Terror-ific Tuesday in the land of the Walking Dead.(and updates to the wicKED Woods Graveyard)

 
   There is only 6 days left till the start of the second season of THE WALKING DEAD. I sat down today and watched the 6 free webisodes offered on the website that detail the events that lead up to the unfortunate circumstances of the bicycle girl zombie in episode one.

   If you are a fan, check out the 6 webisodes, they are great! If you have never seen it,  head on over and watch them. I guarantee you will get hooked.

   While we are on the subject of zombies, I just read a short story by a local author, Brandon Hale. One of my good friends directed me to his website, Books from Hale, where you can order his books and read three of his short stories for free. If you are a fan of zombie short stories that have twists upon twists, you will love WITHOUT HOLLY. This short story sucked me in and set me on edge. I became an instant fan. At the very least, you owe it to yourself to read WITHOUT HOLLY just for the awesome psychological insight to a "Zombie Apocalypse".
   Brandon's books are available at Barnes&Nobel, Amazon.com, and Lulu.com

(Special thanks to my good friend Gary Patrick for opening me up to these great stories!)

 
   Yesterday, I had a couple of projects that cropped up out of the blue. Today, I finished them. The catalyst for these projects were an old chest we got from my girlfriends grandmother, and 2 thrift store candle holders that cost me a whopping $2.

   The chest took on an almost "Creepshow" look (mimic anyone?). The eyes light up and the lid shakes by sound activation. It also growls and says, "I see you!" which is perfect for this prop. 

   The candle holders were simple. I added a foam skull to the large one, and just some red candles to the other.  My girlfriend worked with the melting wax to give it a creepy drip look.

 

   I may add LED's to them when I have more time. 

   I also fiddled around with the lighting in our graveyard and backyard displays. I hope I am not the only haunter that constantly changes, corrects, and moves displays around.  

   Just keep in mind that only about 25% of the graveyard is out and on display now. I always put something out early to be enjoyed by all, but I wait till the night of Halloween to go full on. Even though we have a night vision surveillance camera, I would prefer to not give vandals or thieves too big of a target. Plus, I like the way the graveyard transforms over night. There are about 30 static props that get added around the haunt as well as several animitronics props,  additional lighting, and other special effects. 

   

Added a green light behind the coffin for added definition.

You can see the outline of the coffin better with the green light .

Good old Grimace keeping watch over the yard.

This is one of my favorite pictures. The lighting is great.

   There is so much more I want to do with my yard haunt. There is just not enough time this year. I have gathered so many great ideas from other blog/yard haunters that next year promises to be something grand. Still, this year is shaping up to be the best yet. 

Now, if I can just stop fiddling with it!