Catacombs, Part 2

Mr. ShellHawk was kind enough to let me plunder his camera for more images of the Catacombs.

Tombstones Revisited

Source.
One of the biggest challenges the home haunter faces is making props that look real. I'm sure all of us have seen haunts that have many, many... Well... Cheesy, poorly-constructed props.

I get that not everyone is the Rembrandt of prop building, especially when we're just starting out. What we can do, however, is work on our powers of observation, and subsequently, reproduce what we see; if not perfectly, than at the very least, better than we did last year.

I am currently in a tombstone-free environment. Considering that I need to have a graveyard for the coming season, this isn't the best situation. It's easily remedied, however, by a trip through the magical pages of the 'net.

Horrorfind has a detailed tombstone how-to for several different types of stones. You can find out how to execute the obelisk, the standard headstone, and maybe one more elaborate marker. There are numerous safety warnings in regards to using foam. I can't stress enough how important it is to pay attention to these warnings.

Mourning Cemetery has a great how-to on the Headless Horseman headstone.

I've noticed there are different schools of thought in regards to using spray paint on Styrofoam. Some people love the immediate effect, some people have complained about the long-term results of the paint (read alcohol) on the Styrofoam. I suggest you make one or two of each and wait and see. For certain, always use spray paint in a well-ventilated area. Outside is best, and get yourself a good-quality mask with appropriate filters;it's worth the money to have the best you can afford. As much as we'd like to think, we're not immortal. There is always the risk of long-term damage to your lungs, and inhaled chemicals are generally bad news. Use your brain!

I would be remiss if I neglected to mention Spooky Blue's tombstone tutorial. He uses a technique with paint and sand that should give you a very realistic result.

I emailed the Frog Queen over at Davis Graveyard awhile back to get her take on gravestone fonts. She was gracious enough to take time out of her day and send this back to me:

Here is my theory on fonts.

1. They need to be easy to read

2. They should kinda/sorta match the theme of the tombstone

3. I stick with the general design rule of no more than two fonts per tombstone (but just as I do in design, I sometimes break that rule :)

4. Larger fonts on the tombstones that are in the back

5. Longer epitaphs in a smaller, and sometimes more decorative font at the front

Things to keep in mind:

Larger, less decorative fonts can be carved with a Dremel - faster and cleaner.

Smaller fonts, need to be carved by hand. A few of my longer more creative font tombstones have taken over 2 hours to carve with an X-acto knife.

I follow my gut on fonts and ground that in a few simple design rules. Just because the tombstones are separate, does not mean that they can all get a different font.

That would just be too much. I try to keep to a basic 5 fonts:

Arial , Bell Gothic, Garamond, Trebuchet, and Minion

Then I mix it with a decorative font when I think it will compliment the message. I will also scale a font to help it fit on the tombstone. Sometimes I scale up only a part of the epitaph to make that word/saying stand out.

There are a few Halloween font sites out there. They are great for invitations and other printed materials - but many of them are too decorative (hard to read and carve) for a tombstone. For instance, I would not use the "Buffy" font, unless I was doing a Buffy Summers tombstone.

By the way, Davis GraveYard is doing two tombstone make and takes this summer. Check the dates here. Looking at their stones, it looks like it's worth the trip!

As a builder and an artist, it's important to take time to research your project. It really pays off to look at the real thing and model your project from personal observation. Take plenty of pictures from all different angles, and make certain they're as crisp and clear as you can get them. If you really want to stay realistic, visit an old, local cemetery, and stick with the general style of the tombstones you find there. I'm sort of a purist, so East Coast tombstones in a West Coast graveyard kind of bug me. But hey, that's just personal preference.

One thing you might do is start basic art classes at your local community college or Parks and Recreation. You'll notice you can improve the looks of your props in a relatively short time, once you have some basic knowledge. Also, if you can cut out the time for it, join a local haunt group. If your group is large enough, the different folks in it will have different skills to share, and they're generally kind enough to let you pick their brains. (Special thanks to all the guys and ghouls at my group, CalHaunts!)

Most importantly: have fun with it!

Skulls for Sale

I admit it. I'm a 'ho. I have no shame or class or any of that stuff. This here's a blatant advertisement for yours truly. Sorry!

I've got two skulls I made up for auction on eBay. Please, someone buy them! Little red skull here.
Little white skull here. There are more pics on their listings!

New Wardrobe?

I have officially reached the point where I hate nearly everything in my closet, mostly because it reminds me of thinner times passed.

HATE that!

So to honor my newly found shapeliness (Not quite Rubenesque, but not too far from it), I picked a new wardrobe out for myself. Mind you, this is a fantasy wardrobe because:
1) I have no place to wear most of this.
2) The shoes will almost certainly kill my poor feet.
3) I haven't yet hit the massive Lotto win, and clothing made custom for me is likely to be pretty spendy.
4) Mr. ShellHawk would probably not want to be seen in public with me anymore, which would make me a sad panda.
Be that as it may, here are my offerings:

These hand-painted steampunk heels from Crafttastrophe, which I'm certain I can't live without. Simple, elegant, absolutely yummy.









This "Skullduggery" underbust corset (pray, ignore the size) from Luxuriawear. I'm certain I could wear it out to a job interview or something like that. Wouldn't it make a statement?





This corset from damselinthisdress looks great, and I could even wear it with jeans.Divadivine777 made this Victorian bustle skirt, which I'm certain would be just the thing for those boring trips to the grocery store.I really should have bought techdragon's Ladies Traveling Skirt for my recent European adventure. Paris may not have been ready for it, but I sure was!
And lastly, these lovely goggles from steampunk22. Surely, I can't be expected to read the fine print on the Nutritional Facts labels without them.

In the Know: Has Halloween Become Overcommercialized?

Great video. Serious topic. Watch it!

I'll be posting more pics from the Ossuary soon, so stay tuned. I also have a confession to make, so stay tuned for that, too.

Adam Berg Carousel

A friend recently sent this to me. It's a film for Philips.

I always knew clowns were evil.

A better video quality version lives here.

Viennese Skulls

We found these in a shop window as we were walking through Vienna. I can't read German, so I can't give you any story or history on these little gems.
I think the detail work on these is wonderful. I really wish I knew where they came from and how the art on these skulls came about.

The Black Halloween

Swine Flu at Halloween? Perhaps...

The Catacombs of Paris

Map here.
Denfert-Rochereau Ossuary, or The Catacombs to the rest of us, was created underneath Paris because of necessity. Paris had been growing during the 1700s, and of course, where there is growth, there is death. The cemeteries had seen a steady increase in residents, (I've always said, "Be nice to the dead. They outnumber us by quite a bit.") and were overfilled. Due to bad burial practices and mass open graves, Death's companion, Pestilence, strode through the city with impunity. Much debate had gone on about what to do about the growing problem, and after lengthy consideration, it was decided to move the remains to the nearby empty limestone quarries and start some new cemeteries outside city limits.It has been estimated that there are at least 185 miles of tunnels in the whole network of catacombs, though we only walked through a small portion of them. Millions are interred in the old quarries, six million in the blocked-off area we walked through alone.

We walked for quite a while before we reached the area where the bones were kept. They were stacked like firewood, sometimes going back only a few yards, sometimes for many. There were skulls used as decoration, a counterpoint to the miles of femurs; hearts shaped from them, skull-and-crossbone designs.

The deeper we went, the cooler it got. Water, filtered through the limestone, dripped steadily and dropped on our heads. At times the ceilings were quite low, and I couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like to travel these tunnels without the electric light we enjoyed.

We also ran across several areas like this one. Places where the quarry workers had sculpted fanciful kingdoms out of the limestone. Flash photography is forbidden in the Catacombs, but unfortunately, boatloads of idiots ignore the rule as long as the guides aren't around. (I found this to be the case when I visited the Sistine Chapel, too. At least after all those priceless paintings are destroyed, we'll have plenty of poorly-taken, over-exposed snapshots of them.)

I'll leave you with several of the short video clips I took while I was there. Please excuse the quality. For more info on the Catacombs of Paris, click here.

Achmed, the Dead Terrorist

Got back from our last leg of our trip last night and I'm really tired. It'll take me a few days to get myself back together and on schedule, and a few more days to upload video and pics so you can see what you missed!

So this is totally offensive on the politically correct standpoint, but I love the puppet. They did a really good job on it! I think you could use it as part of a costume. If you're offended by racist jokes and profiling, etc., please don't click on this and then write nasty comments to me. I'm only here for the puppet factor.