Edgar Allan Poe's Grave
“Every year for the past six decades, a shadowy visitor would leave roses and a half-empty bottle of cognac on Poe’s grave on the anniversary of the writer’s birth. This year, no one showed.
“Did the mysterious “Poe toaster” meet his own mortal end? Did some kind of ghastly misfortune befall him? Will he be heard from nevermore?”
This animatronic haunt is very cool. Definitely not “scary”, but still very cool. I might try something similar when I get more ambitious with animated props.
This year’s haunt was a real success. I focused a lot of my time and budget into the lighting and ambiance of the haunt this year. Black lights, fog and chiller, lightning, thunder, candles flickering all added to the creepy, haunted vibe. My “Scaretaker” was a real hit with the kids and adults alike. We had a steady stream of ToTs all evening and at one point there was a huge crowd of parents and kids standing in front of my house admiring all our hard work. I wish I had taken a picture of that, it was quite a sight to behold. 
Here are some miscellaneous pictures from Halloween night.
I drew half of the face and then used the cut out pieces to make the other side symetrical.
You can see all of the layers of paper in this picture.
I used 1" to 1 1/2" wide pieces of cardboard secured with hot glue to accentuate the features that I had cut out.
This process takes a very, very long time. That is why I will not be having these pumpkins in my display this year. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months.
Well, I’ve been working hard on all of my props and I’m afraid I will not be able to finish all of them for this year. Here is an update on the “Scaretaker” prop.
After completing the papier mache I filled the head with expanding foam.
I used a "T" joint and short PVC pipe inside the foam to use for securing the head to the body.
I built the body out of PVC pipe. I used 1" screws to secure them all together.
I carved the foam on the hands then applied several layers of papier mache. Again I used PVC pipe so I can secure them to the body I made.
I then used chicken wire to bulk up the body. It is secured to the PVC with hot glue where it touches the pipe.
I used some old Church clothes to dress him up. My wife unstitched them and sewed Velcro into them so I could get them on.
This is what it looked like all put together except for the head. I still need to sculpt a face and eyes. I decided that if I don't finish the head tomorrow he can be a headless Scaretaker.
It looks pretty awesome with the blacklights. I'll pick up some old shoes from DI tomorrow for him.
I’m very happy with how the body turned out. I made him so he separates at the waist, so he will be a little easier to store. If I can’t finish the head by tomorrow night I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. He looks cool headless.
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