Thread: Help from the genius brains here, please.

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So, long story short, I had to go to Nevis for three days last October for work. Oh, did they say three, they meant thirty, ha ha, see how that happened? We thought it would be three, someome must have dropped the zero. Needless to say, I totally missed Halloween and am just now getting over the loss and moving forward to this year's haunt.

Since the kid is getting to that perilous stage of life where he could be easily mortified by his parents he is not so jazzed about doing another party for his class. Even though I am obviously the coolest mom in the school. He came up with the idea to do a short walk-through instead where he and his friends can dress up and scare the TOTs. Wanting to suck him into my world, um, support his creativity, I jumped on board and said by golly, let's do that. See how cool I am?

Anyway, I'm starting to have doubts about my storytelling skills. I think the back story is one of the essential elements of the haunted houses and amusement park rides I've loved. I was hoping that with all of the wicked brain power that floats around this forum y'all might be able to help me scrap up a history that I can build upon.

I like to put a little humor into my horror so we decided that the house is haunted because the poor fellow that bought it did so with an adjustable rate loan not fully explained to him and then was downsized from his job. The bank foreclosed but, originally being from Cajun country, said fellow contacted a voodoo priestess to cast some gris gris on the home so the banker wouldn't be able to sell it for profit. (The hubby got downsized from his mortgage job this year so we figure we are allowed to poke fun. Certainly wasn't what the employer was poking, though. No sirree, not fun at all.)

Okay, hit me! Anything and everything, give me your gut reactions and your thoughtful ponderings. Feel free to post a small detail or a whole backstory. Storylines that lend themselves to prop work are especially welcomed. I built a foam fireplace last year and it didn't get used so I've got to get that in there, somewhere.

I gots to get back in the game, did you know it is March already???!!!! Sorry for the long post but I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone.

Sparkly a few questions for you

what props, equipment, do you already have?

What is your budget?

How crafty are you and your technical building skills?

What age is your child and his friends?

Sparkly-did you see the GothicPrincess's very cool post on themes?

http://halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=67160

Could give you a headstart.... Sometimes it helps to have the theme first, sometimes the props you have dictate the them. Check it out.

I had to go to Nevis for three days last October for work. Oh, did they say three, they meant thirty

Sparky,

Sacre! Throws me in der briar patch, Boudreu!

It twas der on the bayou the Voodoo Priestess Ninette call’s out to da evil Mortgage Banker. As she draws him deeper and deeper into the blackest reaches of der swamp. A pinch of spider, some wings of bats, Ninette stir up de special gumbo she make that will snag his evil soul…….

You Cajun Dog you

I love dem der Cajun briar patch! That's what I'm running with! Our theme for last year's party was to be Voodoo Lounge so I'd like to do something that can use many of the props I had already started. This fits in perfectly.

For the earlier questions:

I have taken over the storage room and the family calls it the Halloween room now. I am not big on buying fully done props, I'd rather make my stuff from scraps and trash piles and whatever else the neighbors toss out. My first all-out themed haunt two years ago was pirates and I made some of the pirates move with fans and motors. I try to make everything so I can take it apart after Halloween and use it again. So, as a very long answer to what props do I have, I have a whole lot of "prop starters" and some bigger items below.

I made a fireplace last year that I want to use

I also found an old wooden animal crate that had a "Live Animal" sticker on it and a rusted metal gate (only $.50, best estate sale find EVER, you should have seen the look the seller gave me when I snapped it up)

Lots of bottles and jars that I plan to put nasty stuff in

Blacklights out the wazoo. Talk about a conversation starter...

Bluckys galore

Tombstones for the front yard cemetery - worked well with Voodoo Lounge, don't know how I'll incorporate them into this storyline

Three faux stone busts with LED eyes from Target's clearance aisle a few years ago

Fog machines, who doesn't

Flame lights, flicker lights, Christmas lights, colored lights, etc

Bolts of fabric and misc odds and ends

Oh, and several 5' cubicle walls snagged from work - thinking of doing a whole walk through thing with those, or maybe extending out the garage

The budget probably skews a few hundred dollars each year by the time I'm done with it all. Whatever it is I don't admit it to the hubby. Spread it out all year and they don't notice it so much.

I guess I would say I'm pretty crafty. I can't look at anything without thinking about how I make something out of it or cannibalize it for something else. Same hubby was a dunce and let his parents buy me a table saw for Christmas and now I feel I am unstoppable. His dad hasn't seen their nice big mitre saw in years. Now if only I had a router and a pneumatic nail gun. Don't know why I need the nail gun, I just really feel like I need that kind of power.

I don't really understand what I can't do, so I imagine that makes me dangerously crafty? I'm learning the techincal stuff and am always looking for more stuff to learn.

Kid is going into ninth grade, he and his friends are 14-15 years old. You know, cool age.

I can't answer succinctly, can I?

Now, before everyone starts thinking I was in Nevis for some cushy corporate retreat type work-cation, I feel the need to clarify a bit. We were reopening a resort that had been closed for a year due to my previous company's bankruptcy issues. Nothing had been taken care of in the seven houses there and let me just say: MOLD. Everywhere. I was walking through the back rows of Ace Hardware the other day and smelled something and immediately thought of Nevis. When I turned around to see what it was that I smelled I realized I was in the cleaners section. So, my aroma association for Nevis is caustic chemicals and mold. AND I MISSED HALLOWEEN. That is the most important part. And did you know they don't celebrate Halloween in Nevis? I got nothing. No pumpkins, no TOTs, no after Halloween sales. I was very sad.

Jeesh, I talk a lot. I guess I missed it last year more than I thought.

Ohhhh burr fox pleaseee don't throws me into dat brier patch!

Glad I may have helped in a small way SparklyJ

Good story line !! Love it!