Halloween 2011 & Prop Giveaways
February 19th, 2011 by John WolfeThough 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.
February 20th, 2011 at 12:37 am
This is exciting. I sooooo want you to be having a shop for your creations. They are one-of-a-kind and those of us not adept at this would kill to have such impressive pieces.
February 20th, 2011 at 7:48 am
Craziness. But I get it.
February 20th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
I was looking forward to the Skinwalker, but I’m certain that whatever ya do, John, the haunt’s gonna look great! I can sympathize with wanting to change a theme during pre-production. This year I almost did a carnival theme. I love that theme, but it’s not for me. Always go with a theme or style that fits you.
February 20th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Little Grim looks great.
February 20th, 2011 at 6:34 pm
autumnforest,
Thanks, my friend. I sure appreciate that.
Matt Culver,
Thanks for your understanding. It’s a little strange to think I’m not gonna be doing the haunt on a large scale this year, but it’s also a little refreshing too, cause I can now devote the majority of my energy to making props to give as gifts rather than making them for the purpose of the yard haunt. Hosting the spooky giveaways here at the site is what always brings me a ton of happiness, cause I just love giving stuff to others.
Damian,
Thanks, man. My theme this year is gonna be “Slim Pickins”
since the graveyard will be pretty bare. I wish you all the best with your theme change.
Barry Huddleston,
Thanks, Barry. Great to hear from you.
February 21st, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Nice John, looking forward to it.
February 21st, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Wow a season of shadows shop! That would be awesome! And you going to give your props away. Some one is going to be very happy to recieve one of those. You work is excellent! I still can`t wait to see the finished props. Best of luck with the shop , when you get it going. I`m sure all your friends here will be supporting you.
February 21st, 2011 at 5:54 pm
Greetings. I completely understand your decision to scale back….for a while there we thought of doing the same thing. But as most people know now we went completely the other direction……I am going to bet by the end of September I am going to wish I had taken your route.
Looking forward to seeing your creations, and they fact that you are giving them away just shows how amazing of a haunter you really are. Thanks for sharing your greatness with the rest of us.
Cheers!
February 21st, 2011 at 8:33 pm
Can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for this year’s haunt. I have always been a big fan of the “less is more” idea. I think it can be applied to almost anything. I thought about doing some craft-like projects (on the small scale; eg. mache pumpkins, etc. for around the house), but my schedule with classes when they start back up in the fall would be tricky so most of the work would have to be done in the summer. We’ll see.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Adsila,
Thank you.
ssflipo13,
That’s very kind! Much appreciated! And thanks as always for your friendship and support.
The Frog Queen,
You guys do such a tremendous haunt. It’s excellent now, but I’m sure it would still be fantastic on a smaller scale too!
Thank you for being so supportive and for such kind words!
Doug,
I don’t think I’ll be making any new props to place in the haunt. It’ll probably be a couple of my groundbreakers from the last few years that make an appearance this year. Since I’m so meticulous and demanding when it comes to the appearance of my mache work (I’m hella anal about the way my props look
), I’ll probably only finish three or four new props before Halloween, counting Little Grim, and I’m looking forward to giving all of them away.
Mache pumpkins sound great for placing around the house. I wish you the best in being able to make some of those guys during the summer. As long as you have some air conditioning and the time, it should work out well. All the best with your fall term of school, too.
February 24th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
My dearest friend, you are already fully aware of my thoughts behind this much needed change for you. I’m beyond happy that you have chosen to scale down the yard haunt given what all went into last year and a few things not falling through for you. Not to mention my main concern dear one: YOUR HEALTH!! Between not much sleep and not much food, I was becoming very concern for your well being. If you had a team with you to assemble and watch the haunt for you, completely different story but for one man alone to do all you have done in the past 2 years especially, it was insanity
I’m most pleased your taking it easy (sort of) with the haunt this year and allowing yourself to spread out at an even pace in October. It’s an excellent move!
LoL, again you know how I feel about your little angels and I’ve been waiting a loooooooooong time to get my little tiny hands on your creations my dear. You know exactly how much so too
I don’t need to state where I stand on this, you already know so I shall cease from boring your readers much further with my ramblings 
You have my support 110% John, now and always.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Goldie,
Thank you very much for your support of my decision. You’re absolutely right about the change needing to occur for a few reasons, one of the main ones being my health. For the last few years, I really neglected my health during late summer and right on into November. That might have been okay to do when I was younger, but as I’ve gotten older my body requires a lot of specific things to keep it functioning properly on all levels and I was neglecting it like crazy during the “on-season” prep for Halloween.
Along with needing to eat properly and get plenty of deep rest comes exercise, something that had been very absent (or at least being performed sporadically at best) for the last few years. Ever since December I’ve been keeping up on all of these areas and plan to stay super consistent from this point forward. If I don’t, I know my health will only continue to deteriorate.
Thanks for your kind words about my prop work, too. Though I’m a slow-poke about creating, I do want to try and have at least three giveaways before Halloween, and I’m looking forward to starting the webcam again soon as well.