A Week Earlier Than Last Year

Looks as though the craft stores are ready to stock their shelves with pumpkins and crows and everything else Halloweenish that we love... only, it's June... mid June!  They've stocked about a week earlier than last year.  I've all ready seen a few things at Hobby Lobby that I want to get my hands on >=)

Happy Hump Day!

I couldn't help myself ;)  Happy Hump Day everyone!

It's Time!

I'm so very ready to start prop building!  After vacation, it's on my friends! Oh yes, it's on!

I love Halloween ;)

Bate's Motel Season 1 Overview

After viewing the premier episode, I wasn’t quite sure how this TV show was going to play out, but I’m glad to say that I’ve enjoyed it immensely and that the season finale only left me wanting more.

Norman Bates, played by Freddie Highmore, is a very loveable character.  It was easy for me to like him and to feel empathy toward him for the situations that he was thrown into.  Yet, after a few episodes, his character displayed some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde like qualities that were left very open ended this season.  He’s innocent and compassionate one second and a vicious, murderer the next.  To make matters worse, poor Norman has no recollection of his murderous rampages after he comes out of the trance-like state that he enters when they begin.  I’m very curious to see how his character will develop over the next season and hopefully a few more after that.  Also, I’m wondering how my perception of the character will change as he develops J

Norma is Norman’s neurotic mother.  Played by the talented Vera Farminga, Norma is a DIY kind of gal, taking a lot of seriously heavy matters into her own hands.  She encounters a lot of hard ships and heart-break during Season 1, but trudges on, not letting anything stop her.  She has a very aggressive positiveness about her which is displayed in a manic way.  From knife welding, to gun toting, she works hard to dispel anything that gets in her way of a “normal” life.  No matter how traumatic the event, once the obstacle is overcome, Norma returns to her happy, hotel keeping, 1960’s housewife self.

There are many other interesting characters on the show, who initiate interesting circumstances for the two main characters to deal with.

Emma, is Norman’s cute and level-headed school friend, who has cystic fibroses and a professional taxidermist for a father.

Bradley is the popular girl at Norman’s school who he falls for and who’s family/family history is just as interesting and mysterious as Norman’s.

Dylan, is Norman’s half-brother and Norma’s son, yet he never refers to Norma as “mom”.

Officer Shelby, is a local police officer who initially sets out to help the Bates family after an early season tragedy.

I’ve never seen Psycho, so I have no basis for comparison of how this aligns with that movie, but from what I’ve read in interviews with the director, Carlton Cuse, his intentions are not to re-tell the Alfred Hitchcock story, but to re-create it with their own ideas.

I plan to watch Psycho soon, because I’m interested to see how Hitchcock’s characters/story has been played out in the TV show.

In any case, if you haven’t seen it, go check it out.  I think that you’ll be pleased.

Home Haunter 2012 DVD Collection

The 2012 Home Haunter DVD collection is now available for pre-order!  This year, it is a 4 DVD set, featuring 62 haunts from around the world. 

The price is $20.00 domestic ($30 international), but if you contributed a video to the collection, it's only $15.00 domestic ($25 international).

Even if you didn't submit an entry, this collection is a real treat to any haunter or Halloween lover.  Not only is it really awesome to see other people's haunts, it's also a great source of inspiration.

Judging will probably begin after the DVD's have been shipped and then they will announce the winners! =)

In past years the contest categories have been:

Best Yard Haunt
Best Yard Haunt (Vanguard)
Best Indoor Walk through/Haunt
Best Indoor Walk through/Haunt (Vanguard)
Best Static Prop
Best Static Prop (Vanguard)
Best Animated Prop
Best Animated Prop (Vanguard)
Best Party Haunt
Best Video Production
Best How-To
Propmaster Award

Past winners can be viewed here:
Past Winners

You can order your video here:
2012 Home Haunter's DVD Collection Pre-Order

In case you didn't see it before, here's our 2012 entry:

Happy Haunting!!!

Belated Hoppy Easter

I know I'm a day late, but I hope that you all had a lovely Easter.

I know that we surely did!

A&E's Bates Motel Series Marathon

Curious about the new A&E series Bates Motel? Well, wonder no longer my dear Haunty friends!  Tonight A&E will air the first two episodes before airing this week’s new episode, so if you didn’t catch them the first go around, you can check them out tonight.

I think that the series is still too new for me to actually formulate an opinion on, but I will write a review once I feel like I have a full grasp of the series.

I do want to share that on the A&E website, there are production notes on how they achieved certain effects on the show, which is pretty cool.  It’s like pulling back the wizard of Oz’s curtain J  I especially like the production notes for the first episode.  You’ll have to read it for yourself, as it contains SPOILERS to the show’s plot. To find the production notes on each episode, click on Episode Guide on the main page.

You can find all of the Bates series information here: Bates Motel

Tonight’s 3 episode marathon begins at 8PM Eastern/Pacific and 7PM Central/Mountain time.