# The Island of Dr Moreau theme



## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Normally, my house is decorated in a vintage, beachy, coastal cottage look. But come Halloween, everything gets taken off the walls, the curtains get changed out, the decorations get packed away and the house transforms. Years ago, I wanted to do a haunted luau theme and I had a couple of tubs packed with stuff I was collecting. When we moved, I used all those tiki items to decorate the screened in back porch. I'm sitting out there one day and just the thought of taking all that crap down was already making my back spasm. You know where this is all leading....I'm doing Freaky Tiki this year. I figured how hard would it be to throw grass skirts on some skeletons, hang a few shrunken heads, throw creepy cloth over everything inside and dress my witch up as a witch doctor. 

But being a haunter we always have to take it a step further, right?  So, I decided to have my haunted luau on the 'Island of Dr Moreau'. I still have some animal masks from Carnevil that I'll put on some life size props and turn the bathroom into the "House of Pain" - hang some body parts and put out some medical vials and equipment. Easy peasy. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Costumes -

I imagine I'll have a lot of Hawaiian zombie guests at the party so I wanted something a little different for my costume. I'll be dressed as _Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire & Volcanoes. _ (okay, so maybe I'll be the goddess's mother). I found this skirt on etsy -








and would like to do some fire makeup, without the glitter, like this -









I want my husband to be Trader Sam from Disney's Jungle Cruise









he however wants to be a tiki god. Hey, I already have the Edwardian Butler's hat and hair for him which fits perfectly and while he's not fat, he certainly has the belly for it (he's shaped like a pear). Being the wonderful mother that I am, I told my daughter she could be the Virgin Sacrifice that the volcano erupted back out. She wasn't going for it.


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## punkineater (Apr 26, 2014)

The 'twist' on the tiki theme costumes is great! What a find on the skirt, and I literally just snorted coffee onto the screen at Trader Sam.


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## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

Will your guests "get" the theme? I f I Tried that theme some folks would definitely get the references while others would be clueless...

You could post "The Law" someplace, make it look like a carved wooden plaque.

When We did movie-themed parties (The Birds, King Kong, Ghostbusters, etc.) I always put up posters from the movie.

Good idea using decorations that are already up. We used hawaiian and tiki elements for our King Kong themed party.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

I can't play with my Halloween stuff yet, so I figured I'd get caught up on last year. I send out postcard invites, the front










and the back said "at the 'Island of Dr Moreau'. Join us for a Haunted Luau on.......(info)

The post cards were from Zazzle, you can edit the text and colors and I also ordered cool orange and black tiki mask stamps.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

The night of the party it poured all night. I had a low turnout, many of the roads were flooded, but we still had a good time. I was bummed because we couldn't light the tiki torches and did not even bother with the fog machines which would have lent so much for atmosphere. And.....I have no pictures of my 3ft skelly pygmies which came out so cool. I do have some front porch pics:

Island Witch area:









The gargoyle and skelly tourist were enjoying themselves









and I think the Lion Man was hitting on the Hula skelly


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

These are the foyer shelves when you walk in 

















and some really cool manbeast pictures I printed out and framed









Kitchen cabinet tops were easy...I didn't do anything except add a skellymingo and hung some fake moss


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

My husband did decide to be_ Trader Sam_ after all (not sure what happened to his raffia wrist bands), I told ya the Edwardian Butler's hat/hair was a perfect fit.









and I was the _Goddess of Fire & Volcanoes_. On my playlist was Alicia Keyes "This Girl is On Fire" and when it started to play, I came out of the bedroom with lit sparklers and then handed my guests all sparklers to light.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

All the guests were dressed, many in theme:
this guy caught himself a big butterfly









these sisters look Medievally charming








and I think this guest is a long lost relative of my Dr Moreau


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

I've got lots more pics but I need to give my back a wee break... tbc


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## offmymeds (May 26, 2010)

Hi Tanna!! Looks like a great time. great props and costumes


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Update 7/19 -

Not to say I'm a procrastinator but...
I never did get back to posting the rest of the pictures. I don't know if it was the old forum or my old computer but it took forever for me to upload photos. Even though it's a pia (at least for me), it's what we do on the forum, right? We post pictures to share our imagination and for others seeking inspiration. Lawd knows, some of my best ideas have been stolen from the forum. Hopefully, the new format will make the process much quicker.

So, without further ado......


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

okay first test failed lol


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Atmosphere:

Most of my house is already decorated coastal/tropical anyway so it was real easy for me that year. Living in Florida, I just went out to my yard and cut down some palm fronds and greenery which I placed everywhere.



















I made these shrunken heads for the front door. These were so easy and cheap! Everything came from the Dollar Tree, plastic skulls that I put a dark stain on, feathers and fake grasses, colored raffia and twine. Sorry the pic isn't clearer but it's the only one I have.









Of course the Goddess of Fire has to have lava  -









Hung fishnet everywhere and on the tv had the Burt Lancaster version of _The Island of Dr Moreau_ playing, without sound, cuz I made a really fun killer playlist for the night.









And can't forget the scent - for candles I burned YC _Black Coconut_ and some kind of ginger/citrus scented candle.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Island Residents:
_(full size props)_

So, you already saw my version of Dr Moreau/Edwardian Butler, the Lion Man, the Jungle Witch and hula skellies. I also had this beauty, The Tiger Lady









Victoria stood in for my Virgin Sacrifice









and this lovely is still hanging around


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

House of Pain bath:


























I decorated the bathroom as Dr Moreau's laboratory








Tools of the Trade









Cheesy body parts








and a Beast transformation in progress

















I put a red light bulb in there party night and it came out .... alright....yes, just alright but the ape did look fierce in the dim light.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Tiki Bar is Open:
I found out the difference between an island rum drink and a Tiki Cocktail is spice! Tiki cocktails are a concoction of spices, infused syrups and tropical nectars. The selections for the evening:









all made in big batches with real coco cups

















for shooters I had Dr Moreau's jungle juice in test tubes; can't find a pic of them, they were probable still in the fridge, anyway they were green. And for jello shots I "put the lime in the coconut" (lime jello/coco rum) and pina colado (pineapple jello/coco rum/cherry). For non alcohol drinks, besides the Screaming Virgin, I had Gingerale & Dr Pepper for sodas and every Florida party has water bottles but I also threw in some coconut water boxes too.


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## pumpkinpie (Jul 9, 2011)

You did a fantastic job Tanna....and your costumes were perfect!!! I especially love that monkey (very creepy), looks like so much fun 

One of these days I hope to either do a tiki bar theme or a survivor's island theme...I've actually started and stopped at least 2 times now lol...eventually 

So have u picked a theme for this year?


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Menu:
okay I had to go back and look in my binder cause I sure don't remember....
For the "tablescape" I used burlap, green creepy cloth, palm leaves, wooden bowls and baskets. Of course, I don't have a picture of the finished table but I do have one from when I was setting up









I wanted to keep the menu islandly (yes, it is a word; at least it is now), fresh, with exotic flavors.

_Appetizers:_
Maui onion dip with kettle chips
Smoked mahi mahi dip
Mango chutney cheese ball (which I shaped into a skull head)
assorted crackers

_Entrees: _
Kahula pig sliders on Hawaiian sweet rolls
Polynesian meatballs
Spiced shrimp with a lime/garlic dipping sauce
Island Mac pasta salad
Tropical Slaw
Zesty Yams (cold sweet potato salad)
and PaCuTo (that's the name I came up with for a papaya, cucumber, tomato salad, lol)

Desserts:
Of course, a fruit display with a JOL pineapple
Coconut cake with fruit candies
Lava brownie bites
Mound & Almond Joy fun size bars
Lava rocks (rock candy sticks in red & orange)









Check out the leaf on that table! It's from my white Bird of Paradise tree, so bummed the flowers weren't in bloom.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

pumpkinpie said:


> You did a fantastic job Tanna....and your costumes were perfect!!! I especially love that monkey (very creepy), looks like so much fun
> 
> One of these days I hope to either do a tiki bar theme or a survivor's island theme...I've actually started and stopped at least 2 times now lol...eventually
> 
> So have u picked a theme for this year?


Hey pumpkin! How's tricks? I wholeheartedly recommend an island theme, it was so much fun!! Omg, did you check out 3pinkpoodles Hulaween thread? She killed it!!! Put my paltry party to shame lol. No seriously guys, you have to check this out -








Our Voodoo Island Hulaween was a success!


Some photos of this year’s party!




www.halloweenforum.com


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

I really should post this ****e as I'm planning it .... anyway back to the party

Games and Entertainment
okay, we had a surprise guest show up and give us a performance. Yes, ladies & gentlemen, Elvis was in the house!!









Coconut Stomp - I had my guests blow up brown balloons, coconut size, and tie them on their ankle. I know you see what's coming....I played this really fun song from my playlist_ "Don't Take my Coconuts"_ by Kid Creole




 while they had to stomp and break other peoples nuts while protecting their own of course. 
















The player with the last unbroken coconut was the winner and received a kona nut necklace and a small bottle of coconut rum as a prize.

And, yes, we did get get to that point in the party when it was time to-----
L-I-M-B-O!
_How low can you go?_
well, lemme tell you sumpin, us old folks can still get down (literally)! Cause Elvis won the limbo contest! Yup, he even beat out my daughter's college friends, I think because he was the only one sober by that point. Arrrg, sorry but I don't have any pics. For his efforts, his prize was a bag of Macadamia nuts.

All the guests got to get_ leid_ as a party favor. They could choose a leaf lei, a black flower lei or a shell necklace. This silly little startle prop worked out great. Got 'em every time! They would look at the alligator head, expecting it to do something and the Striking Snake would activate instead. Even when they knew the snake was going to strike they would still jump, rofl. Such a great prop! This is a daytime shot, at night it obviously was dark and I had a red light over him.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

T-t-t-that's all folks! If you made it all the way through this thread I thank you and
_"God Bless you one and all."_


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