A...My Name is Alice
So, despite the crappy way these pics came out, I wanted to showcase one of my favorite aspects of my haunt: my spiders. Now, you can't really see it in these pics, but I had miniature spiders all over the place, most especially the entryway. Perched atop the bushes by said entryway, was my precious black widow, Alice. Alice herself is just a cheap spider I bought at Target, with very little extra work done to her. I saw her at the store amongst the Halloween decor and just thought she was groovy:
Many kids seemed wary of Alice, afraid she would pounce on them (she's a completely static prop, but they didn't know that). Of course, this guy didn't help:
The victim here, Vincent, was one of the easiest props I've ever created. Last year, I'd seen a similar prop in a Party City for $30, and just decided that is was too easy not to do myself. I took a cheap skeleton that had been given to me a while back (it was too fake looking to display as it was, so I'd put it away for future use), wrapped him in "webs" and covered him with more of the tiny, plastic spiders. I stuck him to the brick next to our door, and told kids he was a Trick or Treater that had the misfortune of being a treat for Alice!
Now, Alice wasn't my first giant spider. I have an older prop, that I've had to repair and re-attach the legs multiple times. Marilyn is a bit troublesome, but I just can't bear to part with her. Her territory is the tree in the center of my yard, and that is where she remains. This pic really doesn't capture her at all, unfortunately, but she deserves some recognition:
To me, spiders are an essential part of my haunt. They invoke an almost primitive fear response in some folks (they actually don't bother me at all, which makes it much easier to work with them), where just the suggestion of them can cause an attack of the heebie-jeebies!
Now, 10 points to anyone who can tell me where the names of my spiders and their victim came from! Alice and Vincent have a connection, while Marilyn is just going along with the theme.
Many kids seemed wary of Alice, afraid she would pounce on them (she's a completely static prop, but they didn't know that). Of course, this guy didn't help:
The victim here, Vincent, was one of the easiest props I've ever created. Last year, I'd seen a similar prop in a Party City for $30, and just decided that is was too easy not to do myself. I took a cheap skeleton that had been given to me a while back (it was too fake looking to display as it was, so I'd put it away for future use), wrapped him in "webs" and covered him with more of the tiny, plastic spiders. I stuck him to the brick next to our door, and told kids he was a Trick or Treater that had the misfortune of being a treat for Alice!
Now, Alice wasn't my first giant spider. I have an older prop, that I've had to repair and re-attach the legs multiple times. Marilyn is a bit troublesome, but I just can't bear to part with her. Her territory is the tree in the center of my yard, and that is where she remains. This pic really doesn't capture her at all, unfortunately, but she deserves some recognition:
To me, spiders are an essential part of my haunt. They invoke an almost primitive fear response in some folks (they actually don't bother me at all, which makes it much easier to work with them), where just the suggestion of them can cause an attack of the heebie-jeebies!
Now, 10 points to anyone who can tell me where the names of my spiders and their victim came from! Alice and Vincent have a connection, while Marilyn is just going along with the theme.
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