Showing posts with label haunted house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label haunted house. Show all posts

Friday, October 27, 2023

Haunted

I dare you all to go into
The Haunted House on Howlin’ Hill,
Where squiggly things with yellow eyes
Peek past the wormy window sill.
We’ll creep into the moonlit yard,
Where weeds reach out like fingers,
And through the rotted old front door
A-squeekin’ on its hinges,
Down the dark and whisperin’ hall,
Past the musty study,
Up the windin’ staircase—
Don’t step on the step that’s bloody—
Through the secret panel
To the bedroom where we’ll slide in
To the ragged cobweb dusty bed
Ten people must have died in.
And the bats will screech,
And the thunder will crash
Like a horrible dream,
And we’ll sing with the zombies
And dance with the dead,
And howl at the ghost
With the axe in his head,
And—come to think of it what do you say
We go get some ice cream instead?

 - Shel Silverstein


Thursday, October 26, 2023

The Haunted House

 

Oh, very gloomy is the house of woe,

Where tears are falling while the bell is knelling,
With all the dark solemnities that show
That Death is in the dwelling!

Oh, very, very dreary is the room
Where Love, domestic Love, no longer nestles,
But smitten by the common stroke of doom,
The corpse lies on the trestles!

But house of woe, and hearse, and sable pall,
The narrow home of the departed mortal,
Ne’er looked so gloomy as that Ghostly Hall,
With its deserted portal!

The centipede along the threshold crept,
The cobweb hung across in maze-y tangle,
And in its winding sheet the maggot slept
At every nook and angle.

The keyhole lodged the earwig and her brood,
The emmets of the steps has old possession,
And marched in search of their diurnal food
In undisturbed procession.

As undisturbed as the prehensile cell
Of moth or maggot, or the spider’s tissue,
For never foot upon that threshold fell,
To enter or to issue.

O’er all there hung the shadow of a fear,
A sense of mystery the spirit daunted,
And said, as plain as whisper in the ear,
The place is haunted.

Howbeit, the door I pushed—or so I dreamed--
Which slowly, slowly gaped, the hinges creaking
With such a rusty eloquence, it seemed
That Time himself was speaking.

But Time was dumb within that mansion old,
Or left his tale to the heraldic banners
That hung from the corroded walls, and told
Of former men and manners.

Those tattered flags, that with the opened door,
Seemed the old wave of battle to remember,
While fallen fragments danced upon the floor
Like dead leaves in December.

The startled bats flew out, bird after bird,
The screech-owl overhead began to flutter,
And seemed to mock the cry that she had heard
Some dying victim utter!

A shriek that echoed from the joisted roof,
And up the stair, and further still and further,
Till in some ringing chamber far aloof
In ceased its tale of murther!

Meanwhile the rusty armor rattled round,
The banner shuddered, and the ragged streamer;
All things the horrid tenor of the sound
Acknowledged with a tremor.

The antlers where the helmet hung, and belt,
Stirred as the tempest stirs the forest branches,
Or as the stag had trembled when he felt
The bloodhound at his haunches.

The window jingled in its crumbled frame,
And through its many gaps of destitution
Dolorous moans and hollow sighings came,
Like those of dissolution.

The wood-louse dropped, and rolled into a ball,
Touched by some impulse occult or mechanic;
And nameless beetles ran along the wall
In universal panic.

The subtle spider, that, from overhead,
Hung like a spy on human guilt and error,
Suddenly turned, and up its slender thread
Ran with a nimble terror.

The very stains and fractures on the wall,
Assuming features solemn and terrific,
Hinted some tragedy of that old hall,
Locked up in hieroglyphic.

Some tale that might, perchance, have solved the doubt,
Wherefore, among those flags so dull and livid,
The banner of the bloody hand shone out
So ominously vivid.

Some key to that inscrutable appeal
Which made the very frame of Nature quiver,
And every thrilling nerve and fiber feel
So ague-like a shiver.

For over all there hung a cloud of fear,
A sense of mystery the spirit daunted,
And said, as plain as whisper in the ear,
The place is haunted!

Prophetic hints that filled the soul with dread,
But through one gloomy entrance pointing mostly,
The while some secret inspiration said,
“That chamber is the ghostly!”

Across the door no gossamer festoon
Swung pendulous, --no web, no dusty fringes,
No silky chrysalis or white cocoon,
About its nooks and hinges.

The spider shunned the interdicted room,
The moth, the beetle, and the fly were banished,
And when the sunbeam fell athwart the gloom,
The very midge had vanished.

One lonely ray that glanced upon a bed,
As if with awful aim direct and certain,
To show the Bloody Hand, in burning red,
Embroidered on the curtain.


-Thomas Hood

Monday, October 23, 2017

Backwoods Maze

On Saturday night, my friends stole me away from my house for dinner and a haunt. Since we're in Burbank, they took me to the wonderful and incredibly detailed Backwoods Maze. All I can say is, "WOW!"
I think one of the benefits of living in Burbank at this time of year is that there are many, many talented people in this town who love Halloween and scaring people.
Waiting in the queue line...
 I only got a very few pictures, but they were pretty good and should give you a good idea of the quality of the haunt.
They did gorgeous work on the alien eggs, by the way. Really creepy and atmospheric while still providing some light so you don't kill yourself as you walk through.
This guy here reminded me of John Carpenter's The Thing in the very best of ways...
 If you are in the area and want to stop by this wonderful maze, hit up The Backwoods Maze on Facebook!

Happy haunting!

Friday, February 27, 2015

The Shunned House

Photo by Franck Vervial.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

For my Powerball Win

Image via wallsfeed.com
Because upkeep would be a little spendy, but totally worth it!

And I would have a masquerade ball like this or this! And you'd SO be invited!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

It Must Be Hallowe'en

Because I just got some of my Froggy's Fog Cryofreeze in the mail yesterday! (And I used my Hauntcast discount, too! But they may not be offering it again until after the holiday...)
This will be the first time I use the Cryofreeze. I called up Froggy's technical support to ask what would be best for outdoors and have the best chance of ground-hugging, and before I even finished my sentence, the guy says, "Cryofreeze. Just get the Cryofreeze." And he chuckles. I love me the guys who know home haunters and the conditions with which they battle!

So, who is using fog for their display this year?

Image via The Online Photographer. (He should have some great tips for night time photography, eh?)

Friday, July 6, 2012

Hauntcast 40 Thank God It's Friday (the 13th)



The title of the newest episode of Hauntcast only proves that our fearless cruise director-oops, that's program director - has no clue what the date is, probably due to alcohol abuse.


Be that as it may, please join us for Johnny Thunder's new segment: Inside the Scare Actor's Studio! Chris Baker heads into the woods-Thornhill Woods, that is-for an interview with Chris Ainsworth of Thornhill Woods Haunted House.


Elsewhere in this podcast:

THEATER OF THE MIND:

Revenant on tapping into the fears of the subconscious mind.

ACCESS HOLLYWEEN:

Grimlock with haunting news and some fresh links.

THE CHARMED POT:

The Mistress of Mayhem bids a fond farewell to Ray Bradbury.

INSIDE THE SCARE ACTOR’S STUDIO:

Johnny Thunder also does haunt acting. Method be damned.

MARKETING MORGUE:

Dick Terhune regales us with a ghost story about the Evil Book of Faces.

THE PROP SHOP:

Stolloween aka Scott Stoll keeps us glued to the making of paper mache armatures.

TERROR TURNPIKE:

Eric Vysther says Dead Acres is the place to be in Columbus, OH.

SOMETHING WICKED:

Wick-Ed Gannon with haunt advertising strategies.

MAD PROPS FOR PROPS:

Propers where propers are due for Mr. Chicken’s Haunted Tombstone prop.

If you haven't subscribed to Hauntcast, you're probably not listening to anything fantastic while you're building your props. And you deserve to listen to the best, right? Subscribe today!

Hauntcast: at least we don't suck!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Ghost Painting

Neat story about how a portrait returned to its rightful place ended a haunting. Via Daily Mail U.K.

Hat-tip to fellow Scream Team member Johnny Thunder for the heads-up! Love you! Love your show!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Old

Image by digibeginner69

Image by Uncle Phooey

Image by petnobis

Image by Thomas Johnson Photography

Image by Baldur Pan


Friday, June 11, 2010

Poison Oak Street Haunted House

I really like this haunted house, and I love the narrator's voice! Double click on the pic to watch.

But seriously, what is he doing in there?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

It's Perfect! We'll Take It!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Dr. Frankenscream's Belwood Manor

Another fun haunt from one of our CalHaunts members.



See his photostream here.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Yay! Yay! YAY!

Ahem. I am dignified. I do not say, "yay."

O.k. I do when I see House Bloodthorn posted "The Resurrection of Rose." I have so been looking forward to seeing this!

I sigh myself a happy sigh. Now I gotta go watch Pumpkinrot's video again.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

What To Do If Your House Is Haunted

Just in case any of you have this problem, here's some helpful insight.

Home Security: What To Do If Your House Is Haunted

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Netherworld Haunted House

I was looking for some inspiration when I ran across Netherworld, a haunted house in Norcross, Georgia (Atlanta area). These guys are real pros, pulling in as much as $1 million a season. Huge cast and crew, with frights and gore galore!

Here's another video:

At a time when a lot of us home haunters are seeing a dropoff in the numbers of Trick-or-Treaters, it does my heart good to see there's still a good turnout for Haunted Houses. And while we humble home haunters don't have their budget, we can still get some ideas of how to make our haunts look more pro.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Haunted Mansion

One of the things I've been fascinated with is the idea that in order to create one effect, you often have to create it in layers. A perfect example of this is the Haunted Mansion singing busts. Thurl Ravenscroft (a.k.a. Tony the Tiger) was one of Disney's go-to voice actors, and his is one of the voices on the Haunted Mansion ride. The song is done with three actors, video taped at the same time. Their facial expressions are wonderful, and looked fabulous on the final busts... Here's Thurl, who we'll call actor #1:

And actor #2:

And actor #3:

Here's the result with everyone singing their parts:

I think the technical term is "composite," but don't quote me. Isn't composite work part and parcel of what we do as haunters?

For those of you who love the Haunted Mansion, a little of "how they done it." Part one:

Part two:

Coming from a visual effects family, I love seeing the background and development of these marvelous ideas that became the basis for so much inspiration. It's neat to see the sculptures behind the "imagineers," and know they were a step towards such a creative and enduring endeavor. I am so inspired, every time I see this kind of behind the scenes work. It makes me excited to fire up my kiln, really soon...

Hurry back!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Old Town Haunt, Pasadena

I was searching for some cool California Haunts to share with you, and ran across this YouTube Video. I really wish I had known this Pasadena haunt was around when I lived in L.A.!

What a stroke of luck to be able to create a haunt in one of the oldest buildings in Pasadena!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Pirates of Emerson

A neat-looking pirate-themed haunt in San Francisco. Love the props!















Pirates of Emerson.










Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Monday, December 8, 2008

Haunted

The past week has brought us chilly, foggy weather. The sun doesn't seem to want to come out to play. Everything is dripping from the pervasive damp.
Ghost weather.
trip to the video store brought home a solid, creepy ghost story: Haunted (1995). Starring Aidan Quinn, Sir John Gielgud, and Kate Beckinsale, Haunted is truly an overlooked gem.
Quinn plays David Ash, a psychologist who debunks paranormal reports. When he responds to an old woman's invitation to come stay in her stately old home to investigate her claims of its haunting, he finds himself being seduced by the lovely Christina (Beckinsale), and plagued by strange incidents by turns. Christina and her two brothers, Robert (Anthony Andrews) and Simon (Alex Lowe), live in the house with Nanny Webb (Anna Massey), who continues to insist that she is being held prisoner.
David, of course, is there to debunk the whole thing.
This is a great movie for those who enjoy build-up before payoff. It's not a gory, ghost-waving-its-own-severed-head-at-you kind of movie. What it is, is a movie with strong acting (Gielgud is always worth watching), a haunting musical score, and a sharp twist at the end. I enjoyed it and would recommend it as a treat to good little haunters everywhere.