Monday, September 22, 2008, 02:28 PM EST [
General]
As those of you that speak to me on a regular basis are aware...Halloween is my favorite "holiday" of the year. To put it in perspective, I spent around $600 on Christmas last year and have spent around $1700 on Halloween this year. I went to a special "sale" at Party City yesterday...EVERYTHING was 30% off...and SAVED $354...so, that should give you an idea of how much I spent there...just on Halloween supplies.
I don't usually spend THAT much, but I had some extra money this year. I build my own animatronic props with things I find around the house. This year's top project is my "Electric Chair". This thing is full size and sturdy enough to hold a live person. However, I have built a "dummy" of sorts so that we do not need to waste a person in the haunted house we are doing at my buddy's place this year. Thanks to a broken window A/C unit, I now have a remote control to operate it. With the press of a button, strobes will flash, the eyes I built into the skull light up and the high-torque drill motor that will "shake" the dummy turn on. I will be adding the guts from a "screaming" door mat to add a little audio to it. I may even wire the fogger into it, to blast some smoke around the charred corpse.
I am also drawing up plans for a "coffin jumper" for my buddy to build. Although, I might suggest a "leaper"-style prop that will lunge forward at guests instead of just popping out of a coffin (lame).
Anyways, I guess my fascination with Halloween is that it is the time of year that I get to put my creative side to work and use my ingenuity to create awesome and frightening props from almost nothing. Topping last year's props and design are always a necessity. I usually have a party at my house complete with a haunted house, but it has grown too big for my little yard...so we have moved it to my buddy's house. It worked well last year and should be even better this year. We have decided to run for three days this year. The day before Halloween will be our "practice run"...then of course Halloween night and then the night after for an encore. We are considering whether or not to ask for donations this year...as it does cost some money to put on a house of this size. But, we have not decided yet. Technically, it will still be free, but if someone sees fit to make a donation, it will be greatly appreciated.
I will post pictures shortly of the electric chair in progress soon and will make sure to snap some pics/video of the haunted house in action. Should be GOOD TIMES!!!
