Season of Shadows Blog

Though I had plans to develop my Skinwalker prop(s) for this year’s yard haunt, in the last few weeks I’ve decided to go an entirely different route. After taking into consideration how extremely overwhelming setup and tear down was for Halloween 2010 (and knowing it would be even more so if I followed my original plans for this year’s haunt), I’ve decided to go back to a very simple yard display for 2011. At most, I’m only going to place a couple of groundbreakers in the graveyard this October 31st.

This scaling down should guarantee I don’t have a repeat “chicken with my head cut off” performance when it comes to getting the graveyard’s webcam broadcast running, plus it will free up a lot of prep time. I’ll still continue making props and posting video updates on their progress. However, in lieu of adding my new creations to the yard haunt, I’ve decided to give away all the props I make between now and October via my giveaway entries here in the blog.

At some point in time I would like to start selling my projects, but I feel creating props and giving them to visitors will only help me to get better at the art of mache until I am finally ready to open the Season of Shadows Shop. I’m not sure when I’ll be posting my first prop giveaway since it still isn’t finished, but Little Grim should be the one that kicks it all off.

Update — 12/05/10: This giveaway has closed. Thanks to everyone who entered. I’d like to congratulate Autumnforest of Phoenix, AZ; Fiend4Halloween of Hemet, CA; and Franz McLaren of Tustin, CA. Autumnforest won Lot 1, Fiend4Halloween won Lot 2, and Franz won Lot 3 of Ethan’s awesome Halloween artwork.

Based on recent correspondence, I know how excited some of you are for Halloween to hurry up and get here. The e-mails I’ve been receiving lately tell the tale of a thirst for October 31st like I’ve never seen before… okay, so I’m exaggerating a bit, but not by much. And while I can’t do anything about speeding up Halloween’s arrival, I can certainly try to quench that thirst a bit with some wonderfully spooky Halloween artwork in this latest giveaway. Ethan Black, an EXTREMELY talented artist and regular visitor to Season of Shadows, has been kind enough to provide me with nine pieces of Halloween-themed artwork to give to three separate winners.

I’ve divided his work into three lots; each lot contains three spooky renderings. The pieces range from small and medium-sized prints of his work, to an original drawing by Ethan.

Up first is Lot #1 (pictured in the top paragraph – click image to enlarge). This group of three contains the lantern waving zombie resting on a tombstone; a wicked-looking page from the Necronomicon (a fictional book of magic found in the works of H.P. Lovecraft) – the Necronomicon piece is an original of Ethan’s; and a matted, grinning jack-o-lantern print. Up next is Lot #2 (pictured in this paragraph – click image to enlarge). This second group of three contains “The Old Witch” performing her rituals over a cauldron; a framed print of a pumpkin-headed scarecrow standing guard over the harvest; and a matted print of a devil’s silhouette.

Last but not least, is Lot #3. This third group contains the hooked skeleton; the matted “Witch And Moon” print; and the matted haunting “Ghost” print. Lot #1 will be given to the first random number drawn. Lot #2 will be given to the second random number drawn. And, Lot #3 will be given to the third random number drawn. For more giveaway details, see the Guidelines section below. Again, I cannot thank Ethan enough for his kindness and generosity! Be sure to check out his Deviant Art page, where you can enjoy more of Ethan’s fantastic artwork and purchase his prints.

Please, only one entry per household. Duplicate entries from the same IP will be deleted. These giveaways are really based on the honor system, but I do my best to make it as fair as possible for everyone. There’s no catch here, everything is free–including payment of shipping and handling for all three lots of Halloween artwork–I cover all costs. To be entered, leave a comment below showing your interest.

Depending on the volume of entries, comments may only be displayed under this post for a short time. As entries grow, I may remove comments to make it easier for visitors to scroll to the comment box and enter. However, I guarantee all entries will be saved in the order they are received.

When leaving a comment, be sure to include your correct e-mail address and be certain to keep track of your spam or bulk folder after the drawing closes, just in case. Each winner of Ethan’s Halloween artwork will be contacted through the e-mail address that’s registered with their comment. I will never share addresses, provided by entrants, with any third parties and you’ll never receive unsolicited mail when entering.

This Halloween artwork contest will end at 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on November 15, 2010. All legitimate entries will then be assigned a number in the order they were received. Three numbers will be randomly drawn to determine the winners.

All three winners will then be notified, via the e-mail addresses they provided, no later than November 16th. If one, or all three don’t respond (with their shipping information) within two weeks, then one (two or three) more number(s) will be drawn to determine the new winner(s). Upon receiving their permission, the winners’ names will be featured at the top of this post.

If you would like to see your Halloween or paranormal website or business promoted through SOS and you have some appropriately themed items to give away, please contact me.