[Rahnefan]

The Bitter Man could not remember a time when the patch had not been his...it was always his...it would always be his...neither could he remember a time when his vine was still in the earth...He was strong; He was supreme; He was eternal...these tiny little gourds beneath him scarcely deserved his notice...long had he stood, warted and weathered and a host to rot and ruin...he fed on his patch without effort now, though he had not opened his eyes to see it for two winters...he had a vague memory of enjoying the taste of young pumpkins, the feel of their shells caving in and the faint sighing of their agony as he drained their life energy into himself...but now he could not taste nor smell nor even feel...he could imagine no change to his reign however, and the growing malice of the newest sprouts went entirely without his notice...

2009 Haunt Props:
The Bitter Man
--> Reimbittereded!
Djinni Tull
Pappy
Loma

 

[DrKreepy]

Truly a creepy fella. And a very good back story!

 

[halloween71]

That looks so good!

 

[RoxyBlue]

You did a good job of conveying the feel of bitterness with his posture and head angle.

 

[Rahnefan]

Thanks a lot! I might have him chin up just a bit though...drivers pass the house looking at it funny, and I think they might be wondering why he has no face...

 

[cerinad]

Very Creepy!

 

[SkullAndBone]

I saw you post that you thought it looked like a ball on a stick from the road so I took a peek. I think there is a lot of potential left in it. Two quick changes that would help a bit would be to take a vine or two and put them on the head too. Also, you might want to make the eyes and mouth read from the street. They might be better if painted black with a lighter color around them, similar to your avatar.

 

[Mr Unpleasant]

Cool, I bet I 'll look like that in 15 or 20 years

 

[FirstSpartan]

Awesome! A great looking unique prop.

 

[Rahnefan]

Good advice, SkullandBone, but he's dead. The rain was too much for that head. Total lifespan: 4 days from the time I put him out.

The head was mache + celluclay, partly filled with great stuff, coated with *liberal* amounts of monster mud, a layer of exterior paint, and finished with several layers of acrylic paint. I'm thinking the problem was not the paint or lack of some other sealer, but the head inside was too thin and not supported by enough filler or armiture.

I went ahead and brought in the other two, which look fine but are feeling kinda soft; their construction was the same as Bitter Man's head. And it looks like it's gonna be a very wet October in the southeast. All my other ideas are now scrapped. Maybe I'll get some chickenwire and try that. I don't know...bad year to be a first-timer maybe...

 

[RoxyBlue]

Sorry to hear that, Rahn. You might want to take a look at Stolloween's (aka the Master of Mache) web site for guidance on how to waterproof props that are going to spend time outside. I think he uses boat or marine varnish to protect his pieces.

http://www.stolloween.com/

 

[lowdwnrob]

Sorry to hear about him. Dont get discouraged. He looked good.

 

[The Archivist]

Love the backstory. Scenes are the creepiest when they have a good backstory. I've seen so many yard-, house, and other haunts without a backstory. They almost look like after thoughts. Even the tiniest scene should have a backstory in my opinion.