# Halloween 2019: Spectral Summoning



## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Halloween 2019 was a bit of an oddity at ol' Revenant Manor. For some reason, I was lacking in my normal enthusiasm, and think that perhaps repeating myself for the last several years has finally taken its toll.

For several years, the prospect of ‘deepening’ the haunt by sticking with a single concept but adding coherently themed pieces was pretty appealing. 
However, this year it seemed as though it was stifling me a bit. It’s quite possible that I’ll need some sort of major departure for 2020.
As a result, I didn’t end up building a lot of new stuff but did add a few pieces that have been on the ‘to-do’ list for a while. Updates for this year included:


Cemetery Statue ('Belladonna')
Tomb Topper
Skeletal Sentinels
Column Plaques
Candle Sconce

Anyway, below are several pictures (including a few lackluster daylight images) and the 2019 haunt video.
I hope everyone had a great Halloween!


Cemetery Statue:





































Tomb Topper:


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Skeletal Sentinels:


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Cemetery Plaques and Rehabbed Columns:


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Cemetery:


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Pumpkin Patch:


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

2019 Haunt Video


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## DandyBrit (Sep 6, 2013)

That is a cracking video!!


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## Michael__Myers (Sep 8, 2019)

It all looks amazing! Would definitely enjoy a walk through myself. Well done ???


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## dane82 (Sep 24, 2012)

Looks great! And I actually really like the daytime pics too--a gray day says Halloween to me as much as a spooky night.


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## MasqAddikt (Jun 19, 2019)

Super impressive.


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## HauntedWyo (Apr 13, 2017)

That was an amazing set up. So what are thinking of doing for next year if you don't stay with this theme?


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Thanks for all of the kind words, folks! In a down year, it's nice to get lifted up a bit by your peers.



Michael__Myers said:


> It all looks amazing! Would definitely enjoy a walk through myself. Well done ???


Wouldn't it be great if we could all somehow get to one another's haunts? It's such a weird hobby....so many of us spend so much time building and setting up that we don't get to visit other displays. The SoCal haunters have it soooo good in that way.



dane82 said:


> Looks great! And I actually really like the daytime pics too--a gray day says Halloween to me as much as a spooky night.


Thanks! As much as I love weird and bizarre lighting at night, I do feel like it all needs to stand on its own during the day, too. Plus, you can actually see way more detail in the daytime, so there is something to be said for that. I'm just not a good enough photographer to know how to take decent pics, so I feel like the daytime images are always so flat. 



HauntedWyo said:


> That was an amazing set up. So what are thinking of doing for next year if you don't stay with this theme?


Thanks! I wish I knew, but I'm kind of undecided on how to approach it. 

I don't really want to start from scratch, but I do think I need to come up with something that will really shake up the display so that I'll be re-energized.

I have a couple of facade ideas that I think could be really cool, but the scale of them is kind of daunting. However, I have said for a few years that I want to 'go big' for 2020 (it's a Saturday night, it's the 20th anniversary of the haunt, and I have family saying they want to come in for it, etc.), so maybe I'll just go all-in on a couple of really ambitious pieces that will really enhance the backdrop.


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## stick (Apr 2, 2009)

I would love to be able to come and see this in person..


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## Tasty Brains (Jan 16, 2019)

Looks fantastic both day and night. ?


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## somethingwicked1959 (May 1, 2013)

Wow, love it especially the madonna and the coffin with the skelly


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## AuraofForeboding (Oct 4, 2009)

Wow, really nice work! Love the lighting. Is it ok if I say it's beautiful?


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## jdubbya (Oct 4, 2003)

You can stop raising the bar anytime now! LOL! Another superb effort and one I look forward to every year; Lighting, props, atmosphere. You always create a scene that's eerily believable, perfectly constructed and beautifully photographed. This simply checks all the boxes and many haunters can and should glean inspiration as well as technique from you, sir! Strong work, again!! (I'd add that I would kill someone for that crypt. Simply stunning!)


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Hey, thanks folks...I really appreciate it!



stick said:


> I would love to be able to come and see this in person..


Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow all see one another's haunts, displays, and walkthroughs in person? I've seriously toyed with the idea of making a trip to SoCal one year just because there would be so many that could realistically be visited in one season!



AuraofForeboding said:


> Wow, really nice work! Love the lighting. Is it ok if I say it's beautiful?


It certainly is OK, and thanks so very much for saying so!



jdubbya said:


> You can stop raising the bar anytime now! LOL! Another superb effort and one I look forward to every year; Lighting, props, atmosphere. You always create a scene that's eerily believable, perfectly constructed and beautifully photographed. This simply checks all the boxes and many haunters can and should glean inspiration as well as technique from you, sir! Strong work, again!! (I'd add that I would kill someone for that crypt. Simply stunning!)


Thank you, sir! 

I really didn't feel like I had any mojo this year, so that's awful kind of you. I guess I also know where to send the crypt when it's time to retire it! ?

Hopefully, we will see some of your 2019 work soon?


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## Shadow Panther (Apr 4, 2013)

that is IMPRESSIVE!!!!!!!


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## JalopenosAndCheese (Nov 6, 2020)

Defenestrator said:


> Halloween 2019 was a bit of an oddity at ol' Revenant Manor. For some reason, I was lacking in my normal enthusiasm, and think that perhaps repeating myself for the last several years has finally taken its toll.
> 
> For several years, the prospect of ‘deepening’ the haunt by sticking with a single concept but adding coherently themed pieces was pretty appealing.
> However, this year it seemed as though it was stifling me a bit. It’s quite possible that I’ll need some sort of major departure for 2020.
> ...


Do you have any how to pages? Or videos?


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Well, I've not really ever done much in the way of 'how to'....honestly, I pretty much make stuff up as I go, and use a lot of 'found' items, scrap wood, leftover hardware, etc. so my approach doesn't always lend itself to any kind of real 'recipe'. (there are some 'lights on' functional test videos on my YouTube channel, but they're pretty lacking in any real detail)

For example, the 'statue' that was built for 2019, and appears in this thread, was scrap lumber, an old tomato cage, some lengths of PVC, sheets from Goodwill, a wig head, and a bunch of monster mud. I pretty much just started attaching stuff together until it looked like something, but here she is in her very first photo:










However, I'm happy to try to answer any questions about a particular prop or process to the best of my ability!


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## Corinne Adams (May 10, 2021)

Defenestrator said:


> Halloween 2019 was a bit of an oddity at ol' Revenant Manor. For some reason, I was lacking in my normal enthusiasm, and think that perhaps repeating myself for the last several years has finally taken its toll.
> 
> For several years, the prospect of ‘deepening’ the haunt by sticking with a single concept but adding coherently themed pieces was pretty appealing.
> However, this year it seemed as though it was stifling me a bit. It’s quite possible that I’ll need some sort of major departure for 2020.
> ...


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## Corinne Adams (May 10, 2021)

Defenestrator said:


> Well, I've not really ever done much in the way of 'how to'....honestly, I pretty much make stuff up as I go, and use a lot of 'found' items, scrap wood, leftover hardware, etc. so my approach doesn't always lend itself to any kind of real 'recipe'. (there are some 'lights on' functional test videos on my YouTube channel, but they're pretty lacking in any real detail)
> 
> For example, the 'statue' that was built for 2019, and appears in this thread, was scrap lumber, an old tomato cage, some lengths of PVC, sheets from Goodwill, a wig head, and a bunch of monster mud. I pretty much just started attaching stuff together until it looked like something, but here she is in her very first photo:
> 
> ...


Your props are true artworks. The crypt with the skeleton is magnificent. Did you use a cement base or a plastic
base to make it look like stone? Did you have Halloween this past 2020 with the pandemic?


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## MT_Grave (May 23, 2014)

Love the skelly tomb topper. May have to borrow that for my haunt next year. I've bee doing much the same - building on the graveyard theme for the last 7 years. Try to build 1 new bigger prop a year - and was planning on doing a large tomb like this. Perfect!


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## The Joker (Sep 8, 2008)

I never saw this thread in 2019, so appreciate it being revived. Speaking of the skeleton topper to the tomb, @Defenestrator how did you do that? It looks like a plastic skeleton painted the same color as the tomb and then a sheet dipped in monster mud draped over it or something? I just don't understand how you'd get such perfect ripples and folds in the sheet. Looks like a few months since you were last on the HF, but can you give a few words on how you achieved that look? Absolutely fantastic!


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## Corinne Adams (May 10, 2021)

Hey guys, I've been working on "Knockturn Alley" for 3 years and now we just tweak it here and there. Check it out on YouTube-A quick port key trip to Knockturn Alley. It's for the people that have come to expect a "show" at Halloween-and we give them one!


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

Corinne Adams said:


> Your props are true artworks. The crypt with the skeleton is magnificent. Did you use a cement base or a plastic
> base to make it look like stone? Did you have Halloween this past 2020 with the pandemic?


Ah, thanks...that's kind of you to say.

The crypt is all foam, and breaks down flat for ease of storage. 

As for the 2020 display, yes, we ultimately decided to go forward at the neighborhood's request (we weren't quite sure folks were ready for it, but were convinced otherwise). 

The thread for last year's display can be found here:









Halloween 2020: Wicked Garden


Sooo, how about that 2020, eh? Weird though it may have been, and despite all of the chaos, including questions about the holiday in general and the remnants of a last-minute hurricane and the accompanying loss of power for us in particular, there was ultimately still a Halloween 2020 at...




www.halloweenforum.com


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

The Joker said:


> I never saw this thread in 2019, so appreciate it being revived. Speaking of the skeleton topper to the tomb, @Defenestrator how did you do that? It looks like a plastic skeleton painted the same color as the tomb and then a sheet dipped in monster mud draped over it or something? I just don't understand how you'd get such perfect ripples and folds in the sheet. Looks like a few months since you were last on the HF, but can you give a few words on how you achieved that look? Absolutely fantastic!


@The Joker 
Apologies for the delayed response here...you're right; I've been absent for a while. 

I tend to take the first half of the year to make sure I get non-Halloween stuff done before cranking the machine back up in June. But, here we are; it's June and time to start thinking about what The Big Day will look like, so I'm in here refreshing my memory on the last couple year's worth of displays. 

Anyway, yep, the tomb topper is indeed 100% just a cheap-o plastic skeleton that I had laying around (and didn't like as much as my newer models, so he was expendable) The pillow and sheet that complete the look were just Goodwill purchases, and as you say, treated with monster mud, and if I were to take a stab at the key elements of the end product, I would say: 

- I feel like the key with the details rippling and draping was finding the thinnest synthetic material I could, but that I felt would still hold up to the mud and the wringing out that I would be putting it through. 

- If memory serves, I would say that I also went a little light on the traditional 5:1 joint compound to paint ration to make it a bit 'thinner', too. (I knew I was going to be adding some paint layers afterward, so I wasn't that worried about the protection aspect being insufficient)

- Polyster! For what it's worth, (and I could certainly be wrong) but I'm not convinced that look would be easily achievable with cotton / natural fibers.

I hope that helps a bit!


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## Corinne Adams (May 10, 2021)

Defenestrator said:


> Halloween 2019 was a bit of an oddity at ol' Revenant Manor. For some reason, I was lacking in my normal enthusiasm, and think that perhaps repeating myself for the last several years has finally taken its toll.
> 
> For several years, the prospect of ‘deepening’ the haunt by sticking with a single concept but adding coherently themed pieces was pretty appealing.
> However, this year it seemed as though it was stifling me a bit. It’s quite possible that I’ll need some sort of major departure for 2020.
> ...


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## thedoors111 (Oct 5, 2021)

Defenestrator said:


> @The Joker
> Apologies for the delayed response here...you're right; I've been absent for a while.
> 
> I tend to take the first half of the year to make sure I get non-Halloween stuff done before cranking the machine back up in June. But, here we are; it's June and time to start thinking about what The Big Day will look like, so I'm in here refreshing my memory on the last couple year's worth of displays.
> ...


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an old post and hope you still get replies so here goes nothing.

That is fantastic and something I want to try; however, can you tell me where you found the book or how you made it because that IS a fantastic touch to your tomb topper.

Jim
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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

thedoors111 said:


> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This is an old post and hope you still get replies so here goes nothing.
> 
> That is fantastic and something I want to try; however, can you tell me where you found the book or how you made it because that IS a fantastic touch to your tomb topper.
> ...


Well, I can tell you where it came from originally, but I'm not sure that it's out there anymore.

This entry on the Spirit Wiki should provide some background:









Dark Magic Spell Book


Not to be confused with the 2010 animatronic Animated Witch's Spell Book. The Dark Magic Spell Book, also known as Book of Dark Magic, was an animatronic sold by Spirit Halloween for the 2011 to 2012 Halloween seasons. It resembled an ancient spell book. When activated, the book opened, as...




spirit-halloween.fandom.com





It was a gift that I didn't find a good use for with respect to its intended purpose, but I did like the overall look of the 'cover', so I incporated it into the tomb instead, and do like it there quite a bit. 

Anyway, I suspect that an online search for 'animated spell book' might turn up some likely replacement candidates. Or, maybe someone might even be selling one of the Spirit versions on eBay?

Best of luck with the search, and Happy Halloween!


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## thedoors111 (Oct 5, 2021)

Defenestrator said:


> Well, I can tell you where it came from originally, but I'm not sure that it's out there anymore.
> 
> This entry on the Spirit Wiki should provide some background:
> 
> ...


Thank you very much. That certainly gives me a starting point for adding to my prop.


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## Geli (Mar 26, 2021)




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