Saturday, October 07, 2006

FAQ for 2006

Welcome friends to SFH 2006. Let's get right to your questions:

Where do you get all this stuff?
We make most of it ourselves. We've learned how from some of the Web sites we link to. We also buy some of the stuff that's beyond our time or talent to make from other "haunters." As a last resort, we'll add some stuff in from the Halloween stores. However, we encourage you to avoid the high prices and poor quality that's all to often found at the seasonal stores. There's a lot of satisfaction in building your prop. We're not really that handy. You could do it.

Where do you keep it all?
In our basement. It takes up room. But maybe not as much as you'd think.

So, what you your neighbors think?
Our neighbors have been gracious and supportive. In fact, some of them seem to enjoy it as much as we do. Frankly, the haunt wouldn't be possible without their yearly indulgence.

Is the haunted basement back this year?
Yes.

How do you broadcast the radio show?
An FM transmitter. Similar (if a little bit more powerful) than what you might use to play an iPod through your radio in the car.

Anything new this year?
Well, not really. Or, at least, not yet. We had a new character planned, but started late and didn't get some of our materials in time. If time allows, and materials show, we'll add the character in later.

How many people stop by?
Carloads and carloads each night. Turn off your lights. Share the view. And, if you can't see well, just wait a minute. People come and go at a good pace.

Where can we take a photo?
It's not safe to enter the haunted yard. Too many electrical cords and hard-to-see guy wires. We suggest posing in front of the poor soul trapped in the haunted column. Watch out for the hot lights though!

If you have a question we didn't answer, leave a comment and we'll do our best to answer it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I must have missed it - what is the address?

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, Mrs. Mac...Since I'm not sure how you found our blog, I'm a little hesitant just to publish our address. We advertise our blog on our radio play. If a friend referred you, I'd encourage you to get good directions from them. Sorry to be paranoid ;-)

The January Family said...

Or Mrs. Mac, if you'll leave us your email, we can communicate that way.

The January Family said...

Hi Steph! Great to hear from you. Well, the short story is that the reaper is made with chicken wire, landscape fabric, pink insulating foam and wood and some medical school hand bones. The sign is pink foam mounted on a wood back of the same size. That's mounted on a wood base. The rest of the reaper is "sculpted" with chicken wire. We dip landscape fabric (the kind that looks like burlap) in a mixture of joint compound and paint (called monster mud) and drape it on the wire frame. Think paper mache. But with mud and fabric. We then paint it. We're not that handy. You could do it. For the long answer, we suggest buying Steve Hickmans prop books. He's at terrorsyndicate.com. There's a link on our blog. The FCG is made from cheese cloth, a wig form and LED lights. The best instructions come from the inventors which can be found at phantasmechanics. Again, there's a link on the blog. They can teach you exactly how to build one or you can order part of all of an FCG from them. It may be too late to get one from them this year. If so, and you think you really want one, you can check ebay. Search under "Halloween Props." Your feedback is very much appreciated. Let us know if we can help bring you into the "haunting" world.