Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts...

... they will definitely follow you home -- and anywhere else you go!

Okay, a little closer...

Awesome.

Yes, S&Pers, your humble pubkeep has some grim-grinnin' to go with his rollin' and ridin'.

Today I got my ol' Jeep repaired, inspected, tagged and cleaned (well, I did all the cleaning!) after some months of delays.

Now, I really and truly despise the run-around of making a car legal so this time I made sure to tag it for two years -- and when I put the new tag on the plate:

... this image popped into my head:

... which is of course a prime detail of this iconic piece:

... and I then suddenly remembered that some years ago I had purchased some very ghoul auto decals for just such an occasion.

Aren't these nice?

There are a few more, but you get the idea.

So I took the smallest set (for now -- the Jeep needs a real paint job!) of Hitchhiking Ghosts and voila'!

 

We can thank the MO Dept of Revenue and that Green 13 (and Mssrs Davis & Coates et al) for the inspiration.

And I thank the person who made/sold these, who apparently wishes to keep a low profile. No problem.

And a big S&P welcome to all the cool members of MiceChat dot com (it's the happiest place in cyberspace, you know) for stopping by to view my Hitchhiking Jeep. Like the stickers, I hope you can stick around for more silliness!

DECALSHREKPOP!

Another 'Happy Wouldabeen'.

... to Mr. D.

Walter Elias Disney

December 5, 1901 -- December 15, 1966

There's just no questioning, no denying, the impact this single pioneer has made on the entire world.

You can gripe about the current state of the various companies he created -- the nearly obscene cost of its products and services, the lamentable decisions, the lack of vision, the faceless corporate greed and stupidity of his bickering descendants -- but the world will always remember that at the core of it all, at the true heart of what is right and good about Disney, was Walt's singular vision... and that it began with a Mouse.

On a personal level, I have to hold all of us at the S&P forever in debt to Mr. Disney, if only for instigating the creation of one thing.

The Haunted Mansion didn't become a breathing, unliving reality until 1969, three years after Disney's death. But as far back as 1951, five years before the original Disneyland park opened, Walt had mentioned a 'haunted house' concept, which was sketched by Harper Goff that year:

I absolutely love the notion of the graveyard being flanked by a church and a haunted house -- a graveyard reposes precisely between the realms of the hallowed and the horrific, the solemn and the spooky, the sacred and the scared (which, by the way, are the same word with a few letters rearranged) -- and I wish they'd stuck with this layout.

 The hilltop haunt in implied but gorgeous detail.

Of course, there are many other things I admire, tribute and love about what Walt Disney brought to the world, and the skill, heart and vision he possessed to draw the greatness out of others to give to the rest of us mortals -- the darkest of it is where my happiest Disney memories reside.

 Boo!

 Yes, a happy wouldabeen 109 years, Mr. Disney.

 

 You left us a lot to enjoy in the short time you were here.

And don't worry about us -- we still know how to be kids, thanks to that which remains of your vision helping us stay young at heart.

And anyway, we'll all be seeing you...

We're all going to be following, some day...

A toast to a remarkable fella.

DDSPioneer!

Beware...

... of Hitchhiking Ghosts:

These three fellows were a big hit. Situated in front of the blacked-in Treat Room, by nightfall they looked like they were simply floating in front of the porch; blacklight is truly a marvelous thing.

There is more video of Phineas, Ezra and Gus flying around the neighborhood. Well, not video of them literally flying around the neighborhood, but... nevermind. I'll post any when I get any.


Oh, and another thing:

It's impossible to get shots of things like this because it only works in the dark, you know?

But this looked beautiful just off the 'Boo Corner' end of the porch. Sadly, the power supply for the motor burned halfway through the night, but it still looked very cool so what the heck!

By the way, the Haunted Mansion rules. You heard me.


Shpoonk-

Let's pass around the pictures...

Oh, it is good to be back at the old Skull & Pumpkin after this incredible Hallowe'en weekend!

Everything came off beautifully, and we had one of the busiest, most visited and enjoyable Hallowe'en nights ever. Yes it is very gratifying to see the long, hard work find such appreciation, but mostly I just dig watching the kids have so much fun!

I am looking forward to showing off pictures and video, and as soon as I get copies of images from friends and family, I'll have it all here.

This time around, I am showing some of the better pics from my own meager photographic attempts.

See, on Hallowe'en night, I tend to let others get the pics because I'm too busy being host, repairman and 'come say hi to' guy all night long. I absolutely love it and thrive on it, but it does mean I don't get time to properly chronicle the moment.

But this year I had extra help setting up and so found a few minutes every so often to snap a few images.

Such as they are.

Eh, blurry but it gives you the idea. The power supply for the motor burned out halfway through the night but the coffin was a big hit!

The graveyard, and some decently readable epitaphs (click to see larger image). The Lean Bros. & Ghoul 'dressed' as the Singing Busts from the Haunted Mansion; they were a hit, as ever.

The Pirates, Capt. Jack Lantern and First Mate Ficketts, had visitors laughing all night.

The ghostly 'Attic Bride' from the Haunted Mansion haunts our house from my upstairs bedroom window.

My hastily done, hand-painted 'Dracula Ring' for Uncle Forry (I'd forgotten until late Friday night that he needed something to look like the famous Dracula ring; foam, paint and tired eyes got this far... I kinda like it!).

The Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion. Phineas has his valise, Gus his ball n' chain. There are good pictures and video of them in blacklight/no flash, and I'll get them up here soon.

The Uncle Forry Livingroom Set. It was intimate, warmly lit, and a perfect companion to the kid-friendly 'Boo Corner' just to the right. V took some great video of Uncle Forry, and as soon as I can turn VOB into WMV and get it cut down to a size Blogger can handle, I'll post it all!

The Great Pumpkin. As always, a big hit, constantly running, introducing folks to the spirit and theme of the night. Probably the best known and most enjoyed tradition of my haunts.

It was a very beautiful display on a very beautiful night. This pic cuts off the Great Pumpkin and the coffin between the GP and the porch, but you can see the city below our hill, the graveyard, the driveway, strolling guests, the Attic Bride, the HHG's below her in front of the porch (if you squint a little) and some of Boo Corner.

Oh, and something very cool happened which hasn't happened before (that I recall).

Someone made treats for US.

Twice.

The Bride of Frankenstein cake was made by our very sweet neighbor and the cinnamon rolls by a family friend who brought them to the door with 'It's time YOU got a treat!'

So cool. I love people.

This was a truly blessed Hallowe'en, because I had some family in town who had not been able to see a Mike C. Hallowe'en in a long time... in fact, my nieces and nephew never had. It was simply superb to have the Riddles(eseses) and especially my godson Will with us for a few whirlwind late October days... the best Hallowe'en treat one could want.

More pictures and video to come.

For now, I'm heading out to catch up on sleep after a long clean-up day... but that doesn't mean you need to go.

Just be sure to light out, lock up, and don't burn the place down.


God, I love Hallowe'en.

Son of More Making Hallowe'en (by request).

A frequent patron of the Skull & Pumpkin (I'm looking at you, Sinisterious!) has kindly asked the proprietor of this humble establishment to pass around some pictures of the build up to the HHGs (Hitchhiking Ghosts, get with the lingo). I did take some, but figured the end result was more interesting than the process.

What was I thinking?

I've already shown you pics of their heads, and of Ezra's body testing the leaning mechanism. I'll jump to the point where everything begins to finally come together (right now... over me).

Blue foamboard, screws, hot glue, flat black latex paint (spray enamels will eat into foamboard and will melt styrofoam to jelly). This was the 'making sure the heights and widths are good' phase, the last stage before clothing. I know Phineas and Gus have no legs. Duh! They won't need them in the blacklight.

I don't know what this material is called; I kept referring to it as the 'stuff on the bottom of the mattress' fabric. Lightweight, black, and sheer. Perfect. Some pins and hot glue, and a little creative folding and cutting, and I was on my way to HHG happiness.

Some white Foamies strips for Ezra's tie, collar and cuffs. Blue foamboard buttons for Phineas and Ezra. And Ezra's head on Gus's body, because it was funny to me.

The Gang of Three, just before painting.

There is... SO much more to do. But it's what I live for.

P.S. I love that I wrote 'begins to finally'.

Spook out-

Glowing my way?

Phineas, Ezra and Gus

Adding UV glow paint. The paint is the perfect color and dries beautifully, but goes on thin, half-transparent, and is a serious pain to apply (black primer then 4 or 5 coats; the picture is coat #3). But it finishes nicely and I put up with it.
No detail work yet, but after the last coat of glow paint, I'll go in and give some black/dark green depth to the wrinkles, eye sockets, etc..

They may try to follow you home at some point, but they won't right now.

They have no legs.


DDSP!