Halloween Porch
November 5th, 2009 by John Wolfe
I didn’t include this image in the 2009 photo page, but this was how the front porch was decked out on Halloween night. The cemetery display always consists of the groundbreaker props I’ve made, while the porch props are usually store-bought. My favorite item was the hooded figure in the foreground. Lit only by black lights and flickering cauldrons, it provided a very ominous presence on the way to the door.
Though we didn’t have anyone associated with our haunt doing “startle scares” this year, I would say the younger trick-or-treaters still had to earn their candy by mustering up some courage. There were several who refused to make their way up to the porch.
On another note, all the cleanup work is finished and I’m back to full-time blogging. During the Halloween “offseason,” I may not blog every day, but I plan on having entries at least five times per week. This schedule will give me two full days each week to devote solely to prop building.
Speaking of which, I’m starting work on my version of the Angel of Death tomorrow. Building the initial support structure may take two or three weeks (away from the webcam). As soon as I’m ready to start on his body and the mache process, the workshop’s webcam will be up and running once again — hopefully by the end of November or the beginning of December.
November 5th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Pretty darned ambitious! Can’t wait to see you get started on it. How “oversized” will it be?
November 5th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
It’s probably going to be the size of my “scarecrow” corpse/cemetery overseer from the last three years. He stands about 7 ft tall. The trick with the Angel of Death is creating the illusion that he floats, so I won’t have a post under him, but rather behind him by several feet. I’m wanting the bottom of the Angel’s shroud to dangle above the ground (with no visible support structure), adding to the illusion that he’s floating. My version won’t be animated, though.
I’ll definitely make video updates as I work on him.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Well no wonder I heard a few children say, “No I’m not going up there” and leave as fast as they came. I wondered, while watching the webcam, what exactly was near the door or down the path that would scare them silly. Now I can see why
The hooded figure in the foreground would set me off right away and right at the entrance of the walkway so once they were at the door, they were goners, or so they thought. I would decline as well at that age, shoot, might still do it now. Thank you for sharing this photo with us and you can definitely tell Halloween is a family affair. The kids will really freak out for next years Halloween with the floating Angel of Death!!!
November 6th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Please get pictures as you work on the angel of death–exciting! Fantastic porch, btw
November 6th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Goldie,
I think some of them remembered what we used to do on the porch, so they fully expected something to jump out at any moment.
You probably would have been fine walking up there throughout the years, except for the Halloween when my cousin ran the chainsaw — I know how you feel about those things.
autumnforest,
Thanks.
Through my video updates, I’m going to document the entire process of building him. It won’t be step by step how-to’s, but I will show how he progresses.