Another one down.
And so ends another Halloween season and our third edition of Lost Lake Cemetery. And now the recap. Get comfortable, this may get long.
Overall, we had a good night but it wasn’t without its flaws. During my final sound check Saturday, about two hours before game time, my main receiver/amp powering my beloved GoE Dark Soundscapes music started flashing “PROTECTOR” on the display followed immediately by the dreaded wisp of blue smoke. Oh shit. Thankfully the receiver in Mantown was not needed this day so it was quickly conscripted into haunt service. Some quick disconnections, reconnections and a sound check and we’re back on!
Our traffic was down this year too. Only 20 kids, down from 40 last year. *cringe* I suspect the bleak weather forecast had something to do with that. But luckily the rain held off apart from two very brief sprinkles and we kept at it and made the best of the crowd we did get. The only other problem was the wind. It was just too much to put the foggers out this year. There’s no sense burning fog fluid only to have it immediately blow away. And now, on to the positive.
We had a larger cast this year than in the past, which was a lot of fun. Naturally Kari and I were there. Also in attendance were Kari’s parents (Don and Peg), her younger sister (Olivia) and Olivia’s boyfriend, Randy. Additionally, my brother and his girlfriend (Tom and Christine) also joined in his year. Our only small hitch there was that Olivia neglected to pass on certain vital info about the haunt to Randy and Randy arrived as The Joker. Hmmm… Luckily under haunt lighting the makeup job proved oddly effective and he pulled it off!
Ok, positions. Don had his pirate outfit with glowing red eyes and took up position by the candy looking fake. I know that doesn’t sound very fitting for a graveyard, but it’s a sort of tattered pirate outfit and mask that actually work quite well. However, he doesn’t see well through the mask without his glasses so he remains stationary but gets some good screams. He’s very good at convincing them he’s not real then jumping out at them. Peg was a mourning widow, taking up position near the fresh grave while Olivia, our ghostly bride was at the cemetery entrance welcoming our visitors and pointing them in the right direction to the crypt then the graves. My brother, Randy and I roamed the cemetery and surrounding trees cruising for victims.
Now, my brother and I have done this on and off for years since we first started haunting my parents’ house ages ago, long before I knew the term “haunting” existed. We work well together doing this crap and it was great doing so with him again after several years. We read each others movements and intentions well and usually are able to coordinate with each other without a word. Randy was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t have many expectations from a 14 year old kid in Joker makeup, but it turns out he’s done a little haunt acting for his school’s haunted house and his timing is quite good. Not only that, but he was quick to pick up on what my brother and I were doing and jumped right in. If we can get him properly outfitted next year, I’d be glad to get him back out there!
As I said, our crowds were small, but the ones we did get we got good. ]: ) One group in particular was the real highlight of the evening. A few parents, a group of 6 or so kids, mostly girls and they’re all on edge. Heh heh. They go for the candy at the far end of the haunt and Don gets them. While he has their attention I emerged from the trees and got them again before creeping back into the woods, with one girl (who screamed quite nicely for us) yelling, “Yeah, that’s right. You run back into your woods!” (oh kid, you’ve sealed your fate now!) I creep around the big tree and hang out in the glow of the red lights waiting. They’re trying to figure out where I went and there I am again. I run after them, they scream. My brother moves in behind them while they’re on me, they scream again. Then Randy closes in and nails them yet again. Now all three of us are closing in on the group and one girl nearly whacks me with her bag of candy! LOL! The whole situation was a thing of haunting beauty. We all just moved in time with each other with great results. We made a great team. On their way out I ran out after them and gave them one more for the road. We got several others that night, but this group made it al worthwhile! Kari and I agree though. Next year we really need to work on publicity a bit. See if we can’t draw in a bigger crowd. I’m not sure how to go about it yet, but we’ll do something to put the word out beyond our neighbors next year.
While all this is going on, Kari and Christine we in the garage tending to Not-So-Scaryland. We know some little ones are scared so we try to make sure they have a “scary” place to go that isn’t too much for them. Kari really took it up a notch this year IMO. She did an awesome job decorating. Lots of cool items around, and she made great use of some spare LED spots I made to backlight her potions and such. I think for next year I’m going to dedicate more of my building time to the garage so we can really ramp it up. We’ve got this great haunted parlor sort of theme we’ve been building on since last year and it’s really shaping up nicely I think. And Kari was rockin’ her ghostly dead lady getup. We’ve been kicking around ideas for new additions including some book shelves and better lighting (both primary and accents). I’ll still do some cemetery stuff too, but I really want to spend some quality time on Not-So-Scaryland.
Speaking of next year, I think I’ve finally hit the threshold I sought in terms of cemetery population. With roughly 60 gravestones, and 10 crosses in the ground the place finally looks nicely populated with no major voids. Going forward now I can really focus on making a couple/few nice showpiece stones a year and maybe a one or two cool other props a year to keep something new coming each year. Really start focusing on quality not quantity. But I think the growth curve is beginning to level off a little.
It was a good Halloween. We had a lot of fun and no major issues. And now the breakdown begins. We got the building permit for our new shed Friday, so tomorrow I’m calling to put in the order to build the thing. With a bit of luck I won’t have to put any of this back in the house. Until the shed is in though, everything will go in the present shed and garage. After that though, I’ll begin to fill all that beautiful storage space! And it’s all for ME! :D
Happy hauntings, my friends. Only 363 days left until Halloween!
Overall, we had a good night but it wasn’t without its flaws. During my final sound check Saturday, about two hours before game time, my main receiver/amp powering my beloved GoE Dark Soundscapes music started flashing “PROTECTOR” on the display followed immediately by the dreaded wisp of blue smoke. Oh shit. Thankfully the receiver in Mantown was not needed this day so it was quickly conscripted into haunt service. Some quick disconnections, reconnections and a sound check and we’re back on!
Our traffic was down this year too. Only 20 kids, down from 40 last year. *cringe* I suspect the bleak weather forecast had something to do with that. But luckily the rain held off apart from two very brief sprinkles and we kept at it and made the best of the crowd we did get. The only other problem was the wind. It was just too much to put the foggers out this year. There’s no sense burning fog fluid only to have it immediately blow away. And now, on to the positive.
We had a larger cast this year than in the past, which was a lot of fun. Naturally Kari and I were there. Also in attendance were Kari’s parents (Don and Peg), her younger sister (Olivia) and Olivia’s boyfriend, Randy. Additionally, my brother and his girlfriend (Tom and Christine) also joined in his year. Our only small hitch there was that Olivia neglected to pass on certain vital info about the haunt to Randy and Randy arrived as The Joker. Hmmm… Luckily under haunt lighting the makeup job proved oddly effective and he pulled it off!
Ok, positions. Don had his pirate outfit with glowing red eyes and took up position by the candy looking fake. I know that doesn’t sound very fitting for a graveyard, but it’s a sort of tattered pirate outfit and mask that actually work quite well. However, he doesn’t see well through the mask without his glasses so he remains stationary but gets some good screams. He’s very good at convincing them he’s not real then jumping out at them. Peg was a mourning widow, taking up position near the fresh grave while Olivia, our ghostly bride was at the cemetery entrance welcoming our visitors and pointing them in the right direction to the crypt then the graves. My brother, Randy and I roamed the cemetery and surrounding trees cruising for victims.
Now, my brother and I have done this on and off for years since we first started haunting my parents’ house ages ago, long before I knew the term “haunting” existed. We work well together doing this crap and it was great doing so with him again after several years. We read each others movements and intentions well and usually are able to coordinate with each other without a word. Randy was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t have many expectations from a 14 year old kid in Joker makeup, but it turns out he’s done a little haunt acting for his school’s haunted house and his timing is quite good. Not only that, but he was quick to pick up on what my brother and I were doing and jumped right in. If we can get him properly outfitted next year, I’d be glad to get him back out there!
As I said, our crowds were small, but the ones we did get we got good. ]: ) One group in particular was the real highlight of the evening. A few parents, a group of 6 or so kids, mostly girls and they’re all on edge. Heh heh. They go for the candy at the far end of the haunt and Don gets them. While he has their attention I emerged from the trees and got them again before creeping back into the woods, with one girl (who screamed quite nicely for us) yelling, “Yeah, that’s right. You run back into your woods!” (oh kid, you’ve sealed your fate now!) I creep around the big tree and hang out in the glow of the red lights waiting. They’re trying to figure out where I went and there I am again. I run after them, they scream. My brother moves in behind them while they’re on me, they scream again. Then Randy closes in and nails them yet again. Now all three of us are closing in on the group and one girl nearly whacks me with her bag of candy! LOL! The whole situation was a thing of haunting beauty. We all just moved in time with each other with great results. We made a great team. On their way out I ran out after them and gave them one more for the road. We got several others that night, but this group made it al worthwhile! Kari and I agree though. Next year we really need to work on publicity a bit. See if we can’t draw in a bigger crowd. I’m not sure how to go about it yet, but we’ll do something to put the word out beyond our neighbors next year.
While all this is going on, Kari and Christine we in the garage tending to Not-So-Scaryland. We know some little ones are scared so we try to make sure they have a “scary” place to go that isn’t too much for them. Kari really took it up a notch this year IMO. She did an awesome job decorating. Lots of cool items around, and she made great use of some spare LED spots I made to backlight her potions and such. I think for next year I’m going to dedicate more of my building time to the garage so we can really ramp it up. We’ve got this great haunted parlor sort of theme we’ve been building on since last year and it’s really shaping up nicely I think. And Kari was rockin’ her ghostly dead lady getup. We’ve been kicking around ideas for new additions including some book shelves and better lighting (both primary and accents). I’ll still do some cemetery stuff too, but I really want to spend some quality time on Not-So-Scaryland.
Speaking of next year, I think I’ve finally hit the threshold I sought in terms of cemetery population. With roughly 60 gravestones, and 10 crosses in the ground the place finally looks nicely populated with no major voids. Going forward now I can really focus on making a couple/few nice showpiece stones a year and maybe a one or two cool other props a year to keep something new coming each year. Really start focusing on quality not quantity. But I think the growth curve is beginning to level off a little.
It was a good Halloween. We had a lot of fun and no major issues. And now the breakdown begins. We got the building permit for our new shed Friday, so tomorrow I’m calling to put in the order to build the thing. With a bit of luck I won’t have to put any of this back in the house. Until the shed is in though, everything will go in the present shed and garage. After that though, I’ll begin to fill all that beautiful storage space! And it’s all for ME! :D
Happy hauntings, my friends. Only 363 days left until Halloween!
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