A Site for Sore Eyes--Phantasmechanics!

Betcha didn't know that I am a Phantasmechanic, didja?  You might not have ever heard of Doug Ferguson but I bet that most haunters have heard of and built a Flying Crank Ghost (otherwise known as a FCG to us haunt geeks). Doug Ferguson is the inventor of the Flying Crank Ghost and I would dare say the father of modern home haunting.  You NEEEEEEEED to traipse on over to Phantasmechanics.com and start sifting through the many, many pages of fascinating information and plans for Hallowe'en animatronics.  This is a MUST.

Oh, and by the way, I said that I was a Phantasmechanic, didn't I?  Scroll on down until you see a link on Harry the Hitcher, yep, that's yours truly.  That was the first incarnation of Harry before he got a makeover.  There's tons of other props there as well as safety hints and my favorite...The Dark Ride Project, the House of Shock made a dark ride from scratch...fascinating reading.

And yes, I'm an uber haunt geek!

All I can say is...coooool!

For you die-hard Lugosi or Dracula fans out there, I present this:

The Ebay auction listing is right here! I wouldn't mind him hanging in glorious full color in my living room (However, Mrs. Macabre has a wildly different opinion on this).  Below is the description, a lot of elbow grease went into making these!

THIS FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND POSTER WAS SOLD BY THE

CAPTAIN COMPANY AND HONOR HOUSE PRODUCTS COMPANY IN THE 1960'S AND

 EARLY 1970'S. 

THE POSTER WAS JUST REPRODUCED BY MY COMPANY IN 

...FULL COLOR...

"THE FULL IMAGE WAS SCANNED NOT BLOWN-UP FROM A SMALLER PRINT."  

ON GLOSSY INDOOR VINYL. 

FOR A SHOW I JUST FINISHED IN NEW YORK.

ONLY 10 POSTERS HAVE BEEN MADE.

4 sold in the show for $400 each and 6 are left...of which 

I am selling to raise cash for the upcoming Chiller Show.

THIS IS A GREAT REPRODUCTION!!! 

"BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL"

 IN THAT IT'S

(PRINTED ON INDOOR VINYL)

ONE ORIGINAL SOLD

 FOR $500.00 IN THE FAMOUS CHILLER THEATRE CONVENTION. 

Again we are able to offer you this great gem for a limited time. After they sell out...

we have no more!!!!

............GET IT WHILE YOU CAN!...........

.....SPECIAL REQUEST ONLY.....

THE ORIGINAL BOX CAN ALSO BE REPRODUCED FOR A REASONABLE FEE.

EMAIL ME ON THIS MATTER. 

Another great product by the houseoftheunusual.com

and thelandofsecrets.com

Haint Blue--Supernatural protection in one coat latex or oil enamel!

Sometimes even Mr. Macabre can be taught a thing or two.  While taking my morning walk with Sausage Von Trapp, I casually asked about the color of her porch ceiling, which was a kind of sky/powder blue and that I had noticed a couple of homes with the porch painted the same way.  I was informed it was "Haint Blue".  Coming from the South, I of course, knew what a haint was; a restless spirit, usually a bit on the nasty side.  And I knew the color blue.

Photos courtesy of Curb Appeal For Dummies

So what makes this color so special?   Legend has it that spirits cannot travel over bodies of water and this color mimicked the color of water thereby tricking haints from crossing into the house.  Not only porches were painted for protection, but shutters, doors, window trims as well as whole houses too for the particularly supernaturally paranoid.  Haint Blue comes in many different hues and shades from greenish to deeper blues depending on the area of the country. 

Some believe that it can deter insects and birds by mimicking open sky.  I wouldn't bet too much on that theory personally, my money's on a can of OFF and a citronella candle. 

So there you are, if you're looking for a color to paint your porch roof and are in a particularly spooky mood, give Haint Blue a consideration, if nothing else for the conversation it could strike up.

Sadly enough, I don't like the color blue very much.  Why couldn't it have been Haint Purple or Haint Orange or Haint Ochre?

Macabrely Cooking: A Cheesy Endeavor! Make Your Own Mozzarella!!!

You'll notice something new on my blog that might help you find the products/books/videos that I review and that's the Amazon.com links.  Yes, I make a little commission from them but hey, I'm going to put it all back into props and in turn will blog a tutorial about them and then you'll make them and be the envy of the neighborhood.  Or I might buy a bottle of booze and get snockered.  Nah, I promise that it'll go for Hallowe'en so if you do decide to buy something, please keep me in mind. Thanks!

I always thought mozzarella cheese was this bland, rubbery stuff in a shrink wrap that says 'low moisture' meaning dry.  I also thought that making cheese was an artisan's trade that took a ton of time, expensive equipment and waiting until the planets lined up.  No on both.  I have made mozzarella 3 times now and it comes out smooth, buttery and deeply flavored.  I can't wait until tomato and basil season comes so I can have Insalata Caprese salad!!!  You will be shocked how easy it is, and it takes less than an hour to make about a pound!

Let's get started, shall we?

What you'll need:

• Large stainless or enameled pot, at least 2 gallon
• measuring cups and spoons
• slotted spoon
• stirring spoon, wood, silicone or plastic
• glass bowl for the microwave
• cooking thermometer that measures 35 degrees up to boiling

Ingredients

• 1 gallon whole milk (you can use 2% but just make sure it isn't ultra pasteurized)
• Unclorinated water (I got mine out of the water filter and it worked fine)
• citric acid for food
• rennet
• kosher salt (grocery store, I like it better than regular salt anyhow)

 (A thermometer like this that you can clip on the side of the pot is what you need, but doesn't necessarily have to be digital.)

Steps:

Dissolve 1 1/2 teaspoons citric acid into 1/2 cup cool water.  Dissolve 1/4 teaspoon rennet in 1/4 cup cool water.

Pour milk into stockpot and put on thermometer. Either wait until milk comes to 55 degrees by itself or heat milk on very low until it comes to temperature.

When milk reaches 55 degrees Fahrenheit (sorry, I don't know Celsius), stir in citric acid.  Slowly heat milk to 90 degrees, stirring gently ever so often to evenly distribute heat.  When it hits 66.6 degrees, draw a circle in the floor with your foot and spit in the middle of it to keep evil at bay.

At 90 degrees, gently pour in rennet solution and mix to distribute once or twice and that's all. The milk with start to chunkify (I hate the word coagulate when it comes to food!)

Gently heat to 100 to 105 degrees and turn off the heat.  There should be a clean break around the edges and the liquid should be clear.  If the liquid is still milky, let it sit a few minutes.

Scoop out curds (hate that word too) with slotted spoon. I pour mine in a strainer.  If I had any sense, I would have bought cheesecloth, which would have made everything so much easier!

Try and squeeze as much water as you can from the curds, they will start to mash together as you squeeze them.

Microwave the curds for 1 minute on high.  Take them out and knead them, pouring off any water that may have come up.  Be careful, these steps can burn your hands!

(Curds after first microwaving)

Microwave the curds for 35 seconds on high.  Take them out and knead them, pouring off any more water.  Add 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of salt if desired (start with 1 1/2).  Knead salt in.

Microwave the curds for 35 seconds more and knead until they look like taffy, shiny, smooth and pliable.  THEY WILL BE HOT, BE CAREFUL, I KNEAD MINE WITH A SPOON!!!

You can either place in a silicone mould for a festive shape (I think muffin tin shape is quite festive), roll in a log for slicing, small balls for snacking, whatever.  You have a very small window of time before the cheese gets cool and stiff but you can hit it with the microwave a couple of more times for about 20 seconds to warm it up.

This is about the best mozzarella I have had.  Once you make it, you won't want to settle for store rubber cheese again.   If you like this (which I do) you might try other recipes from where this one came from:


Macabrely y'all's,

Mr. Macabre

Gentleman Jim--The Floating Head Ghost

As per requested by a fellow haunter, here is a short tutorial for Gentleman Jim. 

How Fairy Tales Really End

Cinderella

Snow White

Sleeping Beauty

Jasmine from Alladin

Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Ariel from The Little Mermaid

These were forwarded to me by Ms. M.  I don't know who to bow down and grovel at their feet for executing these works of art but whoever they are, they are genius!

My favorite has to be Belle, she has that whole 'bitter beautiful' sneer.

Spreadin' the Love--Best Blog Comments Award

 

Bad Mr. Macabre, he's been disassembling a piano and forgot to thank some wonderful people for some awards he was given.  He also has an annoying habit of talking about himself in the third person but that's just an endearing irritation to most people.
Shellhawk of Shellhawk's Nest  was too kind to award me the Best Blog Comments Award for the inane/insane things that I say on her blog.  In all seriousness, she has one &%$#@*&^%?%$* great blog (forgive my dirty mouth) that is just a whole lot of fun to read.

Thank you very much Shellhawk!

Now for a few people (although not in the least a complete list) that do some kick@$$ commenting (sorry, I'll go get the soap for my mouth):

• The Captain from The Captain's Ramblings, a nice guy who has a rapier wit
• Throwing it right back to Shellhawk!  Funny lady!
• Pam Morris of  Labyrinth Creations (although she already got it)
• Pumpkinbrain, a great haunter and overall great guy 
• wiec? of When Is Evil Cool?, the guy's as cool as his sites!
• The Frog Queen  who NEVER fails to amuse with her spider reactions!
• Diane, for being an inspiration and encouragement to me
• Carrie Mae of Creepy Cupcakes, one of, if not the first blogs that I started following, with a heart of gold that shows in her comments

I'm sure there's others but it's getting near my bedtime and my eyes are starting to cross.

Now, here's what you need to do:


1) Link back to the blog/blogger who nominated you and say a few kind words.

2) Paste the picture of the award in your award post.


3) Nominate bloggers you think deliver great comments to your blog.

4) E-mail/post/tweet or do whatever you need to do to inform these bloggers they have been nominated for an award.

Do you want to see something scary?

While washing my hands at a customer's house, I happened upon this staring me in the face....

I know that this is probably expensive, collectible, avant-garde, what have you but %$@#&!!!!!!!! THIS FREAKS THE %$*@#$& OUT OF ME!!!!!



 *Shudder* this is like something Dr. Moreau would create just to see how far he could go!  I don't know what is freaking me out the worst but I think it's the human nose that's doing it.  My mind won't let it go, I can't quit looking at it. It's so disturbingly wrong!

If anyone needs me, I'll be under my bed, wrapped in my Snuggie, gently weeping while sucking my thumb.

Haunted Video Review Thursday

(Sorry about the photo, couldn't find a decent one online)

Halloween Animatronics 2

Pneumatics and Control Systems

Author: Dave Carr

Available through Halloween 2 Go for DVD purchase or direct download.

Last year I reviewed volume 1 of Halloween Animatronics and now it's time for the second edition.  At the first, Dave Carr point blank makes the statement that by the end of the video you will know if you want to incorporate pneumatics with your haunted attraction.  And he's right, after watching the video, I do NOT want to incorporate pneumatics within my haunt and that's perfectly ok.  My haunt isn't conducive to startle scares, it's not the Final Unresting Place Cemetery's character or theme.

Now the good news...you really need this video for the other goodies that he presents.

Some of the topics include:

• Basic Pneumatics
• Using Relays/Manual Activation 
• Trigger Designs
• Trigger Delay
• Timer Circuits
• Triggered Motion and Sound
• Microcontrollers for Pneumatics
• Silicon Skinning Techniques

Most of these topics can be applied to motor motion animatronics, especially the triggers, timers and relays. Mr. Carr does a splendid job explaining electronics in easy to understand terminology.  I would dare say that the average person could, with watching these videos and paying attention, build every prop demonstrated.  He explains things that well.


Should you dish out the dough to get this video?  If your haunt depends on pneumatics and electronics, then wholeheartedly YES.  If you have a haunt like mine which has one constantly hissing Trash Can Trauma and you're happy with it, still, this would be a good edition to your library in case you decide to change and there's plenty of information in there that you can still use.

I personally use Volume 1 more and I would recommend that you get the first volume before buying this one although this volume definitively stands alone.

A Site for Sore Eyes--Disney Imaginations

Ok, that was corny, that was so corny you could shuck it. So I'll use it from now on, that's the kind of guy I am.  If I run across a site that I haven't seen before that I think might be of interest to friends and fiends alike, I'm going to make a point to post it.  This isn't any sort of review format but simply a "heads up, there's something cool here".

Enter Disney Imaginations, a how-to blog on re-creating special effects inspired from Disney attractions.  I was drawn to the following eye portraits tutorial.  Although I knew one way to do it, he presented another that seems to give a better effect.  Combined with an eclectic mix of eyes in the night, fireflies, the bullet-ridden duck from Nightmare Before Christmas and you have a site that belongs on most every haunter's follow list.

Dang it, that was a review, wasn't it?  A nice one, but still a review.  Oh well, I'm comparatively new at this so bear with me, I can get grizzly when provoked.  Ok, I'll stop, I promise.

Got a site that you think is great that needs a shout out, either yours or someone else's?  Then drop me a line either in the comments section or to my email and we'll get the word out.

Macabrely y'alls,


Mr. Macabre

Haunted Book Review Thursday

Just Imagine Halloween-The Best Halloween and Fall Decor, Spooky Tabletops, Party Tricks and Treats, Collecting the Past

Created By Christopher James

 

For a Halloween book that I haven't heard of before, this one is a wonderful surprise (I found my copy on Amazon).  Hardbound in full color throughout with gorgeous pictures, this book has something that is lacking in a large amount of Halloween books on the market...originality and fresh new ideas.  Combining a wonderful dose of the history of Halloween through decorations and collectibles, Mr. James does a wonderful job providing an overview of lesser collected items as record jackets, cookie cutters, ceramics and commercial advertisements.

The recipe section contains some truly disgusting (albeit tasty) concoctions as well as some new ones I haven't seen before through my 50+ books on Halloween.  The craft section may be a little on the cute side for some tastes but do not be deterred from this, there are many elegant and decidedly grown-up ideas within the pages that should spurn on many ideas.

Bottom line...buy this book, it's worth every penny.  It's beautiful, informative, unique and most of all, one of those books that will put you in the wonderfully dark orange and black spirit at any time of the year.

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