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kidzero2525
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A Whaling Trawler, possibly Russian, floats derelict in the Yucatan channel
“Fairweather calling Nordst. Over,” … nothing but static.
“Fairweather calling Trawler Nordst. Respond please.”
The rusty sides of the ship rise up ominously as you approach. The smell of dead rotting fish is over whelming. The water is black as night with a slight silvery sheen, it’s thousands of fish floating silently on the surface.
You climb over the side and find the deck a wash with a vile smelling dark black sludge. It covers almost everything and seem to contain bits of fishbone and seaweed. A strange crusty growth not unlike coral clings to the vertical surfaces and overhead lines. The only sounds are the slap of the waves and the groan of the wind.
A hatch bangs over head and you turn to see a frightened young girl disappearing down a dark passageway. The rusted entry beckons ominously. Luckily you brought flashlights. The passage is slanted to the right making walking difficult on the wet debris covered floor. The smell of what must be rust and mildew over power the rotting fish. And the sound of the wind has been replaced by the echo of a steady drip, drip, drip. Every once in awhile the ship groans metallically.
After meeting Peter Kwong at Monster Palooza and reading his wonderful graphic novel HYBRID I was inspired to create a new haunted attraction. I took last year's western haunt and the gulag idea we had worked on and put them together thusly: 1. the fence becomes the rusting sides of the tanker 2. the two story building becomes the bridge and walkway. 3. the town street becomes the deck 4. the caves become below deck where an evil 'thing' sucks the life from the crew that are embedded in the walls like in Alien. 5. the black oil spawns all manner of dark horrors including cloaked humanoids with hooks. 6 but worst of all the evil is intelligent and creates traps and lures its victims to their doom! | comments: Leave a comment   |
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Two or three years ago I bought a miniature for my Halloween town called "Forgotten Cemetery" I loved it and thought I would make a great setting for a front yard haunt. So I started building it one piece at a time. I have some real wrought iron fences, no plastic. My wife hates them because they weigh a ton, but they don’t blow over in the wind. I've yet to build the four stone columns to support them, but the wait has given me some usable plans. My first tombstones were a learning experience, with each getting better than the last. I’m ready for the big boys, four to five inches thick, and three to four feet tall. I only slightly aged the first ones, the next will be well weathered, names and shapes nearly worn away. The nice short lawn covered with leaves also doesn’t make it. I want one and two foot weeds covering most of the lawn. Cynthia, the flying crank ghost, looks great in her new crypt but the second smaller tomb needs work. Counting Eddie the ground breaker, I now have four skeletons skulking about. They need corpsing but work just fine as is. Return to Forgotten Cemetery Okay I have been reading a lot about back stories and themes. “Much like Kant and Descartes ground their philosophies I want all of you to ground your haunts with a theme. That is the first step to creating real magic with your haunted house…A haunt should focus first on developing a solid story line or at least a solid theme.” I know I want to use the cemetery I’ve got, because I can’t really afford to start over at this point. So what comes to mind story wise that hasn’t been done to death? (I’m never doing anything with pirates!) Well one of my favorite H.P. Lovecraft stories is “The Statement of Randolph Carter” and most of it takes place in a graveyard. The story begins when Randolph Carter is found wandering through swampland in an amnesiac shock. In his statement to the police, Carter attempts to explain the disappearance of his companion, the occultist Harley Warren. Warren has come into the possession of a book written in an unknown language that he forbids Carter from seeing. From his mysterious book, Warren apparently deduces that doors or stairways exist between the surface world and the underworld through which demons may travel. He encourages Carter to travel with him to the location of one such portal, an ancient graveyard near Big Cypress Swamp. Upon arriving, Warren locates a particular tomb and opens it to reveal a staircase that descends into the earth. Taking a lantern, he leaves Carter on the surface and follows the stairs into the darkness, communicating with his companion by a telephone wire. After several minutes of silence, Warren suddenly begins to make vague, panicked outbursts that culminate in a desperate plea for Carter to flee. Finally, after Warren is silent for several minutes, Carter calls to him down the line, only to hear an alien voice telling him that Warren is dead. That’s it; short and spooky. The imagery is perfect, a swamp, an ancient cemetery, descent into a tomb, demon creature kills you or drives you insane. So now I have my theme. What do I do with it? Step one. Big Cypress Swamp. My house is a typical fifties rock roof dwelling, not at all menacing or reminiscent of a cypress swamp. So sixteen feet of flats attached to the garage, painted to resemble a moonlit swamp should help. I think a few skeletal trees, half a dozen new gravestones and all the dead plants Home Depot will give me should just about do it. My little fog machine won't cover the added footage, so I guess it's time to put some bucks into a new bigger one. Maybe put some of sinister scents mildew or swamp smell into it. For sound effects I have recordings of Okie Fenokee Swamp; alligators, frogs, night birds, etc. Step two. Ancient Graveyard. My nice manicured lawn hardly reminds one of an ancient graveyard showing 'the manifold signs of immemorial years.' First of all the Oriental Trading company's kiddy tombstones are just too cute. I need a deep, damp hollow, overgrown with rank grass, moss, and curious creeping weeds, filled with a vague stench of rotting stone. If there is to be the signs of neglect and decrepitude on every hand and the haunting notion that we are 'the first living creatures to invade a lethal silence of centuries' I have a lot of work ahead of me. I'll start with three or four ground cover pieces made of poultry netting covered with fabric and glue. The idea is to make relatively light mounds that will hold artificial plants. The center of these mounds could hold a crumbling cross, antique slab, or over turned urn. They could also hide a fog machine or speakers. The front of the house doesn't need the swamp flats because I will build a row of cenotaphs , and mausoleum facades to cover the front door and windows. Back in the corner will be a moss-grown, moisture-stained, half-obliterated sepulcher of terror, the Entrance to the Haunt | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Okay I started a new 'space' on Larp Space for prop building.
I call it the Artificers Guild
http://www.larpspace.com/artificersguild
Tuesday, January 8, 2008, 09:31 PM CST
Okay well hear goes. During my first LARP Alliance meet-up it was suggested that I might use my love of prop building to help others with their games. I am a long time theatre tech, so am use to building sets, sewing costumes, and applying makeup. But my real talent lies in the special effects and prop department.
The LARPs I have been in have been prop heavy and weapons light, so I will not be cutting into Iron Liege territory. Nor will I build armor or combat shields. If you need twelve Arthurian shields to decorated your round table, okay. I am not limited to medieval or fantasy. If you want anything from an ancient artifact, to modern lab equipment or even an alien device from the future all are possible. Need a special effect ? How about that certain a sound or some theme music. What about lights, non-burning flames or black light? Buying this stuff could cost you more than you take in but what if there was a place that would help you set it all up?
‘We buy it, you use it,' that's the idea behind the Artificer's Guild. We love to build props/you use them. Now if I did this alone I'd need lot's of advanced warning, but if there is anyone else out the who's into prop building or would be interested in learning drop on by. I plan to have monthly gatherings where you can practice making all sorts of things, like giants and floating ghosts or newspaper clippings from turn of the century London. Interested? just comment to this blog or email me at kidzero2525@yahoo.com
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| Here is one my summer projects
Ok I looked at dozens of standing skeleton/zombies and have to go with Howloween Queen’s basic design. She is the master, I am but the student.
http://www.howloweenqueen.com/bluckies.html
I also want to give a nod to Shadow @ Spooky Lake "Corpsing a Blucky"
and Eric M. Bonzell. "Corpsing a Blucky Goblin." While neither of them used PVC their improvements to the blucky’s overall look is important. So if what I say sounds familiar there you have it.
What you will need:
a blucky [blow molded skeletons from Big Lots] you can get them early in the season for $9. I bought mine midsummer from Oriental Trading company for $13.
ten feet of ½ inch PVC
some ½ inch connectors from the hardware store
Now I had an idea how I wanted mine to look and I have tons of old stuff laying around, but If this is your first I’d get extra connecters. You’ll need at least: one cross, one “T”, four 90 degree elbows, three 45 degree elbows, and four straight connecters.
A box of ½ inch machine screws
And a hacksaw or PVC cutter. Now everyone has a hacksaw and they work just fine but a good PVC cutter makes quick clean cuts that don’t need sanding
A screwdriver/drill
An Xacto knife or box cutter Another tool I can’t live without is my dremel
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