This is the first time in my adult life that my pack and I have a house for Halloween.
I've waited my entire life for this moment and have been planning for it forever.
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| My writing desk where all creations start |
No, really.
Forever.
I planned my first yard haunt as a little kid. Inspired by Hel and Hades, I created an elaborate basement "underworld" where visitors would get into a boat ferried by none other than Charon and travel on the river Styx past horrors and wonders alike.
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| Michelangelo's interpretation of Charon in his fresco The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel |
Being ever a realist, I realized my parents would never let me flood a basement (not that we even had one, but why would I let that small detail get in the way of such a glorious idea?), so I designed a roller coaster-esque track that would meander through a "river" of fog.
Pretty ingenious, right? Truth be told, I still want to build that haunt...and I now have a basement. *files into future plans*
But Hel and Hades and the Underworld are not what's on the table this year.
Instead, our theme for year one is "the move-in," which features a spooky family moving into the neighbourhood.
Given that we
are the spooky family that just moved into the neighbourhood, it really does suit.
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| Our move-in featured a lot of these moments |
I have about 20 years of yard haunt plans (hahahaha -- oh my), and each one revolves around a narrative.
Year one: the spooky family moves in.
Year two: a circus rolls through town.
Year three: aliens invade.
And so on.
That's what I love to see in other yard haunts and what I want in my own: a cohesive story that ties each prop and scene together.
Once I have the theme, I write down every idea I can think of that may suit (or simply be entertaining).
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| This list goes on for many pages... |
Unfortunately, I do not have an acreage. I have a tiny front yard, so most of my ideas get weeded out. The bright side to this is that I end up with a very focused narrative. I can only keep what is
Essential.
(Did I just plug a book
and indie bookstores? Damn right I did).
Yes, skeleton hands poking up from the garden with eyeballs that blink at visitors
is decidedly awesome...but it doesn't have anything to do with moving in, so onto the backburner that dream goes.
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| But what if the hands move, too?? |
So now I'm down to about three scenes:
1) A yowling cat atop a stack of tilting or spinning boxes (homemade animatronic).
2) A skeleton mover balancing boxes (homemade animatronic).
3) Our car as the "moving truck" with stacks of boxes and spooky items piled on the roof (stationary prop).
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| The very detailed initial mock-up |
I have other decorating plans, and boxes of decorations downstairs to make them possible, but those three scenes are the main features that tie the story together.
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| The Grand Plan...if you look closely, you'll see a few of the fun details |
I think every haunt needs a name, and ours is the
House of the 13 Jacks. After years of collecting Halloween items, it's always the pumpkins that get me, so why not devote a house to them?
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| Pumpkin Love |
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| Head over Skulls |
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| Even Narcissa loves a good pumpkin |
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| My Pumpkin Heads team |
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| Crypt 5km |
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| Haunted Mansion Love |
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| Pumpkin Head |
This means, of course, that I'll need 13 full-size Jacks...and I am so excited to create those characters over these next few years. You'll find them in my haunt on Halloween, but also up in my
Etsy store as I make sculptures of my mischievous 13.
Given that part of the criteria for buying a house was that it had suitable yard haunt potential, you can imagine how eager I am to get started. I'll post updates and tutorials as I move through the work!
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If you'd like to see what I'm working on, my art Instagram is
@izaoctober.
My art is also for sale on
Etsy.
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