# 92 Days until Halloween 2009!



## ezekiel (Nov 4, 2007)

*Welcome to my Halloween blog!
Dated 7-31-2009*
_
(The first few posts of this blog are back dated, while I was trying to find a home for this blog.)_

For the most part this blog is going to be dedicated to my quest to improve my front yard Halloween display over last year's attempt. So as the title of the opening post says, there are 92 days until Halloween 2009. Hopefully there will be enough time to build everything I want to add to this year's display.

The "everything" I want to build list seems to grow every day. My plans are far beyond my current ability and budget. Speaking of budget, last year I was fortunate to have a bit of spare cash to buy quite a few nice little things. This year the budget is next to nil. Times are tight on the home front and even though my list expands everyday I'm going to have leave many things by the wayside. Hey that is okay though. I think of my Halloween list sort of like a Christmas Wishlist. And that is just what I'll keep on doing is wishing but end up settling for what I can get.








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Last year my yard display was my first real attempt at decorating the yard and building any props. In the past we done a small bit or two at the front door but nothing on the scale we did last year. Last year I built the following props in a little over a month for the display:

* 2 pincher coffins
* 2 wood entrance columns (78" tall) complete with faux double iron gate
* 3 faux iron railing sections
* 2 child size posable body dummies
* Fred, a full sized adult body dummy
* a smaller wood column that served as a mount for a motion activated talking gargoyle
* wooden sign post covered in foam bones to conceal the trigger light for the gargoyle
* 3 faux rock floodlight covers
* corpsed blucky groundbreaker
* full sized hanging cocoon victim
* 3+ hanging spider egg sacks
* Jack, our giant pumpkin head (paper mache over chicken wire) scare crow
* PVC frame draped in black plastic for inside the foyer to block ToT's view into the rest of the house
* 2 bone mobiles
* half dozen hanging wood decorations
* fog chiller
* several other small odds and ends

That doesn't include time spent to do other such things as the stake and hang the lights, run fishing line to act as invisible spider webs, several nights of lighting and fog testing, and so forth. Was it a LOT OF WORK. Yes. But the first ToT that dared not come down the driveway made it all worthwhile. After that every single terrified ToT was just gravy!

Originally I had wanted to create a haunted walk through in the garage but due to budgeting issues it just wasn't going to be possible. So I've decided that I want to incorporate everything from last year but add a few things that were left out last year, expand on some current props and make some all together new displays. The focus of course is on safety but also the budget aspect, as in next to zero.

Well to be totally honest I have spent a few dollars so far. I purchased 2 cans of great stuff, a small roll of chicken wire, two small containers of mold builder from Michaels (with 50% off coupons), 3 cheap paint brushes and some crayola clay. I think that brings my expenditure this year so far to about $35 spent. I do anticipate purchasing a few more necessities as soon as I'm able to move a few more items on ebay. Probably a couple more cans of great stuff, 1 gallon of latex and some fasteners (bolts, washers, nuts, etc).

So my plans for 2009 are to add the following:

* overhead archway to connect the entrance columns
* texture and repaint columns to simulate weathering
* collapsible walk through crypt structure (8' x 12') with roof
* 4+ corpsed body dummies
* corpsify one of my buckies
* witch's wood shed with roof and detailing
* puppet corpse
* 2 ground breakers
* 7 faux wooden board window covers
* lighted "Trick Or Treat" sign
* 2 corpses stakes or tied to posts
* video recording setup to monitor and capture moments of terror
* coat for Jack
* rebuild Fred (he's falls apart too easily)

There are several small things I know I have left off of this list, but this is the bulk of the work that needs to be accomplished for this years display. No small task by any means ... but it will be worth it.








92 days and counting ...

Let the fun begin!


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