Welcome One and All!

For all you Halloween Fanatics....this will be a review and links site of the Best Haunted Houses in the country that my wife Lisa and I have had the pleasure - or displeasure - of gracing....

I've been a *huge* Halloween and horror fan since I can remember...I dunno...it just brings the kid in me out...by the end of September, our place is suitably adorned and we await each weekend with anticipation of which haunts to hit next....

We've been blessed enough to be able to travel quite a bit around the country and see some wonderful attractions and the cities they lurk in...and we're hoping to pass on the fun we've had on to anyone willing to listen in....

Sunday, November 28, 2021

HALLOWEEN 2021 - The Mummy, the Witch, the Werewolf….and a whole lotta chutzpah!

What was that line about the best laid plans of mice and men...? *ahem*

2021 was a really bizarre and tragic year, especially in the light of COVID-19 and the continuous ravings of a man who cannot accept defeat…but enough on that, I am truly fed up with the behavior surrounding it all…

 ….my wife and I did get inoculated during the course of the year, in fact, just before Halloween itself we both took our booster shots - #3 – and we’re starting to slowly readjust to life as it were – still not going to movies or concerts, but, we’re out more and feel we’re adequately protected. 

This year also marked – in all likelihood – the end of my association with the podcast world and my long running stint – since 2014 - on The Big Scary Show…

Never say never, and I am open to a shot at it now and again, but, after six years on Big Scary and two prior on the late, lamented Hauntcast, I genuinely felt the time had come to hang up my microphone for a good, long rest.

“To everything there is a season…” like the song says…

The rest was Business As usual - you know, sleep, work, eat, repeat, pay bills, build props...and what a ride we had in that regard!

A little bit of history first…

In 2010, we were pretty high on our success from the prior year’s Big three display – Drac, Frank, and Wolfie – so we thought we could do a really killer Mummy’s Tomb patio scene, easy as 1-2-3…

...ahhhh, yeah, about that…

Needless to say, we were still quite wet behind the ears in terms of prop development, and we were COMPLETELY unaware of things like sheet Styrofoam, DryLock and gorilla glue - not to mention the online haunt community - plus, we were on the road A LOT that season - Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis - so the end result was less than spectacular, to say the very least..

....did I mention our mummy stood about 3'2" tall and was dwarfed by everything around it...? 

(Nothing like people looking your scene over and remarking: "It looks great!!!....what is it, anyway...?" Eek.)

We always swore the Mummy would have his revenge *one* day, and, this year, we made it happen, and, honestly, all things being equal, it came off pretty well, if not 100% perfect, but we were happy with the end result.

The most enjoyable aspect of it all was the set construction - the tomb walls were a huge undertaking - the hieroglyphics took AGES and, for the sharp-eyed, are FILLED with easter eggs – I cannot remember everything we put in there, but, after hunting for genuine hieroglyphics to fill two almost full walls and the two part alcove, things started to get a little loopy…

We included bits from Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, AC/DC and several others, a pot leaf – hey, we partook in the day! -  nods to Nightmare Before Christmas, one of Godzilla's fins, and a few private jokes only be known to my wife and I…

Speaking of Blue Oyster Cult, take note of the pair of bookend tablets on the lower patio banner….those are direct lifts from the inner sleeve of BOC’s 1983 album - remember those? – “The Revolution By Night”….it’s not my favorite album of theirs by any stretch, but those Egyptian dog statues were inspiring!

We had to keep it simple - the original artwork is quite detailed! – and, of course added some nice GLOW IN THE DARK bits as well…oh, and if you look directly below the Witch’s cauldron – yep, I had to get a nod in to “Godzilla vs. Kong” – loved the film…

(On a side note, on Thanksgiving weekend, our Goddaughter Bonnie and her beau Dominick came by for a visit...Bonnie is very much into character modelling and wanted to do a set with our tomb walls - I've included them here and I think the results speak for themselves.)

Nothing ever goes as planned, and, while larger than our 2010 attempt, our Mummy, again, just didn't dominate the scene like we hoped, and, quite frankly, we had put all our best work out in the cemetery, so, we compromised and put our animatronic werewolf out there as well...as fate would have it, right at the tail end of the season, we managed to get our hands on a terrific Wicked Witch prop - cauldron and all - and while this was more for next year, it definitely helped fill the scene out.... 

Wolfie got a highlight as well, with our tip of the hat to “An American Werewolf In London” and our very own Slaughtered Lamb sign…tack on a couple new stones in the graveyard – one, a simple little nod to Disney’s “Cruella” film this year, the other was a color explosion – and our plate was pretty well full!

I found it rather amusing that the Boris Karloff Mummy mask kept twisting and turning, ‘til it went from Im-Ho-Tep to looking more and more like the mean old man from down the road…all the local children cursed him to eternal life wrapped in Charmin....

Lisa was none too happy with the actual mummy figure's final result, but I felt it corrected a lot of the errors we made back in 2010…granted, the werewolf prop dominated the scene, but overall, it had a nice atmosphere to it.

One of our inflatables final popped a fuse, so, we, undaunted, we just went out and bought another one! The nice thing was, we were able to use both and gave the entire scene a bit more pop, if you will....

(Point of interest: was it just us, or did all the major retail outfits run out of Halloween merchandise almost before October even hit? I swear, we couldn't find ANYTHING worthy of note to add to our scene(s) in the last week of September! October? Pffft! Forget it! The stuff shows up in mid-August and is almost 99% evaporated even before September ends! Thank goodness for online ordering or we'd be well and truly screwed!!!!) 

A few of our neighbors jumped into the game this year, something we always encourage - hey, it ain't all about *us*, and every little accent just adds to the overall picture.

The BIGGEST surprise came in the last week of October - our town  of West Carrollton sponsors and annual Best Decorated Home for Halloween contest which we've entered this year and last....we really didn't think anything of it - after driving around our neighborhood, we felt we had well and truly had out butts kicked - take note of the photos of some of our neighbor's work - really awesome stuff! -but, oddly enough, we took first place for this year...we got a medal, a $50 gift card and some really good cupcakes from Ele....yummy...very flattering, we truly were not expecting it...

Where does this leave us? 

Same as always! “How do we top it *this* time?” …and with that in mind, on with the show!!!!











































We still remember Jerry G. Bishop, the original Svengoolie....

Happy accident here...an unintentional little tribute to Svengoolie Sr. and Jr.....


One of my favorite kind of shots, a sort of "View form the Bar"....nice full moon that evening as well....



More views from the bar...more like the front door, but, hey....




A nice view of our spot in the complex












The only two stones we built this year - one, in the spirit of Disney's "Cruella" - go watch the film, Emma Stone did a stellar job in the role, and the stone in question pops up in the last ten minutes, a kind of nod to my Goddaughter Bonnie as well, who loved the film and all that fashion world stuff....and, two, a huge mish mash of glow in the dark colors and ideas...I thought it looked a mess at first, but it fit in nicely....


Everything has it's place in the Vista - this coffin, compliment of  Sandi Wozniak and her husband Mike - they gifted it to us in 2013 - not only give a little reverse fright to those going down the walkway, but it worked as  a terrific stabilizer for the lamppost section!  






Take note, BOC fans...I did nick this idea from the band - as for the rest of you, go check out their album "The Revolution By Night" to see where I got this idea from.....
Hope Boris Karloff approves....

Hey, if you're going to do werewolves, you need a nod to 1981's "An American Werewolf In London".....


For reasons of practicality, could someone please send us some actual quicksand(s) for 2022? The kids in our complex would love it.
Lisa's milk jug skeleton guardian project...I love it!
Views from the Patio!!!!




















































































































...and, of course, what would any Halloween season be without a couple of videos, eh?


Our neighborhood did some marvelous work as well this season...very impressive stuff....Beetlejuice seemed to be a running theme this year...


















































After it's cancellation in 2022, Dayton's own Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow made a fantastic comeback with over 800 carved pumpkins.... 
             













































And a little peek at the early part of the evening...

This home was nearby the event...it also served as inspiration for us for 2022...what are we doing? That would be telling!

Let's just say Bobby "Boris" Pickett would be proud!









As I mentioned at the stop of this, our Goddaughter Bonnie is very much into character modelling and wanted to do a small set with our tomb walls...I think it all came off quite well....










Final thoughts for the 2021 season...little Cougar is ready to dive into the bowl of Halloween candy!

 
I'll conclude this as we always do with our annual Halloween portrait...
See everyone next season! 
God Bless, take care, stay scary, and remember, we hid the body, but *you're* the accomplice!!