This is a quick bit of video footage taken by my husband (Redwire), he is very proud of the automated cauldron prop, it was the first mechanical prop I’d asked for and I think he did an amazing job putting it together. This is the walk up to my front door and the entrance to our “Shoppe”. The music overlay is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode “Hush” a great piece of music called “Golf Claps” by Christophe Beck.
Just click here…Strolling to the Shoppe door
Just a few pictures from this years haunt…finally. More pics and vids coming very soon. Check back.
Exterior walk up to front of “shoppe”
Interior shot, a bit grainy in the low light
A close-up of the shoppe counter
A bit of Malevolent Math being worked out by the good Professor…
I hope that everyone had a Halloween filled with rare wonders and spooky spectacles. Professor Auds and Doctor Enns Malevolent Mercantile was a big hit, we had visitors from as far away as Connecticut and enjoyed folks coming right in and looking over the rooms that were decorated for our shoppe concept. Photo ops were high and we were really excited by the turnout this year, the neighborhood was lively with great displays and one of our neighbors was handing out bbq hot dogs to the parents! The weather was what you hope for, crisp, clear, just a hint of breeze (helps with candle flicker). Our “Party” was last night and its nice as a kind of dry run for the Big Night. Many thanks to all who support and assist. Hope all you Haunters out there had equally splendid evenings.
I look up and down our street, the porches have gone dark, the jackos have been pulled in, so far I’ve resisted the leftover candy. That good kind of exhaustion is settling in. 2013 a very good season. We had a skeleton theme to support the Malevolent Mercantile concept based on a weathervane designed by the great Edward Gorey. I received one for my birthday last year and it was our mascot of sorts. I wrote this in honor of that, and I post it here to close out Halloween 2013. (Pics and vids to follow in coming days). Into the Cauldron will continue throughout the year so I hope you keep coming back.
Twilight heralds the coming Eve
and hastens Spirits to reprieve
as boney denizens take flight
Along the Currents they alight
Above the cloudveil of the skies
that masks Their path from gazing eyes
On whirlwinds They softly drift
Exulting in this yearly gift
If clustered cloud should clear a view
And chance should cast your eye on through
Perhaps you’ll glimpse Their spectral trail
Outlined by Moon set low and pale
And should you happen to espy
These knobby specters gliding by
Don’t wonder why They’ve passed the Gate
’tis Halloween They celebrate
They’ll skim the coasts and float o’er hills
Defiant in Their ardent wills
They’ll fright the throng, a fitting task
Down lanes bedecked with mischief’s mask
This flight, this dance, this soulful weave
This Queen of Nights – this Hallow’s Eve!
A. E.
Skeleton Flight
Well the final days are slipping by and are filled with lists and projects and re-dos and nudging. All to get it just right. Furiously working by day to test at night. The timing this year allows for a pre-weekend no doubt filled with parties and these are nice as they extend, broaden the holiday since the Big Night is still to come.
I am especially glad this year that the streets roundabout where I live are particularly festive this year, no less than 16 homes nearby have some sort of lighting or scape or even pumpkins adorning yards and porches. This is quite a rare circumstance and I wonder what it means, such surge in activity that I’ve not seen in many a season. Its reassuring and simply delightful to see. My excitement, anticipation, even consternation are on the rise in these coming up days and I will smile as I look outside my windows to those orange lights across the street, to the cobwebs draped across bushes in that yard down the corner, at pumpkins standing proud, orange and round dotting the landscape here and there as I think of the children, families that will soon use them to connect the dots as some primitive GPS for sourcing candy. Soon now, very soon.
As quoted from Sam Freeman’s article in issue 35 of Make Magazine “…The easiest way to automate a haunted house is to bribe your friends to hide behind curtains and pull ropes all night…”
Well, who doesn’t love old school? Or I guess you can try it this way, check out this Controller to automate your Haunt
Hey! This blog is only hours old and I’m already adding new items to read. Haunters Lot is an ode to fellow Haunters everywhere (you know who you are), but especially to that little kid down the block furiously checking out Oriental Trading Company online store for this years themed decor, and driving his mom to distraction.