Show off your pumpkin pics and tells us about the experience.
User avatar
By April May
#98610
Love the logos on the side; Such a great touch! It looks especially great on Hocus Pocus.

Excellent job on everything from concept, to carve, to photography. :thumbsup:
By Ajax
#98619
Great display. They all look great but the night king is a show stopper!! No predator? Nos go carve something, I'm with Sam I've had nightmares about missing Halloween.
User avatar
By sloaner
#98622
Ajax wrote:
Mon Oct 30, 2017 5:08 pm
Great display. They all look great but the night king is a show stopper!! No predator? Nos go carve something, I'm with Sam I've had nightmares about missing Halloween.

I also had a dream it was Halloween and none of my decorations were set up. :pale:
User avatar
By S.A.M
#98623
Thanks April and Ajax, I was tempted by the Predator but forgot about him, always next year right :)

Sloaner, Ajax those anxiety dreams are the worst, I've had a couple this year. One where I was still in the loft getting the decorations down whilst trick or treaters were at the door, me in a flap trying to still do Halloween with no treats or pumpkins carved :pale: They're really bad 'cos you wake up thinking it's really happening. I get similar ones about Christmas too, late on Christmas eve with no shopping done and no tree up :lol:
User avatar
By sloaner
#98624
S.A.M wrote:
Mon Oct 30, 2017 6:40 pm
Thanks April and Ajax, I was tempted by the Predator but forgot about him, always next year right :)

Sloaner, Ajax those anxiety dreams are the worst, I've had a couple this year. One where I was still in the loft getting the decorations down whilst trick or treaters were at the door, me in a flap trying to still do Halloween with no treats or pumpkins carved :pale: They're really bad 'cos you wake up thinking it's really happening. I get similar ones about Christmas too, late on Christmas eve with no shopping done and no tree up :lol:

Haha I wouldent worry about christmas dreams cuz I don't decorate and usually have a halloween tree up since october.
User avatar
By S.A.M
#98653
It's here the big day is here at last! It's gonna be a busy day for many of us, finishing touches, handing out free candy, eating left over candy and carrying out our annual rituals.
Don't forget to stop being busy for a while and take it all in, feel the magic in the cool crisp air that you feel on All Hallows' Eve, have fun, scare and be scared. I know if you're like me you'll be so tired by the end of the night, you'll swear you're not doing it next year but you know you will.

So as I say busy day for us and I wanted to carry out my usual tradition of the stairs shot, I'll be back later with pics of the garden and display at night.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2017!

Image

Image

Two variants this year; blue Night King and standard Candle, which do you prefer? To the eye the candle looks better as it's really hard to make out the pattern with blue LEDs.
User avatar
By S.A.M
#98714
Here we are, the other side of the madness! I hope you all had a great time, I had one of the most wonderful Halloween's I've ever had! There was this little girl who begged her mum to stay a while longer and asked me if she could stand next to me and help hand out the treats, it was so sweet :lol: Got loads of awesome comments; "told you this house is always sick!" "you've really outdone yourself this year" "I've never seen anything like it, it's like on TV" "Best I've ever seen" But to give it context not many people around here decorate for Halloween. Every visitor was polite, saw some awesome costumes. Perfect!

Here are some pictures form the day:
Image

Waiting for showtime as the sun sets:
Image

A window looking out on Halloween:
Image

The sun has set, what a great night to have a curse;
Image

Zombie Pumpkins! on display:
Image

Scarecrow with a plastic pumpkin head:
Image

Jets of fog!
Image

Reports of very localised fog were issued:
Image

The fog hung around perfectly:
Image

It really added a eerie feeling to the display;
Image

More fog!
Image

Lawn skeleton:
Image

Inflatable pumpkins!
Image

Image

Some say the scariest thing trick or treaters saw that night was this face :frank: Me on a candy high during a break:
Image

A quick video tour of the display:


As you can see I used the fog machine this year after buying it several years ago and only using it once but it worked perfectly now that I've added some ducting with holes to create a kind of fog curtain. It's favourite of mine now 'cos the sound of it firing gets a few scares and it made everything looks so spooky. It was thick fog too, ADJ heavy fog juice, the cloud of it was drifting perfectly intact down the avenue, illuminated as it past the street lights. :thumbsup:

I want to do it all again, especially if next year could be like this one; I had such an amazing night the Halloween magic really was in the air :love:

And this is me today, after Halloween! I feel like this anyway :lol:
Image

Time to get planning for next year!
Last edited by S.A.M on Thu Nov 02, 2017 3:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By sloaner
#98723
Very nice carves. But how did you put the words on the side like Hocus Pocus? Was it just shaded?
User avatar
By mesmark
#98726
I love it all! The pumpkins are excellent and like many have said, the wording on the side is an excellent touch.

I like the lawn skeleton. Simple but bold. All the lights also make it really festive. It's a nice mix of creepy and fun.

I showed your pictures and video to some of my adult students. They were well impressed and a bit shocked. The main questions were "Does everyone decorate their houses like that?" And "How long do people have their decorations up?"

I told them you probably only have the place up in full on Halloween night.

I also like your fog machine set up. Are the fog jets handmade?
User avatar
By Ash
#98727
Awesome setup S.A.M.! Great carves!

I especially love the atmosfx setup, I debated real hard about getting one this year but wasn't sure how good it would look. The skeleton band looks sweet!

:lol:
User avatar
By S.A.M
#98731
St0ney wrote:Amazing Carvings SAM ! - Love it ! - Great Photo's Too :thumbsup:
Thank you Stoney that means a lot coming from a carver as good as you :thumbsup:
sloaner wrote:
Thu Nov 02, 2017 6:02 am
Very nice carves. But how did you put the words on the side like Hocus Pocus? Was it just shaded?
Thank you. Yeah the lettering is just shading (on Halloween & Hocus Pocus), didn't take long maybe 20 mins, exacto type blade and screwdriver.
mesmark wrote:I love it all! The pumpkins are excellent and like many have said, the wording on the side is an excellent touch.

I like the lawn skeleton. Simple but bold. All the lights also make it really festive. It's a nice mix of creepy and fun.

I showed your pictures and video to some of my adult students. They were well impressed and a bit shocked. The main questions were "Does everyone decorate their houses like that?" And "How long do people have their decorations up?"

I told them you probably only have the place up in full on Halloween night.

I also like your fog machine set up. Are the fog jets handmade?
Thank you so much for such kind comments. It's crazy that you showed some of your adult students my photos and video, I'm flabbergasted, thank you.

You were right in answering that place is lit up and decorated for Halloween night only and I have it all packed away by the next day. Decorating for Halloween isn't that common in the UK but each year it does seem to be spreading and I've noticed more people make the effort if Halloween is on a weekend.

The fog jet/curtain is made using a 5 meter length of corrugated pond hose, 50mm diameter, I made a hole every 8cm or so down the length of the hose and blocked the far end up by hot gluing some hard plastic over it. With a 1000w fog machine it seems to work perfectly.
Ash wrote:Awesome setup S.A.M.! Great carves!

I especially love the atmosfx setup, I debated real hard about getting one this year but wasn't sure how good it would look. The skeleton band looks sweet!

:lol:
Well I can't vouch for any of the Atmos Gear they sell as I sourced the projector (2nd hand Epson) and screen (amazon basics shower curtain) myself years ago. The animations/videos are Atmos and those are really good. They might seem expensive for what they are but compare the competition and you'll see they're priced reasonably. I highly recommend the Boneyard Band, Dancing Dead and the Witching Hour collection, they're all a crowd pleaser.
Sign up for the newsletter and keep an eye on the site as they usually have a sale in the off season, that's when I bought mine :thumbsup:
User avatar
By monstermash
#98786
I see you didn't really bother with much decorating or carving this year S.A.M... :wink: Just kidding.
I would have loved to have come and hung out with you in your garden, it's perfect. Maybe we'd be too mischievous if we joined forces though :lol: I'm so glad everybody was nice and the weather behaved itself.
I use the heavy fog juice too, it's brilliant if you get a still night so you can just watch it float about. Be careful if you think about getting a scent for the juice. I can't recall the name of the one we tried but the fog smelled like a public toilet :pale:
The jazzy skellies set the mood perfectly too.
I keep meaning to pinch your stair group shot too but then it just wouldn't be the same. Not the same terrific standard anyway.
I'm so happy that you had a brilliant night, really chuffed for you. Here's to even bigger and better next year, yes!? :D :love: :D