Thread: Gloomlord's Official Entry - Lord of the Worms

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Introduction

This is my official entry for the Scary Scene Contest as prepared by my wife and me. We hope you all enjoy it (we enjoyed putting it together).


Back Story

A low murmur trembled softly out through the much weathered and
termite ridden rot of loosely boarded windows shuttering in the
dilapidated remains of a strangely isolated home near the outskirts of
crumbling Arkham. Buried deep within the shambled structure of this
once-magnificent home stood a lone and ominous figure, darkly clothed
in long, flowing robes sewn of coarse fabric. Long had it been since
his weathered face had seen the light of day, and even longer since he
known the distaste of any form of interaction with the pitiful mortals
that occupy the world without.

Long forgotten by the men of the surrounding world, within the bowels
of this decrepit crypt of decay there was only one master; a sinister
being fueled with untamed hatred and a malevolent darkness beyond
understanding. It was here on this moonless night that the dark
horror of this place was destined to be unleashed.

Standing beside the gaping maw of a molding coffin the dark figure
remained motionless save the slight twitching of his thin lips as they
mouthed words in a language long since forgotten by time. The only
illumination came from several small candles spread throughout the
room. Upon a small tableau near his right hand lay a copy of the
famed De Vermis Mysteriis, an unholy grimoire long-thought to be only
a nightmarish legend. This particular copy was likely the only such
complete copy remaining in known existence.

Within the belly of the exposed coffin lay the maggot-ridden remains
of what was at one time an ordinary man. Dressed in a dusty brown
suit, the corpse lay lifeless near the feet of the darkly clad figure.
The strange incantations continued to spew forth from the base of the
nearby figure's tightly drawn face. No longer content to endure an
existence of isolation amongst the living, the figure had a singularly
dark intent. The energy in the room was electric as the uttering
became louder and louder. The old walls began to shake violently as
the incantations grew to a low roar, shaking crumbling bits of dust
and plaster to the floor below.

It was here, on this nightmarish night, through the lost art of
Necromancy and sheer force of evil will within the stygian darkness of
this forgotten crypt, that the unfortunate shell of a man began to
twitch with undead life inside his own exhumed coffin, and, for the
first time since his untimely death, rise once again from the icy grip
of the grave...


Pictures

(Please Note: These are currently hosted off site on my own personal web page. If this is improper form please let me know where the correct place is to host these images. Also, I know the rules state NO modification of images, so even though I resized my images for faster downloading, the full unaltered images have been linked as well).

Final Image (full)

Alternate "Final" Image (full)

Summoner Close Up (full)
Zombie Close Up (full)
Pentagram Close Up (full)
Table Close Up (full)

Work Picture - Frame and Newspaper (full)
Work Picture - Newspaper (full)
Work Picture - Another body frame (full)
Work Picture - Checking out the zombie head (full)
Work Picture - Zombie is almost finished (full)


Details

The project consisted of building two completely full-framed bodies, a bloody pentagram, a moss-filled room, and a number of well placed candlesticks and other small props. The body frames were built by hand and consist of a wooden skeleton surrounded by a skin of chicken wire for structure. The rising corpse was dressed in a suit from good will and the dark figure (a.k.a. The Summoner and/or The Lord of the Worms) was wrapped in dark cloth with a similarly fashioned hood.


Supplies Used

2 masks ($30.00 total)
1 cardboard casket with cloth lining ($10.00)
2 styrofoam heads (FREE)
6 candlestick holders ($3.00 total)
7 candles ($3.00 total)
1 men's suit (including shirt and tie) ($12.00)
1 plastic skull ($8.00)
1 bag of moss ($1.00)
Black fabric ($12.00)
White cloth with blood pentagram ($4.00)
1 Large rat ($2.00)
1 book ($2.00)
2 wood frames (for bodies) ($8.00)
Chicken wire (for bodies) ($5.00)
5 bats ($5.00)


Total Cost

$105.00

Wow! Surprise entry and just in time. Gloomlord, you and your wife did a fantastic job!!!!

Gloomlord love the story & love the pictures! You 2 did a great job! Good Luck in the contest!

the Muffster

What a great entry Gloomlord. I like your scene very much and the story makes it so creepy and scary. Great job at setting up and your selection of your props. Not overdone. Just right. You got a good eye. I am sure you haunt is set up nicely. Good luck in the contest!

Thank you all very much for the kind feedback. I've been sort of lurking the forum on and off since last Halloween (I got some good tips and a few sound effects from you guys as well). My wife and I have been putting together a very amateur haunted house for our friends and family each Halloween for the past few years (hands down the best holiday of the year) and figured we'd apply a bit of what we learned to try and craft a small scene for this contest as well.

I'm not sure what other people have used for framing out full sized bodies before, but in case anyone is interested, the wooden frames were fairly easy to throw together (cut up a few cheap boards and screw them together) and the chicken wire structure gives them a relatively decent lifelike shape. We used screws at each of the major joints to allow for a full range of movement for staging the bodies.

If nothing else it was good to start getting into the spirit of things a little early this year. I'll post a few more close-up images of the scene later today, perhaps. Thanks again for the support!

Welcome to the forum! So now you are an official member. I'm glad that you decided to come out of the shadows and join us. Getting into the spirit of thing's a little early you say. I don't think that it's ever to early. Anyway I don't want to hijack your thread. Nice Stuff, Fantastic work and great photo. Welcome to the forum and good luck with your entry!

cool scene.

looking good, Gloomlord! I love the guy in the coffin's expression. Cool story as well.

Very good job. That 'a very good looking scene you have there.

Thanks again for the feedback. I added a few more close-up images to my original post, but here are the links as well in case anyone is interested.

Summoner Close Up (full)
Zombie Close Up (full)
Pentagram Close Up (full)
Table Close Up (full)