Halloween
In collaboration with Graveyard Tracks, LLC, I helped design and build props for Hallowe'en haunts in Oakhurst, Georgia for several years!
2024: The Nun
Planning the Scene
Our vision was to replicate some of the iconic imagery from the movie The Nun (from The Conjuring movie series). After making, weathering, and staining hundreds of crosses, it's certainly a year we won't forget any time soon!
I was a fan of Father Burke in the movie, and how he closely resembled Father Merrin from The Exorcist, so that was my last-minute costume choice. Tune in next year to see what I had originally planned to dress as, before Hurricane Helene tried to take out all of my shop spaces!
With "the gang" back together, we had to pose for an album cover-worthy picture!
Despite having a movie-ready demon nun (Valak) and a pregnant nun's glowing belly with a demonic claw scratching out of it, our most effective "scare prop" this year ended up being me snapping a book closed as folks exited "The Abbey". Figure that one out!
Check out the mini-mausoleum we built! It was a 1:4 scale replica of the 16-foot mausoleum from 2023, designed in Autodesk Fusion and made entirely out of foam insulation!
The gargoyle on top was perched atop the massive mausoleum, too, for anyone that has a keen eye for detail.
The fog rolling through the archway was lit by two red laser lines, creating a "Portal to Hell" inside.
A full walkthrough of the Haunt on Hallowe'en Night, 2024!
2023: Vampire Funeral
Planning the Scene
Perhaps our most ambitious year, Hallowe'en 2023 had a remarkable blend of elements that allowed us to grow our team to 10 people and build a 16-foot mausoleum within our timeframe and budget.
On top of that, I decided to fabricate my entire costume from scratch - my skeletal vampire mask was purely EVA foam and foam clay, my claws were articulated finger extensions with foam clay, my robes were hand-sewn, and the wings were fully mechatronic and opened to a 12-foot wingspan automatically! (They were also made from aluminum and steel, so they were absurdly heavy!)
Check out my "vampire bride" (a.k.a. Sam, a.k.a. my human girlfriend)!
I think she's swell!
(Side note: Sam was such a major help this year that she was given a blanket invitation to help out any time she'd like)
One of the funniest things to remember about this year was how unwieldy my costume became by Hallowe'en. I had never actually tried all of it on together, so the low-to-no visibility out of the mask, combined with the clunky 3-clawed gloves, and the huge wingspan made it hard to safely stand amongst the crowd.
I've since learned some time management and the importance of trying things on earlier in the season...
2022: Lily's Monster Lounge
Planning the Scene
Our monster lounge was a brilliant way to showcase monsters and love for all things horror, ranging from the classics to more modern masterpieces.
My role, as the ever-charming Hannibal Lecter, was to keep the beer a-flowin' behind the cracked concrete bar. See the hellfire steaming up through the crack? That doesn't mean it was warm that night, oh no - it was especially cold with my hands in the beer cooler all night!
Making the Props
Some of our finest work comes out when we get a chance to play.
Making a 'bar fog distribution system' out of regular PVC pipes, weathered to look like iron pipes. Constructing the entire bar out of pink foam insulation and making it look like slabs of concrete (maybe even gravestones?) with iron gussets. Building a Thing in a box to change the channel when the movies at the bar get too scary. We did it all!
Sizing the bar...
Framing the bar...
Weathering the foam...
...And building!