Shocks for Halloween
March 4th, 2010 by John Wolfe
After using cornstalks in my haunt during 2007 and 2008, I decided not to include them last year. While I liked the haunt a little better without the massive wall of corn behind my graveyard’s overseer, it was a little strange not having the stalks as part of the display. So, for Halloween 2010, I’ve decided to compromise — no wall of corn, however, I am going to bring the stalks back to the haunt. But this time, I’m going to place them in those lean-to bundles around the edges and back of the graveyard. And, in the vein of Tuesday’s post about Witches and Broomsticks, I decided to do a little digging on the history of those lean-to cornstalk structures, called “shocks.”
I learned that over a century ago (prior to major technological advances in farming), after stalks were cut down, farmers made shocks in the field so the cornstalks could dry out. After drying in shocks, the stalks were either loaded on wagons and hauled to another location for shucking, or they were shucked right in the field.
Today, this same practice is continued by the Amish, as is evident by the great footage of shocks in this vid:
Source: YT user, knoeful
There’s certain imagery that immediately captures the feeling of fall; seeing shocks is one of those for me. While I’ve never lived near an Amish community and machinery has removed the need for shocks among farms that embrace technology, associating those lean-to structures with Halloween and fall must go back to my youth. I used to consume a steady diet of Halloween books that included old artwork. A lot of that artwork featured creepy fields full of shocks, guarded by a lone scarecrow — all illuminated by a full moon.
“Shocks” image source: Wikipedia
A great resource for learning about the use of shocks and other aspects of pioneer farming is: Camp Silos.
March 4th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
After that phone call, you got me wondering what purpose those bundles server because clearly they had one. I can think far back into history of constantly seeing those shocks invade the farm land. It often seemed to be rather choosey about where to find those and now, thanks to you, I know why they exist.
I think the change of the corn wall to the shocks will be a delightful addition to your fantastic yard haunts John. Though last years haunt was divine, I could tell that you were still missing the corn effects in there. It’s such a large part of your childhood memories when it comes to Halloween that it must have been odd to not have that in 09. However, you did have so much more going on, more projects than I would care to keep up with so time did not allow you to create the wall. Having said that, I think the shocks will be a perfect addition to the haunt and NOT take up to much of your time to bundle up and stack them as you see fit.
SeasonofShadows yard haunt for 2010 is going to blow your fans and neighbors right out of the water……….I can feel it comin’.
March 4th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Having the shocks throughout your haunt will look wicked. Just the right touch with the angel prop your building. Really enjoyed the you tube clip.
March 4th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
That’s fantastic! You know, when I was growing up, we’d visit family in West Virginia and they’d have those in all the fields. They are definitely the harbingers of Halloween and the countryside sentinels of the dark season. I wish I still had it (my mother threw everything out from our childhoods–too efficient) but when I was in fifth grade I won the Halloween poster contest for the entire county. It was poster of those shocks of corn, a black cat, a little cabin with smoke coming out, a full moon with a witch on a broom going across it and all in fluorescent paints. I usually grow corn in my yard in a patch during the summer. It never really takes to grow ears, but I can cut them down and use them at Halloween. Ironically, even though it’s hot here, my mulberry tree has a disease and every October it loses lots of yellow leaves from the summer heat and I scatter those at the front doorstep. The kids get all excited to have an autumn feel in the desert–so do I. Sometimes, I’d use the front door to get the mail just so I could walk through the crunchy leaves (in the 90-degree heat). Thanks for the memories–you really really get the season!
March 5th, 2010 at 12:20 am
Goldie,
You’re absolutely right about the time constraints last year. Similar to all my Halloween projects, I love creating the cornfield facade for the haunt, but it takes many hours to attach the stalks to the fence. I think making shocks is the best of both worlds — I still get to use corn, but it will definitely be far less time consuming.
Thanks, Goldie!
frightnight,
Thanks for your support and I’m glad you enjoyed the clip.
autumnforest,
That sounds like an awesome poster — reminds me a lot of the Halloween stuff I used to treasure as a kid. I like your description of the shocks being harbingers of Halloween and countryside sentinels of the dark season… very well put!
A good portion of leaves I use in my haunt come from (fruitless) mulberry trees, too. My grandparents have two mulberry trees and those things supply about fifty percent of the leaves. The remaining fifty come from cottonwood trees. Everything associated with my haunt gets “trucked” in from other locations. Though we’re desert, thankfully we have a lot of leafy trees that do well here; cottonwoods being one of them as they’ve grown along the Rio Grande for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
The trick-or-treaters who come to your house are very lucky to have you in the neighborhood!
March 7th, 2010 at 12:40 am
John;
Lucky you–cottonwoods! I had a few but they got some disease and died off. I was soooooo sad because I love the way they shimmer in the wind and make that little light sizzling sound. When they change colors–oh my!
March 7th, 2010 at 1:51 am
Sorry to hear about your cottonwoods. If you like the sound of sizzle, then you’d love my grandparents’ yard in the summer! They have two massive cottonwoods and both are totally chocked full of leaves. You’re absolutely right, the colors are spectacular in the fall–that’s why I like to use cottonwood leaves in the haunt.