The Predators Movie

Having time in the off season of haunted house design and consulting, I try and fill it with two things, spending time with my friends and family, and watching movies. So this week I rented the movie Predators and decided that it was worth a review. I have not seen a movie as good as the the original since Toy Story 3 that was just released on DVD a few months ago. The first movie, Predator, was released in 1987. And was one of the movies I used to emulate as a kid. Running around in the wooded area behind my parents house pretending to be Arnold, tossing sticks into trees to "kill" the Predator that was stalking me. So you can imaginehow excited i was when my brother a few weeks back mentioned the latest Predators movie to me.

To be honest, i was not expecting much in the content or plot to this movie. Watching all the other Predator vs. Alien Movies that came after the original were very poor in my eye and did not hold my attention. As i begin to watch this film I am reminded of the original film with the same themed music that was used in the first. The way they incorporate characters and concepts from the first movie is also very intriguing. the ending is left open and makes for a great opportunity for a third film to be made in the new direction in the Predator saga. At risk of a spoiler alert I will not say much more but I will tell you that this movie is a must watch if you are a fan of the 1987 film Predator.

A Halloween Room two thumbs up!

Duct Tape for the Haunt World

I thought of this topic as a friend of mine needed something to hang his stockings from the wall with care this year at the local theater he works at. When i was telling my wife about this story she stopped me half way through and asked me, “what’s Gaff Tape”. After I explained, i figured, tis the season to talk about Gaff Tape.

Gaff Tape is a strong, tough, cotton cloth that is pressure sensitive, with strong adhesive properties. It is used in theater, film and television productions as well as during live performances and any other kind of stage work. While related to duct tape, it differs in that it can be removed cleanly because it uses a synthetic rubber adhesive rather than a natural rubber adhesive.[3] The tape is often referred to as a production expendable because it is discarded after the production process is complete.

As a haunter or Halloween enthusiast, you can probably think of dozens of ways to use this if you don't use it already. Running the Largest Haunt in Wisconsin I can tell you that it comes in handy, from taping up costumes to keeping curtains and secret spots covered in a pinch.

Other names for Gaff tape are as follows:

• Gaffer tape
• Gaffa tape
• 200 miles per hour tape
• Duct tape that's not shiny
• Bookbinding tape
• Bus seat repair tape
• Dutchman's tape
• Grip tape
• Helicopter tape
• Matte tape
• Racer tape

SO next time you need something to hold that power cord to the ceiling, or even keep your pants up cause you left your belt at home. Turn to Gaff Tape! it is AWESOME!

The Crew at The Halloween Room

So over this past year the Halloween Room has finally made a business out our dream, Halloween Haunted attractions. We have assembled a core group of haunt enthusiasts who have the perfect blend of determination and positive attitude. The crew all worked feverishly to complete and help run Haunted High this past year. For those of you who are not familiar with this Attraction, it is located in Oconomowoc Wisconsin. Haunted High and Halloween Room both together created so much buzz within the community that the word of mouth spilled out into the surrounding communities. The haunted attraction pulled 9000 people and raised 85K in 10 days. Right now the Halloween Room is looking to make more communities and organizations money like we did for Haunted High this year. The Halloween room is a full service haunted design firm and we cater to the non-profit organizations helping consult, design, and possibly run your haunted attraction.

Dealing with PHD

PHD is something all haunters and Halloween Lovers might have to deal with once in there life. So you ask, what is PHD? It's short for Post Haunt Depression, and when halloween weekend was over I had it bad! From the high stress of opening night for my first official Haunted Attraction, to scarring the pants off grown men. I loved every minute of it. I knew this was my calling and I took it all in. Haunted High was closed the weekend of Halloween so i proceeded up to Menasha Wisconsin where good friends of mine also own and run a haunt by the name of Oblivion. I toured some Haunts in their area on Saturday the 30th and got the privilege to scare for them in their haunt on Halloween night. The rush of being that horrifying twitching man up against the wall waiting as victim passes by you, knowing that they are going to be scared but not knowing at what time you will jump at them is priceless. Needless to say I left Halloween Night around midnight to make the long trek back home so i could finally rest from a month of nonstop mayhem.

Once the monday morning sun popped out I had a cup of coffee at the kitchen table and thought, what am i going to do now? It was like my Wife had left me and took the kids. It took about 4 weeks for the feeling to pass and now that christmas is around the corner helps keep my mind off of the real Holiday.

In January My wife and I plan on straightening out the E-commece portion of Halloween Room. Making it more streamlined and able to compete with the big boys of Halloween Costume sales.

A trip to a famously haunted cemetery

I have been hearing many spooky stories lately since I took a haunted attraction job here in Oconomowoc Wi. One that really struck my interest was a story about a woman that killed herself by jumping off a bridge leading into the famous LaBelle Cemetery. The apparition appears from a beautiful statue of a woman and heads down to the lake's edge and appears to drown herself. Now if that is not creepy enough some people have seen blood drip from the statues hands as well as getting sick to their stomaches when they get near the tomb. With this story line I had to go check it out!

So I packed up my three kids (yes I said three kids) and we headed minutes away from our house to check it out. Now I have to say this, it was an overcast day and rain was expected but the kids were eager to go somewhere and I had so see this place for myself. So we pull up and parked. Now the second I get out of the car it starts to rain. Not letting this bit of wetness get in our way of a good time the four of us forged on.

As I am walking through this cemetery there are an abundance of above ground tombs. and the workmanship on them was outstandingly detailed! As the girls were reading the dates to meon when people had passed. My oldest one, Makayla, stopped in her tracks, looked at me and pointed way down the road and said "hey dad, what's that big T down there mean?" Dumbfounded and surprised that she picked out that cross from all the other crosses I stopped and said in a low tone" honey, that is a cross". Naturally she wants to go look at it. So all of us head over to see this cross. Well, once we get around to the front side of the cross I see that it is the burial site of the statue that I had heard so much about. And my seven year old picked it out from a sea of crosses. I have to admit that looking at the statue in front of the cross in the setting that it is in is creepy! Down right scary at night I am sure of it! But none the less we came to get some pictures, and that is what i did.

So here are some more pictures of LaBelle Cemetery Hope you enjoy this trip as much as I did. I think I will be going back at dusk to get some wicked better pictures. If i muster up the gumption.

Detailing Your Haunt - Paint Detailing 101

Detailing Your Haunt - Paint Detailing 101

In the Beginning there was a Garage.....

It started in 2002. My wife and I Bought a house in the summer of 2002 and wanted to have a house warming party. Myself being an avid Lover of halloween took her up on this and we decided to have a Halloween costume party/House warming party. To give you some back round on myself If you do not know me already, I love Halloween as well as scaring to crap out of people of all ages! So when my wife gave me the opportunity to have a party that was themed around this spooky holiday I was in heaven, or hell? I do not know which but I was astatic!

I began planning immediately, Gathering spooky goods from neighbors garbages and asking around for items no one wanted any more. I had months to plan for it and over 200 custom invites delivered and sent out by October 1st. The First Year was "trial and error" . My total amount spent totaled around $400.oo which includes the barrel of Miller Lite that was purchased for the guests. It was a good first year and about 30 people had showed up in costume to play pool and drink beer in a 30x40 foot Game room.

At the end of the night and with a half of a barrel of beer I was officially hooked on halloween! It wasnt till I went to work the following week and many of the guests that I had came on this weekend endeavor asked me...... So are you doing it next year?

It was then I knew Franklin Manor was born and it was only going to get better every year after!