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Hi, everyone!
Halloween 2014 brought us our first Halloween in a new state/town, and it was a bit of an adventure. As you are about to see, despite my annual declaration to the contrary, I have NOT improved my photography skills, but I hope I've managed to capture the spirit of most things.
As 2014 unfolded, I was taking a new job, and we were moving over the August and September time frame, so building a bunch of new props really wasn't feasible. Also, we'd only gotten into our new place in August, so planning a brand new haunt really wasn't in the cards either.
So, clearly our habit of a new theme each year was pretty well out of the question!
With no new props, comparatively little time to plan, but a whole new house/yard/neighborhood to haunt….what to do?
We just went back to basics, and decided to just creep out the house! We figured we'd deploy all of the pumpkins and skeletons we have, then, throw in the hearse, a cemetery, and some new projections, and have ourselves a good ol' fashioned eerie jamboree! After all, what could be more fun than skeletons and jack-o-lanterns engaging in shenanigans?
We got our throw-it-all-together Halloween gumbo started with jacks in the windows and on the sconces, as well as a skeleton greeter at the front door:
Then, we tried our hand at something we’ve long wanted to do, and made something of a Ray Bradbury inspired Halloween Tree with a lonely skeleton perched beneath:
Of course, we then needed a casket, complete with escaped resident flanked by his flaming friends. This scene came complete with a blue-gel strobe and a fogger that could be triggered whenever a ToT ventured near; what I like to call a ‘soft’ scare:
From there, we resurrected the Revenant Manor cemetery from 2013, and just tweaked it a bit, by replacing the rear projection screen in the mausoleum with a larger free-standing version:
The hearse was parked just outside the cemetery complete with Dave the driver (who has inexplicably managed to lodge the hearse in the woods), and his rascally companion perched in the tree above:
And, for those brave enough to spend a bit of time with our skeletal revelers, we included a ‘Photo-Opportunity’ near the front. Conveniently, the sign cooperated by fluorescing under black light:
Below we see the scene where two of our cadaverous roisterers had stationed themselves, and then the master of the manor takes a seat for a quick photographic session with the cadaverous merrymakers:
And finally, I tried to get a 'panorama' of the whole hootenanny, but it didn't turn out too well....I'm posting it here anyway in hopes that it kinds of helps illustrate where everything sat in relation to one another:
There were other elements (such as the upstairs window projection) where I haven't yet found pictures, but may yet stumble across some. Also, I do have some video I'm going to try to edit, and will see if there is anything decent in there. If so, I'll stitch some together, and post it back here when completed.
I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Halloween in 2014, and thanks for visiting!
Halloween 2014 brought us our first Halloween in a new state/town, and it was a bit of an adventure. As you are about to see, despite my annual declaration to the contrary, I have NOT improved my photography skills, but I hope I've managed to capture the spirit of most things.
As 2014 unfolded, I was taking a new job, and we were moving over the August and September time frame, so building a bunch of new props really wasn't feasible. Also, we'd only gotten into our new place in August, so planning a brand new haunt really wasn't in the cards either.
So, clearly our habit of a new theme each year was pretty well out of the question!
With no new props, comparatively little time to plan, but a whole new house/yard/neighborhood to haunt….what to do?
We just went back to basics, and decided to just creep out the house! We figured we'd deploy all of the pumpkins and skeletons we have, then, throw in the hearse, a cemetery, and some new projections, and have ourselves a good ol' fashioned eerie jamboree! After all, what could be more fun than skeletons and jack-o-lanterns engaging in shenanigans?
We got our throw-it-all-together Halloween gumbo started with jacks in the windows and on the sconces, as well as a skeleton greeter at the front door:

Then, we tried our hand at something we’ve long wanted to do, and made something of a Ray Bradbury inspired Halloween Tree with a lonely skeleton perched beneath:
Of course, we then needed a casket, complete with escaped resident flanked by his flaming friends. This scene came complete with a blue-gel strobe and a fogger that could be triggered whenever a ToT ventured near; what I like to call a ‘soft’ scare:
From there, we resurrected the Revenant Manor cemetery from 2013, and just tweaked it a bit, by replacing the rear projection screen in the mausoleum with a larger free-standing version:
The hearse was parked just outside the cemetery complete with Dave the driver (who has inexplicably managed to lodge the hearse in the woods), and his rascally companion perched in the tree above:
And, for those brave enough to spend a bit of time with our skeletal revelers, we included a ‘Photo-Opportunity’ near the front. Conveniently, the sign cooperated by fluorescing under black light:
Below we see the scene where two of our cadaverous roisterers had stationed themselves, and then the master of the manor takes a seat for a quick photographic session with the cadaverous merrymakers:
And finally, I tried to get a 'panorama' of the whole hootenanny, but it didn't turn out too well....I'm posting it here anyway in hopes that it kinds of helps illustrate where everything sat in relation to one another:

There were other elements (such as the upstairs window projection) where I haven't yet found pictures, but may yet stumble across some. Also, I do have some video I'm going to try to edit, and will see if there is anything decent in there. If so, I'll stitch some together, and post it back here when completed.
I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Halloween in 2014, and thanks for visiting!