Halloween Decorations (1 Viewer)

[Mark Booth]

Since retiring in 2009 I've gone pretty overboard with Halloween decorations. Our collection of decorations grew pretty rapidly from 2009 until 2014. I felt this urge to outdo the previous year. Well, that ended in 2015, which was the first year that I didn't add anything new to the collection. Sadly, I didn't decorate at all in 2016 due to my health (bad back and other issues). As we were handing out candy last year it was clear that I disappointed a LOT of kids. About every 2 minutes somebody asked me what happened to our awesome decorations. I felt like a heel.

So, this year I've mustered the energy to decorate. I started yesterday (Monday) and will finish this morning. I don't plan to mess with the fog machine this year (it's a maintenance hassle during the evening), I won't be putting up anywhere near as much cobwebbing (very time consuming and rough on my back) and I probably won't make the graveyard quite as elaborate. But at least I'm doing something. It should be about 80-90% of what I did in the peak year, 2015.

I'll share photos later. If anyone cares to look, here are the photos (and video) from 2015:

http://www.thephotobooth.net/Holidays/Halloween-2015/n-dNFD3h/

The very last video on the last page (the one in black & white) is from one of our surveillance cameras. It gives an idea of the string of traffic we have to and from our front door. We had 625 kids in 2015 and "only" 550 kids last year. We bought 600 pieces of candy for this year and are a little worried we might run out. Fingers crossed.

Mark

 

[ChristopherG]

MArk - those pictures are amazing! Wow. Sorry to hear your about your back issues. I hope you had a great night last night.

 

[Mark Booth]

Thanks, Christopher. We had about 575 trick or treaters last night. We have 13 pieces left out of 600 but I probably ate 10 pieces myself. Our decorations looked pretty similar to what you see in the 2015 images except for the lack of cobwebbing and fog machine. With the help of friends, we got most of it down and into the garage last night. I'll finish up later today.

Mark

 

[Edwin-S]

Pretty impressive display from years past. Sorry to read of your health issues. 550 kids is a pretty good turnout. Halloween as a day for kids is dead in my area. Bought a box of 120 pieces of candy and not one kid in the entire night. Next year I'm not even going to bother.

 

[Clinton McClure]

We haven’t had trick or treaters in my neighborhood in close to 20 years. When my nephew was 5 or 6, everyone had transitioned to going to a big block party in the next town called Monsters on Main St. It was basically a street fair where all the businesses hand out candy and there are games and raffles. The parents only have to take their kids to one place and I get to sleep without people constantly banging on my door. Everyone wins.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Since retiring in 2009 I've gone pretty overboard with Halloween decorations. Our collection of decorations grew pretty rapidly from 2009 until 2014. I felt this urge to outdo the previous year. Well, that ended in 2015, which was the first year that I didn't add anything new to the collection. Sadly, I didn't decorate at all in 2016 due to my health (bad back and other issues). As we were handing out candy last year it was clear that I disappointed a LOT of kids. About every 2 minutes somebody asked me what happened to our awesome decorations. I felt like a heel.

So, this year I've mustered the energy to decorate. I started yesterday (Monday) and will finish this morning. I don't plan to mess with the fog machine this year (it's a maintenance hassle during the evening), I won't be putting up anywhere near as much cobwebbing (very time consuming and rough on my back) and I probably won't make the graveyard quite as elaborate. But at least I'm doing something. It should be about 80-90% of what I did in the peak year, 2015.

I'll share photos later. If anyone cares to look, here are the photos (and video) from 2015:

http://www.thephotobooth.net/Holidays/Halloween-2015/n-dNFD3h/

The very last video on the last page (the one in black & white) is from one of our surveillance cameras. It gives an idea of the string of traffic we have to and from our front door. We had 625 kids in 2015 and "only" 550 kids last year. We bought 600 pieces of candy for this year and are a little worried we might run out. Fingers crossed.

Mark

What kind of projectors are you using for the animated pumpkins and other stuff? It looks really cool.

 

[Mark Booth]

The projector for the big garage door opening is my 2011 Epson PowerLiteHome Cinema 8350, the 1080p projector that we use for the Booth Bijou Garage Theater. The big eyeball in the front window is projected by a 2008 Sharp XR-32X. The projector for the singing pumpkins is a 2001 Philips cBright SV2.

I purchased the Epson new at Fry's for about $950. I purchased both the Sharp and Philips projectors used on eBay. As I recall, I paid $175 for the Sharp and $125 for the Philips. The Sharp is my "utility" projector (it gets used more often than just Halloween) and I've had to replace the lamp in it once. The Philips is still running on the lamp it had when I got it back in 2010 or so. I'm still on the original lamp that shipped with my Epson 8350 but I have a spare lamp ready to go if it fails during a movie night.

The Epson 8350 has proven to be an OUTSTANDING projector. Epson sold them for about 7 years, that's how good it is/was. I only hope the 4K HDR projector I plan to buy (hopefully) sometime in 2018 will be as excellent.

Mark

 

[Johnny Angell]

The projector for the big garage door opening is my 2011 Epson PowerLiteHome Cinema 8350, the 1080p projector that we use for the Booth Bijou Garage Theater. The big eyeball in the front window is projected by a 2008 Sharp XR-32X. The projector for the singing pumpkins is a 2001 Philips cBright SV2.

I purchased the Epson new at Fry's for about $950. I purchased both the Sharp and Philips projectors used on eBay. As I recall, I paid $175 for the Sharp and $125 for the Philips. The Sharp is my "utility" projector (it gets used more often than just Halloween) and I've had to replace the lamp in it once. The Philips is still running on the lamp it had when I got it back in 2010 or so. I'm still on the original lamp that shipped with my Epson 8350 but I have a spare lamp ready to go if it fails during a movie night.

The Epson 8350 has proven to be an OUTSTANDING projector. Epson sold them for about 7 years, that's how good it is/was. I only hope the 4K HDR projector I plan to buy (hopefully) sometime in 2018 will be as excellent.

Mark

Is there a projector you'd recommend for Halloween only? I don't have the room for a projection setup in my HT so I'm not looking for something expensive. Something less that $200. I plan to run it outdoors on a scrim type screen and create those ghouls that float in the air.

 

[Mark Booth]

Is there a projector you'd recommend for Halloween only? I don't have the room for a projection setup in my HT so I'm not looking for something expensive. Something less that $200. I plan to run it outdoors on a scrim type screen and create those ghouls that float in the air.

For outdoor use, including the risk of possible theft if some douchebag decides to grab and run, I'm a fan of buying a used projector for a cheap price. Beyond that, I'm far from being an expert on projectors in general.

The Sharp XR-32X projector has proven to be a very nice little projector. We used it as our main projector in the Booth Bijou for about a year and, although it isn't true 1080p, it served the purpose. I've hauled the thing to all sorts of locations (presentations) and I've loaned it to friends. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. The lamp included with it lasted for a good 4-5 years before I had to replace it.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sharp-XR-32X.htm

There's a used one on eBay for $99 right now:

https://www.ebay.com/p/Sharp-XR-32X-DLP-Projector/69499410?iid=152779284168

There may be others. Buyer beware, etc. I make no representation that that seller is reliable and have no idea what condition that projector may be.

Mark

 

[Johnny Angell]

For outdoor use, including the risk of possible theft if some douchebag decides to grab and run, I'm a fan of buying a used projector for a cheap price. Beyond that, I'm far from being an expert on projectors in general.

The Sharp XR-32X projector has proven to be a very nice little projector. We used it as our main projector in the Booth Bijou for about a year and, although it isn't true 1080p, it served the purpose. I've hauled the thing to all sorts of locations (presentations) and I've loaned it to friends. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. The lamp included with it lasted for a good 4-5 years before I had to replace it.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Sharp-XR-32X.htm

There's a used one on eBay for $99 right now:

https://www.ebay.com/p/Sharp-XR-32X-DLP-Projector/69499410?iid=152779284168

There may be others. Buyer beware, etc. I make no representation that that seller is reliable and have no idea what condition that projector may be.

Mark

That's a good idea to go eBay, hadn't thought of it. Won't do it right away, till the budget allows, but I'll write down this model number. Thanks.

BTW, how would you hook this up to a speaker?