I love to read. I'll read anything: magazines, newspapers, books, cereal boxes, insurance forms.
I also love horror and Halloween.
Finally a way to bring it all together - the bloody liquid bookmark:
Only $11.99 over at ThinkGeek.com. Or make your own if you happen to have any red silicone laying around (This is probably the only blog audience where that statement isn't just a joke).
I just finished a wonderful book,Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge. If you are in the mood for a little bit of Halloween horror during the last days of winter, try out this book.
The book is set in a small isolated midwestern town. Every fall, the "October Boy" roams town for one night. Killing him means a ticket out of town for some lucky teenager. But there's a twist (isn't there always?).
The story is sort of a cross between the Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Stephen King's Children of the Corn (the story, not the awful movie). But of course it's completely different too. It's a quick read; I read it in 2 hours.
I wouldn't be giving away too much to tell you that the October Boy is a living scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head and a mass of vines for a body and limbs. This is obvious in the first few pages of the book (heck , it's even on the cover).
So, of course I thought "how can I use this idea for Halloween?"
Here's my idea. Wouldn't it be cool to put up a cross on your lawn in October, with some old ragged clothes nailed to it. If anyone asks, just tell them it's for "October Boy".
Then, late every night, sneak out and start adding some old vines. Gradually, over the month of October, the vines seem to 'grow' through the clothes, filling out into a body. As the leaves fall from the trees, some seem to mysteriously make their way into the shirt and pants, bulking them up even more. Near the end of the month, secretly place a small pumpkin on top for the head . Then the pumpkin could 'grow' over the course of a few nights (just replace with larger and larger pumpkins). Finally, on Halloween night, carve a face in the pumpkin, right out there on the front lawn, standing on a ladder. Don't even bother to gut the pumpkin. Just cut a small hidden hole in the back and shove some battery operated tea lights inside.
Well, this is a bit late for Valentines day, but still its a cool idea for us haunters.
Check out this bleeding heart candy from Thinkgeek.com
It's a gummy heart filled with little heart candy. And each little candy is filled with liquid 'blood' candy. They even give you an extra vial of liquid blood candy to make an extra mess:
"And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door" - Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven
OK, the introduction has a very tenuous connection to this item, but still I thought it ws appropriate. Take a look at this item from artist Nik Ramage. This disembodied hand seems to just be biding it's time.. tapping away.
While we might not have much use for such a prop, I still found it fascinating, if only for the mechanism itself. It is a classic example of using cams to translate rotational movement into linear movement.
If you wanted to use this mechanism in a haunt, you might use it with a grim reaper... biding his time until his next deadly appointment. You might use it to animate the legs of a spider. Or heck, just recreate the same hand as part of a mad-scientist's laboratory scene.
In the spirit of the holidays, here's one of my posts from back in 2006:
As Christmas approaches, don't forget those Christmas sales for holiday merchandise that can be hacked into Halloween props! Some examples:
Flicker bulbs: Sometimes you can find these in cheaper multi-packs during the holiday season. Plastic electric candles: Rework into candelabras (remove the base and turn upside down to make a cup instead of a base). Or just add flicker bulbs and use as-is.
Large plastic yard angels: Paint gray and use as angel statues in your graveyard.
Plastic Nativity Scenes: The robed figures are great for statues and mourners.
Small decorations (angels, doves, animals): Paint gray and add as decorations on your tombstones.
Small Christmas tree lights: The twinkling variety can be bunched up and covered in red cellophane for a fire effect. Place around your plastic witches' cauldron or under some logs. Or use to make blinking eyes in the bushes.
Motorized rotating Christmas tree stands: The cheapest ones rotate about 70 degrees back and forth. Use to animate the heads (or entire bodies) of your ghouls.
Talking Douglas fir: Great for creating talking monsters. Get the one with an auxiliary input jack for a tape recorder or MP3 player.
Dancing Santa: dress up as pirates or zombies. Use your own soundtrack, of course!
Yard lighting fixtures can be used for any holiday.
Not all geeks are haunters, but a lot of haunters seem to be geeks. Myself included.
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines "geek" this way:
Pronunciation: ˈgēk
Function: noun
Etymology: probably from English dial. geek, geck fool, from Low German geck, from Middle Low German
Date: 1914
1: a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake 2: a person often of an intellectual bent who is disliked 3: an enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity
(I bet there are even a few haunters that fit that first description).
Anyway, this long introduction is leading up to a post about a fun web site, ThinkGeek.com. This has a lot of geeky gifts for the holiday season. You know, that other holiday, where things are cheerful and bright and happy (shiver).
Check out this advertisement from the International Vegetarian Union:
Not much here for here for haunters, except.... look at that unique use of cauliflower for lungs. I'm sure the picture is somewhat altered to get the vegetable into that squished shape. But I can imagine some cooked cauliflower sliced in that way, squished into jar on your mad scientists table for Halloween.
