Thursday, March 25, 2010 The Shadow Farm

My vow to quietly resent truly talented people has been suspended for this post.
Not very long ago I stumbled upon and was blown away by several yard haunt pieces made by Dave the Dead. While most of us were making props Dave was making art. Since then he has developed the Shadow Farm blog and Etsy shop to showcase a greater variety of his work.

Dave is featuring these beautiful Easter Eggs for his Shadow Farm Easter 2010 Giveaway.


Treat yourself to original art in the spirit of the haunt and visit his blog and shop.

Thursday, October 29, 2009 Happy Halloween!!

Saturday, September 12, 2009 Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House!!

In 1962 Disney released "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House" in glorious Monophonic. Sickie Ickie over at HauntForum had this LP for sale and I had to get it. Way too many hours of my youth were spent listening to this record on an old blue plastic clam-shell record player. In fact I hold this record responsible for my lifelong "Halloween kick" (as my family calls it).

It is cool to see that many folks hold an unhealthy fascination for this record. Check out the 3-D recreation of the album cover by Ray Keim over at Haunted Dimensions.

To listen to the tracks check out DavesWorld56 site.

There is something about listening to raw vinyl. The pops and clicks are something I have sorely missed.

Sunday, August 23, 2009 Maplewood Cemetery

We visited beautiful Maplewood Cemetery in nearby Gordonsville Virginia this weekend.

We visited this beautiful and peaceful place several times while we were dating.
This bench is where I proposed to my dear wife (and she accepted!).

Sunday, August 9, 2009 Rey...a drop of golden sun

It was late and I was corpsing (applying construction adhesive and stain) the deer with bat wings project, when there was a whisper. In an almost imperceptible, sandy voice she said "They call me Rey and I have come to shine darkness across the land." Her talons clicked on the concrete as she hopped to the floor and she was clear of the garage door with just two beats of her wings.
Caroline came running with the camera just in time to get a few shots before Rey disappeared into the night sky.

Saturday, June 27, 2009 Deer Corpse In Progress

We FINALLY have some progress to report on our deer corpse.
Two yards of bathing suit liner proved to be a good wing membrane, and the corpsing of the head and body have begun. Much left to do.

Thursday, June 4, 2009 Monster Kiddie Car

This thing is just too much and I had to post it. From a friend who spotted it on boingboing.

Sunday, May 17, 2009 Deer Wing Test

We decided that the deer corpse needed wings. After some consideration we settled on bat wings, and even found a bat wing calculator (you gotta love the internet) from the good people at Zombietronix.
PVC seemed logical and aluminum worked well for the hinge joints. Though it won't be animated we did want to be able to change wing position to fit her mood. As pictured the elbow and finger joints can be individually actuated. Bruin (Boo) thought he could bring some scale to the photo - he's 70 pounds. He even busted out his psychological thriller expression to add depth.

There is much finish work to be done to turn the PVC to bone and we are still debating the best material to use for the membrane.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 Deer In Progress

The skeletal deer transforms at a snail's pace. Cleaning every bit of tissue from the spine proved time consuming, but the stench of death no longer clings to the bones.
At this stage the spine is reassembled and structurally sound and the PVC fittings to attach arms and legs are in place. The skull is sporting new blank eyes and fangs - all ready for detailing.

He is whispering in my ear that he wants wings. More to come.

Sunday, March 8, 2009 The remains of the day

I believe that re-use is the most effective method of recycling. This deer is soaking in bleach waiting to become something just as scary but a little less stinky.

Friday, March 6, 2009 'Halloween in the Time of Cholera'

A friend sent this Wired article about an old-school Halloween photo collector. Most of the photos are just exquisite. The rest of his collection can be seen in Flickr.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009 Decapi-Annie

A while back a friend gave me a retired Resusci Annie, and this is her liberated head. Let the record reflect that a resuscitation doll creeps me out, even before the decapitation modifications.

Sunday, November 23, 2008 Bob the Grave Popper

A quick video of Bob in action. A new wiper motor prop for this year.

Monday, November 17, 2008 The Sinking Springs Cemetery

The Sinking Springs Cemetery in Abingdon Virginia has some vintage stones, with the oldest burial date being July 1776.

It is also home to the coolest earthen tomb that I have ever seen...










...and my favorite cemetery sign of all time.

Monday, November 10, 2008 Halloween 2008

This year we took it easy and just set a few props at our friend's house. Sweet little Jewels is high tailing it away from Oliver.

This is Bob, a simple motorized grave popper we made this year from instructions on Haunt Forum.

Natalia returns for her third season as the ever popular flying crank ghost.

Lydia was excited to go trick-or-treating, but paused long enough for us to snap this shot with Oliver.

Saturday, November 8, 2008 Corpse Celebration

What is it about human remains that is so interesting? Recent remains do not hold my interest, but ancient remains can be captivating. These are a few catacomb images that I thought were compelling.

Failed Casting

We had a failure while casting some skulls in two part foam. The failure will not survive, but I thought it was cool.

Thursday, October 30, 2008 Ohio State Reformatory

We visited the Ohio State Reformatory site in September 2008. The structure and tour were absolutely fascinating.