Horror's Least

Spooky Houses
Originally uploaded by sheiladeeisme

XXIX. Ghosts.

One need not be a chamber to be haunted,
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.

Far safer, of a midnight meeting
External ghost,
Than an interior confronting
That whiter host.

Far safer through an Abbey gallop,
The stones achase,
Than, moonless, one's own self encounter
In lonesome place.

Ourself, behind ourself concealed,
Should startle most;
Assassin, hid in our apartment,
Be horror's least.

The prudent carries a revolver,
He bolts the door,
O'erlooking a superior spectre
More near.

-- Emily Dickinson

Haunt Panel

This is very cool and worth checking out if you're a home haunter like me or just dig those houses on Halloween night that go 'all out.' The latest episode of the Big Scary Show features a panel interview with Midnight Syndicate's Edward Douglas and fellow haunt music composers Virgil Franklin and Jerry "Haunt Rocker" Vayne. They talk about how they got their start in the biz, haunt music as art form, and various experiences over the years. (Panel interview starts at 34 minutes.)

http://www.bigscaryshow.com/

Zing!

Looks like that demented dude over at the Hallowzing website has finally got his 2010 Halloween pictures up. This creep has a serious love of Halloween (and a serious case of procrastination)! Stop on by and check out the madness at: www.hallowzing.com

Original Rot

Ever wonder where I got the bug for dark web design? Look no further than the original: PUMPKINROT. Rot has been inspiring people to peer into the shadows, investigate strange noises, and celebrate the weirdness and wonder of Halloween for many years now. To see how he has inspired home haunters (including myself), take a walk down that lonely path to Pumpkin Hollow...if you dare.

http://www.pumpkinrot.com

Dead Tired

I'm back after an absolutely exhausting weekend. Our annual Halloween/birthday party went great - we really couldn't have asked for a better day. After a freakishly warm October, the weather-man gave us a grim forecast for Saturday - 55 and rainy. Instead, we got blue skies, abundant sunshine and 70 degrees - an absolutely perfect fall day (as an added bonus I got to watch my beloved Iowa State Cyclones whup up on Texas on television!) We had a great turnout with some fabulous costumes, the haunted house in my garage was a big hit, and all the kids were winners and left with plenty of candy and prizes from our games (Wheel of Fate, Apple Bob, Beanbag Toss, and Pumpkin Seed Spit).

Teardown - on the inside of our house, not the outside graveyard or garage - took ALL DAY yesterday, from 7:00 a.m. until I crashed in bed at 8:00 p.m. But that's what it takes to get ten giant Rubbermaids filled and stored back into the crawlspace. And to think - next week I do it all over again for the outside props! Man, Halloween can be exhausting...

P.S. Pictures to come...

Back...

Ughh... Finally back after having my butt severely kicked by a major cold. My sincere apologies for not posting on the blog - it took well over a week, but I finally got rid of it (I hope). Now back to the home haunting, making last minute repairs to the drive-in, and trying to enjoy the last remaining days of October before the greatest day of the year. Here's hoping I stay healthy for the last two weeks - there's still so much to get done!

Eat, Sleep, Drink, Haunt

Just over a month to go before the big night (and less than an month before our annual Halloween party!) I've got a good start on the garage haunt and really hope to have it mostly completed by the end of this weekend - weather permitting. Unfortunately, the weather has not wanted to cooperate too much in September. It's been cold and dreary and wet (we had ten inches of rain in the past 24 hours!) - but you've got to push through if you want to stay on schedule. More of the same this weekend, so I'll be bundled up with the door half open to keep most of the rain out of the garage.

The inside decorations were pulled out of storage last weekend, and have been slowly going up around the house here and there. It shouldn't take too much to get the inside Halloween-ized for the party - we've got a good head start. The biggest obstacle is getting our annual Halloween poems and invites knocked out this weekend. These have been pushed to the back burner for too long and absolutely, positively HAVE to be finished this weekend. Once these chores are complete it's on to my own costume - and I've also had the urge to enter the Scarecrow Contest at this year's Fall Festival - so that's something to consider as well.

To top it all off, work is continuing at a frantic pace to get the Drive-In up and running in time for its Halloween debut. The snack bar was a shambles and had to basically be rebuilt. The projection booth and our dilapidated screen both need work as well. I've been putting in a lot of overtime to have everything 'just so' when we finally open our gate. Needless to say it's been a busy haunting season - even crazier than years past - which is something I swore I wouldn't repeat. Regardless, I'm enjoying myself and definitely looking forward to having you stop by the Drive-In - I think you'll like what you see.

Ravens Grin

While on a trip to Illinois a friend turned me on to this amazing haunted attraction. We're not going to be able to make it to Ravens Grin this trip, but I definitely hope to check it out sometime soon...

Halloween may be long over at your house, but it never ends here at the Ravens Grin Inn, says Jim Warfield, a former plumber who twisted one too many pipes and now runs merrily amok with a Halloween attraction that closes nevermore in this tiny village in northwestern Illinois.

"People come through my haunted house, and it hits them that here's this guy living in this nice little town, making a living and having all this fun...I feel bad for all you other people. I really do," Warfield says.

To see more visit:

http://www.hauntedravensgrin.com/RGI/index.html