Dear Santa...

My first choice would be a replica snowman from the "Krampus" movie to decorate our yard, but one of these replica "Krampus" tree ornaments would be cool too! The shipping price to the U.S. is quite a bit, so I'll have just depend on Santa to bring it.

Bell Ornament from "Krampus" the movie

"Krampus" - My Review

I was pretty excited to go see the new "Krampus" movie that opened this evening. I have been somewhat infatuated with the whole folklore of Krampus since I was a young soldier stationed in Germany. As luck would have it,  I accidentally stumbled across a Krampus festival in a small town during a weekend in the Alps.  While I have enjoyed seeing Krampus gain a bit of popularity in the U.S. among the haunt industry, I was really hopeful this movie would bring a good story-telling of the Krampus character.

Directed by Michael Dougherty, "Krampus" is not a horror movie anymore than you could consider "Gremlins" a horror movie. It is a Christmas movie but I wouldn't say you will leave the theater with that Christmas, "It's a Wonderful Life" glow either. It is the darker side of Christmas. "Oma"(Krista Stadler), the Grandmother, warns, "He is the shadow of St. Nicholas". That pretty well sums up "Krampus".

Rated PG13, "Krampus" (and his minions) is the character of ancient folklore accidentally summoned upon a modern day family and their visiting relatives for not believing in St. Nicholas.

The movie sets a comedic tone right from the start with montages of Black Friday shoppers pummeling each other to the Bing Crosby Christmas carol, "Most Wonderful Time of the Year". That same type comedy pretty much continues throughout the film with that over the top dysfunctional family type humor breaking up the suspense.

Acting was really good with David Kouchner, ("I just got my ass handed to me by a bunch of Christmas cookies") and Conchata Ferrell ("It looks like Martha Stewart threw up in here") leading the comedic relief. Adam Scott did a great job playing the serious "leader" role as the Father of Emjay Anthony, who plays his son "Max". Max is the central character who ultimately is responsible for bringing Krampus to visit on Christmas. The rest of the supporting actors were great as well.

I personally thought the digital effects and sets creating  the neighborhood street consumed by a winter blizzard were top notch. The appearance of snowmen props also were top notch but had a strange look of familiarity about them... Yes, "Pumpkinrot" friends we get to see "Snowman design by Pumpkinrot" in the closing credits! Congratulations Rot!

The only CG I felt wasn't really well done was of the gingerbread cookie characters. They were so over the top ridiculous though that they were hilarious.

The Krampus character of course was not funny, and the designers did a great job at making sure he was scary and the focus of the movie's suspense. The costuming and CG really brought the character to life. I personally didn't like the costuming of the "Elves" as much, but most of the focus was on Krampus so they didn't do anything to hinder the overall quality of the movie.

I am pretty sure Krampus won't do great at the box office just by virtue of it being a "scary" movie at Christmas, the "most wonderful time of year".  It is a good movie though, with some good suspense, some good laughs, and though the ending is somewhat predictable, a good story. It will certainly get added to my Christmas DVD collection, and I'm pretty sure the Halloween folks are going to enjoy it for what it is, an entertaining movie!

"Requiem"

"Requiem"- our first use of a full skeleton to make a graveyard statue

Our only big prop this year was the "Requiem" statue.

It started out in my mind as a different concept for a reaper with a cloaked hood and a scythe leaning against him while he played the violin. I may still re-visit that concept next year with another character, but after getting the skeleton and violin in the right position I was pretty happy with the way it looked under the lights. To be honest, I didn't feel like the mess of using "Monster Mud" this year to make a solid cloak either.

Total investment for this guy was about $85, a pose-able skeleton from Home Depot for $40, a 3/4 size violin off Ebay for $40, and a piece of 1/2' aluminum conduit and a flange from Home Depot that was under $5. The remaining paint and materials I had from previous projects.

 

Tips for making a skeleton statue:

Skeleton spines are the part of pose-able skeletons that don't really pose. They're always straight and completely limit your options for making a skeleton position look natural. I bent a section of half inch aluminum conduit to the angle I wanted the skeleton's spine and attached the conduit to a wood base with a flange.

Attach aluminum electrical conduit to a wood base with a plumbing flange

If you like to design and build props, a good adjustable heat gun is one of the few tools that are essential, and this is one of those times. I gradually heated the spine until it was soft and mold-able but didn't actually start to melt the plastic. Then bent the spine to match the bend in the vertical conduit, and zip tied the spine to the conduit. (If this was something that would be viewed in daylight it appeared as though the conduit could actually be run up through the inside of the spine to completely conceal it, for my purpose it wasn't necessary.)


The only other heat gun use was to pose the fingers of the hands holding the violin and bow, and a bit on the neck to tilt the head.

Use a heat gun to pose parts that aren't "pose-able"

Each pose-able joint ( shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles) were positioned and hot glued in place temporarily. Then I used some left over Apoxie Sculpt to cement the joints solid and cover any gaps and screw holes. Apoxie Sculpt is a two part moldable putty that when combined dries very hard like an epoxy cement. There is probably a similar type construction material that could be used to harden the joint, but Apoxie Sculpt can be bought through Amazon for under $20 and can be frozen so the left over material keeps for a long time.

Each moving joint is secured using "Apoxy Sculpt" before it's painted

Store bought skeletons have a smooth shiny plastic surface. This was suppose to be more statue like so it was painted with grey tinted Drylok that we had left over from our tombstones. I like Drylok because it gives everything that stone-like sandy grit look and it's readily available at Home Depot.

Dry wall compound "weathered" skull after dry brushing

After the first coat of Drylok, I used drywall compound to texture certain areas I felt should look weathered. The best method I have found so for "weathering" with drywall compound is to slather on the wet drywall compound. Let the compound set until it starts to dry just a bit. Then firmly dab the areas with a damp kitchen sponge to give it the texture you want. Drylok those areas to seal the drywall compound.

DryLok-ed statue before "inking" and "dry brushing" details

The entire statue gets sponged with a watered down flat back paint using a sea sponge. Finally, the statue is finished off by dry brushing flat white to highlight the edges and textures and ultimately give it that "carved stone" look. Dry brushing with white or a very light color is critical for viewing your creations in the dark under spotlights or ambient lighting.

Hopefully these tips were useful! I think more skeleton statuary to come for our graveyard next year!

Another Visit at My Favorite Store

Picking up supplies at "Reynolds Advanced Materials" I got to see their latest concoction I thought I would share.

Body parts in a barrel of nuclear ooze!

Life-castings of arms, hands, a foot and a face made with their "Dragon Skin" product. I guess every employee had their hand in putting this together - literally! 

Don't remember the material they used for the glow-in-the-dark ooze. It is lit from underneath with a black light and a small fog machine completes the prop!

Shingle Creek Manor 2015

Still sorting through our photos and video segments for this year, hopefully there will be enough good ones to put together a decent video - I'm not feeling optimistic.  I really do enjoy the creativity doing these videos. As soon as Halloween is put away for the year, getting the video together is number one on my list!

Post Halloween Blog Reboot

Well, this makes perfect sense to restart your Halloween related blog AFTER Halloween is over...

Such a busy last few months, plenty to write about but no time to sit down and get my thoughts together. I have tried to catch up on the blogs I follow and make comment here and there. I have also tried to post and keep caught up on that evil time-killer "Facebook".

The latter part of the year has kept us busy coordinating and planning my son's wedding in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. Likewise it put a significant dent in any extra monies that would have otherwise gone to Halloween. Such is the story of important family events.

"The Crow Men" one of our fun static props and also a separate costume for this year's yard haunt

While we were in North Carolina, (the first week in October), signs of Fall and Halloween at every corner and store front reminded me of how much I needed to get done before Halloween and how truly far behind we were. We spent time at some markets in Bat Cave, North Carolina making it even worse. "Bat Cave", whose name just screams "Halloween", has mega road side pumpkin and apple stands, and I even saw a sign for a haunt where you could shoot zombies with paintball guns.

We stopped at a cider mill in Bat Cave to buy some fresh apple cider where we met a young woman with the most elaborate and beautiful Halloween tattoos on the sleeves of both arms. Belinda struck up a conversation with her so we could see her tattoos. We tried to tell her we were Halloween people but it seemed kind of useless. A person who has her arms and shoulders tattooed with Halloween scenes kind of takes the moniker "Halloween person" to a whole new level. We were just Halloween observers...

"Requiem" a violin playing skeleton statue on a stone column was our singular large prop for the year. 

So it will be my intention to gather our few photos and videos and try to compile our annual video as soon as I get Shingle Creek Manor put to rest. Cleaning and storing props easily takes a few days. Meantime I will post some of our few photos and document some of the season's highlights.

A very belated "Happy Halloween" to our blog friends and fellow bloggers. the remainder of November will be dedicated to catch up before the craziness of Christmas begins.

Pumpkin Rot 10,000

Just read tonights post by Pumpkin Rot. It seems he is celebrating his 10,000th blog post...

Still my favorite I think. ( Photo property of Pumpkin Rot)

There are a handful of people in the Halloween realm that I draw inspiration and motivation from. "Rot" and his wife "Bean" are at the top of that list. I can remember my son showing me the "Pumpkin Rot" website some years ago now.  I looked at all the photos and watched the videos repeatedly, amazed by the various "scarecrows" and how they were so different from anything I had ever seen.  To that point, I had no idea people created such things for Halloween.

As a Halloween enthusiast too old to trick or treat there are still some things I look forward to during Halloween. Seeing the annual Pumpkin Rot' Halloween creations, photos and video is a major part of my season.

I always thought "The Halloween Poem By Rot" encapsulated the spirit of the home haunter. I think it's become lost over time in all his posts and wanted to re-share it as tribute to all that the anonymous "Pumpkin Rot" and "Bean" have given to the Halloween community.

Thank you Rot for all your Halloween art, videos, comics, writings, and recognition of others in the Halloween community for 10,000 blog posts!

"The Witches Ball" at Yankee Candle

At the end of August we went to our local Yankee Candle Store for the unveiling of their Halloween Collection. This year it was dubbed "The Witches Ball", no music and no witches though, just candles.

It's unintentionally become a sort of a family tradition with my son's family and us to get at The Yankee Candle Store early and wait in line to see whats new in their "Boney Bunch" candle holder collection and grab up the pieces we like before they run out of their usually limited supply. After fighting the crowds we leave and eat a late breakfast, mostly because you don't want to be around my son or I if we're hungry.

Yankee Candle Steam Punkin' Collection

This year we thought their coolest pieces were the ones only available as online exclusives. Some of the best "Boney Bunch" pieces and especially their whole Steam Punkin' Collection weren't in the stores. So while we waited for the doors to open, we went online and ordered a few of the pieces.

Yesterday we received our order in the mail. I thought the Steam Punkin' witches boot was especially cool looking. In hindsight I wished we had ordered the Large Steam Punkin' Pumpkin too. You can see their Steam Punkin' collection at their online store although most of the best pieces are already sold out.

Return to "The Holiday Store"

Belinda and I and most of the "Halloween people" we know have been visiting all the stores in our area to peruse this year's Halloween offerings. I will say most of the big corporate stores got their stuff out early, some of it good, maybe a little more that was not so good.

One of our most fun stores to visit though, we found a year or so ago and have tried to keep in touch with it's owner, Tom Campana. "The Holiday Store" is a good distance from our house, but we've found it worth the drive to escape the same poor quality props and masks that with few exceptions seem to return every year to most of the corporate retailers.

This year our friends Gene and Evelynn made the trip with us, the first stop on a planned day of horror.

The staff at The Holiday Store take great pride in how things are displayed

Still my favorite little corner of the store, the checkout area with it's display cases

During our first visit to "The Holiday Store" we weren't quite sure what we were looking for and had made the mistake of believing it was one of those temporary box stores such as the Spirit store franchises. As we departed our vehicles on this trip, it was Evelynn who remarked that the business was smaller than she thought it would be. Coincidentally this was the same conclusion I made on our first trip. "The Holiday Store" is located in one of those non-descript roadside industrial warehouse complexes that so many businesses use now to keep their overhead costs down. The 'plain building" look ends on the outside however!

A mummy stands guard at the digital effects video display

Stepping through the entrance door of "The Holiday Store" feels like Halloween...
There are no bright florescent lights, no shiny display fixtures and no shelves of inventory boxes. Everything is on display under carefully placed ambient or color LED lights. It has the feel of a Halloween "museum", an eclectic collection of Halloween goods, and Tom Campana and his staff take great pride in how things are displayed. There are Halloween props, masks and decor from floor to ceiling.

Some quality interior decor items are also at the store.

If your just looking for masks or some decorations for your front door and don't mind if your neighbors have the same ones, this is not the store for you. If your looking for unique quality items, or creating a character for your haunt that your guests likely have never seen, "The Halloween Store" is where you go. It has the largest quality collection of masks I have seen in any walk-in store this year.

Who doesn't need a standing goat character for their haunt?

Kind of a Disney feel to this mask - great quality

"The Holiday Store" does a significant amount of it's business at it's website but the nostalgic feel of going to an independent business where the staff enjoy what they do, and love Halloween, is a winner with me.  I have no doubt we'll be making another trip this season.

Little bit of something for everyone

Our friends and ourselves spent a solid hour plus looking through the items for sale at the store. Every inch of space in the retail area is used to display different props masks and Halloween curios.  It seems like the longer you are there, and the closer you look, the more little Halloween treasures you find hidden. We went there looking for a specific mask, we left with two masks, three shrunken heads and some creepy finger extensions. I don't recall what our friends Evelynn and Gene bought but I know they found the mask they wanted and left with several bags of merchandise. All in all it was a great way to start our day of horror followed by some barbecue lunch. Another post on our day of horror is forthcoming.

Still not a fan of clowns but they did have some cool looking clown masks

At the time of our visit, owner Tom Campana had just come off vacation and was still in the process of receiving new products. Most of the store's inventory is from independent U.S. manufacturers and artists. Very little that I have ever seen is the typical mass produced stuff from ( insert Asian country name here). If he doesn't have it, he usually has good connections for getting what your looking for and his prices have always been reasonable.

The Holiday Store is located at 301 Commerce Court, Winterhaven, Florida 33880.

When It's Technical Stuff, We Call On "Mr. Scott" For The Answers

Every few posts I mention the fact of how many new friends we've made on this escalating Halloween journey  that is "Shingle Creek Manor". There are a whole lot of folks that go all out for Halloween and they love nothing more than spending time during the year talking shop with people of like minds. Every once in awhile though, we meet some "non-Halloween" people whose passion for their art inspire and motivate us to keep working and improving on what we do. Such is the case with Scott Fensterer.

Scott Fensterer and Belinda at his "Face Off"season premier party

We met Scott about a year or so ago working at the 'Reynold's Advance Materials' store in Orlando.
It didn't take many store visits and a class or two to realize this guy really knows his stuff! As an added bonus, he doesn't just go through the motions of doing his job, he's really passionate about what he does. Though his passion is not strictly Halloween make-up and special effects (we forgive him), his acquired skills at character make-up recently won him a place on the current SyFy Network season of "Face Off"!

It was our honor to be included in his "Face Off" season 9 premier party and get to see our new friend accomplish one of his major career goals. This last Tuesday night we watched episode four and got to see him win his first challenge! We are so happy to see our friend on this wild ride and wish him the best of luck!

"Dork Pig"

Wanted a wild boar prop for the Florida swamp look of our planned walk thru haunt. This was my first time sculpting and using WED clay. Belinda got his eyes looking good for me and you can always count on your spouse to be your sharpest critic.

Due to some strange and goofy looking variations while trying to sculpt and mold the lower teeth, he got dubbed "Dork Pig". Named after the hilarious Bill Engvall comedy set "Dorkfish". Check it out on Youtube if you haven't seen it before, funny stuff!

Next step is making a mold. Not looking forward to this part...

First Halloween Retail Sighting 2015

Generally the At Home Store is the first to get it's "Halloween"retail" goodies out in our area.  Others, such as Michael's and Hobby Lobby get some "Fall" stuff out in July, but I'm not sure I've seen any Halloween stuff out this early except from the At Home Store.

This year "Cracker Barrel" wins the first Halloween retail sighting for 2015!

Fun Mail Day

Not much haunt or Halloween prop making been going on. Florida has been exceptionally hot so far this Summer. That kind of hot that just saps the energy, and inclination to do anything constructive, right out of you. Well, that's my excuse anyways, " it's too hot". "
It's like Africa hot, Tarzan couldn't take this kind of heat" ( Biloxi Blues-1988).

Aside from the heat, ( did I mention it's been hot?) it was however a fun mail day! The Mail Person brought us some Halloween stuff! We got our final Distortions Unlimted, "Monster of the Month", and the last of the parts we needed for our " corpsed skull with glowing eyes" project for the Florida Haunter's Social at the end of the month!

Admittedly, this was the least favorite of the " monsters" we got from Distortions over the last 9 months, but for people into the retro 1950's alien monsters, it's a fun piece. Besides, a least favorite mask in the mail is better than a bill any day.

The skull with electronic eyes is one of the "make and take" classes taught by William "Dr. Terror Eyes" Ramsay. The parts needed, vendors, and instructions are available on the Florida Haunters Facebook page for those inclined to build one that don't live in Florida or are not attending the annual Florida haunter's Social in Ocala, FL.

Corpsed skull with glowing eyes from William Ramsay

We have a couple of fun comitments the end of this month that I hope to post about but other that, just trying to stay out of the heat. Who would have expected a Summer in Florida to be hot?!

2014 Haunter's Video Awards

Another exciting year for Shingle Creek Manor! Two awards from the 2014 Haunters Video Awards was a bit unexpected and overwhelming but we're grateful none the less. Thank you to Chris and Jeff Davis of Davis Graveyard, and of course all the judges, for their work putting this together again this year.

More Hearse Envy

Still can't say as owning a hearse would be one of life's dreams (unless maybe it was really vintage, like pre-50's) but this does seem to be the year I've come across some beautiful classic hearses.

"Bonepeicker with a beautiful mural across the front and the rear door.

While walking through the parking lot at "Halloween Extreme", I came across "Bonepicker" a Cadillac Hearse owned by horror author Owl Goingback . Seems appropriate if your a horror author to drive a hearse, and this one should turn some heads.

Halloween Extreme 2015 - Mystery Box Challenge

"Halloween Extreme" returned this year, along with  the "Spooky May-hem" Convention in Orlando. Kind of nice to have a convention close to home especially since Transworld pretty well wiped out our "mad money" for the year.

I won't say there was anything at "Halloween Extreme" that I haven't seen at other haunter conventions, but  I did get to spend time once again meeting a whole bunch of people with similar Halloween and haunter passions.

One of the more fun things, that I didn't get to watch at the last Halloween Extreme, was the "Mystery Box Challenge" sponsored by Ghostride Productions . I was pretty sure I'd be out of my league from the photos we saw of the teams frantically working on their props at the previous Halloween Extreme. After watching this year... I was right.

The Mystery Box Challenge consisted of a maximum of three people to a team. Each team was given some identical materials that had to be included in building a Halloween prop. This year it was half of a face, half a skull, half a brain some turkey feathers... you get the idea. Those materials had to be included in the finished piece. The rest of the materials were available to be pulled out of a huge pile of random junk. The teams had 30 minutes to make their work of art.

This years winning prop "Remnants of Jack Sparrow" from Team "Moe's Halloween"

Each team came up with a name and then picked a last minute name for their finished prop. First place was $200, second place was $50 and third place was $25. Most of the people who entered I knew from the Florida Haunters so it was a bit extra fun watching friends in panicked action.

Second Place was "Reluctant Vine Creature" from Team "Eerie Acres Cemetery"

In the end, last year's Mystery Box Challenge winners, Ant and Lleana Petrone of "Eerie Acres Cemetery" , were unseated by Maureen Perez's team "Moe's Halloween" Both winning props and the other four team props were pretty darned impressive, especially when you consider it was accomplished in 30 minutes.