which will serve as a facade in front of our garage. The large opening leads into an internal room in the garage. The other smaller opening is still in the deciding stages. Since the walls depict a sewer like setting, I’m considering making it a small alcove with a faux ladder leading down into darkness and perhaps something climbing out. If I do go that route it would just beg to have a bottomless pit add-on next year or so.

The material I bought last year for the surface of the walls sucks ass though. Took an entire gallon of paint to base coat 4 4×8 panels because it kept soaking up the paint. And doing a running wash was difficult at best because the watered down paint kept going in the pores and drifting to one side instead of downward. The rusted pipes on the other hand are coming out really well. I just need to paint the connectors and mount them to the walls.

Testing the new amber, red and blue lights in their expected positions. There’s gonna be another blue flood aimed at the tree from the right side. I’ll be doing more tests next week with more lights in place. I have to keep taking the wiring down because we still have a few more weeks of lawn care coming and I don’t want the machines chopping my cords up.

The witch jars are nearly done. I was able to grab some shots of several of the intermediate steps so you folks can see how it’s done.  Like I’ve stated before, I can’t take full credit for these as they were inspired by Pumpkinrot who’s the real mastermind behind them.

So lets start with what you’ll need:

Mason Jar, black and red acrylic paint, some twine, Elmers Glue, a couple brushes, some bendable hemp wire, a tea light, and optionally some dyed cheese cloth.

I started with an empty mason jar (Michaels has various sizes, however the larger of the two complete ones above is an empty pepper jar). I then took some red acrylic craft paint and loaded a small brush. First painted the bottom of the jar then with a loaded brush jiggled it around the inside (try to avoid touching the sides directly and go mostly for splash). I then used black paint for the inside of top where the lid would screw on.

When that was all done I coated the outside in elmers glue for a glaze effect (a decent glaze will work just as well).

I then took the dyed cheese cloth and glued it to jar.

Next I took a wire hemp and bent it for the handle. I partially looped each end and taped it to the jar with black electrical tape.

Then I just wrapped twine around the lip covering the hook until I was satisfied then brushed on a heavy coat of elmers glue so the rope would stay. After it dried I bent the loops the rest of the way up.

After everything dried I went back and touched up the hemp string by dry brushing with black paint using the smaller brush.

Pretty much it.

The lights are the little battery powered tea lights. I like the six piece sets that come from CVS as the plastic cover can be removed without having to cut it off.

Thanks again to Pumpkinrot for the wonderful inspiration.

Well, I finally got around to doing some monster mud. Was interesting but I wouldn’t say I’m addicted to it yet. I’m actually quite proud of the way this is turning out. But man they aren’t kidding, that stuff is heavy (and not in a Marty McFly kinda way either). I had to dip each end separately and I still didn’t get it 100% soaked. I ended up having to smooth on spots with my hands. All she needs is a few coats of paint and she’s done.

Tonight I started working on my witch jars that will hang in the front tree. They’re coming along nicely but I’m definitely no Rot (Pumpkinrot). Its been a learning experience though and a lot of fun.  I might have gotten a little over zealous with the blood splatters.

Got the initial sanding and joint compound done. Will need another round of sanding by hand once the JC is dry (ie: tomorrow).  This project is moving along nicely and can’t wait to finish it. I made a couple nicks here and there with the electric sander but I smoothed them out a little and will just chalk it up to aging technique. Might even do some cracks and whatnot with the soldering iron tomorrow.

More progress on the crypt. All pieces glued together. Tomorrow I will do some sanding and smooth out the edges, give it a wipe down to clean the dust, then fill in the cracks with joint compound. Progress pictures below with more pictures found under Constructs.

Well, finally getting out of my post move funk (being in the hospital last week didn’t help either) – yeah I know, took me long enough. I think I get a buzz out of working under pressure. And well, the pressure is on because it’s Halloween crunch time and I hadn’t done jack shit until now. So anyways, I’ve gotten the general theme and yard plan sketched out. I’ve decided to work on the major large scale props first before doing any character additions. This year’s large prop additions are:

. Finish those damn wall panels I started last year (not really all that much left to do, all detail work now).
. Do that crypt/sarcophagus I had been meaning to do now for two years. And this is what I’ve been currently doing.

For the crypt, I’ve been inspired by the work going on over at the Davis House (those guys do some amazing work). If time permits I’ll be animating the lid to this much like the Hallowed Haunting Grounds had done. I’ve got most of the foam cut, just a few pieces to go. Then its glue time and then my virginal venture in monster mud before painting.

Other Updates

I know I’ve got some updates to do to the Hauntcast Android App.  With everything going on post move and prepping for Halloween I haven’t even fired up the development environment since before the move. I promise folks I haven’t forgotten about you. To sweeten the deal, in addition to the bug fixes, I’ll throw in some bonus features when I do get around to it to at least make it worth this wait.

The realms of Faegoria are a bit rooted in fae legends with a twist of Halloween. Most of the darker reaches of Faegoria are ruled by the various houses of the Samhain Court. In Faegorian mythos, the lords of the houses have been cited as an original source of inspiration for Jack-o-Lanterns. In fact the very name Jack is attributed to Lord Jack Orion of House Orion. Lord Jack Orion (pictured below) was known as the trickster and the lord of theives and may very well also be the origin of the popular seasonal catch-phrase “Trick or Treat”.

Their facial features are very gourd like and range in various pale rotting shades of orange with coarse sickly green hair. Jack tends to keep his pulled back in a style akin to Chinese monks further lending to the likeness of a pumpkin. Their necks are slightly elongated and hunched over. If not for gourdish heads they could easily be mistaken for Skeksis.

The Samhain Court is comprised of several other houses and lords but this year I’m probably only going to concentrate on Jack.

UPDATE: Colorized the sketch

Planning this year’s haunt has been extremely difficult for some reason. There have been a few setbacks but for the most part we were aware of them even before last year’s Halloween. I’ve managed to get myself into the spirit again mentally but not quite physically just yet. There’s still a bit of panic in my thought processes and the fear of “analysis paralysis” setting in.

Part of me says just take what I have and set something up with it. But then there’s this whole new canvas in front of me and a driving force calling me to take the opportunity to build something new and different. And therein lies the rub. While no longer worried about inadequately filling the larger canvas, there is a different problem rearing it’s ugly head. Along with this new canvas and the desire to do something new, different, and fresh. There also comes a desire to do so in a conhesive manner.

I want all the pieces to fit together in a single vision. But when I look at this canvas I also see several unique areas. And while thats all fine and good the real challenge then is to ensure these areas interlock with each other in a cohesive manner.

Often I get ideas for a prop, a character, or a specic element of a set I’d like to do. Sometimes these ideas conflict with my long term vision and its easy to be distracted enough by it that the vision can become fragmented. So for me the challenge is to stay focused on the overall vision.

Last year I began introducing the dystopic realms of Faegoria. A world where legends of the Fae, dark magic, necromancy, steampunk, and victorian nightmares come together. I introduced characters such as Fineas, Edward, Zann, and the mysterious steampunkish demon known as The Collector (a personal favorite of mine so far). As the years go on I would like to continue introducing new characters from this dark realm as well as evolving the mythos through new emotional themes.

The color scheme is definitely lending itself more to a dystopic steampunk palette than to the traditional gothic flare. All the while maintaining a strange creepy otherworldly air. This year’s theme will be exploring plagues and zombies so there’s also gonna be a bit of sickly yellows and greens on the palette.