And then one year, Grim’s face just dry rotted right off. Not as terrifying as you might think. In 2017, we gave him a new mask, and added LED’s in his eyes. In 2019 he got new hands (prior to this, he had two left hands). Grim History: This prop has evolved over the years…
Author Archives: Mike
“Dusty” The Crouching Ghoul
We started seeing a bunch of ‘crouching ghoul’ props being built, in an attempt to replicate this character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egksi_wWvFg . Special thanks to Rob Beach (Scares on Sequoia) for posting details of his build that gave us a leg up on the mechanism to get Dusty started. The first order of business was to work …
“Gary” The Revenant
Becky saw these cool wraith things with a massive hood. She decided she wanted to make one. And I decided that if we were going to make it, it was going to move. Gary uses the “Watchman” Prop Driver (Mark 3) for his back-and-forth motion.
“Watchman” Prop Driver
Everyone seems to be doing variations on the watchman prop this year. I saw some pictures of the mechanism and decided to document making one myself. I’ve built two so far, so the pictures below are first from the prototype, and then from the “tighter” Mark 2, and then the stronger Mark 3. Mark 1 …
Haunt 2019
The 2019 Haunt is significant for us because it’s our first year in the Chicago Haunt Builders directory. This page will be the hub for all information about this year’s effort. It’s ironic, but we’ve been haunting our house(s) since 1993 – in Algonquin since 2001, and we’re right up the street from two of …
Haunt 2018
While we were setting up the mausoleum, a car drove by and slowed. This isn’t uncommon. It’s pretty unsettling to see people doing front yard construction work of things made of stone. A few minutes later, the same car drove back the other way, even slower. Okay, I thought, they just want a better look. …
Haunt 2017
In 2017, we turned the wishing well into a fog chiller. We attempted a major new prop called the Ghost Train. We also had a visit from our good friend Reaper Madness. Props Added:
Haunt 2016
In 2016, Stanley got a new home. The bushes in front of the house were too tall to allow the tall flowing marionette to rise and fall in a convincing way, so we built him a “small” mausoleum and slipped it between the arms of the oak tree in the front yard. Sadly, Peter stayed …
Haunt 2015
In 2015 we made a major push to put the Pumpkin scarecrow prop out into the yard. We succeeded in getting it outside. But nobody ever saw it work on the lawn. Props Added:
Haunt 2014
Props Added: