Links to Like-Minded Ghoulies
There are thousands of Halloween websites on the Internet. Some of them are good, most of them are...well, not so good, and it seems a growing majority of them these days are fronts for stores and sponsors (don't get me wrong, a little product placement never hurt anyone, but don't tease me with a promise of resources when all you are really giving me is a link to an online retailer).
Over the years I have compiled my own private database, and now I am sharing them with you. I like all of them, of course, but I have set a handful apart as my favourites. Please read and understand our disclaimer regarding links listed on this site.
Look at the entire list, or click on a category from the drop-down menu, and click the "submit" button to see a particular group of links. Note: my favourites will have more than one category assigned to them, so they will show up in two different lists.
| Skull and Bone | Link: www.skullandbone.comCurrently my favourite Haunter's website. It's a polished, informative site that offers tips on corpsing, lighting and making distressed clothing for your gruesome goodies. The webmaster shares his authentic love of Halloween in each post, has an interesting gallery of props and haunt builds, and has links to videos of his haunt. Top marks. |
| Pumpkinrot: A Dark Celebration of Halloween | Link: www.pumpkinrot.comWhenever I just want to sit and look at some beautiful photos of evil creature creations, I go to Pumpkinrot. Many a reference is made to his scarecrows on haunting forums, and for good reason. The artist's corpses and other rotting beings range from good to outstanding. If you're looking for inspiration, visit this site. |
| Ravens Blight | Link: ravensblight.comRay is an artist. He writes short fiction, has a gallery of his art, some videos and horror-themed online games...but that's not what gets him in my top picks. Ray has free, beautifully crafted paper toys that you can download, print out and fold into existence. They are awesome. So take a stroll in Ravens Blight, and be sure to pop into his Toy Shop. |
| Grimvisions: Art of the Macabre | Link: www.grimvisions.comGrimvisions is a blog that highlights the work and interests of the author (I'll call him Grim). Grim does some really great work using materials from papermache (a man after my own heart) to monstermud. He lets his audience see how he made his monsters through pictures and descriptions. I look forward to seeing more of his posts over the coming year. |
| Arana Muerta | Link: aranamuerta.comI feel a certain affinity toward Arana Muerta, or "Dead Spider", though I have never met her. I find it rare to see websites that highlight the talented, artistic Halloween creations of women. Even rarer do I find fellow Canadians online who share their creative approach to paper mache creatures. The thing I respect about her work is her attention to detail. While haunters often pour their efforts into large displays, they tend to overlook (or completely ignore) finer details (mainly the little props). I'm all about small details. And so is Dead Spider. Check out her very detailed how-to's. |
| Monsterlist of Halloween Projects | As the webmaster describes it, "The Monsterlist of Halloween Projects is the most complete collection of links to pages with do-it-yourself projects on them that I have ever seen...the Monsterlist has no pop-up ads or sponsors, it is a volunteer site and will stay that way". It's your one-stop-shop for prop ideas and how-to's, from simple to complex. You may not need to go anywhere else on the Internet. |
| Haunt Forum | Link: www.hauntforum.comA friendly bunch of very talented people sharing ideas, how-to instructions and pictures of their haunts and props on an active forum. |
| Halloween Forum | Link: www.halloweenforum.comIf I'm not on HauntForum, there's a good chance I'm getting into the spirit of things over on Halloweenforum; another great group of people with some creative ideas. |
| King's Home Halloween Party Ideas | This website is one of the first I ever found when I started looking online years ago for Halloween prop ideas. Most of the forums offered projects that were too complex at the time (wire the what to the compression who?) and just intimidating. Then I found the King family's website. What I dig about this site isn't necessarily the end product they deliver, but the ideas they came up with and their obvious love for the holiday. The King family is the perfect example of your average clan who love Halloween and who don't let anything stop them from decorating. Their site could be described as somewhat cheesy, but I love the King family website. I'd like to scoop'em all up in my arms and give them a big bear hug. And I'm not a huggie person. |
| Uncle Binley's Dungeon | Some neat work is done here at an outside haunt. You won't find many how-to's, but you can be hit with inspiration. |
| Halloween Creations | It's an informative collection of tutorials on how to get started, tools you need, and as posted on the actual website, you will find "an assortment of ghoulish projects and ideas you can try for your next Halloween Haunt". |
| Haunter's Hangout | Link: www.hauntershangout.com/As stated on the site, "Hauntershangout.com is a member based site for Halloween and haunted house enthusiasts". Props, how-to's, book reviews, message boards...you'll find them here. |
| The Dead End (Howloween Queen) | Link: www.howloweenqueen.com/Another vixen of darkness is the Howloween Queen, or "Ghostess Deanna" as she has named herself. She does brilliant things with papermache, has some spectacular how-to's, and gives her readers answers to Frequently Asked Questions. My favourite quote of hers was at the end of a how-to post, and she commented "Of course, the mouth didn't look right either. The good thing is, it'll be dark.. so who cares? I'm the only one who knows what I had in my head, so if he doesn't look right.. whatever." I've thought the exact same thing at the end of a project. |
| Halloween Recipes | Not bad if you're looking for eerie edibles. |
| Cute Creeps From Popular Culture: Monsterama | Link: monsterama.blogspot.comCanadian cartoonist Jay Stephens has a really fun blog about all things monster when it comes to cartoons, classic movies, toys, actors, and more. He's a big fan of Boris Karloff and has a great website of his professional work as well. If you go to his blog, be sure to visit his friend Doktor Viktor Von Kreep too. |
| Stolloween | Link: www.stolloween.comScott has been building props since 1992. His medium of choice (like mine) is papier mache. On his site, you will find loads of images and how-to's of his wonderful creations. |
| Love Manor Official Blog | Link: lovemanor.com/blogPart Disney's Haunted Mansion, part Martha Stewart, the Love Manor is a home haunt worthy of the envy of Halloween lovers everywhere. Not only are the displays sophisticated and beautiful, the photography is stunning. If you like eerie elegance and creepy chic, this is the blog is for you. |
| Haunt Project | Link: www.hauntproject.comHauntProject.com is a collection of links to Halloween related how-to's, organized by category, each represented by a picture of the finished product. It's pretty simple to search and will provide loads of inspiration. |

