Thread: Your favorite Halloween prop books and DVDs + good beginner animatronics book or DVD?

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Reading about halloween prop projects on the web is great. But I love and appreciate sitting down with a good book of projects. What halloween prop books do you like best and why?

I have these:

* How to Haunt Your House Volume 1 - beautiful photography. I just ordered Volume 2 and hope there's a Volume 3.
* Give Them a Real Scare This Halloween - Looks like it's for kids and is somewhat corny, but it has many good basic ideas. And I got it used for $5

I also have on order Haunted House Halloween Handbook by Jerry Chavez. Seems to get good reviews and I rarely see it for sale used. Anyone have this? If so, what do you think of it?

For DVDs, I have X-Treme Haunted House Make-over. Got it for 50 cents on clearance, but I would highly recommend for basic yard haunters. Good intro and I definitely adopted some effects from it. "Boutique" hobby DVDs can be pricey. What are some that are worth the price? Love searching YouTube for good video prop / effect tutorials. But at times I'd just rather pay for nicely produced content.

Finally, I want a good beginner's book on prop animatronics. Or some other book that has a good intro chapter on animatronic basics, e.g. how to get a simple motor to drive different motions. I don't want to be overwhelmed with schematics, etc. Would like something really simple. Does such a beast even exist? Although I know there are some great little web sites out there on the subject, I'd really prefer trying to learn this stuff from a book or DVD.

On Amazon I see:

* Animatronics: Guide to Holiday Displays by Edwin Wise
* Halloween Propmaker's Handbook by Ken Pitek

If these are full of complicated diagrams or schematics that I'd easily be overwhelmed by then I don't want to waste the money. Again, looking for a book that will teach me the very basics so I can tweak store-bought things like reindeer motors, etc, and repurpose them to make my own cool effects. I don't have a workshop of tools, have only absolute beginner soldering skills, etc.

Sounds like the Volume 2 of How to Haunt Your House has a section on motors. Hoping it's what I'm looking for, e.g. learning just enough to repurpose store bought things / change the type of motion. Again, I'm not your typical prop builder. I've got hardly any sense for working with my hands and really stumble through all of it. But it sure is a fun hobby! :-)

I bought the Edwin wise book many years ago and I was actually kind of disappointed in it. It didn't really tell me much that I hadn't already learned by browsing online or from members of this forum.
Also a lot of the book has to do with pneumatics, in which I have no interest.

This site might give you some ideas:
http://www.robives.com/mechs

And this one:
http://www.walterruffler.de/index1.html

(Click on "Designs". Then you can click on each item and see an animation of how it moves.)

This one gave me some good tips on enhancing my corpses.

http://www.monstercloset.com/

I still think the forum should make a book, using some of the best props and such on here.

Following this thread to see what recommendations others may have. I have How to Haunt Your House vol. 1 & 2 and I love them. I would enjoy seeing video recommendations.

Originally Posted by BeaconSamurai

I still think the forum should make a book, using some of the best props and such on here.

Great suggestion. Either folks on this forum or some other very active Home Haunters group. Isn't there a Home Haunters Association that least puts out a "Best Of" Home Haunts DVD every year? Think I read about it in How to Haunt Your House.

Although I absolutely adore the How to Haunt Your House book--and we owe them a great debt for producing such a valuable visual reference--I'd like something more encyclopedic. That book(s) has its place as a gorgeous object with top-notch photography (very inspiring), but line drawings plus more comprehensive coverage of various effects that could be achieved is something the community needs (or at the very least that I need). I realize there are "Monster Lists" of dozens of projects. Only thing is, I've found a lot of those links tend to be dead. So there's still a place for books and/or DVDs here. A book / DVD combo would actually be "killer". :-) Lots of text info on various ways to build each effect, then video showing the effect in a scene. And video of anything that might be tricky / of the mechanisms. A book + links to YouTube videos of the effects in a scene would be nice as well.

Again, the web is a fabulous resource. But sometimes you need a single person or small group of people vetting content and putting it together in one unchanging and well-organized place (like a book or DVD). But a book + DVD might better stand the test of time (e.g. not rely on links that may go dead, etc).

Is HalloweenForum.com the most active Home Haunt forum out there? I used to participate over at HauntSpace.com before discovering HalloweenForum. Things are much more active here than there. Are there any places more active than here?

Has anyone read this one? If so, how does it compare to others?

"Make Your House Everything You've Ever Haunted" by Tim Harkleroad
http://www.hauntedhousesupplies.com/everhaunted.htm

Evidently, there will be a Book Three. Don't know when though. The following is from the authors' web site:
http://www.howtohauntyourhouse.com/i...d=82&Itemid=76

http://www.homehauntersassociation.com/

Kevin Wood Run this site. He's a great guy--lives near Greensboro N.C.

Allen Hopps has a great e-book for just $10 (http://www.stiltbeaststudios.com/About.html). It's actually a collection of posts from another forum that someone compiled for him, but the information is great. Allen is very active and helpful on a couple of other forums but I don't think he posts here.

Originally Posted by DaveintheGrave

http://www.homehauntersassociation.com/

Kevin Wood Run this site. He's a great guy--lives near Greensboro N.C.

Thanks Dave, very cool. Do you know if he hosts "take and make" prop events?