I would love to see how everyone's house is decorated this year !!.. Here is mine.. last year ,,but it looks just the same this year.
Here is a view of my front lawn..
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2213/2047619356_fdcaebc47b_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2391/2047618436_d53b58f01c_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2046829913_63ee6d0a3b_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2318/2047631168_db2bf76a7e_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2003/2046841791_9439faa7d2_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2302/2047627788_a11f382ae3_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2326/2047624896_d13ff99e07_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2014/2047625066_5852c2fefe_b.jpg)
Go here to see more..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomscolor/sets/72157603236138120/
Best..
Tom
Great job on your display,Tom. That spider looks creepy enough in daylight,but at night,WOW!!
All the kids ,big and small , must love to go to your house. Thanks for sharing the photos.
I only have one . Most of them are hard to capture since they are all under strobe lights.
http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp47/WickedLester666/103108.jpg[/img]](http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp47/WickedLester666/103108.jpg) (http://[img%20width=800%20height=600)
Here's a couple pics of my front yard.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/2990901360_83b422eef1_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/2990901360_83b422eef1_o.jpg)
Happy Halloween everybody! May the next year be filled with treats!
(http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s56/amity8/IMG_6027.jpg)
(http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s56/amity8/IMG_6032.jpg)
(http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s56/amity8/IMG_6025.jpg)
(http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s56/amity8/HappyHalloween2008.jpg)
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g107/backlotcharlie/hanginglady016halloween.jpg)
Spooky yards all !
Thanks for sharing.
Best..
Tom
I don't get enough kids on a consistent basis to make it worth my while to put on a huge display. Last year seemed to be a good one, better than past years, with at least 50 kids coming to the door, maybe close to 100. And it was rainy last year. This year, it was crystal clear with mild temperatures. I thought I would get even more kids. But no. The turnout was weaker than last year. I gave out only half my candy.
One thing I noticed this time was a trend toward large groups of kids traveling together in SUVs or pickups. The vehicle would stop at one end of the street and all the kids would jump out at one time and hit about four houses on either side. Then they would climb back into the vehicle and proceed to the middle of the block, jump out and hit another eight houses. So it would go until the reached the end of the block. I had one group of at least 20 kids in a flatbed pulled behind a truck. They looked like they had gotten separated from a parade.
Maybe the turnout wasn't really that different from last year, but seemed lighter because the kids were concentrated in a few big groups instead of trick-or-treating individually. I don't think I like that trend. It's too "organized." It seems more like candy harvesting than trick-or-treating.
Anyway, here are some shots of my yard. I had a cool giant spider crawling up my porch wall. That scared a few kids. I also had a big devil with blinking eyes just inside the door. Some of the kids were scared of him. Others asked how much he cost and where they could buy one.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/2991189012_8b27a210aa_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2990333463_0ef319b430_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/2991190282_4bdc0d0c25_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2990334677_e4e6f0ba1c.jpg?v=0)
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/raymondcastile/2990333857/sizes/o/in/set-72157608548094838/)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3218/2991190620_2bc22c4574_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/2991190554_37935e5e0d_o.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/2990334247_6b957450ec_o.jpg)
This was my first Halloween with my black cat, Samantha.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3143/2990335247_be0930e7ab_o.jpg)
I was playing the Disney haunted house album through the evening. Every time the cat fight sounds started, Samantha would search around trying to find the source. She thought intruder cats were hiding in the house.
Here's ours...Halloween is also our wedding anniversary so doing up the yard is how we choose to celebrate. We don't get too many kids, this year we had around 45 but it was a fun time.
I started digging the stuff out of the basement on Thursday afternoon and by lunchtime on Friday I was ready to start the setup. It took about 3 hours (not including having to run to Walmart for more extension cords) to get everything in place.
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02404.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02413.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02414.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02415.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02420.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02422.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02423.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02409.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02446.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02410.jpg)
It was a little before 4:00 when we finished so I threw together one more zombie for the yard...I know, wrong coveralls LOL
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02412.jpg)
and a few dusk and night pics...
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02458.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02449.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02451.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02462.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02468.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02469.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02473.jpg)
(http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Halloween%202008/DSC02498.jpg)
Hey Ray,
Where'd you get that devil? I've seen the skeleton versions of that decoration at Walgreens, but I've never come across the devil in your pics.
George
Test photo--my son at the pumpkin patch:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2978161860_4945a8fe69.jpg)
Okay, figured that out. So...
Front window--graveyard and some old costumes:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3245/2994473521_18e47462c6.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3254/2995312350_3461db85c1.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/2995313100_8db7b00e42.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/2995311546_5a2a57bfae.jpg)
...and greeting the visitors...
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2994474385_d7c3b10443.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/2994472247_7c8299a572.jpg)
Our Hound of Hell waits for the trick-or-treaters...
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3031/2994474861_02ec1eb651.jpg)
Frankenstein in daylight:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3199/2978161158_720e7eb4d6.jpg)
Wow some awesome set up there guys. Sorry no night time pics. Our yard display was a little more subdued this year with just the scarecrow (yes from last year's costume) a little more scant, but worked the wind well, one skelly sprawled on the lawn against a tree and the usual jack-o-lanterns and candles and pumpkin lights.
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/scarecrow.jpg)
This years effort went into the electric chair that took most of the morning to get set and wired (yes I'm an electrician so it lit up and all, but being rushed I didn't get to make it as elaborate as I would have liked. You can't see everything in the pics). As a group of appropriately aged visitors would yell trick or treat I would greet them at the door and tell them that they had a deal. With their slight confusion I would usher them past the candy bowl and through the door into the garage. One volunteer would get strapped into the chair and the others were given the buttons. It was amusing how they would argue amongst themselves who would be in the chair, but then the winners of the argument would stress them selves out over which button to press. Interestingly the younger the kid the less serious and delighted they were about the whole idea of potentially frying mom. It was the teenagers that really seemed brutally nervous and took this serious. I had one group so on edge I had the victim taking off all his jewelery and metal objects, cell pone etc. Then when you actually restrain them in the chair ... You'd figure the teenagers would be the most likely to understand this is Halloween and just for fun, but not so much.
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/chair.jpg)
Although we had a pretty quiet year with only 50 kids (the elementary school was holding a dance for the grades 5-7 which I suspect hindered things), as Ray said there were definitely fewer this year than last despite the better weather here to. But our location isn't great either. Word did get out apparently and we had a number of later visits from the older kids to see the chair, so how they hyped it may have made others more believing, but that worked for me. One thing for certain though, it was a fun night.
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/IMG_0129.jpg)
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/choices.jpg)
Here's a link to my Halloween photos at Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/monsterphile/sets/72157608605665707/
Rob
Rob, where do you store all that in the meantime!!!!
Quote from: Gary D Macabre on November 02, 2008, 08:43:08 PM
Rob, where do you store all that in the meantime!!!!
Well, the dummies are stuffed with hay (straw?), so they compact into a bunch of old clothes. Essentially the stuff just gets stored in the attic...next to the Christmas stuff which is easily twice as much. Luckily those are the only two holidays we decorate for.
Hey, Rob You've got a nice set up. I used to store all of my stuff in the attic too but living here in Florida....well, it wasn't a good idea and I lost some pretty nice rubber/latex props. Now from stuff that was stolen, damaged from heat and lent out to friends for parties and never returned, I'm slowly building my "stockpile" back-up. I'll have some pics up here soon. Well done and nice yards everybody!
Awesome displays everyone.
Here are the videos my sister took of my display for 2007-
<"http://www.youtube.com/v/GTs5Y3LSn9k&hl=en&fs=1http://www.youtube.com/v/GTs5Y3LSn9k&hl=en&fs=1
<"http://www.youtube.com/v/dwEPnk2GiHo&hl=en&fs=1http://www.youtube.com/v/dwEPnk2GiHo&hl=en&fs=1
I took a video of this years set up but haven't had luck getting it over to Youtube, unfortunately my camcorder is not computer literate. Transfered the vid to dvd but then had no way of getting it recorded into a file my pc would understand so I used a screen grab program but that apparently didn't work either, since I got the video to Youtube but it says it was unable to convert video file.
Anyway, I added a ghoul in my other upstairs window and added a few other touches here and there. Picked up the Scary Statuary Raven (from Michales) on Halloween morning for half price and it looked pretty good just sitting on my retaining wall. I also got to add sound back into my display! I just took free sounds off the net and used audacity.sourceforge.net/ (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) to create my own Halloween sound effects. Audacity is completely free and you can do all kinds of things to manipulate mp3s, anyone that isn't satisfied with store bought fx cd's should check into the program. I'm thinking about recording my own sound effects over the course of this year and then using them to completely redo my Halloween sounds.
Great displays, guys! I didn't get around to decorating outside this year (only put some stuff up inside). I see lots of inspiration here for next year, though. ;D
Hey zombiehorror, Nice Work! and thanks for posting that link for making sound effects. I've struck out three times now by purchasing CD's and I wanted to make my own. Thanks again, I'm going to try it out.
Thanks. For what it's worth here is my video from this year.
<http://www.youtube.com/v/vTToeYs0wKQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true="http://www.youtube.com/v/vTToeYs0wKQ&hl=en&fs=1"
Unfortunately I didn't get around to filming until late so the video is a little hard to see, I got busy getting the little ones ready for Trick or Treating and then we went Trick or Treating. I tried alternating between a flashlight and using the night vision to try and get footage. I also notice now looking back at the video that I really didn't focus for very long on a lot of the stuff, something I'll have to work on for next years video.
You can hear the sound effects I put together (with the before mentioned program) playing in the background. The portion playing is the witch section, there was also a phantom laughter (w/Vincent Price's unmistakable laugh), zombies, ghosts and werewolves portion and throughout that one could hear ravens, cats, bats, owls, thunder, chains, creaking, slamming, etc. etc. Personally I steer clear of using music I think the howling wind is music enough to enhance the spook factor.
...and finally, here's my addition. I would have liked to have more photos and ones of better quality but the lighting just would'nt cooperate. Enjoy, Hope you like it, we had more going on but these are the ones that actually came out ok.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/skeleton_jack/costumes.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/skeleton_jack/window-outside.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/skeleton_jack/sweeneyinspooksville.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/skeleton_jack/sweeneylovettonthetown.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/skeleton_jack/sweeney2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/skeleton_jack/spooksville-night.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/skeleton_jack/spooksville-night2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/skeleton_jack/spooksville.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/skeleton_jack/scarecrow.jpg)
'Made it through the night, had lots of trick-or-treaters although down from last year.
I set up a quickie mask display for them in the garage, behind the treat table to whet
their little appetites >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/922/5UHxu6.jpg)
The signage may be difficult to make out. It reads "Gallery of Ghouls and Demons" >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/924/cQZ2bn.jpg)
The "Belial" mask (top tier, no eyes) is someone else's. All the rest are mine >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/924/OqLR6o.jpg)
Quote from: Sir Masksalot on November 01, 2024, 08:22:13 AMI set up a quickie mask display for them in the garage
Any frightful expressions from the kiddies? ;D
How did the treat table work? Looks like self-serve.
Quote from: Sir Masksalot on November 01, 2024, 08:22:13 AM'Made it through the night, had lots of trick-or-treaters although down from last year.
I set up a quickie mask display for them in the garage, behind the treat table to whet
their little appetites >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/922/5UHxu6.jpg)
The signage may be difficult to make out. It reads "Gallery of Ghouls and Demons" >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/924/cQZ2bn.jpg)
The "Belial" mask (top tier, no eyes) is someone else's. All the rest are mine >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/924/OqLR6o.jpg)
Man, that's great!