What are you doing for Halloween?

electron

Administrator
Staff member
Alright, Halloween is coming up fast (at least it is for people who enjoy building props), so I am wondering who is doing what. I know some of you got the bug last year, and had some great results, so I am definitely interested in what you guys are coming up with this year!

This will probably be my list for this year, but I still need to work out some details:
  • Improved Axworthy track, one that is compatible with my Christmas projects.
  • Ghost train, will be building a real railroad crossing somewhere on the walkway, and use surround sound speakers, foggers, boxfans to simulate the passing of a ghost train.
  • Blinking eyes for the house. I want the top 2 windows to look like eyes, to make the house look alive.
  • Improve the trashcan popup monster.
  • Violent mailbox
Those are my high priority projects, which will involve more automation than last year.
 
Alright, Halloween is coming up fast (at least it is for people who enjoy building props), so I am wondering who is doing what. I know some of you got the bug last year, and had some great results, so I am definitely interested in what you guys are coming up with this year!

This will probably be my list for this year, but I still need to work out some details:
  • Improved Axworthy track, one that is compatible with my Christmas projects.
  • Ghost train, will be building a real railroad crossing somewhere on the walkway, and use surround sound speakers, foggers, boxfans to simulate the passing of a ghost train.
  • Blinking eyes for the house. I want the top 2 windows to look like eyes, to make the house look alive.
  • Improve the trashcan popup monster.
  • Violent mailbox
Those are my high priority projects, which will involve more automation than last year.

I'm jealous of your projects and even more jealous of your available spare time to do them!!
 
Last year, one of the things that I did was an animated ghost in one of the upper windows and triggered with PH. Looked pretty good...

...but I liked the "house eyes" idea so much, I'm doing it instead this year.

I have done some design work and built a proof-of-concept mock-up. My take on it is a unit that can be hung in the windows and be self-contained (except for the controls, for now, which will be a PC in one of the kid's rooms, which is on the front of the house). This way, it's easy to set up and take down. Eye movement will be via R/C servos and the blinking illusion via sequential lighting.

I may also animate a window-well grate that I have next to my front porch (lucky me). Maybe I'll replace the steel with wood and have it open/close and put a strobe and speaker in there.

I'll be bringing back the rising skull that I animated with a car power antenna. It sits in some shrubs next to the front walk and pops up once-in-a-while. Another thing making a come-back will be my fog chiller. Worked pretty well, but I need to get a higher-wattage fogger (was 400W last year, and I see that 700W is much better).

Of course, spooky music and sounds will be piped through my stereo.

Not sure if I'll get to anything else.
 
Alright, Halloween is coming up fast (at least it is for people who enjoy building props), so I am wondering who is doing what. I know some of you got the bug last year, and had some great results, so I am definitely interested in what you guys are coming up with this year!

This will probably be my list for this year, but I still need to work out some details:
  • Improved Axworthy track, one that is compatible with my Christmas projects.
  • Ghost train, will be building a real railroad crossing somewhere on the walkway, and use surround sound speakers, foggers, boxfans to simulate the passing of a ghost train.
  • Blinking eyes for the house. I want the top 2 windows to look like eyes, to make the house look alive.
  • Improve the trashcan popup monster.
  • Violent mailbox
Those are my high priority projects, which will involve more automation than last year.

I'm jealous of your projects and even more jealous of your available spare time to do them!!
Actually time is becoming an issue :huh: I will be starting work on Halloween 2008 in a few months, this is the 2nd time I am running out of time.
 
Please post some video's of what you guys do. Sounds cool. I wish I had the time to do this kind of stuff.
 
I was in the local Walmart over the weekend and saw some rather nice ghosts, skeletons and ghouls that would be perfect for an Axworthy string. THey might be a tad heavy, but all were selling for less than $7 each.

I'm not doing anything this year (even though I'd like to). I love doing this stuff, but if no one comes to see it, it's moot. I don't expect any visitors this year. Over the last two years we had no trick or treaters at all. So much for rural living...
 
So far, most stores have been a dud for me. Looks like some companies are copying some of the ideas haunters came up with, but most of the stuff is really cheap/annoying.
 
<evil grin> I am not doing anything for Hallowween that I can't use year round to scare people. So I am focusing on scripts to flicker lights and play MP3 noises/voices, a few servo tricks. Then long after Halloween when I have new company, I can switch modes the house is in and let the little scary things slowly start to freak them out.

Man it is nice being single sometimes. I can put an animated skeleton in my broom closet and leave it there all year =)

Vaughn
 
That spider is pretty cool. I have a cheap one from a local craftstore that drops down when it hears noise.
 
I've been looking at my schedule for months trying to find a way to do the trash can guy like E's this year. At this point I'll be lucky to have as much as I did last year - including axeworthy.....
 
I just got one of my House Eyes functional...

I bought a Micro Serial Servo Controller ($19) from Pololu.com and two servos ($10 ea.) from nitroplanes.com.

Controller:
http://www.pololu.com/products/pololu/0207/

Servo:
http://www.nitroplanes.com/41ghitoporac.html]

I'm currently running it manually with a simple VB program, but will have a routine programmed that will repeat for the finished version.


Here's a short video (MP4; yeah, from my phone :blink: ).
 
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