[Hellrazor]

Hey all, heres a question for ya! I was looking through many websites and taking in everyones different point of view when it comes to decorating for the haunting season. A couple of times I went ugh...not becasue of lack of skill but because it would be something I couldnt do. Im talking about limitations.
Everyone has their drawing point for what is acceptable then what is over the top... Tell me, what are your limitations, Im just interested. This thread in no way is an attempt to shame, or eye open or anything, just wondering what peoples limitations are... and it could go either way....


My limitations are... cutsy stuff... Im not a fan of it. I also have decided I dont want gallows and my hubby put his foot down that there will not be babies...

 

[hidehoman]

We will not do blood or ocult of any kind incuding Witches. We do dark macabra and the undead. I just don't see the kneed to push much past that. I think gore is a cheap way out, not scary and just for shock value.

 

[Moon Dog]

We won't do mutilations - no bodies torn apart, organs or entrails - no need for it at our house.

 

[Death's Door]

One limitation is of course, money - there just simply isn't enough of it to do what I want to do. I am also challenged when it comes to building props - I have the imagination but I am not really mechanically inclined when it comes to building sometimes. My hubby does help out a lot when it comes to details and making things happen. I also do not use cutesy stuff anymore for the inside or outside decorations. I don't put up occult signs because it would promote that Halloween is evil or a pagan holiday which a lot of people already have in their minds. I don't want to give into that and make them feel they're correct. Even though my hubby knows I love Halloween and supports me, I still limit myself so I don't get on his nerves too much.

 

[jdubbya]

Good thread.
Also not into "cutesy". No Satanic or devil related. (Bought a great devil mask one year for a prop and Mrs. dubs said no to that.
Got away from gore a couple years back and don't miss it. I do have the latex head on a hook that I place inconspicuously in a tree, but that's it. Also won't do a gallows/hanging or anything to do with executions. Never saw what that has to do with Halloween.
Clowns are also out. Again, how did clowns become a Halloween scare and in the event some little kids come by and aren't afraid of them, I don't want to be a contributing factor.

 

[HibLaGrande]

I don't have gore, or devils.as I do not want to contribute to the cause of the people that say Halloween is a Satanic Holiday. I don't care for the cute stuff either. I like the vintage creatures, Dracula, Wolfman, Mummy,Mad Scientist Witch, Ghosts, Frankensiens Monster, Skeletons, Bats, Spiders, Zombies I also like Space Aliens. I like to depict somthing creepy or spooky not violent or murderous, there is enough of that in the world already.

Absolutly no clowns!!!!! they give me the creeps

 

[grapegrl]

I like to keep things spooky yet classy. I'm not into gore at all and I'll admit, some of the stuff I put out (especially inside) would be considered "cutesy" by most folks' standards around here. I love vintage/Victorian Hallowe'en decor and have been told more than once by guests that the inside of my house looks like something out of Southern Living magazine's October issue. Besides gore, I also do not have anything that perpetuates or promotes the stereotypical "witch as an evil and ugly hag" idea. I'm a practicing witch and while I'm not necessarily offended by it (unless something is just plain over-the-top and offensive for the sake of being ignorant and offensive), I simply don't care for it personally.

Edited to add: No inflatables, either!

 

[MansionHaunter]

Definitely no cutesy here.

Also, no chainsaws or pop-out scares. There are lots of little kids in our neighborhood, including my own two-year-old, who'd be soiling their diapers if I had anything sudden jump out and scare them.

Plus... the above mentioned two-year-old makes it difficult to work on props without him getting involved and either hurting himself on something I'm working on, nor without him making off with some important piece (last night it was an ABS pipe intended to go on the fog chiller I'm working on).

 

[Long_Tom]

My first limitation is storage space. I have to keep Halloween confined to a corner of the attic, so I'm not likely to do any really large props. That means no mannequins, no pillars, etc. Maybe cemetery fence one day, since it's flat. It's my personal challenge to make an impressive display that can still be packed away into a reasonable space the rest of the year.

Second, no gore. That isn't particularly Halloweenish to me. If I want blood and guts, I'll turn on the evening news. Also, I don't care to give the little kids Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. My own kids tell me it makes them unhappy to look at that sort of thing (the older one no longer will set foot in the Spirit Halloween store for that reason). Since my goal is to entertain, not to upset, that sort of stuff has no place in my display.

As others have mentioned, no Satanism. We have enough problems with the rhetoric from the fundamentalists without giving them grist for the mill.

I have nothing against cutesy, though I don't currently use any. That is good for the younger set, a lot of whom currently won't come up to my front door because it is too scary for them (though tame by many standards). To me that's a problem that I need to correct. If I've scared them off completely, they missed the show. I might just as well save all the money I spend on props and candy, and stand at the door yelling obscenities to keep them off my property. My bank account would appreciate it, but it's not why I do Halloween. So, I'm slowly working towards having two displays: friendly stuff on the path to the front door for the timid; scary stuff on the path down the side yard for the older or more adventurous.

Final limitation is skill and time. No electronics knowledge, limited woodworking, somewhat clunky artistic execution.

 

[trishaanne]

We don't do cutesy, there's enough people around here who do that and they expect scary from us. I won't do anything with anyone hanging because it hits too close to home. I've had a few friends whose kids chose to hang themselves and just recently, my ex-son in law did the same thing, so no hanging here. I also won't do possessed or evil clowns. Since kids like the circus and clowns, I would never want them to be scared by clowns and have the circus ruined for them. We don't do alot of gore either.

 

[slimy]

Wow, after reading this, I figured out what an amoral person I am.

I have some "cutesy" things on the side of the house for the little ones.

Though I never thought of what I do is 'satanic' I did build a flying demon.

I never thought what I did was inspired by the 'occult' but I have witches.

I never thought of what I did was 'gory', but I do use body parts.

I couldn't get the motor to work this year, or I would have had a hanging man.

I put a skull on a doll, does that make me a bad person?

This year, I guess I am doing the ultimate evil, I'm including clowns.

I guess I'm the bottom of the barrel. How will you guys ever talk to me again?

 

[ScareFX]

Wow, after reading this, I figured out what an amoral person I am.

I have some "cutesy" things on the side of the house for the little ones.

Though I never thought of what I do is 'satanic' I did build a flying demon.

I never thought what I did was inspired by the 'occult' but I have witches.

I never thought of what I did was 'gory', but I do use body parts.

I couldn't get the motor to work this year, or I would have had a hanging man.

I put a skull on a doll, does that make me a bad person?

This year, I guess I am doing the ultimate evil, I'm including clowns.

I guess I'm the bottom of the barrel. How will you guys ever talk to me again?

LOL - I'm guess I'm right down at the amoral bottom with you slimy!

Something "cutesy" - Check
Demon - Check
Witches - Check
Body parts - Check
Hanging man - Not this year but a skeleton two years ago - Check
Clowns - ....nope...not yet

 

[Death's Door]

Wow, after reading this, I figured out what an amoral person I am.

I have some "cutesy" things on the side of the house for the little ones.

Though I never thought of what I do is 'satanic' I did build a flying demon.

I never thought what I did was inspired by the 'occult' but I have witches.

I never thought of what I did was 'gory', but I do use body parts.

I couldn't get the motor to work this year, or I would have had a hanging man.

I put a skull on a doll, does that make me a bad person?

This year, I guess I am doing the ultimate evil, I'm including clowns.

I guess I'm the bottom of the barrel. How will you guys ever talk to me again?

I would never think of you as an amoral person and you are not the bottom of the barrel. What you do with your decorations or haunt is really your business. I think when you put your haunt and/or decorations up, it's up to you are far as the limitations you put on yourself.

 

[Eyes_in_the_dark]

ROFL, I guess I'm with Slimy and FX, nothing much is off limits for me, the scarier the better. The only thing I didn't do this year that I thought about doing was hanging an inverted cross over my front door...thought that might get my house bruned down or something.

 

[gypsichic]

one of the things i won't do is hang a dummy in the tree

can't remember if it was here i read something or somewhere else about someone commiting suicide and the police thought it was a halloween prop but in fact it was a real person

 

[Long_Tom]

By all means, haunt your own haunt. I'm not saying you are wrong for what you choose to put on display, just what works and doesn't work for me.

 

[edwood saucer]

I'm speaking up for cutsey!

While I don't call my ideas cutsey - my idea of a haunt is the Haunted Mansion . I dig that - and it's sort of the underlying foundation of everything I'm doing.

When I think of cutsey - I think of Walmart Inflatable stuff...

I do love the scary stuff, I just have my own ideas about it.

Signed,
Cutsey : ^)

 

[edwood saucer]

But I do have a real hard time with the auto-association of a demon with the occult.

That is sort of fruit and small minded.

For an art project I put a demons head in a priests frock with baby dolls scattered at his hooves... To me it was a statement regarding the church and molestations.

By the way - I still have the demon head - I'd send it to whomever wants it. It's really bitchin. Needs paint - but freaky all the same.

 

[Beepem]

nothing cute, no inflatables.

im a graveyard type. graves, skeletons ghosts. no blood and gore. it really is a cheap way out.....i do my best to model after skull and bone

 

[WickedWitch]

Is someone lurking in my bushes because I was just crucified today by a bible thumper who approached my door. (Mind you I don't have a neighbor in sight and live on a 1/2 mile long private road.) Point is this: no matter what is the limit for this "evil" holiday, there will ALWAYS be someone there to slap you across the face and flame you.
Myself, I am mild to alot of displays I've seen on this forum, not for lack of desire but I'm an educated idiot who lacks the technical skill required to do the cool stuff. Outide I've got cemetaries and a crematorium (a red strobe inside of an old milk house) A few dummies with masks and pitchforks and of course your everyday household skeleton.. Inside it's all witches and dungeons with yet more dummies with store bought masks.....whoopdie doo Bazzle
As far as this "limit" issue, I reckon it depends on the age of kids in/around the house. You could always post one of those Warnings Due to graphic content our property is rated PG13. Sadly, it only takes 1 little bird who is having a bad day to start a lynch mob.
In my own defense, I am not a practicing witch. I have been crazy over witches since I saw the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz as a child. And I'm a desendant of Susannah North Martin, accused and hung in Salem for Witchcraft....my hubby says that explains alot...lol.,