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Went to Resident Evil 3 this afternoon. After wards went to Factory Card Outlet & bought some body parts ($23 plus tax). Ha! Severed vinyl hand $7
Bloody butcher hand $8
Bloody butcher leg $8 http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b203/Haunt_Master/Maze%2007/maze0712.jpg
Today Sept. 22nd is finally here!
That marks the first day of building my haunt, Maze of Terror! Typically we start the weekend before but, something came up. Pretty much almost every Saturday I'll be busy building the maze. A normal days work on it is around 6 hrs. Would like to work on it more than just a day a week. But, my allergies prevent me from working on it two days in a row. If I did, then I'd get so sick that I'd miss work. The Quanta metal domed machine shed that houses the haunt is 37x82 w/ 25 ft ceiling height at it's peak. The floor of the shed is gravel & a small spill of leftover corn & soybeans yearly. The electrical system is the old screw in fuses, not sure what amp service. It has 2 sliding double doors both front & back. A small 10x12 workshop doubles as the controls room. For 2 months a year, the shed is ours for the haunting. The rest of the year it's used as storage for farming equipment. It's a Medieval theme this year with the haunt being it's dungeon. I'm planning on having a tunnel/cave as it's entrance to it. Once thru it guests will be greeted & escorted to a holding cell by the "executioner". It's there they will wait their sentencing. Small groups of "innocent" criminals will be escorted to the stocks. The ring leader will be sentenced & the group escorted to the dungeon to seal their fate.  Note- I'm keeping a weekly progress blog w/ pics.
Be sure to stop in to see our progress.
Saturday I broke out the new foam cutter that I bought on Tuesday. My plan was to make a pair of foam hands with arms. Wasn't really sure what I'd do with them after they were done. But, still was determined to make them regardless. Traced them around my own as a template. Then in a properly ventilated area, I plugged the unit in. It only took 20 seconds for it to completely heat up. The directions didn't indicate about how long that it would cut before the wire cooled down. Longer cuts did take a brief pause for reheating. (but it wasn't long) Check out my Gallery for pics.
This weekend is the start of the annual "Cleanup days" which happens twice a year, Spring & Fall in my area. From certain days that the city picks out (example Sept. 17th-24th), residents of the city are encouraged to put unwanted items on the curb. Before the city comes along, people come with their pickups, etc. to look for "tarnished treasures". This continues on till Sunset for most. The diehard people still come around with flashlights, still looking for stuff. Most people just come back in the morning & start up again. The city pickup starts from the East side of the city working West. Majority of the "good stuff" is already taken, before the city gets it. I've found this a great resource of free haunt supplies for my haunted maze. Over the years, I've collected scraps of wood, plywood, over 25 wooden doors, & even outside lighting. Today I went out for an hour & came back with a full pickup box of wood! Lots of scrap wood of different sizes & shapes, 2x4's, & even 5 more wooden doors, that I couldn't pass up. I was looking at another pile of stuff next door to this guy, & he brought out a single wooden door. Was still going thru stuff when I saw that he came back with another wooden door. I went over to check it out, even though I didn't need any more doors. I went to check them out & they were too good to pass up. So I grabbed both of them to load in my truck. He was coming back with more stuff when he spotted me. I said thanks for the doors! He laughed & said thank you. He told me that he had seen the first door in my truck & thought he would hurry to get rid of two wooden doors that he had. Thought that I might possibly take them too. I thanked him again & said they were for my haunted maze. He just smiled & waved. 
Tonight I bought a super hotwire foam cutter (Marvy Uchida) from Hobby Lobby for $40. It runs on either electric or D batteries.(which come with the unit) Already have a project in mind to make. Will post pics of the process. Just have to find the time to sit down & do it.
Twas a sad day today when I unpacked all my props from my suitcases (used at HFW) & put them away. Had been putting it off because I didn't want it to be really over. Also I had learned recently that the bigger of the 2 Haunted Attractions in my area is closed for the 2nd yr in a row. Meadowbrook Stables- Haunted Hayrides & Haunted Stables will be closed once again due to family matters. They are hoping to resolve it & return in 08. The other haunt is DarkShadows Manor & located in town. It consists of a large farmhouse & several shed buildings. For the past years as well as this year, they are only open 6 days in October.  Looks like I'll be going to the Twin Cities for my haunting entertainment. I only have time to visit one haunted attraction a year, due to building my Maze of Terror.
Back from their one day debut at HFW 8 Haunted House (Broomhilda's Doll Emporium), I present my creepy "Evil Dolls"..... http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b203/Haunt_Master/Creepy%20Dolls/
Hi everyone. Finally got time to resize & post my pics from HFW 8. Hope that you enjoy them. Thanks, HM http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b203/Haunt_Master/HFW8/
of there & back again.
It
was a bright sunny morning, Thursday Aug. 9th with high expectations of
what's to come at Horrorfind Weekends. I loaded up my truck with a
suitcase & a half of props for the HFW Haunted House, a carry-on
bag & a pillow. To make the early 9am trek to the Minneapolis
airport, 90 minutes away. This year I decided to fly with NorthWest
airlines on a direct flight. Versus flying Midwest air with a 4 hr
layover both ways. My flight was at 12:55pm & arriving at BWI at
4:30pm. So, I got there plenty early to go thru airport security. Was a
bit worried about them questioning my evil creations & all the 9
volt batteries to power them. But, it was all for not & went thru
without any problems. Finally it was time to board the plane & the
excitement grew. The plane taxied down the runway & waited there
turn. We sat there for a while til they announced that there would be
a 30 min delay. Soon after they turned off the engines & ran the
a/c on battery power (which wasn't much, on a hot sunny day). Beverage
service was served while we sweated it out. I knew we were in trouble
when the second announcement came, 50 min. delay, & more water
served. We ended up sitting there waiting 3 hrs! Valkyrie & I
called back & forth with updates. She had landed (from FL) at the
BWI airport in Baltimore & the weather changed from cloudy &
raining to just cloudy. We had planned to meet Zombiebrat & Death
by Nascar & share a shuttle to the Marriott. Continued to sit
between two people sweating it out, waiting for another announcement.
Val calls again asking whats going on? Still no idea when we will be
taking off or what the delay is. Meanwhile ZB has landed & still
waiting for DBN. DBN's plane has been circling the BWI airport waiting
there turn & has run out of fuel. They have to land at the nearest
airport to refuel before they can land at BWI. And still I wait, we're
all sweating like crazy. One of the passengers complains that he needs
something sugary now, because he's diabetic. They get him some orange
juice & he's ok. Finally an annoucement, my plane is going back to
the gate. huh? Everyone cheers that at least we can get out of the
plane & be in real a/c with plenty of room to stretch out. On the
way to the gate another annoucement, the flight has been canceled &
you'll have to rebook your flights. Now the plane is full of pissed off
sweaty people! Anger & frustration flares up with a mob like
attitute. We can't get the plane to the gate fast enough to get out of
these conditions. Everyone makes their way out & to the NW counter
right by the door. One of the clerks try to calm us by handing out
vouchers for food, etc. We try to wait calmly to rebook all our
flights. The lady sitting next to me gets booked for the same flight
time the next day. I'm next & get booked on the next available
flight to Baltimore. The Friday new flight time is..... 3:15pm to
Mephis, then leave at 6:30pm to arrive at Baltimore at 10:30pm! WTF!!!
What happened to my direct flight? I had planned on arriving Thursday
night & helping build the Haunted House 10am Friday morning. Sigh..
with the next flight plans, I totally miss the haunt setup! So much for
the suitcase & a half of props. Totally upset I called Val with an
update. By then both ZB & DBN had made it to the Marriott. Heard
that DBN's plane had a another problem, a flat tire. I very much felt
like Tom Hanks in that airport movie. Called a hotel but, they didn't
have a shuttle. They would pay for a taxi for me to come stay there. I
thought forget that! Frustrated more, I talked to a transportation help
clerk. Asked if they could recommend a close economical hotel with a
free shuttle. He suggested Days Inn at Egan. Called them & they had
several rooms & to come pick me up. Ran over to the luggage area
& asked for my suitcases back. The lady told me that they would be
fine & assured me that they would meet me in Baltimore. With NW's
track record, I didn't believe anything. She said ok, you can get your
bags back but, it'll be a 2 hr wait. Getting even more frustrated, I
said forget it & left. Still with my head spinning for frustration
& anger, I quickly made my way to the shuttle pickup area.
Countless people were stranded by multiple airlines Thursday night. Was
happy to pile into a shuttle with another family to the hotel. Holding
back the frustration & tears, I told the reservation desk person
what had happened to me. She smiled & assured me that it was
alright, that I had been through enough & would give me a break on
the room for $57. Tired & stressed out, I made my way to my room.
Called a few people with updates of my situation. Trying to make the
best of being stranded (90 min. from home), I ordered a pizza, garlic
bread & cokes. Checked out the Weather channel for updates. Wasn't
much to offer for regular tv. Looked over the pay per view movie
selections the hotel had to offer. My pizza arrived & watched the
Reaping. (to keep in the spirit of HFW) Finished the movie & went
to bed totally stressed out. Had made arrangements to take the 11am
shuttle to the airport. Friday morning-
Called the airline several times checking for
an earlier flight, nada. Took a shower but, didn't have any clean
clothes with me. Was better than nothing I guess. At the airport I got
sick of wearing a smelly & sweaty shirt & bought a clean one.
Grabbed some Quiznos, finished it & changed my shirt. Ran down to
the gate with the same flight time as Thursday. To see if I could be
put on standby. There was 3 other people before me trying to get to
Baltimore. They weren't sure how many they had room for. It seemed like
forever before the final word came. Only room for one person, & the
guy just before me got it. The 2 ladies took a flight to Dulles
instead. I stuck with the 3:15pm flight to Memphis. Arrived at 6pm
& had to change planes. Of course the other flight to Baltimore was
at the farthest gate away. The smell of BBQ followed me all the way to my gate. With a flight time of 6:30pm & arriving
at BWI at 10:30pm.
To be continued...
Before boarding the flight, I called both Val & one of my
roommates- James with updates on arrival. The plane to BWI was smaller
than then one I just got off of. They were only allowing one carry-on
because the over head compartments were half the depth vertically of
regular size. Felt like I was packed in like a sardine, only two seats
per side with a narrow center walk way. I had to lean in to my right
anytime someone passed by. The beautiful young lady sitting next to me
was cranky & slept the entire flight. They only had one flight
attendant to do all the tasks. When the plane landed, I called both Val
& James. I couldn't get out of the plane fast enough to finally get
my vacation started. The very long walk to the baggage claim area
seemed to take forever. As I was walking thoughts of would my 2
suitcases be waiting for me or would they be lost. Since the airline
had stranded me the night before, trust was an issue. As I got closer
to the claim area I reconigzed a familar person (even though I had
never seen him in person), it was James! His first words of greeting
was "hey dude!" I looked anxiously over all the bags coming off the
belt, they weren't there. I got very nervous but, checked a number of
suitcases close to the belt. Found one suitcase, then after a looking a
bit, found the other! We grabbed the suitcases & made the 30 min.
trek to the Marriott hotel!! We dragged my bags to the reception desk
& checked in. Our room was almost as far away from the lobby as
possible (totally diagonally from the front entrance) sublevel 0114.
Followed the map the long way around to the room. Met Patrick (Boneman)
in the hallway. Dropped off the bags & waited a couple of minutes
(while the roommates moved the car & unloaded their luggage). They
paid me for their half of the room for 2 nights. We figured out a
shortcut to the main entrance. Cutting through the courtyard past the
tennis courts. As I was heading back to the entrance, I passed the
double elevators. Directly across the hallway was the Haunt, & it
was in full swing. I had to stop & say hi to everyone despite
missing the haunt setup that morning. David (etombs) was one of many
haunt crew watching the que line for it. With a few quick hellos, he
insisted that I go thru the haunt. I did so & enjoyed it, even
though it felt weird not helping build it. Quickly made it to the front
entrance & looked for my peeps. Walked down the long covered
outside hallway that ran in front of the hotel. Got half way down &
I was greeted with cheers, hugs, & vigorious hand shacks. I was
finally here & felt the love of my fellow board member friends. Finally had supper after midnight at the Atlantic Diner. Very cool with the 50's crome, big windows, & neon stripes running along the roof line. My roommates & I ate a hardy supper & hung out for a while longer at the hotel. Didn't get to bet til 4:30am each night.
Saturday morning-
I quickly got cleaned up & rushed to get my weekend pass &
shirt. Venn Beast was personally handing out the badges as he found the
members. I had to come back later for mine. Made a quick purchase in
the dealers room & rushed back to my room for the haunt props.
Brought both suitcases full of props to the haunt. Time was close to
opening so, I just had enough time to add my evil dolls & power
them up. Ran around the con for a while & made it back before
closing. Sunday morning- got cleaned up & went to the "lights on
tour" of the haunt. Answered questions about it as best as I could.
Then we sorted out the props & completely tore it down, emptying
the room. When we were done, it was as if it was never there. I had heard from several people that my evil dolls really helped make the haunt even better!
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