In The Haunted House
August 2nd, 2010 by John WolfeWhile you won’t ever see me placing cutesy things in my yard haunt on Halloween night, I have to admit that I’ll totally entertain campy Halloween stuff for my own viewing pleasure (even if it’s intended for children ). 
In The Haunted House is one of those cutesy things that tickle my fancy. These types of stories take me all the way back to Halloweens of my childhood, back to when the obsession with October 31st first began to take hold. Though In The Haunted House wasn’t around when I was a boy, if it weren’t for books like it, my Halloween imagination never would have been quite as overactive as it is today!
Source: YT user, richmarino and In The Haunted House (link takes you to Amazon) by Eve Bunting and Susan Meddaugh
Okay, enough cute stuff. Now I’m off to rip, shred and tear the Angel of Death’s skin for a bit. He’s just starting to take on that sinewy look I love to see in my props.
August 2nd, 2010 at 9:28 pm
John, how can you tease like that??? Cute video and then you tell us you’re off to shred some skin…Oh I do hope you’re videotaping it, buddy. My fingers itch every time I hear about your projects. I would so love to be there, making my creepy baby dolls alongside you. You are the master!
August 3rd, 2010 at 3:11 pm
LOL, guess I’m just an old “prop tease!” I haven’t been recording my latest mache work, but I’ll definitely have an update posted on his progress before the end of August. I’m still doing a similar style with the shredding of tissue, while also trying something a little different in how it’s applied this time. I’m going for an even more emaciated look, with far less skin covering his body than any other prop I’ve created before. But the tissue that is present will really be ripped to pieces to reveal his bones.
That would be quite a creative team: you on one side making spooky dolls and me on the other treating paper towels in a manner which they were never intended to be treated. I like it!
Thanks for your kind words, my friend. I usually see myself as someone fumbling around in the dark on my creations for hours and hours until something finally clicks and I’m satisfied with the look I’ve achieved. I guess I could be the master of fumbling around anyway.
August 3rd, 2010 at 3:52 pm
This reminds me of when I was a child and my elementary school had a haunted house in the library on Halloween. One of the teachers dressed as a witch and led you through a nearly pitch black maze with a mummy and a werewolf, older kids, a hole you had to reach into full of bugs, fake of course, and a hole you had to reach into.On the other side someone grabbed your hand. Scared me to death. I was sure I would lose it. We also had a teacher read palms, and movies shown as well as games with prizes. At one of these my sister forced me to watch Michale Jackson’s THRILLER with the older kids, I was scared of zombies for the next fifteen years.
August 5th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
I like to watch all types of halloween things as we get closer to that special day. I can`t wait for the halloween shows to start on tv. But this short was great and reminded me of my childhood also. Thanks for sharing.
August 5th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Ethan,
Do you think your encounters at the haunted library played a part in establishing your love affair with Halloween? Thanks for sharing your experiences, by the way. I love hearing about great Halloween stuff from childhood, pretty much anybody’s childhood, cause it always triggers my own fond memories.
In fact, the haunted house at your school reminded me of a Halloween/fall carnival I attended at my elementary school in second grade. There were all sorts of different things happening in classrooms throughout the campus: face painting, haunted houses, someone wrapping kids arms, legs and heads in ACE bandages and then dripping fake blood on the gauze. Wow, I hadn’t thought of that carnival in years — thanks, Ethan!
ssflipo13,
Oh, I hear that! I especially love to try and catch The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but I’m usually working on props while it’s on. Of course, I could just get it on DVD and watch it, but there’s always something special about catching it when it’s actually airing on TV… I’m funny like that.
I also love catching all the cool stuff Travel Channel puts on pertaining to professional haunted houses and the paranormal. I don’t have cable at my place, but I usually try and make it to my parents’ house a couple of times during October to soak up the Halloween programming.
August 6th, 2010 at 9:00 am
No problem. I asked my mother about my love of Halloween, because it predates my long term memory. She said that she could not recall a time when I didn’t like “that stuff”. She said “it seems I was just born that way.” I guess it will always be a mystery.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Knowing what you’ve shared about your family’s feelings pertaining to Halloween and anything Goth or dark, I got a kick out of your response, especially the part where your mom called it “that stuff!”
I like the fact she told you were born that way, though. Maybe it’s just naturally in your blood.
August 8th, 2010 at 2:39 am
Halloween picture books are always fun to look through in October. There’s something about them that makes the books slightly more entertaining than they should logically be!
August 8th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
When it comes to most kids’ books, I’m pretty bored, but I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be considering I’m a grown man (some may argue with that). But when it comes to looking at and reading Halloween books for kids, I’m totally interested. Now you can see why some would argue that statement about me being a grown man. LOL!
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Haha, this suddenly reminded me of a book I sued to LOVE reading as a very young child, which I haven’t thought about for way too long…
“The House That Drac Built”
http://www.amazon.com/House-That-Drac-Built/dp/0152018794#_
If you haven’t already, totally check it out.
The artwork is beautiful and brings back so many memories. Every Halloween enthusiast has their roots in great childhood stuff like this. Ah yes, my old elementary school used to put on such a bash…a proper Halloween party, not some ho-hum “fall festival” to appease the nuts. They would convert the computer lab into a walk-through haunted house, with the faculty putting on quite a show…they held a huge potluck in the auditorium, TOTing between classrooms (which would all be decorated by their students)…the janitor would give us all hay rides, towing the wagon with his ATV-like vehicle. This school never had a lot of money and was located in a poorer neighborhood to boot, but they had a flair for making Halloween something special.
August 24th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Heather,
I’ve never heard of The House That Drac Built. Thank you for the link.
Now that’s the kind of Halloween enthusiasm (displayed at your elementary school) I’m talking about! Events like that make it so special for the kids. It’s a shame that big Halloween celebrations in most schools are probably becoming even less common nowadays due to funding issues and the times we live in. It sounds like the students at your old school could consider themselves pretty lucky to have a staff like that, since it takes a lot of spirit on their part to organize and run a fall event of that magnitude. Thanks so much for sharing your great memories, Heather. I hope you have a fantastic Halloween!
August 25th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Hi all:
I am YT user richmarino, or Rich Marino and I found your blog and postings about my halloween video that I created for my children a few years ago…. so GLAD that it is still being shared and liked…
Thanks for sharing!
Rich Marino
August 25th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Thank you Rich for creating it (you did a great job!) and for allowing it to be embedded. Have a great Halloween!