Beautiful Fall Day

It was a beautiful fall day yesterday, so we decided to go for a walk in a local area village. Saw a few nicely decorated homes for Halloween and strolled through the village's cemetery.

Target Halloween 2023

We checked out what Target had out for Halloween in store and we were really impressed with their "Burtonesque" looking decorations. The animatronic skeleton in particular caught our eye because it doesn't look like every other skeleton on the market these days. The Witch head lights up green, and the Ghoul head lights up purple. Unfortunately these type of props are designed for indoor or covered porch type usage and we always plan our haunts for a rainy Halloween. If it can't get wet, then it can't go in our haunt. But these designs are a breath of fresh air nonetheless!

Glowing Eyes Apparition

In our 2019 ghost themed yard haunt we used two different apparition masks on our mannequins "as-is". The eye holes on the masks are lined with a see-through black mesh to hide the potential wearer's eyes. We thought for our 2024 haunt theme revisit that it would be cool if we lighted the eyes using specific color LEDs like we've done for some of our props in the past. While doing some online searches we stumbled upon "Cyberpunk" multicolor LED clear acrylic visors that were intriguing, especially for well under $20/pair. We had to give them a "proof of concept" test and here are the results:

The Smell Of Fear Candle Company

We love the candles from The Smell of Fear Candle Company so much that we get custom candles orders from them to be used in our jack-o-lanterns (Bananas Foster scented candles for our Haunted Bayou haunt this year). But we also love the candles year round to be used in our home, so had to order another "The Rules of Halloween" Apple Cider Donuts candle for October!

Attic Hatch Yard Haunt: Infestation 2023

One of our favorite yard haunts. Bob Kowal makes all his props. He sculpts them either from foam or he uses clay to make his own molds. Just fantastic to see every year! Attic Hatch is part of the Clinton Twp Neighbor-Haunt in Michigan.

2023 Baron Samedi Prop

Our Baron Samedi mannequin prop design for this year's "Haunted Bayou" theme was quite an organic process. We purchased the "Diane of the Dead" zombie doll at a local arts festival last fall. We just couldn't resist buying her because the paint and detail work were phenomenal, but we also had no clue how exactly the doll could be used in this year's haunt. She was too tall to go on our porch bookcase prop. But we still had the small wooden coffin prop that Mr. Haunted Eve built in 2009 to go out in our graveyard at our prior home for Halloween. She was a tad too short for the coffin, so we made her a "booster" shelf to raise her up enough to be centered in the coffin. But where would the coffin be displayed in the haunt so it made some sort of logical sense? Then the idea came to us that since we already knew we were going to have a life sized Baron Samedi standing mannequin prop in this year's haunt, and Baron Samedi is the Loa of the Dead/Resurrection, it would make sense that "Diane of the Dead" would be in his charge. The small wooden coffin worked perfectly standing up on the mannequin's base stand in front of Baron Samedi. The space under the "booster" shelf also gives us a place to hide our small portable outdoor speaker for playing an ambient backing soundtrack for the haunt on Halloween night (we used to hide the speaker up in the ceiling of our now retired mini-mausoleum). Baron Samedi will get a full dress rehearsal with his attire after he's moved from our basement and into our garage later in October (a black duster coat over a burgundy robe). We really do put a lot of thought and effort into the details in our annual haunt themes!

Wooden Coffin Prop 2009

Home Depot Halloween 2023

We thought the 9 feet tall/12.5 feet wingspan "Predator of the Night" prop was very cool looking, but have reservations about the prop's practicality/survivability outdoors. It would look fantastic in an indoor haunted attraction. However, the "Good & Evil Pumpkin Twins" pair have a lot personality and character to them and are way more versatile/practical.