Monday, October 13th, 2008 in How-To

It’s unoriginal to call it a sign, so a directory it is.

Mostly because I don’t want to point to things in an absolute manner that aren’t absolute.

The graveyard might not be to the left next year… you dig? It’s like a mall directory in that respect. If I wanna move The Gap to the other end of the mall, I can do that now. And there won’t be any confused preppy kids ending up not finding The Gap or any gothy/emo Hot Topic bound clutches accidentally entering The Gap.

Anyway, Guy gets the joy of assembling, and he was swell enough to cut the wood for me, and I’m sure I’ll be posting an actual write up in the how-to’s eventually, but just enjoy some pictures in the meantime.

Wood for the Halloween haunt directory @ boo!

Photoshop and scissors. Hardcore.

The Boneyard sign.

A Haunted Carnival? Why not!

Hey, gotta get the name out there somehow.

Guess which way it points.

3 Ghoulish Gasps

Tags: signage

Saturday, October 11th, 2008 in Lighting

NOTE: You will want to check out my awesome LED vs. Incandescent writeup. I know nothing about lights so I put it all out there for anyone to understand, with lots of pictures! Thanks!

Guy and I were turned on to LED light bulbs last Halloween, but didn’t have the time or money to scoop any.

On any Halloween night, we use at least 15 incandescent lights, a few being the power sucking floods and most being those painted, 25 watt party lights.

Every year, we seem to lose a party light.  It’s really the one thing we can depend on year after year.  A colored light bulb is going to burn out. These lights are tested and used for 2 hours a year. Those that do seem to last have cracked and faded color.

Anyway, I shopped around and we ended up purchasing about $60 worth of LED light bulbs from http://www.dealextreme.com/.  For that much, we got:

01474 DX Multicolor 18-LED Light Bulb 110V x 6
01476 DX White 36-LED Light Bulb 110V x 3
05116 18-LED E27 Light Bulb 110V Green x 3
05136 18-LED E27 Light Bulb 110V Red x 3

So 15 bulbs for $60 actually comes out to a pretty good deal when you consider what a party light will cost.  (If you want all kinds of comparisons, including cost and color performance, please see my entry here:  LED or Incandescent? A Hands-On Comparison).  The E27 base is a typical base found in the US and fits in our outdoor plastic light stake fixtures just fine.

With this being my first year with these and all, we’ll see how they perform and hold up to the cold, and sometimes wet Euclid, Ohio halloweens.  We are super pleased with the color, especially the green.  Considering these are LED spotlights, not floodlights, the light throw is fantastic.

And the color changers are just so cool.  We’re going to use 1 or 2 on our aluminum christmas tree to make up for lack of a color wheel.  Pretty neat, huh?

Here’s a video of these bulbs in action uploaded by npdcrazypyro on youtube:

I also want to note that we ordered these on September 10th and received them October 6th.  Deal Extreme was very forthcoming with information and informed us early on that shipping would be delayed due to quality control checks.  They were actually shipped from Hong Kong on September 26th and tracking information was made available.  One light had cracks in the plastic but all 15 functioned just fine out of their boxes.

3 Ghoulish Gasps

Tags: incandescent, LED, light bulb, Lighting

Thursday, October 9th, 2008 in How-To

So we have a very large yard to fence off.  We’re talking 50 feet in length.  Our neighbors have always been unknowingly nice enough to throw away some of that 3′ garden fence, and while we set up in the front yard, that was always plenty.

This year, the Halloween haunt is going in the backyard, and our 3′ garden fence is only long enough to wrap around the front of the cemetery.  This left the whole edge of the yard exposed.

We quick started pricing PVC, figuring we’d make a fence out of that, like so many other haunters have.  It always looks really great, but we don’t really have the time nor the cash to buy all the supplies, paint the PVC, etc.

So I thought, and thought some more, when it finally came to me:  Plastic chain!

We have a couple of pallets in the garage.  We’re gonna pull them apart and place wooden ‘poles’ in the ground every (however many) feet.  From there, we’ll either attach or run chain through them with a little swag on the links.  Think of a chain and concrete pole type deal near a lake or something.  Or just look at the picture here on the left.

The more I thought about it, the more I really liked the idea.  So I went on the hunt for plastic chain.

Well, turns out, it’s actually harder to find than you’d think.  I checked lowes and home depot and neither had much.  That’s when I stumbled across http://www.mrchain.com/.

I looked around and sure enough, they had chain.  I was a bit nervous to order from them as I’d never heard of them before.  They’ve got chains in every size and color you can think of.  We were almost prepared to buy about 50′ at $.60 a foot when I noticed a “close out” link.

I FOUND PLASTIC CHAIN, 2″, FOR $.15 A FOOT!!

Mind you I was still nervous about ordering from some place I’d never heard of, and I wasn’t sure this chain was by the foot and blah blah blah.  Oh, and it also has no photo, so the color “gold” was left to our imagination.  We joked that it could be anything from kindergarten yellow to super shiny bling.

We placed the order.  They processed and shipped it all in the same day.  It arrived via UPS super fast (from Michigan to where we are in Ohio) and the color is PERFECT!

Click to blow up the image.  It’s like an aged bronze color.  The invoice calls it “Old Gold”, and I’m tickled pink.  60′ of chain cost us $15.50 out the door, shipping and all.

This is a closeout, though, so if you want some, might wanna jump on it now.  Here’s where you can find it:  http://mrchain.com/-close-outs/2-gold-chain-discontinued.

ETA 6/14/2010: Here’s a shot of the chain in action!  Click it, gets heap big.

1 Ghouslish Gasp

Tags: cemetery fence, chain

Sunday, September 21st, 2008 in How-To

Real Vintage Paper Mache

Click any image to view larger

I love those vintage pumpkin lanterns that go for like $50 on eBay.  If I had billions of dollars and thousands of square feet, I’d probably already own all of them like some weird collector that aims to have the last existing whatever.

Lucky for the rest of the world I have neither.  But I do have newspaper, water and flour.

So Guy and I made our own paper mache lanterns, and I gotta tell ya, they were fun and pretty easy to do!

We made 3 small and one large.  We ended up making the glue like 4 times, but it’s not a big deal.  If you wanna do this, I’ll break down the supplies we used.

* Newspaper, ripped into strips about 6″ – 12″ long
* Assorted balloons from the dollar store
* 2 cups hot water
* 2 cups cold water
* 1/2 cup flour
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* White tissue paper

Heat the 2 cups hot water to boiling.  Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup flour into 2 cups cold water.  When hot water reaches boiling, mix your cold water/flour mixture into it.  Bring this all back to a boil.  When it’s done, add in your 3 tablespoons sugar.  Mix, wait for it to cool, and enjoy.

paper mache strips

We learned not to “pre-soak” your strips because it pretty much dissolves into unusable snot.  Dip a strip in, wring out the excess glue with your fingers, and slap it down on your balloon.

We placed ours on wax paper with a phone book pressing down so they had a flat top and bottom.  We stuck them in front of a fan.  They dry pretty quick, the top/bottom taking longer, of course.  We ended up putting 2 layers down when I realized I should have rubber banded either the balloon or the covered ballooon while it was wet to make a pumpkin shape.  I slapped some extra on there, and it looked ok.

The general rule is to really let these things dry.  We made these over the course of a few days.  It was fun to get dirty time and time again.  Really!

Next: Pop the balloon, pull it out.

Carving was fun.  We modeled a couple after the vintage lanterns we found on the internet and a couple we just cut typical jack o lantern faces into.

I looked all over the place trying to find the right thing to paint it with.  I was totally paranoid that we’d screw them up and have a pile of sad goo.

We ended up going with colorful latex house paint we had laying around in the basement.  2 light coats (think unsaturated) and you’re in business.

Mix some water with your paint for an aged effect for both the green base and to fill in areas that would naturally have shadows.

We finished by drawing the eyes and mouth on tissue paper, cutting them to size and taping them in.

1 Ghouslish Gasp

Tags: Guy, jack o lantern, paper mache, pumpkin, vintage

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 in Costumes, Humor

With only… however many days to go until Halloween, here’s another entry for ya. The Headless Horseguy:

My mom found this inflatable Headless Horseman at a local discount store on the CHEAP BOY YEAH.

Ninny… finds amazing deals.

This is why the neighborhood loves us.
Guy ran up to a van at the stop sign and a child shrieked, “MOMMY I’M SCARED!!”.
Guy is like my Halloween soulmate <3<3<3

On a semi-related note, Marley is gonna hate Halloween.

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Tags: Costumes, Guy, lol, Marley

Monday, August 25th, 2008 in Costumes, Humor

Nightly I get on the Internet and look for neat Halloween costumes, preferably on the cheap.

Every so often, though, I come across some real gems.  Costumes that don’t belong in public.  Costumes that will make you wish it was Thanksgiving instead of Halloween.

So I give you a few of those here.  Are they treats or tricks?  You be the judge.

Fat Dracula

When Dracula gets too boring, why not don Fat Dracula instead?  What he lacks in being a charming, intimidating blood thirsty monster, he makes up for in fake lard, aroma of old cigars and off color jokes.  (Please note, those last 2 things don’t come with the costume, they’re included with the guy wearing the costume.)

And speaking of off color, why isn’t Fat Dracula’s stomach as white as his face?  Things like that really bug me.  I can’t help but think if Dracula really let himself go his stomach would at least still match his puffy, greasy cheeks.

Finally, can he fly when he turns into a fat bat?

Guitar Head

I really wanted to be a piano for Halloween but it would have been too hard to cut 52 keys into my flesh.  Disappointed as I am, I’m still not opting to go anywhere as a guitar with legs and arms and a face where the most commonly used frets are.

Maybe we’ll get lucky and some guy dressed as Jimi Hendrix will pick her up and smash her into someone else dressed as an amplifier.

Pumpkin Manchild

This costume would have been squeeze those cheeks adorable on this guy – 28 years ago.

Seriously, I’m surprised this costume has leg holes.  He couldn’t find someone to just carry him around all night?  I bet he’s wearing a diaper.  Picture him going into the quicky mart to buy beer.   Does he get carded?  Do they figure it’s some sort of robbery and just give him the cash?

I hope for his sake he’s going to a church party or some place where everybody will be nice and accept his creepy costume and not roll him into a lake or in front of a moving car.

Sicko Genie

It says “rub me”.  IT SAYS RUB ME.

But they got the perfect guy to model it.  I live across the street from a house with lots of guys aged about 25 years.  To the neighborhood it’s known as the celebration house of linked meat products.  They own pit bulls and sag their drawers.

I imagine this year there’ll be a whole bunch of sicko genies running around, in and out of the sausage party house yelling, “IT SAYS RUB ME.  HAHA YEAH.”

…Yeah.  And my 3 wishes are:

KILLMEKILLMEKILLME.

Down for the Count

Ha!  This has gotta be the best of the worst.  I wonder if they came up with the name first, which is why it had to be Count Dracula instead of a zombie or a mummy or something.

Whatever.  It’s still the most hilarious costume I’d never wear and the stupid vampire “sucking” jokes are endless.

1 Ghouslish Gasp

Tags: Costumes, lol

Thursday, July 31st, 2008 in Lighting

The following is a comparison of LED lights to incandescent flood and “party” lights. I looked high and low for something like this and couldn’t find it anywhere. Lumens don’t mean much too me, I just want to know if it’s a solid investment to replace my inexpensive party lights with slightly higher priced LED lights.

So here it is, a guide that’ll help you decide whether or not you decide to “upgrade” your Halloween lighting setup.

The lights used in this comparison are as follows:

1 red incandescent bulb, 25 watts
1 blue incandescent bulb, 25 watts
1 yellow incandescent bulb, 25 watts
1 green incandescent bulb, 25 watts
1 red flood light bulb, 100 watts
1 blue flood light bulb, 100 watts
1 red LED spotlight, .5 watts
1 blue LED spotlight, .5 watts
1 yellow LED spotlight, .5 watts
1 green LED spotlight, .5 watts
1 red LED flood light, 1 watt
1 blue LED flood light, 1 watt
1 yellow LED flood light, 1 watt
1 green LED flood light, 1 watt

We also photographed a few extras for reference. These include:

1 UV LED spotlight, .5 watts
1 UV LED flood light, 1 watt
1 white LED spotlight, .5 watts
1 white LED flood light, 1 watt
1 infrared flood light, 1 watt

This’ll be mostly photographs, because when you get right down to it, it’s all in how the light looks that’ll be the determining factor. For us, energy consumption weighs in pretty heavily; we’re not necessarily trying to save the world, just trying to not trip a breaker. Here I’ve outlined what I feel are the key differences, aside from visual performance:

Energy useage:

All the party bulbs tested used 25 watts of electricity, and the larger flood lights used 100. The LED flood lights use 1 watt and the LED spots use 1/2 of a watt. The math on this one is pretty easy.

Lifepsan:

The LED lamps tested are rated to last for 80,000 hours. Westinghouse Lighting rates their colored bulbs lifespan at 2500 hours. If both are accurate within reason, it’d take the equivalent of 32 incandescent, 25 watt bulbs to match a single LED bulb.

Ok, so obviously they’re more efficient and in the long run, probably less expensive, but can they hold a candle to visual light output? This was our question, too.

The first thing I noticed when I saw an LED lamp for the first time was how rich and deep the color was. It wasn’t a tint, it was real color, all over the place.

Here’s Guy setting up for the outside set. Notice he’s clear, like a ghost. He’s already getting into the spirit of the season.

Our first setup takes place outside, with very little daylight left. The first set is incandescent flood lights.

Please note all these bulbs were set back exactly 6′ from the tombstone.

Now the 25 watt incandescent party bulbs:

.5 watt LED spotlight bulbs:

And finally, the 1 watt LED flood lights:

You can now see what I mean about how rich the color is. The beauty with the LED bulbs is that the color isn’t a paint. The bulbs all look clear. The bulbs in the first picture above are indeed colored bulbs. They won’t chip the same way painted bulbs will.

Now we’ll line them up side by side for another kind of comparison. The lights were all pointed straight up on a dark blue wall. They were placed against the wall.

I hope this provides you with a sort of working knowledge about what LED’s can do for your haunt and maybe eases some concerns with dropping cash into a product you’re unfamiliar with. Naturally I can’t promise these exact results as I’m not expert nor manufacturer.

For further reference, here’s a shot of white and UV LED spot and flood lights:

THe ultraviolet lights were impressive, to say the least. I’m a ridiculous skeptic and everyone knows painted black lights are crap, but the LED UV’s performed really well.

Take a look at the bulbs and the only black light responsive things we could find: highlighters.

Ok, one last bulb before I wrap this up. It’s an LED infrared flood. Infrared is just way out of my realm of comprehension, seriously. When it’s lit up, it doesn’t look lit up. My digital SLR could see it lit up, and my Sony handycam on nightshot could REALLY see it. Amazing stuff.

These are used in a situation where lighting is necessary for a camera but excess light visible to the naked eye is not desireable.

For now, I’m calling this done and complete. I’ll probably look it over when I’ve had some sleep and find 800 things wrong. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at akilleramongus (at) yahoo (dot) com.

4 Ghoulish Gasps

Tags: incandescent, LED, light bulb, Lighting