On Oct24th we finally decided that we’d build a set of haunted stairs. It’s a good thing that it came together quickly. This photo shows the stair case after a couple of hours of building. It was a good thing I had all the extra lumber lying around just waiting to be built into an awesome Halloween prop.
As always, a Halloween prop looks much better after its been painted and detailed. This photo shows the black & white paint job that was blended together to create a motley look. The two strings of skull lights had masks placed over every second one so that there were a number of different creatures on the stairs. Wispy cheescloth remanants added a finishing touch.
This little fella got a return invite to come out and play again for our 2008 Halloween season. Even though we had a couple of scare technicians under the stairs working monster hands we also had a few of these creepy little static props thrown in for good measure.
One of my favorite Halloween photos. This picture was snapped at dusk while I was begining to test how the haunted stairs would be lit. Believe it or not 2008 was the first year that we started to learn more things about our camera! The Night Shot feature was one of the best discoveries ever!
We almost never use real flames as a Halloween prop but this year we did after much consideration about placement and
safety. This photo of the Death Chair was a test to see how much “torch light” the tikis would give off. Like I said before night shooting was the best discovery yet! All I had to do was read a few menu items on the camera! Hey nobody ever accused me of being the sharpest knife in Mike Myer’s drawer!
Grim at the top of the stairs waiting in the Death Chair for the trick-or-treaters. He had a ball with them and the whole twisted scene became sort of like a Bad Santa at the mall thing! If the Night Shot feature is the best then having a tripod so that your Halloween photos are not blurry is even bester! Unfortunately we didn`t have a tripod in 2008 so some of the night shots are blurry.
Grim waving and taking a bow for the people on the street. This was the best year for crowd onlooker participation. The Halloweeners loved Grims antics!
Our Graveyard props have been pretty much the same since Halloween ‘05 however we do like to change up the placement of the tombstones and use different colored lights. Then we throw in a couple different spooks and the occasionally a dead gnarled old tree and viola our cemetery is ready to go.
This hell hound is one of my favorite store bought Halloween props. Not only does it look cook it takes a good picture too! This one was borrowed from a haunting buddy – I really need to pick one of two of these bad boys up for myself!
Just having fun taking shots of our Halloween props under different lighting conditions.
At the top of the Haunted stairs, Grim in his death chair, would lure the Tricker-Treaters up for their candy. After talking with Grim the candy helper would give those who dare to ascend the stairs their treat.
Of course what good is a Bad Santa without a little imp helper to hand out the treats! There was enough room at the top for our candy giver as well as Grim. Truth be told Grim couldn’t work the candy without taking off his gloves so this tag team setup worked out well.
More Grim & Candy giver. Later in the evening we had another actor dressed as Death take over on the Death chair while Grim wandered around on the street terrorizing the Tots as they approached our haunt.
Hope you enjoyed the photos we picked as our top 13 pics for this season. See our “2008 Halloween Photo Gallery” post for many more Halloween pictures. And keep an eye out for upcoming How To articles on these props and other Halloween Home Haunting Tips & Techniques.
Thanks for Looking.Cheers ScreamingScarecrow.
looks like alot of fun
we do a haunt each year ourselves,My family considers me the most bizarre for it though. They help but its mostly my idaes & Planning that gets us through. in ’08 we had over 300 tot’s in about 3 hours
Hi Becky,
You bet we had tons of fun! But isn’t that what Home Haunting on Halloween night all about?!
300 TOTs is 3 hours! That’s excellent! Keep on Haunting!