Cauldron Creep 2011
Take a look at our only new prop for the 2011 Halloween season. Get an up-close look at the mechanics behind the operation of this prop, and a few modifications that I found beneficial to the overall look and operation. This was our first attempt at building an animated prop, and the results were great. Inspired by the original creation by Devil’s Chariot, here is The Haunting Grounds’ interpretation of The Cauldron Creep.
2011 Home Haunt Photos
Photos of this year’s Home Haunt display, as well as a few of our Halloween party set-up have been posted. See them here ~~> Home Haunt 2011
I am currently working on editing the video showcasing my first animated prop (and this years only completed prop), the Cauldron Creep. Once that’s finished, I’ll be working on the 2011 home haunt video.
Site Updates
Hi all. Hope you all had a great 2011 Halloween season.
This winter, I will be making a few changes to the site that I feel are necessary at this time. One of the biggest changes will be the repurposing of the Blog. I have never been much of a blogger. The occasional random posts have done nothing to benefit the site nor its visitors, and have created too much work for me in dealing with comment spam. Instaed, I will be using the Blog portion of the site to post news related directly to this site and the home haunt about which it was created. Basically, I’ll just be using the blog to announce updates and new content, though I may throw in an occasional miscellaneous tidbit. I will also be disabling comments for all sections of the site. every month, I recieve hundreds of spam comments, and very little else. For those of you who have commented in the past, I thank you. I still welcome feedback via email and enjoy hearing from my visitors, so feel free to write.
Aside from the blog, I have a few asthetic changes, and other minor tweaks planned. I hope to have these all completed within the next month or so, and plan to focus alot more effort on completing the missing content that has been looming over my head for the past two years.
Photo Gallery Repaired
For anyone who may have noticed, out Photo Gallery has been repaired. All photos are back online.
Getting back to it
Hey everyone, if there are any of you reading this, I’m back. It’s been a long and rough off season this year. My intent to keep up with posts throughout the off season quickly became overshadowed by a number of life’s little tasks and road bumps, and the site has been left unchanged since the beginning of the year. With Halloween now just less that 2 months from now, and having done virtually nothing in the way of building new props, I have found myself re-evaluating my plans for new additions and changes for this year.
The year started out with my focus directed towards the restructuring of my Reef Aquarium, which had suffered a few problems in the preceding months. The efforts would ultimately be all for naught, as the aquarium was dismantled and sold off later in the summer.
The spring followed with the loss of my Grandmother, my last remaining grandparent, which was followed immediately thereafter by my wife’s surgery and recovery. All of this virtually extinguished my Halloween spirit and my drive to work on new projects. I began to focus more on my garden, which was a good outlet for my stress and frustrations, and the 28 Pumpkin plants kept the last of my Halloween spirit from fading like the flame of a spent candle. That until the Squash Borers struck. Needless to say, I’d seen enough misfortune for this year. It was time to get things turned around.
As it turns out, a Vacation was the perfect remedy. Earlier plans for a day trip out to Salem, MA were altered to include 2 extra days, and a campsite that overlooks Waikiki Beach on Winter Island. On August 23rd, we packed up all the crap, the kids, and a good family friend and hit the road. I’ll go into more detail later, but let’s just say that this trip was just what the Dr ordered. I am ready to get Halloween underway and not even Hurricane Irene could bring me down.
What’s he building?
Organ Donor
On a recent visit to John Wolfe’s Season of Shadows, I was introduced to this little gem. I’ve enjoyed watching this one so much that I really had to share it. This is the music video for the song Organ Donor from Jeremy Messersmith’s latest album, “The Reluctant Graveyard”. Thanks again John for turning me on to this one. For anyone interested, I’ve included the lyrics below the video. Enjoy!
I was born in a mortuary
Full of worry
Ice water in my veins
Gave my heart in the school library
Never knew her name
Lost my tongue in the sanctuary
“Heaven spare me!”
Hands raised above my head
Sent my brain to the seminary
Never seen again…
Swing low
Grey bones
I don’t know
If I’ll ever be whole again
Left my spine in the wedding chapel
Full of people
Feet turning into lead
Lost a leg at the iron foundry
Where they found me dead
Drained my blood at the mortuary
No more worry
Ice water in my veins
Took my bones to the cemetery
Where they still remain
So swing low
Grey bones
I don’t know
If I’ll ever be whole again
Halloween ’02
This morning, My son had dug out my old laptop and left it out to charge so he could mess around with it. Curious, I started the old buzzard up and to my surprize, the desktop wallpaper was a photo of my daughter’s first Halloween. As I ventured through the documents therein, I came upon a few more photos. I couldn’t help but share a few of them here.
The Walking Dead
Here is a little source of inspiration for all of you corpse makers out there. This is “Bicycle Girl” from AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ series.
