Bates Haunt

The Bates Haunt isn't your everyday haunt. It's projection-based, and I swear, those people make me jealous and inspired all at once. The 2008 haunt is now posted on YouTube. I love how the pumpkin singers change into the band Kiss!

The picture quality is a bit grainy on this one. The 2007 picture quality is much better, and has the additional satisfaction of a kid running away from the house, screaming his head off. Priceless!

Videos like this give me crazy, grandiose ideas. Quixotic, even. I saw this and thought: I'd love to do this. Then I thought, But I love to build props, and there's not much room for props in this, because it would be too cluttered. Then, Wouldn't it be cool if the neighbors across the street could do this. Then, Wouldn't it be cool to talk our whole block into really doing it up for Hallowe'en. Have everyone do a different display. Maybe get the High School drama department to dress up and roam up and down the block and scare people. Oooh! And the next year, we could have a stage at the end of the street and do a show! We could put a couple of barriers at the open end of the street (I live on a dead end street)and charge, like, $5 per person and give the money to charity. And of course, reality set in, and had to ruin everything.

But it was a beautiful vision while it lasted.

Bates website.

Here's another cool video of a MOBILE projection. The Headless Horseman never looked so good!