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Back in 2024 we took some advice from Pumpkinrot and implemented his simple fog machine chiller technique of using a 12 foot length of 4" diameter black perforated drainage hose (with the far end capped off) and shoved several narrow frozen water bottles down the hose and pointed the fog machine nozzle at the hose entrance. It did a really nice job for our photo shoot using our Froggy Fog's Freezin Fog low lying fog juice:
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| 2024 Fog Chiller Effect |
Even without the frozen water bottles inserted into the length of hose, the 4" diameter perforated hose has a better controlled release of the fog versus just using the fog machine by itself (which is what we do on Halloween night for the trick-or-treaters weather permitting). But for this year's haunt photo shoot we're going to give stainless steel cooler pack cylinders a try instead of frozen water bottles. These sealed water filled stainless steel cylinders supposedly stay frozen longer and even perhaps will hold a chill on a cold Halloween night (pretty typical in the Western NY/Finger Lake region) just being outside. We figured these cylinders will be easy to clean and reuse for future haunts as well.
Back in 2019 we had purchased 3 Victorian style candle lanterns that came with faux battery powered candles for the post props we had built back in 2018 (originally designed for holding corn stalks). The faux candles did their job when it got dark out, but for this year's haunted bayou theme we wanted to go with a classic New Orleans gas lantern effect using our rechargeable outdoor LED flame lights. The faux candles were mounted with 4 tiny screws to the bottoms of the lanterns with a hole on the base of the lantern wide enough in diameter to access the on/off switch and battery compartment on the candles. The LED flame lights have magnetic bottoms and were just wide enough in diameter to cover up the hole, but there wasn't enough metal surface for the LED flame lights to grab firmly onto to prevent shifting around when moving the lantern (not something we would want to have to fight with on Halloween night). The solution came after finding a set of 3 metal pillar candle dishes that were a perfect fit for the lanterns via Amazon for $14. The metal dish bases were small enough in diameter to not cover up the corner drainage hole in the base of the lanterns. A bead of crazy glue around the raised rim of the hole in the base of the candle lantern secured the candle dish in place. We can now use various different types of pillar candles in the lanterns along with the LED flame lights.
For this year's haunt we're going to place standing "apparition" props on each side of our front dining room window. We wanted to uplight the props but at the same time we wanted to hide the lights as much as possible and limit the amount of spill light. After much experimentation this was the design we went with.
With Halloween only 3 weeks away, we're in the "Last Looks" phase where we're trying to iron out any "wrinkles" we discovered regarding some of our haunt ideas and implementing any changes while we still have time to test them out. One of the problems we discovered was that the digital projector and holiday FX video bundle we purchased from a big box retailer in 2016 turned out to be really subpar in quality. We never got around to testing it out because it wasn't something we had planned on using for the haunt themes we had planned for the next few years. So a couple weeks ago we unboxed it and tried it out. The projector output brightness was poor, the projected image was next to impossible to get a sharp focus on, and the included videos were not true HD resolution. This was to be the "main attraction" effect/prop for the haunt, we planned all the other props and lighting effects around this one concept. So we were going to skip it altogether, but because we didn't pay a whole lot for it at the time, we decided that conceptually the idea would work with a better quality projector and higher resolution FX source video. So the new projector still needs to be tested out. Another concern was that the one standing ghost prop we are going to put on the front porch may be too monochromatic looking under the blue LED porch lights we are going to use. So another last minute expenditure was spent on adding some red LED lights as eyes so that when covered in its otherworldly veil will have a little more visual interest to it. Constantly trying things out in a dark garage and basement making sure things look good. Also working on mounting one of our oldest props that we purchased way back around 1999 on sale after Halloween from Spencer Gifts on to a 8 foot tall post. We're calling the prop "The Ghost on the Post". And still have to make decisions for this year's outdoor Halloween sound track! Thinking Nox Arcana this year instead of Midnight Syndicate. Home and yard haunting is not just throwing a few decorations outside for Halloween, it's more like serious stage and movie set design.
Back in 2017 we used purple LED rope lights, but for this year's haunt we're using some glow in the dark props inside of the mini mausoleum. Needed to make sure our old black light fluorescent tube fixtures would fit (and still worked). There's only 45 days left until Halloween!
Back in 2006 we did a pirate ghost ship theme for our Halloween yard haunt. We wanted to really give the impression of a ship wreck on the water on a moonlit night. The solution was to use a DJ water ripple light effect unit. The unit back then used a 250 watt halogen projector bulb and the bulbs are extremely temperamental to finger prints. We went through two bulbs just in testing and finally learned you have to wear gloves to handle the bulbs. Newer versions of the lighting effect are LED based. The final result was worth all the effort though, To see all the pictures from that year's haunt: Halloween 2006 Ghost Pirates Yard Haunt
