Um, wow.

Thanks, Tony.

I've always said that we see more of our neighbors this time of year than any other. Turns out, one of our neighbors works for the local daily. Here's what he wrote. Bonus? A nice night shot by one of the paper's photographers. Thanks, Tony. We appreciate it.

A few new photos.

It's been a nice, if warm, Halloween season. It's been great seeing all our visitors having fun. The new scarecrow seems to have been a hit. Though the serious rains of early October took their toll on its celluclay skin. Repairs will be in order before it appears again.

The Roots of Evil (in process).

Headless, yes. But I think once it's complete this "scarecrow" is going to be a great addition to our haunt this year.

The main body is, at its core, constructed from perforated angle iron found at a local home improvement center. It's the stuff used for shelving. Since it's perforated, it was easy to bolt on a cross piece of flat aluminum (also perforated). I then encased the whole thing in spray foam. I worked the foam in straight lines to build up a creepy, woody-looking form. Better still, the foam was an excellent foundation to attach the roots and vines at the base and on the body. Just jammed it right in. Then secured it with a little more spray foam before spray painting. The piece is easy to anchor by pounding the bottom on the angle iron into the ground. The whole piece is very stiff but light. There's no give in the aluminum pieces so it was easy to wire two pieces of curly willow (available at better florists) for the arms and hands. Throw on some creepy cloth left over from last year and the body is nearly finished.


The head is taking shape. Heavier than I expected. But...so far, so good. Never utilized this technique before. Utilized Celluclay over the carved cauldron form. Could not have been easier to work with. Easy to sculpt. Hopefully will take a sanding, too.

Thanks to Krough and Here's Johnny for the advice and Pumpkinrot for the original creations.

Roots of evil.

In a corner of the yard filled with Summer cheer, something wicked is taking root.

New prop in the making.

Working to put our own spin on a new static prop. Our inspiration can be found here and here.

Maybe you can guess where we're going with this.

Communiversity

We'll be hosting a Communiversity class on home haunting in October. Keep an eye out for the catalog and join us!

The itch.

On November 1st, I am certain I will be very weary of Halloween once again. But today, the festering itch is back. Time to plan this year's haunt.

Halloween Night

The big night is finally here. A few thoughts from the Sweeney spirits:

The haunted basement will operate from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. The line will form on the driveway. It can get long, but it moves pretty quickly. If the line wraps the the sidewalk, we'd request you respect our props so they'll be good in shape for next year. Don't lean on the fence, don't hit the column dweller with your plastic weapons etc. We thank you for your courtesy.

The haunted basement is best for kids 5 to 11 and parents, of course. Younger kids are welcome but it could be too scary for them. Older kids can still have a good time but may not find the basement quite scary enough.

Candy is first come, first serve. We have an ample supply, however, we've run out each year...so come late at your own peril.

Be nice to the ghouls and they'll be nice to you. Touch nothing and nothing will touch you.

Gothtoberfest 2006

Fun site for Halloween fans. Any SFH attendees recognize a certain laugh heard in the background?

Sweeney Family Horror '06

A brief summation of this year's yard haunt. Nothing new, unfortunately. If you've driven by, you'll hear that we modified the story to mention a vampire. This was a new static prop we had intended to build, however, delays in getting the mask, kept us from making him part of the yard haunt. He still may make it into the haunted basement, we'll see. Hope everyone is having a spooky good Halloween season.

Installation Saturday

It was a great Fall day, perfect for installing this year's yard haunt. Sort of new, is the fence. Our old one will be taking a one way to the dump. This one looks much better and installed in half the time. Amy took her brush to it, and it was transformed from suburban to spooky in just less than an hour.



Here's the blank canvas, gives you a good look at how empty the columns really are.


Stuff is beginning to fill in. For tonight's opening, the column drop panel won't be active. We're still waiting on a repair for the controller that drives the lights, sound and action that go with this prop. So, I just hooked the strobe inside to a motion detector so that passersby would at least trigger something. Seemed to work pretty well.


It's good to see old friends finding their place. We have two of these column gargoyles. An internet purchase. They make our fence columns all the cooler.


The roof gargoyle is back. Take a good look. I don't believe the mask that makes his face so pretty can last another year. It's splitting and cracking. In a lot of places. May need to try to find some kind of replacement next year. You can see a new creepy cloth treatment. We still need to add some more I think. There's not much in the package. And it's really just cheesecloth so...


Once again, our venerable reaper found his place. He provides an interesting contrast to our fading garden. He does a good job. We watched more than one person stop and listen to the show thanks to him.


Our resident corpse found a new home this year as part of the main scene. We'd always used him elsewhere. He is "emerging" in front of the rocking tombstone this year.



Getting closer to finished. Along the way today, we were rewarded by several of you stopping by to say hello and telling us you're glad the Sweeney Family Horror is materializing again, this year. Just so you know, that means a lot to us. Normally, this day is a little stressful for me, however, I had a good time getting things rigged this year. We tried a new lighting scheme thanks to some tips from Skull and Bone, and I have to say, I was very pleased. If we can get some decent night pictures we'll share. In the meantime, thanks a ton S&B.

The Halloween season is here. Stay tuned to this address for more updates.

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.

Tall spots made easy.

If you'd like to raise a flood off the ground to light a prop on the roof or in a tree or whatever, here's an easy way to do it. Just use some black PVC, a cheap all-weather spot from any larger hardware store and some black duct tape.

Gothic lantern.

Generally, I don't love Gemmy Industries' products. Their products, while often inventive, trend toward cheesey and over the top. At least for my taste. So, when this lamp caught my eye in a store aisle, I was surprised to see it was a Gemmy product. Yeah, I know. It's still a little over the top, but, when weather allows, we'll probably make this part of the yard haunt. Should look pretty interesting from the sidewalk and street. We're trying to add more details such as this for 2006. Looking at last year's photos I was discouraged by the lack of texture and depth. Everything looked flat and sparse. So, while we hope to have one new character finished to add something new, we're really focusing on adding smaller bits of atmosphere to dress things up.