Heavens Gate Cemetery

[Chiller]

Some of you might have seen these before, but for those who have not or are new to the forum, and since Halloween is fast approaching, I thought I would show you why the Darkside is my home.
I have been doing a home haunt for 11 years now, and unfortunatly this year, have had to cancel, due to lack of help and money. I just could not pull it together. I usually have almost 300 visitors over a three day period, most armed with cameras. All of my props are hand made from scratch, and are made to look as real as possible. Naturally they look way better under the darkness, with the fog and lights at night.
These are some of the images from last year.
My cemetery gates and one of my gravestones. The gates are about 10' tall, and the white gravestone is about 9' or so. All are scratch built and hand carved and painted.

The fog is one of my fog machines I was testing.
Most of my "static" props are life like, to portray the realism. We usually have 5 "live actors" that wander the cemetery, or stand motionless in the shadows, waiting to scare people . This is a shot of the cemetery caretaker. He gets mistaken for a real person every year.

A shot of my stone crypt. It is life size and also doubles as one of my electrical boxes. The static prop behind is "Alice" she is not real.

Every cemetery need a minister :lol2:
I did this shot with the "painting with light" technique. Used a long exposure, and flashed the red light on the minister, and then ran over and flashed a blue light on the gravestone in behind.

Please forgive the bad quality of this shot, but it is one of my first animatronic props. This is a life size replica of Samara from the movie The Ring. She actually sinks into the well and comes out really slow. I think this one scared about 98 of the 100 that were brave enough to get close.

Finally another animitronic prop. This is supposed to be a girl who discovered a coffin. Her hand opens and closes the lid of the coffin. Inside I have a fog machine triggered to release every 5 minutes. The the lid opens a burst of fog shoots out. I lose the motor to this last year, and have to replace it. Burned that sucker out. :lol2:

Thanks for lookin.

 

[ShootHoops]

Samara!!!

 

[Corry]

Aaaw! You coudn't put it up this year!!??? That stinks! If I lived nearby, I'd totally help you with it! I love your halloween stuff!

 

[mykill]

looks incredible....

my favorite is/has always been ppl who put effort into scaring others on halloween....

 

[Arch]

cool stuff chiller.... nice work man.... dig number 2 lol. :thumbup:

 

[Andraste]

Oh that looks awesome, Chiller. (^: Nice work. ^^ There's an older man that lived about a block away from me. Every Halloween he'd set up a whole set and scenery like that, and every year he'd add a few new things. Unfortunately, before this season came, he passed away peacefully at home. His grandson and a friend of his are setting it up for him this year, because they know how important and fun it was for him. If I get a chance, I'll stop by and snap a few pictures. For having such a small space, that guy did Wonders. I'll miss him, he was a very friendly, witty person.

His grandson does the same thing about a street away, with his own design. It's neat to see those two set their scenes up every year. ^^ Hopefully I can get some pics.

Nice work on those, Chiller. Sorry to hear you have to cancel this year... If I was nearby, I'd love to help you out. ^^

I hope you still have fun this Halloween! Nice job on the pics ^_^

 

[Chiller]

Thanks tons everyone. Really appreciate your comments.
Andraste. I have been going 11 years, and started out very small...just a few pumpkins and the whole yard haunt grew to where it takes 4 days to set up, one just to do the electrical stuff. There are some really amazing places here. I know one of my buddies spends $4000.00 every year on props. For most of us haunters, Halloween is bigger then Christmas. Just wish it lasted as long.
Thanks again.

 

[ClarkKent]

Wow...I too would chip in on helping. Amazing

 

[SpaceNut]

I, too, think that your Halloween setup is cool. I used to do the same thing, but not on as grand a scale as yours. I enjoyed the visitors reactions. If I lived nearby I would give you a hand. Hope you can swing it next year! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[terri]

Thanks tons everyone. Really appreciate your comments.
Andraste. I have been going 11 years, and started out very small...just a few pumpkins and the whole yard haunt grew to where it takes 4 days to set up, one just to do the electrical stuff. There are some really amazing places here. I know one of my buddies spends $4000.00 every year on props. For most of us haunters, Halloween is bigger then Christmas. Just wish it lasted as long.
Thanks again.

I always love to see your stuff. Your imagination always amazes me!!

Happy Halloween to my favorite haunter, no matter what you end up doing. :hug::

 

[Mohain]

Hahah looks geat chiller Shame I dont live your way, I'd deffo be over chipping in. Real shame you can't do it this year. Great pice tho chilly, thanks for sharing :mrgreen: