Haunt Soundtracks: Lull


I'm a big fan of using Ambient music in your haunt, as it sets an unusually dark and creepy tone (I have been using a few tracks from Aphex Twin in my haunt for years). I recently discovered a few tracks from Lull, a 1990s dark-ambient side project from Mick Harris (who was also a drummer for Napalm Death!). I will definitely be incorporating some of these tracks in this year's haunt...









MHC 2012 Recap - Part 2


So after walking around the tradeshow floor at the Midwest Haunters Convention, Scrapes and I went over to the hotel to get ready for Saturday night's Masquerade Party. We ended up getting a room at a hotel away from the convention center, so we scared the hell out of a few people in the elevator and lobby as we embarked from our room, dressed as zombies. The poor guy coming out of the ice machine room turned the corner and jumped about 3 feet when he saw me. He laughed after, but we think he may have peed just a little. Not often do you run down the hall to get some ice and run into a couple of zombies in the middle of June.

We made our way back to the convention center in time to meet up with a few of our friends from the Northern Ohio Home Haunters group, snapped a few pictures and went inside...



Scrapes and Highbury, professional hotel guest haunters. It was very difficult to find enough arms to carry weathered lanterns, hold cold beers AND take photos of amazing costumes...



Some of the Northern Ohio Home Haunters crew: Eric, Scrapes, Stacey, Vince and Sabrena
 












Janel, another member of the Northern Ohio Home Haunters. Notice the nose hair and the two-headed parakeet??



This was one of my favorite costumes of the night. Yes, there is a person in there somewhere...



 

My favorite photo of the night. Meet the SvenPuss crew. I asked to take their picture and this is what I got. Amazing costumes, incredible makeup and a perfect pose from everyone all in one shot. This is a group that I will definitely have to keep an eye on...



And last but not least, be sure to check out all of the shots from Laura Dark Photography. She had a setup where she shot approximately 13,734,741 photos of all the partygoers, including the ladies from the Body Art Show (all of my shots came out blurry, as there were so many people jockeying for position to get their photos - I got a lot of great shots of camera phones, backs of heads and hands...). 

She even had time to shoot a photo of two professional hotel guest haunters...





MHC 2012 Recap - Part 1


So here we are at the start of the 2012 build season with a new post and a new look. We weren't completely happy with the last look, so we decided to freshen it up a little bit. We hope you like the remodeling.

As we mentioned in our last post, Scrapes and I traveled down to Columbus for our new annual ritual, the Midwest Haunters Convention. Again, the MHC didn't disappoint. More vendors and more attendees than last year meant meeting more people, scoring more swag, and most importantly, snapping more photos.

For part one, we walked through the MHC Trade Show floor, admiring art and products from over 100 exhibitors...














Three amazing art and mask pieces from Demski Creations. I love the creepiness of their canvas masks.




Now these scent jars caught my attention for obvious reasons and I can happily report that I had NEVER smelled anything like that before...





Shout out to Steve at the Garage of Evil for the great laser arcade booth setup and for bringing his stunning UFO, produced in their brand new workshop. Why not check them out, as they have some amazing member props on display. I've been a proud GoE member since 2009. I also donated to the workshop and got to personalize a brick, so if you're ever in their shop, look for the one that says, "HIGHBURY."






And finally, my favorite vendors Creepy Collection were back with their wide array of dolls, zombies and clowns... I went crazy with the camera.











Pay special attention to the most ghastly prop in their collection, the one above at the top right. So lifelike, so real, so horrifying!!





Don't worry if you couldn't make it down to the show this year, as a list of all the event exhibitors (as well as links to their web sites) can still be found here. But try your best to get there next year, as they will be celebrating their 10th Anniversary, in what will be sure to be even crazier than this year! Mark your calendars now for June 7 - 9, 2013. We won't miss it for the world!

And stop back soon for recap part 2: The Masquerade Ball!


 



June Update (Going to MHC!)


It's been a while group, but we're back with a real quick update. Tomorrow, Scrapes and I are headed down to Columbus to experience the madness that is the Midwest Haunters Convention. Be sure to look for 2 zombies (of the many that will undoubtedly be there) at the Masquerade Ball and say hello. Or buy us a drink. It's totally up to you.



And be sure to check back next week because we're going to be hitting the reset button for 2012. A new look and tons of new posts. MHC is our official start to the 2012 build season, so it's time to gets things moving. We're down to 145 days and, as usual, we're behind schedule! See you in Columbus!!