Coffin Lid Lifting Mechanism

Went to the shed today and started working on Hallowe'en props.  This was one of the props that I was going to have for 2009 but we won't open that can of worms now, will we?
This fellow will look like he's trying to lift the lid of his coffin but can't quite get the leverage so it keeps falling down.  I reworked the mechanical design today and it works worlds better than before.  There will be a rotting hand on the edge of the lid with a dim light inside.  I made it from foamboard because my wood coffin is %&$#@ heavy and I don't want to lug around 2 of them!

If you have any questions, you know where to find me.

 

Happy Mardi Gras!!! Killer King Cake!

Throw me some beads mistah!!!!!  It's Mardi Gras!!! 
No, I won't lift my shirt for some cheap plastic beads (they actually did an in-depth STUDY on temporary intrinsic values of worthless objects ie: mardi gras beads, and why people risk life, limb and dignity to get them during mardi gras!) but I did make a King Cake.  I love to cook and I'm one of those cooks that likes to mess up every single bowl, spoon, gadget and pan in the kitchen.  It's more fun that way and besides, that's what a dishwasher is for.  It came out *burp* wonderfully.  Here's the *belllch* recipe that I used from Allrecipes.com with my alterations *urp*.
Mine is actually a tad TOO rich, if that can be true *BRAAAAACK!!!!* (oops, sorry about that)...

Mardi Gras King Cake --Intermediate to advanced cooks

Ingredients

• PASTRY:
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• FILLING:
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups chopped and toasted pecans
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 package cream cheese (ooooh yeaaaaaahhhhh!)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• FROSTING:
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon + however much to make a glaze 

 1 little plastic baby doll

• COLORED SUGARS
• 1/4 cup white sugar for each color
• red, yellow, blue and green liquid food coloring
• 3 sandwich size zip-lock bags

To make colored sugars, place 1/4 cup sugar for each color in a zip lock bag.  Carefully add food coloring until colors of gold, green and purple are achieved.  Gold=yellow with a hint of red  Green=green with a hint of blue  Purple=red and blue in equal amounts (I used a few drops more red to make it more vibrant.  Transfer sugar to a bowl and either microwave for approximately 2 minutes to drive off moisture or dry in oven at 225 for about 15 minutes in a flat pan.  Allow to cool and break up any lumps before using.

Directions

1. Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in the remaining white sugar, and salt. Beat the flour into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. When risen, punch down and divide dough in half.
4. Preheat oven to 355 degrees F. Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
5. To Make Filling: Combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, cream cheese, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup flour, butter and vanilla. Mix well
6. Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10x16 inches or so). Liberally spoon the filling over the dough and roll up each half tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at the wide side. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval shaped rings. Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
7. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown.  Frost while warm with the confectioners' sugar blended with vanilla extract and 1 to 2 tablespoons of water. 

Sprinkle sugars on top and insert baby on top so no one accidentally eats it.

The King Cake just before the oven...

Colored Sugars (couldn't find any purple sugar so I made my own, looks better in person)

The cut King Cake, a precursor to my aching stomach.

You're really supposed to hide the baby in the cake but in today's litigious climate, someone could choke on it and sue you.  Traditionally, if you find the baby doll in your piece of cake, you're responsible for bringing the king cake for next year (don't ask me why and I'm too lazy to Google it myself).

A HUGE Score!

Meet my new little friend, Mr. Piano.  Sausage Von Trapp had it on her front porch because they got their son an electronic one and this one basically has had it as a musical instrument.  But all is not lost, Mr. Macabre has plans, big plans for this wonderful (albeit heavy as *$@&# lead!!!!) guy.  I've been playing around with the idea of a piano playing ghostie for the yard.  What I'm going to do is document the process of making the piano playing ghost prop as it comes together.  He will, of course, play "Grim Grinning Ghosts", that's decided.

More to come.

At a loss for words

Have you ever seen something so utterly BREATHTAKING?!  I was in a convenience store in a little podunk town here in Alabama and I see this objet d'art of divine magnitude staring me in the face.  A deer with soulful eyes, wearing a confederate kepi, draped with a confederate flag, nestled with a moonshine liquor jug and a revolver at his hooves.   Made in China.

Someone, anyone, please take my hand, I'm a stranger in paradise...

A Haunting Giveaway

For those that may not be familiar with John Wolfe's site Season of Shadows, you have a lot to catch up on!  From how-to's, videos, a FANTASTIC haunt, you're going to need to traipse over there and take a look around, you'll not be sorry!  He's hosting a Haunting Giveaway that you can enter for the chance to win 1 of  2 box sets of A Haunting, Discovery Channel's recreation of actual haunting events (I always liked the ones where the ghosts are P!$$&? off the best!).  How great is that?!  Go ahead and register before you forget!

Haunted Book Review Thursday...On a Friday.

"I've always depended on the kindness of strangers" could be an appropriate title for this posting since this Hallowe'en book was a gift from when is evil cool? a very cool guy and artist to boot.  He also has the Random Picture Day blog.  I would LOVE to know how he finds all these absolutely marvelous eclectic mix of pictures from everywhere and of everything imaginable. Not only that, he painted me this GREAT skull picture...and did I mention it's about 2 inches by 3 inches?  Incredible!  This photo washed out the colors, it's a whole lot more vivid in person.  Go by and visit when is evil cool? and Random Picture Day, you'll be glad you did!

Haunted Book Review Thursday...

 

Halloween: Vintage Holiday Graphics
Edited by Jim Heimann

This is my kind of book, no annoying pesty things in it, oh, what are they called...oh yes...WORDS.  This book is a glorious pictorial history of commercial Halloween advertising, cards, costumes, decorations and candy.  The pictures speak more than any explanation could, from the elegant printed dinner napkin from the Art Deco period to the wasp-waisted housewife from the 50's handing out full sized candy bars to the kids around to quaint vegetable cards from the turn of the century, you get a wonderful (and sometimes blatantly disturbing) glimpse into Halloweens past. 

The only thing that I might would have done differently is organized the graphics by chronological order but then again, the artistic renderings of all the products are basically foolproof to what era they were made.  And also, each page is a different surprise, making the book always fresh to look through.

This is a great book for inspiration, imagination, and just getting into the spirit of the season so yeah, you need to get it.

When is evil cool?, thanks again!

YESSSSSSS!!!!

100 FOLLOWERS!  Thank you ALL, both those publically following through Google and those following silently in the deep shadows peering out! I appreciate you all!

*cracks knuckles*

Be on the lookout for a Mr. Macabre giveaway coming very soon.....stay tuned.

Shellhawk's 100th Follower Giveaway

I would love to do pottery, I think it's the coolest. I would do exactly what Shellhawk at Shellhawk's Nest is doing right now, having a giveaway featuring one of her uber-cool jack-o-lanterns.  I collect jack-o-lanterns which is why I love this.  DON'T go to Shellhawk's Nest and leave a comment, tweet about it or anything else that may make you win, I want this for my own greedy self!
Muuuuuuwwwwaaaaaaaaaahhhhahahahahahahahhahahah!

Mr. Macabre's Hallowe'en Prop Creations-- The Rocking Seance Table

Your kind and benevolent servant, Mr. Macabre is going to undertake a new project...and hopefully you will indeed be the beneficiary.
But first a little background for you, gentle reader:
Mr. Macabre has selfishly guarded his Hallowe'en creations fiercely in the past, allowing no one to see them until they were finished and the mechanisms well hidden.  Well, that isn't very nice is it?  He has since turned over a new leaf and this is the first in a series of explanations of Mr. Macabre's Hallowe'en various creations.   Use this information to make one of your own, take my ideas and make them better, just please take them for the spreading around of the joy of Hallowe'en. 

And as with all prop making endeavors, do so at your own risk and take all necessary cautions and precautions to preserve life, limb and property.

And of course, if you have any specific questions, please feel free to either ask in the comment section or write me directly, don't be shy, I don't bite...very hard.

Part 1


Part 2

Horrified Screams in Hobby Lobby

THREE WORDS...WHAT THE %$#@&?!

I was minding my own business this morning, happy as a clam when suddenly the skies grew black, the earth trembled and a hellish light drew my attention to this.
Owl poop.  Wrapped in tin foil.  And you're supposed to dig around in it to find a little mole skeleton and put it together.

I think I threw up a little in my mouth.  I'm going back to bed and try this day over again.

Haunted Video Review Thursday

Yes, I know, it's been awhile...bad Mr. Macabre, bad bad bad (or rather lazy). But I have a goodie for you today...

Laff in the Dark Presents Behind the Scenes at Knoebels Haunted House

Available HERE at Laffinthedark.com!

When you talk about the Haunted Mansion, or any other attraction that you board a car and ride through, you are essentially talking about a 'dark ride'.  Vintage dark rides are very few and far between now, even though the high tech ones (Disney's Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror, Snow White, yadda yadda yadda...) continue to thoroughly amaze, amuse and in some cases evacuate some bowels.  This is a DVD that goes behind the scenes of one of the vintage dark rides, Knoebel Amusement Park's Haunted House.

Built in the early 1970's, this dark ride has changed very little in the past 30 some odd years and there is a wonderful crude, primitive quality that could only be described as 'old skool' (is that how the kids say it? &%$# I'm getting old!).

Basically, you are given a tour backstage of one of America's few vintage dark rides.  In these post-recession times, many family-owned amusement parks have folded including my beloved Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City Beach Florida with their own haunted dark ride that is now probably a strip mall or worse, condos (shudder!).  There are interviews with the owner of Knoebels and maintanence crew members that walk you through the gags.

My favorite parts are of course the behind the scenes.  No digital this, no computerized that, no mp3s, this is pure old fashioned haunted fun sitting in the seat of a Pretzel Car.   The characters are sculpted mostly from paper mache, and the gags are triggered by simple switches activated by the cars.  Some are gags from Funni-Frite company are still in use, still scaring patrons hopefully for many more generations.

This is indeed a fun DVD.  It's not specifically Hallowe'en oriented but in a way it is being a haunted house. I got an idea or two from seeing the mechanical movements of the characters but mostly I got inspired to create from watching it.  A lot of haunting is about direction, misdirection, calling attention to, and concealing and this DVD shows how they accomplished these things in the haunted house. 

Four words...This is a treat.

What Has Lady GaGa Have to do with Halloween?

Absolutely NOTHING! Except that she's scary skinny (has she EVER eaten?). And there's a corpse at the very end.

Oh, a little NSFW.





I really don't understand this video but I somehow like it.

Traipsing Through The Graveyard...

Sausage and I are a strange pair. We have been friends for 9 or 10 years now and I feel truly a part of her family. It's the kind of friendship that one can finish the other one's sentences.

I asked if she would like to go take some graveyard pictures after our walk (we walk every morning). After a quick drive through at Hardees (Carl Jr.'s for those west of the Mississippi), we went to a cemetery in town. We got some wonderful pictures and a bit of mystery (Jinkies, a mystery! Zoinks! Ruh roh Raggy!). I saw a mausoleum and being the nosy person I am, stuck my camera through the top bars and blindly snapped pictures:

WHAT THE...Ok, there's a pirate's chest on one side of the locked crypt and on the other side is a rocking chair and another chest.
The supposed remains are on the end of the crypt, in the marble tomb.  Soooooo many questions!  What is in the pirate's chest?  What is in the other chest beside the rocking chair?  Who is the person that sits in the chair and rocks in the crypt? Are the person's remains in the marble tomb and if so, were they cremated or are there just bones in there?  Jinkies, we have a mystery!  And Freddie and Daphne, why don't you just go ahead and get a room?!
I can imagine the chair rocking slowly back and forth by itself at night.  No one in sight, just the faint creaking of the rocker in the middle of the quiet graveyard....

Some other pictures I took...

"Death Loves A Shining Mark"--Edward Young, 1683-1765
I have no inkling what it means but man, it is a cool font!  I dig the lady, her eyes look so sad and realistic. Sausage took some pictures too, but her's are better than mine so I'm not going to show them because I'm jealous.

I made a new friend!

Literally...

Bought this creepy big guy at Earthbound Trading Company in our mall.  Yes, he gives me the creeps.

From Hell

Found this can in my mother's pantry. Did you hear the screams? That was me.

Yawwwwwwwn.

I'm still around, there's just not much Hallowe'eny stuff going on in January, although the cold weather has been frightening!  Gee whiz, how do you people stand it when it's subfreezing for MONTHS?!  I can't deal with all of this dry skin, bundling up and biting winds!  However, we're getting a reprieve tomorrow, rain but at least warmer.
Have some new ideas that I'm kicking around, maybe some prop tutorials, or at least some pictures of what goes on behind the curtain so ya'll maybe can use something. 

A question, what draws you to click on a blog post?  Pictures?  Reviews of products?  More writing?  Less writing?  Interaction?  I personally am more drawn to a post that has a picture in it or has a catchy title.

What chaw'll think?

DO IT NOW!

Thanks to ShellHawk and her suggestion of the DO IT NOW! signs...the nightmare shop went from this...

To this...

With a LOT of help from Mrs. Macabre...

Moral Dilemma...

I was walking in the very old cemetery this evening just seeing what the Historical Society here had done to restore it to some sort of repair when I look down...

Yes they are and no I didn't.  Can you say almost overwhelming temptation?   What would YOU have done;  it's a secluded area, no one was around, it was getting dark...no one would have known......

Can anyone kinda identify what kind of bone it might be (femur? Tibia? Funny?)

Dia de los muertos undies!

Oh my!
Mrs. Macabre and I went to T. J. Maxx today and when we got back to the car, a bag was tossed in my lap, "If you'd seen them you'd would have bought them."

Ohhhh Yeahhhhhhhhhh! Day of the dead tighty whities, er, reddies!  Skulls make me frisky, or is that too much information?

Happy New Year Folks!

May this year bring you the best that life has to offer!

Peace and happiness to you all!