A Haunted Halloween

I'll have to look into the Firefox issue. Thanks.

I didn't really take the time to do a proper step-by-step how-to but I have uploaded some in-progress shots of the latest tombstone to the web-site. You can find it in the "Projects" section under "Tombstones". Here's the direct link...

http://www.hectorturner.com/halloween/tombstones.html

I used a wood burning tool to carve the tombstones. I would first do up the epitaph on the computer and print it out. I'd then tape it to the foam and use the wood-burner to trace out the lettering. If you we careful it would slightly melt the foam and leave an impression but not burn all the way through or melt it too much. Remove the paper and then use the wood-burning tool to melt deeply into the foam to outline the letters. I'd then go back and melt down the interior of the letters. Cracks and other details could be added the same way. For painting I use a 3 colour system. I start with an all-over dark grey coat, then, using a sponge, I dab on a medium grey. Once dry, dab on a light grey for highlights. This is a similar technique people use to paint their walls. I used the same technique on my cemetery fence to achieve a rusted metal look.

The reaper was thrown together at the last minute. I had a store-bought prop to start with but wanted to beef it up. I used a salvaged coat rack for the stand and then attached wood supports for the arms. I ran out of time to do it properly and ended up sing a huge amount of duct tape to hod it all together. A new cloak and rags, a flaming caldron and a 4 foot scythe finished him off. I'll probably tweak him further next year.

My daughter is probably too young yet to really be scared - she seemed totally unfazed by everything. We'd be in the basement and she would wave and say "hi" to the zombie ground-breaker and with the giant spider she went right up to it and patted the fur around its fangs while saying "good girl" - too funny. LOL!!!