Tombstones: the Last Word in Mortality

One big staple of Halloween Haunts are mock graveyards filled with tombstones.  Tombstones come in many forms.  Some come from the store and are made from plastic and Styrofoam.  Others are homemade and crafted from plywood.  My experience, which often requires me to work with what I have on hand, has led me to use materials like cedar shakes, rigid foam insulation, waste paper baskets with wrapping paper and concrete patch mix--see Chapter 4 in 10 Cheap Tricks to Haunt Your Halloween.

All of these materials have their virtues and today my mock cemetery is a mix of commercial and homemade stones in different mediums with some garden sculpture thrown in for good measure.  I like to start early, or rather the beginning of October--see my post "Who Wants to Go First?"-building my boneyard slowly with a few tombstones at a time.  I usually add my Flying Crank Ghost next.  I then incorporate other elements like flame-less candles, bones and Zombies as the Halloween season builds toward the big show on October 31st.

The beginnings of my haunt.  From left to right:concrete patch mix stone, cedar shake crosses and "headstone", and a Styrofoam Celtic Cross in front of a Flying Crank Ghost.

View of the cemetery by night.

From Chapter 4

Now let us take a moment to enjoy some of the great tombstones that popped up on lawns in the 2017 season.

The above is a Halloween store offering.  It has a nice shape to it. I like how the designer has included a string of ghost lights--which are cool all by themselves. They have also clamped a bat onto the tombstone.

Above is a traditional graveyard scene.  These durable, homemade, wooden tombstones have been used by their family for years. They have also built a nice modular fence to add authenticity to the scene.  Another cool thing is the above ground crypt style of one stone in the center.  This is a rare lawn haunt find. While this picture was taken during the day,  at night this display is lit with colorful spotlights.

This lawn has gone with quality homemade stones. They have taken full advantage of the customize-able nature of homemade stones by writing their own rhyming epitaphs.  One stone is even specific to the town it is located in.

One of my favorite memories from my early haunting career was the year that I introduced the cedar shake "stones".  I handed out black permanent markers and the volunteers decorated the plain white shakes with epitaphs from their personal lives.  I still have some of those monuments.

There's nothing wrong with having a little fun with a headstone.  Halloween is about facing your fears.  Particularly your fear of mortality.  So don't worry what your tombstones are made out of; get out your rhyming dictionary and a permanent marker and write something witty.  Then put your slabs in the yard so that they can have the last word in your haunt. 

Below are some real life inspirations.  Enjoy!

Laughing Our Pumpkins Off

The skits after "Weekend Update" on  Saturday Night Live can either be utterly forget-able or legendary.  A year ago, who would have thought that "The Haunted Elevator" sketch would have been the latter.  For those with early bedtimes or a lack of television, I will elaborate.

A couple of haunt-goers board the 100 Floors of Frights ride anticipating the scare of a lifetime.  The couple are seated in an elevator with an operator who has no shortage of haunting puns.  As the doors of the elevator open to different floors the couple are assailed by different scary characters like a suicidal bride and a demonic chef.  Then the door opens on Tom Hanks (the evening's host) wearing one of those three-piece, jack-o-lantern-print suits that emerged on the market some years back.  Tom declares his name to be David Pumpkins and says that he will, "Scare the hell out of you!"  He and the two b-boy skeletons bust out into a spastic, urban, dance routine at the end of which David asks, "Any questions?"  The couple are stunned not with terror, but with the lameness of the routine.

As the skit progresses the elevator door opens multiple times, sometimes revealing horror scenes but other times revealing more David S. Pumpkins themed entertainment.  When the couple complains to the elevator operator about the preponderance of scenes involving the pumpkin-suit-clad man and his dancing skeletons he remarks, "It is 100 floors of frights, they are not all going to be winners."  Finally the door opens on just the b-boy skeletons who wish the couple a Happy Halloween.  The couple appear annoyed momentarily until the booming voice behind them of David Pumpkins asks, "Any questions?"  Then they are rightly scared witless.

The skit went viral and those suits--the hybrid professional wear and Halloween costume that had been languishing in the back of costume shops-went flying off the shelves.  A mythology sprang-up and the response to the character has been so strong that Loren Michaels has executive produced an animated special to air on NBC at 11:30 PM on Saturday, October 28, 2017.  More on that can be found at Deadline.com.

So why discourse on a Saturday Night Live skit?  In actuality, I wanted to write this post last year.  The first chapter in my book, 10 Cheap Tricks to Haunt Your Halloween, covers ideas like using humor in your haunt and having your spectators experience a range of emotions.  The haunt portrayed in this sketch uses both these ideas.  This seemingly goofy scene of skeletons who can't dance and a man in a silly suit that has no connection to anything is what gets the biggest scream in the end.  At one point the elevator operator remarks, "The scariest thing to the mind is the unknown."  I could not agree more, it is in our imagination that fear originates and it is the unknown that leaves the most to the imagination.  Furthermore, when we let our guard down that is when we are most susceptible to the unexpected and that is when we are most vulnerable to a sudden fright.  Laughter causes us to let our guard down; if you really want to scare someone get them to laugh first.  Then take them by surprise.

Nine million plus YouTube views cannot be wrong.

As always, please haunt responsibly.

Any Questions?

Fright in Frenchtown

I recently found myself in Frenchtown, NJ and before I knew it I was taking stroll through the town. While being one of the more sedate Delaware river towns, Frenchtown offers sublime vistas, historic architecture and small town charm. Moreover, like its urban sister to the south--Lambertville, it is picking up steam as a Halloween town.

Pictured below is a new display.  This exhibit features those very popular skeletons. I find the versatility of these guys amazing. Here the designer choose to use a rocking chair, possibly already on the porch. Also joining in the fun, man's best skeleton, skeletal dog. Notice how the designer gave these skeletons activities. The dog is chomping on a rubber chicken.

Our lesson here: allow your props to interact with each other.

Frenchtown also offers some natural inspiration for the holiday as well.  Check out the historic Frenchtown cemetery.

Nothing like Edwardian monuments to put you in the holiday spirit.

Haunt on!

Season's Greetings from 10 Cheap Tricks

Hi Folks,

While I have not had time to write a book for winter holidays yet, here is Cheap Trick for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or  any time you need a gift for a wine lover.

Download the PDF instructions

Watch the Video Instructions

Please craft responsibly.

Happy Holidays!

Victoria

News Page Added to 10CheapTricks.com

Hi Folks ,

Just added a news page to collect the articles about 10 Cheap Tricks to Haunt Your Halloween.  Check it out.

Thanks,
Victoria

http://www.10cheaptricks.com/news

#10cheaptricks, #Halloween

Hey Folks,

I hope you're fall is going great.  The skies of New Jersey are clear for the moment and fall is looking lovely.

I am starting a multi-part series featuring yard haunts.  I will be discreetly taking pictures of local yard haunts so that we can all learn from their effective design choices.  I will also make some recommendations on how to add to these haunts whenever possible.  Please feel free to jump in with pictures of your own haunt and your feeling on the yard haunts posted.

To get us started off, this is an early presenter--which alone makes them worthy of my praise.  Above you see the traditional cemetery scene.  The home owner had his yard regraded this summer so he is using the fresh earth resident in his haunt space to create the feel of a cemetery.  The addition of the ground breaker skeleton is whimsical and calls attention to the plot. The home owner has also used the playground equipment as part of the haunt.  He has simply installed a floating vampire figure on the slide.  The juxtaposition of a fun play ground and a ghoulish fun seeker puts a smile on my face.  What else is cool? At first glimpse you may mistake the slider for an actual child.  The double take and surprise are part of the fun.

I would add to this scene some lighting so that the fun continues at night.  A simple, all-weather spot aimed at the skeleton and tombstone possibly in red would go along way.  The vampire on the slide could also use a spot.  I would recommend  a white light because of his dark color.  I would plug both into a photo-electric outdoor timer for efficiency and ease of use.  Another simple thing to add is some interest to the eyes of both the skull and the vampire.  Craft stores carry packaged gems that can be glued in the eye sockets.  The mailbox section of your local home and hardware store may sell small stick on reflectors that could be placed in the eyes as well.  They will catch the eye at night and add life to the display.

All in all a good show from this home owner for enhancing the existing terrain for Halloween.

#10cheaptricks

Available on Amazon

It is finally here in trade paperback: 10 Cheap Tricks to Haunt your Halloween.  Available at Amazon.com

Hi Everybody,

Here is a quick trick for your Halloween haunting pleasure. 

Enjoy!
A Quick Trick for Halloween from 10 Cheap Tricks