Grimlock Manor then and now.

Hello Frightners!

Happy almost 2016! I felt a post seemed appropriate since we are knocking on the door of a new year. For me this is just a way to wipe the slate clean, reminisce about this year and all I have done with the haunt and look ahead at what I would like to do with it. I say what I would like to do simply because I would love to do so much and always have a million plans but it never means that any will actually get done so I feel it is best to set the bar low and see how far I can go!

2015 was a pretty good year in terms of Grimlock Manor. While I didn't necessarily do anything ground breaking my haunt came together fairly well. Originally at the end of last year I had decided that I wanted to do a Sleepy Hollow theme this year and piggy back off the Sleepy Hollow play I had worked on at the Old Franklin School House in Metuchen NJ. I had a nice burlap painted sign from the play and many scarecrows to help fill out my display but I never truly built any other props that fit the theme, instead my rekindle love for the Disney Haunted Mansion took over after a trip to Disney World Orlando and I began a few late prop builds for that theme this year.

The prop I started and completed thought I wasn't 100% happy with it was my Master Gracey Tombstone. I set out to create a much more durable tombstone and was happy with it's outcome but the stone itself lays atop an above ground tomb which I did not fully complete to look like the one that can be found on the que line of the ride. I pretty much pinched my pennies and built what I could with what I had lying around and I was fine with that but improvements can still be made.

After I finished my Master Gracey Stone I started work on my Madame Leota tombstone. This is where time fell short and I did not complete it. The goal with Madame Leota was to sculpt the head which I did start then eventually cast it in a light weight resin and make the tombstone the same way as Master Gracey. As I said not everything was completed so it currently sits in my shop awaiting my return to work on it.

Many other ideas like a mausoleum, new graveyard characters, pillars and a fence never fully materialized so my goal now is to focus on making the Haunted Mansion come to life in 2016! As I stated above the bar will be set low and I will focus on a prop at a time and simply see where it takes me by the time October comes around but I do feel that I can up the anty this year.

I told a friend recently that I have never fully stood back and looked at any of my displays or walkthroughs with complete satisfaction and honestly I never feel that will ever be a reality but I am sure going to strive to bring a little sense of wonderment to everyone who visits my house this year.

I've been haunting since 2008 now and have seen so many great things done in the haunt world and while I have had many accomplishments I am proud of Grimlock Manor being one of them, I am still looking forward to what more I can do and prove to myself and I think that is the key, being happy with what you do.

I have much more to explore in the world of prop build and many more triumphs and failures still ahead of me but it is sure to be a fun ride. My resolution as it goes for haunting is to truly not cut corners and focus hard on making each prop I work on the best I can make it. I hope to blog and vlog my journey to Halloween 2016 so it's time to get cracking now and see what I am truly capable of as an artist and haunter!

Here's to 2016 my fellow haunters! Lets all get to work!

Frightguy~