It was late at night as I headed out for a walk in our local park. Insomnia had been plaguing me for the last few days and I was hoping that the cool night air would help me settle down and sleep later
on.
As I traveled around the wooded path near the river gorge, I came upon a woman walking slowly ahead of me. At my current pace, I soon found myself within 15 feet of her. It was then that she turned, briefly, and glanced in my direction.
She immediately increased her walking speed. Not knowing why she was hurrying, I also began to walk faster.
She turned again, looking in my general direction, and then began to jog. Fearing she had seen something I didn't, I followed her lead and jogged along behind her.
It was at this point she craned her head around and let out a long, terrified scream. She bolted off at a dead run. I was sure she had seen something horrible behind me, so I took off right behind her I was too afraid to look back and see what had frightened her so.
We crashed up the path leading to an overlook of the gorge. She was stumbling by the time she reached the top and threw herself on the railing overlooking the river. She whirled around, eyes wide and insane with fear. She let out a shriek of terror like nothing I had ever heard and then threw herself over the railing onto the jagged rocks some 50 feet below.
As I reached the railing where she had stood just seconds ago, I couldn't imagine what was behind us that had scared her to the point of killing herself. I turned around to face whatever evil thing had chased us. Whoever or whatever it was, I was going to face it head on…..
There was nothing there.
Not a-single sign of anything nearby. Only two sets of foot prints were visible in the fresh mud leading up to the overlook. It was apparent to me that we had been alone on the path the whole time.
I had to wonder what had driven the poor woman to such extreme actions. Was she insane? Could she have been on medication? I would never know for sure. The world just wasn't a safe place to be anymore. It was full of crazy people and I had the misfortune of running into one tonight.
It was getting late. I took off the hockey mask I had been wearing and put my machete away in my backpack as I headed home.
I'm on board for this years Creepmas event. While I won't have time to do the big, in depth posts I did last year, I will still be putting up some visual Holiday creepiness. What is Creepmas you say? Here is the definition, straight from the horses jack-o-lantern's mouth!
What Is CREEPMAS?
CREEPMAS is a good-natured push back at Retail America for trying to force Christmas down our throats as early as July. Something has gone seriously wrong with how holidays are marketed to us in the last 5 years. When you go to a major retail store in mid-October only to find they've gotten rid of all their Halloween merchandise in favor of snowmen & Santas, well, it's time to take action!
Something as utterly ridiculous as Christmas trees in August deserves an equally ridiculous response!
CREEPMAS is for those Halloween lovers and Monster Kids who want to say "enough is enough" - if they're going to put their Christmas into our Halloween, then let's put our Halloween into their Christmas! Tim Burton showed us that it can be done with marvelous results, and we're definitely following his lead.
The 13 Days of Creepmas is an online Celebration of Spookiness from December 1 - 13. The idea is to bring a macabre twist to Christmas and the holidays. Get creative and post it on your blog - share your twisted yule visions with the world!
Now bear in mind - this is for FUN. We're not out to ruin other peoples' holidays and sabotage/vandalism are NOT what we're promoting. Leave the neighbors' nativity scene alone. The 13 Days of Creepmas is about how you decorate yourself, your home and/or your life to let the world know that you are a CREEP! Wear it loud, wear it proud!
And Thanksgiving? Sorry, you turkey - you're on your own.
Make sure you drop by December 1st through the 13th for some good old chilling cheer and a howling good Holiday!
Here are a few items we were able to snag at 70+ percent off for Black Friday.
These did not cost me an arm and a leg at the Dollar General Store.
Got another arm and a leg plus some other goodies at another Dollar General.
Lucked up on this skull goblet at TJ Max. The bottles are going in the apothecary next year. The sticker came from Micheal's and was a whopping 9 cents!
The Duck Tape is for M's classroom next year. I am pretty sure that is Edward Cullen behind those masks.
Anytime you can walk away with Martha Stewart stuff for under a buck, it's a good day!
Well, I did not make out as good as I did last year. The sales just were not there. I think they either got smart about stocking or decided to hold Halloween merchandise over for next year.
If you haven't had a chance to catch any of Rot's awesome Friday Comics, you are missing out. If you don't know who Rot is....get off my blog! Begging for Candy is written for darker, more evolved minds that only Halloween enthusiast posses.
Head on over to Pumpkinrot via this link *HERE* to see the rest.
It's Black Friday. While countless hordes are clawing at racks of 5 dollar shirts, 1 dollar DVD's and a mind numbing amount of cheap toys, I am taking a trip down memory lane. Looking back at my 2012 Haunter's Wish List that I compiled late November 2011, does put me in a kind of black mood. Simply because life conspired against me this year. Just not enough time to do the things I planned. I even got a late start to the season due to work....but I am thankful for a great job all the same.
Here is the list of last year as it stacks up to did and didn't:
X: Chicken Wire and Cheese Cloth Ghosts: Did't happen. This should have been pretty easy to do too.
X: Cemetery Fencing: I procrastinated about this for awhile. Could not decide if I wanted to go old school wood fence made from pallets or go all out with PVC collapsible or even straight out fencing. Price, and time beat me this year. Still "on the fence" about which one I should choose.
ü: Jumping Spider Prop From Spirit: I count this as a win. While I never actually bought this prop, the MASS displays in the store told me everybody else did... I went with the less known and more suitable jumping zombie prop:
NOPE
YEP
X: More Tombstones: Only bought one from Target. Did not get a chance to make any new ones and as a result , we were unable to expand the cemetery as M had planned.
X: PVC Candles: Not a single one was made. I did add about 9 store bough LED candles, but they are not the same. X: Breathing Grave: I did get all the items I would need to build not only 1 but 2 breathing graves.....this one looks good for being completed for next year. X: Another Ground Breaker Coffin: Nope...
X: Building a chicken wire witch prop with a stirring cauldron and fake flame: Yeah right! X: Full size Mummy prop: Stupid easy to build...stupid time ran out. X: Flying Crank Ghost (I always say I am going to build one but never find the time): This year was no different. X: New Fog Delivery system (not a new chiller but a PVC pipe delivery system): Did not happen....with the weather as it was, it would have been a waste this year to boot. X: Animated escaping skeleton coffin: Came close... just not the animated part. X: Faceless Bride prop: M's project....she got a full time teaching position....guess what.....no time ;( ü: Better Mourning Skeleton Prop.This one was a success. Simple, effective, and everybody that walked by it commented on how creepy it was. Winner!
ü: Lots of Bucky arms!: Thanks to The Skeleton Store, this item totally happened. ü: Animated escaping skele from our water main cover: This one was completed 90% so I count it as a win. I could not add the fog machine or animate it due to the water main being flooded from the Frankenstorm.
X: LED eyes for all the skeles: I partially blame this on a last minute order being canceled on me. ü: At least 3 more Wallgreen skeles. Undead Army in progress. ü: Blue Led Spotlights (I already have a ton of green): Added blue and UV. Double Winner! ü: Few more heavy duty extension cords. Wallgreens had an insane sale on outdoor cords....bought a boatload. ü: Couple more portable CD players for more targeted sound ambiance . Total success. Mourning Skele was a complete hit due to the moaning ghost cd I made.
I admit there are a couple of wins there. Still, if this was a report card, I would be grounded.
Without further delay, here is The Wicked Woods Cemetery 2013 Wish list! (unless the Mayans are right then all bets are off).
MAJOR
Fencing! This is a have to project! Been trying to come up with cheap and easy ideas as well as something that is easy to store. There will be a fence around the cemetery next year by gosh!
Building an addition to my workshop. M and I have been discussing this for a bit. Our current outdoor building is roughly 70% Halloween storage, 20% Christmas storage, and 10% tools, summer, and misc. That leaves a big fat 0% for projects. We are planning on building onto the back of our one shed in hopes of doubling our sqaure footage of storage. We can move all of our gardening, lawn care, and some other items over making Halloween a better place!
Upgrade the Micheal Myers mask and bulk out our mini Jason Voorhees. Our Micheal Myers mask sucks so bad...even after M "did" his hair with glue.
Mourning Skeleton part two (2). My accidental prop has really grown over the last two years and I want to expand on it. So many comments and questions about it this year tells me I am onto something. Adding a soundtrack this year was a definite plus. Not sure if animation is the direction I should go as many people like the frozen in time look of the skeleton. I'm thinking of adding another skeleton, in a different pose of remorse and sorrow. It may detract from the overall image and emotion conveyed... so not sure. I will be working pretty extensively to make that my signature prop of 2013.
Scarecrows...I am thinking of upgrading and even adding to my current collection of scarecrows.... I was even thinking of doing a scarecrow costume for myself next year. Still, I have a whole year to ponder and the way my mind works, I will most likely come up with several different costumes and themes by then.
Creep up the front porch a bit more. It's always kinda creepy with the group of creatures standing there.... people are so sure they are all costumed people they hate turning their back on them to get candy. I am thinking maybe some generous applications of creepy cloth, spider webs, and other freaky furnishing can top off the look I am after.
Treeghosts... lots of them. Very similar to the ones Rot did this year (link HERE).
Photo via Pumpkinrot.com
A very large hanging sign that will require a 4X4 post to hold it in the ground. Somthing older looking and primitive. Something like this but not in green:
AN FCG. Always wanted one...just need to stop talking and start doing.
Minor
More tombstones, hopefully hand made.
PVC Candles
Breathing grave
Second ground-breaker coffin and maybe a third toe pincher
Old shelving or corner hutch for Awful Apothecary
3 more Wallgreens skeles.
A few more blue,green and UV LED spotlights.
Remote control for old Fog machine.
Activation pads for animitronics
Some kind of witch....I have qa great witch bust just need to give her a body..and a pot!
Use more dry ice now that our local FoodCity sells it for 99 cents a pound.
Witch jars! Lots and lots of witch jars!
That is about it for now....I know full well not a third of these things will come to light, but a guy can dream....as long as the dreams are in orange and black ;)
Happy Black Friday everybody! Stay safe and hope you find great deals on stuff for next Halloween!
