The Haunt At Havercroft

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"We all go a little mad sometimes…haven't you?" - Norman Bates


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A Good Day To Be A Haunter

I made good progress yesterday in overcoming the last major hurdle of this year's haunt and completing a couple of props. I found a motor at a thrift store which runs at the proper speed for operating my rocking chair. I had two motors left over from last year, but one runs too fast and the other too slow. Now I will have, as part of my haunted room, a chair which rocks by itself. The other prop I finished yesterday was the Werewolf. It's a fairly simple prop using a mask I bought at K-Mart. The head protrudes from an old doghouse given to me by a neighbor. The head has a small battery opperated motor which will cause it to shake. The addition of sound effects of a growling, snarling dog will make this a very effective prop.


Posted: 11:13 AM, 10/16/2005		 Link

Finished a couple of props.

I finished off a couple of new props today. • First is the Scarecrow patterned loosly after the magnificent scarecrows at http://www.pumpkinrot.com/ • The next will be the "inhabitant" of my haunted room. I Call her Penny Dreadful. She has a small moterized device inside which makes her tremble and shake. Is she posessed? Or is it just too much caffeine?





Posted: 10:38 AM, 10/8/2005		 Link

Finished Fireplace

Here is the completed fireplace project. I painted the firebox and added some trim. The two skull/RIP decorations were purchaced at Michael's. I screwed on a bit of old moulding on top for a mantle and cut a piece of particle board in a semi-circle for a hearth.


Posted: 11:24 AM, 9/11/2005		 Link

More Work on the Fireplace

A $4.00 plactic bat face was attached to the front of the fireplace with Liquid Nails. I painted over the bat with the same joint compound and also gave the entire front another coat. Don't go away…there's more to be done.




Posted: 12:31 PM, 9/8/2005		 Link

'05 Prop Construction Begins

For this year's haunted garage, I'm planning to make one large room resembling the interior of an old haunted house. One of the central features…well, corner features actually, as it will occupy one corner of the room…will be a faux fireplace. I began work on it a few days ago. I have more work to do on it but here are some pictures of the progress so far. 1• I started with a wooden pallet and cut away some of the slats. 2• Out of scrap wood, I built and attached a firebox. 3• I covered the face with thin wood panels, then began covering that with joint compound. 4• Totally covered. I might apply a second layer of joint compound once the first is dry. More to come…stay tuned.






Posted: 1:16 PM, 9/5/2005		 Link

Pumpkins Progress

Several fruit have set on my Pumpkin vines. The biggest ones are about the size of large grapefruit at the moment. How big will they get??? Only the Shadow knows…


Posted: 11:24 AM, 8/4/2005		 Link

Baby Giant Pumpkins

Here are a couple of newly formed fruits on my Atlantic Giant Pumpkin vines. I started the plants from seed in April and the vines are now over 12' long. They've been flowering prolifically for over a week now and I hope these babies got pollinated and will be viable. I'm not out to set any world record for size…maybe just something larger than normal and impressive by October.


Posted: 9:56 PM, 7/20/2005		 Link

The Real Me

Here's my "Before and After" pictures. Or perhaps I should call it "Before and During."


Posted: 10:07 AM, 7/19/2005		 Link

First Entry

Every blog has to start somewhere, so this is the beginning of mine. I'll start with a picture of my haunted garage from '04. I' ve done a walk-thru haunted garage for the past three years and have the challenge of coming up with something new and outdoing myself every year. But that's the fun of it.

By the way, I'm Roger and am known on the HalloweenForum as The Dark Gardener. I've never kept a blog before and I hope I will remain conscientious about updates. It seems like a convenient way to keep an ongoing record of project progress. The HalloweenForum is my #1 source for ideas, and inspiration. A wonderful group of creative, talented and helpful people there. My thanks to you all…especially Larry, whose domain we all haunt. Roger

Posted: 9:08 AM, 7/19/2005		 Link