2006 Tour
Every Halloween, the nightmarish Carnival of Souls apparates on our property and threatens all who come near. This is the story of our harrowing experiences on All Hallow's Eve, 2006, as predicted by Madame Sarita.
The Approach
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One might think that having regular encounters with the spirits of the dead may inure one to the shock and horror they engender. We are here to assure you that this is not so. Our nerves have been tried and tested, to be sure, but every year brings new, unexpected horrors that no sane person could prepare themselves for. Indeed, we recently came to the grim realization that every year, the dark side of the carnival grows stronger. Our first indication that the dark side was growing was the appearance of two pirate skulls on stakes who warned us of an influx of evil that has been working its black tendrils throughout the Carnival of Souls since the last time it appeared. Their names were Skully and Bonehead, and their flesh-rotted jaws still moved with a semblance of life as they spoke their terrible portents to us. "Beware!" they hissed, "The taint of the Blackwood Family seeps into the very ground you tread upon. Turn back, lest ye be swallowed by darkness!" That friendly words came from bloodthirsty cutthroats was an ill omen indeed. In 2005, we attempted to get the pirate skulls out for the big night, but we were met with technical difficulties which prevented them from speaking to our guests. This year, the skulls spoke beautifully throughout the evening, their eyes glowing eerily as they entertained our guests with really, really bad pirate jokes. The skulls use the servo-driving circuit from Cowlacious Designs, and the corpsing was done by local artist Bob Diven. |
The Midway
Walking past those unsavory characters, we enter a somber graveyard. The gravestones, ancient and cumbling, still bear witness to those poor souls who were once buried at this location. The headstones were removed long ago to make way for our little subdivision, but somehow, they reappear on Halloween night.
And more disturbing still is the crypt at the back of the graveyard. Inside, the ethereal ghost of some poor, doomed soul hovers and beckons from her lonely crypt. Her motions are so mesmerizing that some stand transfixed by her graceful dance, but we have firsthand knowledge that to enter her tomb is to invite destruction.
Beyond the graveyard stands the boundary of the Carnival itself. What twisted mind pitches a carnival tent next to a graveyard, you're wondering. But that is the least of our worries, once you understand the true nature of the games and attractions. Polluted by pain and despair, the carnival games are now mockeries of life where children throw diseased rats into cauldrons, or they play with the remaining bones of the poor souls from the graveyard.
But perhaps the most noteworthy denizen of the carnival is the Magic Mirror. We found this old antique frame in the dusty attic, and most days of the year, it lies inert. But on Halloween night, a... presence manifests itself on the surface of the mirror's pane. It speaks to us, promises us our heart's desire, and apparently asks nothing in return. What price must our soul ultimately pay for taking treats from this terrible presence?
The 2006 season ushered in a new midway games frame that was sturdier and less bulky, made from discs of wood, PVC pipe, and PVC brackets. They worked really well. We had hoped to rebuild our gravestones, but didn't have time - maybe next year!
Two of our neighbors, recently moved into the neighborhood, foolishly volunteered to man the carnival games all night, becoming two more victims of our evil machinations. They did a great job with the kids. Rich was our lead Magic Mirror puppeteer this year again, much to the delight of the trick-or-treater's, and Heather acted as an usher for most of the night. All in all, our Midway crew, veterans and newbies alike, did a fantastic job.
If you'd like to recreate some of these midway effects for your own Halloween enjoyment, you'll be interested in our Magic Mirror facade and how-to, Yorick, and the Crypt of the Phantasm how-to.
Dr. Richman's Creepy Crawlies Emporium
Before we could leave the Midway, however, we stumbled upon a strange sight - "Dr. Richman's Creepy Crawlies Emporium." Done up like an old snake-oil salesman's display, the sign sported a creepy-looking scorpion whose eyes seemed to glow in the night.
As we approached, Dr. Richman came forward and showed us his "pets" - scorpions, vinegaroons, millipedes, and other arthropods. Somehow, he could hold children in his thrall, for they came from all around to view his specimens.
Dr. Richman's Creepy Crawlies Emporium was our major new attraction this year, and it was shamefully easy to do. Basically, we invited Dr. Richman, an NMSU Entomologist, to bring some of the more creepy-looking specimens to our Halloween celebration this year to show our visitors, and he graciously agreed to come. Dr. Richman is a personable and knowledgeable teacher, able to work well with both kids and adults, and his presence helped pass the time for people waiting in line for the Mausoleum (which was up to a 45 minute wait at times!).
The banner was built out of canvas and PVC pipes sunk into buckets of sand. A few green LED's were poked through the fabric where the scorpion's eyes were. Bob Diven sketched the banner, and several of our volunteers painted it, including Matt, Holly, and Jen.
Madame Sarita's Spirit Parlour
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Halloween wouldn't be complete without hearing the dead given voice by the talented and courageous Madame Sarita. One of the few allies we have at the Carnival of Souls is this intrepid guardian who attempts to break the curse that befell the Carnival so long ago, but without releasing the diabolical ghost Marius Blackwood onto the mortal world. It's a near-impossible task, because Marius' dark deeds are inextricably intertwined with the fate of the Carnival, and he is forever plotting to be free of his captivity. Madame Sarita's Spirit Parlour is one of our most popular attractions and certainly one of our most elaborate. This black light puppet show combines a suspenseful story that changes every year, life-size ghost puppets, and fun special effects to make a spooky, magical experience for our visitors, young and old. In order to accommodate the most visitors, we convert our entire garage to the spirit parlour each year. The show took seven people at a time to perform this year (Madame Sarita, Marius Blackwood, Sarah Beaumont, two effects puppeteers, an usher, and a sound tech), and we managed to get in some relief and understudy performers, too, so we had even more working the puppet show this year as they swapped out performances. This year's performances were really good, and the story featured a new level of threat as Madame Sarita had to face the Dark Powers of the Earth in person in order to contain Marius. Unfortunately, some audio troubles hampered performances this year, but the audiences didn't seem to mind - we got rousing applause at every performance. You can view the entire performance of the 2006 show, read this year's script, or see last year's show to get an idea of what goes on in there. |
Blackwood Cemetery
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More evidence of the growing corruption of this benighted site was the fact that the Blackwood family cemetery protruded even further into our mortal world than before. An evil-eyed raven glared down at us as we walked under the giant marble columns that flanked the new entrance to the mist-shrouded cemetery. The archway, originally built for a local theater production and provided by Bob Diven, was repurposed for the Blackwood Cemetery entrance. It was built from cardboard concrete column molds, available at your local hardware store. They were attached end-to-end and painted. The square bases are made of wood and have wheels on them, and the top is capped with a ring of insulation foam. The archway is made of wood and foam. |
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Beyond the archway, the Blackwood family cemetery stretched before us, ending in the terrible mausoleum where the most vile members of the family are interred. The place was aglow with eerie ghost lights. The Cemetery was built as a solution for crowd control issues we experienced last year. Essentially, it is a queue line that gives people something interesting to look at while they are waiting to enter the Blackwood Mausoleum. The photos shown here exaggerate the light levels a bit. Originally, we wanted a somber blue light, but it turned out that we needed more light in the area to trigger the busts (see below) and to provide a decently visible path over the rocks for our visitors. Even still, we had some kids who were very nervous about making that journey to the Mausoleum at the back! |
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Some of the new denizens of the Blackwood Cemetery were made known to us this year by their columned graves surrounded by cast-iron metal fences. Atop each column was a bust in the likeness of the departed, and to our horror, these gothic statues seemed to come to life as we passed, mocking our fears and threatening us with vile predictions of our doom. These busts were our first experiment with using store-bought attractions. They were on sale at Target, and we took them and added our own "Carnival of Souls" flair to them to give them a little more storytelling weight. They had motion and sound sensors in them that would trigger a prerecorded evil cackle or spooky monologue. Each of the fences around the columns is different from the others. The first fence is made out of actual wrought iron purchased at Lowe's, the second is made of PVC and wood, and the third was purchased at Target. The columns, like the columns outside the Cemetery, were made from concrete molds, capped with pink insulation foam, painted to look like stone. One problem with the Target busts was that the lights only showed up when the mouth was open, so that in darkness (or near-darkness), it didn't look like the bust's mouth was moving. We also needed a way to illuminate the name plaques beneath the lintels. So, we wired up some red LED's to a battery pack and made little spotlights for the columns. FUN FACT: The names of the three "departed" Blackwood family members are the names of three of the original "Carnival of Souls" volunteers who have since "departed" for greener pastures. "Byron" and "Jennifer" have moved to Texas, and "Sheridan" (Dana) can no longer fly out to take part in the festivities, since she is running her own children's programs around Halloween now. Perhaps the Carnival of Souls will be able to summon them back in 2007? |
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But perhaps the most disturbing item in the graveyard was the small little tomb that seemed to sit apart from the rest of the monuments. There in the cemetery was interred a girl named Diana, and her stone casket had been broken open by the slow years of roots growing up through her corpse and out the top of the broken lid. Looking more closely, to our horror, we realized that the wooden protrusion looked eerily like...a little girl's hand! Diana's sad story was made clear by an inscription on the tomb itself: Our lovely little girl Diana Diana's Crypt was built almost entirely out of foam, with the exception of the headstone support and the headstone itself. The headstone support is a converted Huggies box, and the Celtic cross headstone is a resin tombstone we picked up at Target. The hand was made from a latex glove that was heavily duct-taped so it would hold its form, and duct-taped newspaper was wrapped around a discarded lamp base to give it form and stability. Then the entire thing was painted with a coat of latex rubber. Sticks and some brown paint made it a convincing wood-like texture, but if you dared to touch it, it felt like flesh. Creepy! We placed some battery-powered candles and the motorized "spooky tree" next to it so that there would be light to read the inscription by. Another set of greenish lights provided an eerie glow from within the crypt. At right, for comparison, is the original sketch done by Bob. The end result was just as creepy as the sketch! |
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Blackwood Mausoleum
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At last, it came time to approach the Mausoleum of the dreaded Blackwood family. As everyone around these parts knows, the Blackwood family were a vile, covetous lot, and they took their riches with them to the grave. Legend has it that if you are brave enough to enter their mausoleum, open one of the crypt doors, and reach inside over their corpses, you may just snag yourself some treasure. But be warned: the Blackwood family were very greedy in life, and are greedy even in death. They will protect their gold from prying hands. |
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The moonlight shimmered down around us as we looked up at the Angel of Death statue that leered down at us as we stepped past the threshold of the mausoleum.
Our house is directly under a streetlight, so until this year, we haven't had much of an opportunity to do spooky lighting for our props. Thankfully, the Mausoleum, situated flush with the back of the house, was dark enough that we were able to add a bit of atmosphere to the scene with some fun lighting effects, such as the reddish glow underneath the Angel of Death statue atop the mausoleum.
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We pulled aside the tattered, worm-eaten fabric that hung over the entrance, and looked inside. Peering into the gloom, we saw nine crypts set into the far wall, each containing the rotting corpse of one of the Blackwood family members. The ceiling was choked with spiderwebs, and gothic moaning faces glared down from above each column of crypt doors. Two flickering braziers hung from the side walls, making shadows leap and fade. I was too afraid to enter, but my companion was not. Of the two, I was the lucky one, for I am still waiting for her to come back out...
For more information on the Blackwood Mausoleum, see the Blackwood Mausoleum page, which has a more detailed description of the attraction and video of some guests experiencing its terrors firsthand.
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The Cast and Crew
Many people have helped us make Carnival of Souls a success. We couldn't do anything like this without the selfless and generous assistance of friends, family, and other frighteners.
Shown here (from left to right, top to bottom): me, my dad, Tracy, Lacey, Janice, "Dead" Jim, Alexis, Kathryn, Jenny, Rich, Nick, Andy, "Dead" Bob, "Dead" Steph, Joe, Holly, Matt, Barb, and Heather. Not shown (probably not a complete list!): Byron and Jen, Scott and Jen, Stacey, Dr. Richman, Dr. Richman's "friends," my mom, my aunt, my son, and numerous other neighbors, co-workers, and friends who may or may not want their names associated with the Carnival of Souls. Heh.