Random crap with Uno.

[Unorthodox]

Did your new neighbor express an opinion or appreciation?

I'm told they were at the party, but didn't run into them.  Too busy with a couple of California transplant virgins who were used to everyone doing Disney knockoff or uber-gore decor and didn't think things like this really existed. 

[Bertilak]

The whole concept of the modern Halloween seems foolish because it has morphed into another opportunity for companies to employ methods that attempt to squeeze money from people.

[Unorthodox]

Thus the Unorthodox Halloween. 

[hEtErOdOx]

Second hand info... One of my friends in the neighborhood told me the new neighbor's told her that they'd really have to step up their game next year, and it was "on". I made sure to say in no uncertain terms that it is NOT a competition. 
I took Talia trick or treating, the new neighbor's "Halloween Vomit" was somewhat scary to her, but not everything was functional and they weren't even there to add to the experience.  I was rather disappointed.

[Unorthodox]

The funny thing is it's clear they've put a heck of a lot more $$$ into it than I already. 

It's like the guy by the school everyone loves to tell me is 'competition'.  The proper term is 'customer'. 

[Unorthodox]

Some final pics and thoughts.



I need to look into the possibility of renting an event tent.  The space was pretty cramped, and rain doesn't keep people away from the party.



The glow chalk was pretty weak this year...don't know why. 



Orange is the technically better color in the chimera, but there's something about the subtle space variation the green provides.  I think we're just going to have to actually repair him. 



All the pumpkin lights are yellowish because the batteries are crappy quality this year. 



Staying lit much later than usual to get pics was definitely worth it.



4 sticks lashed together...



One more in the books.

So...on to next year:

The Harvest is now done in my mind.  We've pretty much nailed it. 

So, which of the ideas do we revisit for next year? 

I never did get to finish the witches line of thought...



With the work toward the temple of the spider woman getting destroyed in 2010. 



Turning the corn tunnel into a hallway leading to an altar would be a lot of fun.  Though, the initial plan for my new stella is not going to work, we found out.  The whole pumpkins thing that has sprung up since can work well with witches.  SOMETHING must be making Father/Mother...

And then there is Trevor....Do we go back and revisit the graveyard idea? 

I have more to 'say' along those lines.



Pumpkins are harder to tie into that...and perhaps that's part of the challenge.  It's also more suited to a DISPLAY than a WALK THROUGH.  Properly lighting a graveyard for a walkthrough could be tough.  But since when do I shy away from a challenge? 

Both are multi-year projects.  Open to opinions. 

[Rusty Edge]

Awesome family photo!!

My initial reaction is that the graveyard theme is most likely to be perceived as a direct competition to the neighbor who claims to have no competition, but seems to crave one.

While I have no clue as to the cost, the event tent for the pumpkin carving sounds like a good idea. Great thing if it's cold, windy, or wet. On the other hand it's one more complication to the set-up, particularly if you get some ferocious high winds in the forecast close to the day.

[Unorthodox]

Price wise, it's actually more reasonable than I expected to MAKE one. 

http://www.tarps.com/econoretail.htm

And that's just the first site.  But a 20x20 or so would be plenty. 

[Unorthodox]

My initial reaction is that the graveyard theme is most likely to be perceived as a direct competition to the neighbor who claims to have no competition, but seems to crave one.

Been thinking about this, but have decided it's not a consideration. 

He has pumpkin monsters: could see Father/Mother as "competition".  He has witches, thus "competition.  Ghosts.  Zombies.  Graves.  Skeletons. 

Hell, if anything, doing something as simple as a graveyard might flip the light on in their head that the biggest problem is their lack of focus.  I could take a third of their stuff, BUY SOME LIGHTING FOR GOD SAKE, and have a better display than what they did. 

The points in favor of going the graveyard route:

Easily the most marketable route when I decide I don't like things and want to sell. 
hEt/the kids seemed to like it.
The neighbors across the street responded to Trevor favorably. 
Unobies.  (cause you all know I wouldn't be normal on the zombies)
BOAT LOADS of plans available online to alter, less figure it out as you go along. 

-
Little bit cliché for me, though I of course have ideas there.
Lighting challenges (again, ideas)
Pumpkins need to be worked in meaningfully. 
Probably more expensive...but easier to fund itself via selling. 

Witches:
Megacraptons of research already done. 
Tie in to existing Harvest theme easily
"Scarecrow" plan for the contest. 
Can be a bridge to future themes easily.

-
That temple is going to be one major pain in the ass to implement the way I want.  Probably years down the road. 
Less marketable
Staffing could be more problematic. 

[Bertilak]

That temple is going to be one major pain in the ass to implement the way I want.  Probably years down the road. 
Less marketable
Staffing could be more problematic.

A potential solution to the "staffing" problem involves the deployment of your children and wife in this endeavor .

[Unorthodox]

hEt's not into doing costumes, and I respect that.  The boys are iffy teenagers that may or may not help (thus the problem), and Talia still wants to trick or treat at least part of the night.  She did help out about half the evening. 

Now, since the spider woman costume COULD got fairly "light", similar to Talia's this year if we had a suitable model, hEt MIGHT consider it somewhere down the road when Talia's done with the trick or treating, but I don't anticipate that being the case this coming year. 

Or we could take it really HEAVY if I use one of the boys. 

[Rusty Edge]

WITCHES- Natural transition with existing stuff, you could still use a lot of Jack-O-Lanterns.
I am curious to see what you do with a caldron.

GRAVEYARD- What I like about the graveyard is that you could multi-produce, if not mass produce.
In other words, you could build three variations of Fred, or Trevor, or Whomever at one time, keep the one you prefer and sell the other two.

The more I think about it... every grave could have it's own jack-o-lantern couldn't it?  Maybe the Unobies or skeletons are using them to decorate the graves? Or just to help them see?

The static display requires less help on Halloween night if your teenagers have to be a at a certain party to prove they are cool.

---------------------
Yeah, that do it yourself event tent is surprisingly affordable.

Well, whatever you decide to do next, a new theme is a lot of work and  I'm looking forward to seeing your new creations.

[Unorthodox]

I'm not going static until much further down the road.  It's the "retirement" plan.  How to LIGHT a graveyard scene as a walkthrough is problematic.  In fact, impossible with traditional means of lighting a graveyard display. 

I figure the jack o lanterns would be interesting to see what kids do with them in a graveyard. 

2014, they clustered them on/around the coffins.





2012, they avoided Trevor like the plague (I may have said nothing ON him at the time, but expected some AROUND him)



And did the 'one per "tombstone"' you suggest. 

[Unorthodox]

  Friday, all pressing issues done, and 4 hours left to kill. 

[Rusty Edge]

I forgot about that, at least on a conscious level. I guess I was more focused on the lighting and fog effects last year, while this year I was really appreciating the jack-o-lanterns.

Perhaps you could light tombstones and coffins from within, or try a glow in the dark approach.