[kitsch_witch]

I'm an avid home-haunter and have drawn a lot of my recent inspiration from Pumpkinrot.com. I have an art and design background and enjoy creating everything from the lighting layout to life-size sculpted monsters. Last year was the first year I really advertised the haunt for folks outside of my (relatively small) suburban neighborhood. We lost count of visitors, but gave out over 12 pounds of candy!

I'm looking forward to lots of learning and sharing here at HalloweenForum and to many more years of haunts.

Great to meet you all-

Beth

 

[maleficent]

 

[creepycathy]

hey & welcome!!!

 

[mr_synical]

Welcome fellow Virginian & Halloween Freak.

 

[Baron Samedi]

Greetings, Kitsch Witch.

Pumpkinrot and Stolloween provide a lot of inspiration for many of us...Their creativity is awe-inspiring.
I'd love to see some pic's of your work.

Welcome to the Madhouse.

 

[22606]

Welcome aboard.

 

[The Halloween Goblin]

Hi nighbor! I'm from Danville! Welcome to the forum!

 

[hallorenescene]

hello, nice to meet you. i love pumpkin rot. i second barons motion, i would love to see pics of what you got

 

[stick]

Welcome Beth, from northside Richmond Va.

 

[kitsch_witch]

Pics... for those interested

The pics aren't the greatest - I can NEVER seem to remember to shoot them before Halloween night and always end up snapping them in a hurry between Trick-or-Treaters.

We went with an all-ages graveyard in 2008. It's tough making a Cape Cod look uninviting, but I tried my best. The yard is only about 40 feet from the street to the porch.

There were a few pretty creepy groundbreakers, but the kids wouldn't even get near them.

The keeper of the haunt every year is the 7-ft tall Grim Reaper. Our letter carrier HATES it when he shows up the week before Halloween. Incidentally, he is in the GoogleMaps street view of our house...

The Reaper got some company in 2008 when I added Sticks, another absurdly tall creature who lurks in the ivy that surrounds the giant sycamore at the front of the yard. He's a paper mache and latex creation that I decided to leave out after the holiday passed (he keeps the neighbor kids out of the yard on the off-season). He's still standing and looking the same as he did nine months ago! Here's a close-up:

More creatures are in the works for this year and some modifications to the cemetery gate. Other than that, everything from last year worked well and received lots of screams from visitors - especially the sound activated spiders that drop from the trees above the heads of everyone who is looking down!

 

[Baron Samedi]

Nice...real nice.
Thanks for posting them.
Good use of lighting, and the absurdly tall "Sticks" is absurdly cool!

 

[hallorenescene]

i love your haunt. the arch with the webbing coming off is really cool..very nice work

 

[Gwynplaine]

 

[SinisterSmitty]

I'm from NOVA... Sterling area. Nice to meet you. Your yard looks awesome. Making a facade would help the cape cod look scarier... try something simple like a condemned house... board up the windows and door with painted cardboard or pallet wood, put colored cellophane over the lights in your front rooms to make the inside glow (instead of just black), and put pop up props inside the windows to jump out at the ToT's. Tip: the thicker the cellophane, the darker the effect. i usually use 10 layers to make it just a dark glow... I like purple the best for haunted houses. Oh, and dont forget the condemned sign on the front door!

I'm actually working on a delux version of the condemned house idea for my own haunt this year. I'll keep pics posted in the props forum as i work on it.

Good luck! Smitty

 

[ScreamingScarecrow]

Nice work! welcome aboard!

 

[Junit]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Pumpkin Torture Guy]

Nice pics.

 

[malibuman]

Welcome to the forum.