“I’m the Ghost Rider…My job is taking souls to hell…Don’t get no vaccinations shots…I need the work!”

Of course, it’s never really over here at the Lacey’s. The only thing that changes is that the projects don’t have the same sense of urgency as those days right before Halloween and the party on the day before. I now have a list of projects that need to be accomplished before next year. Luckily, this year most of the props operated flawlessly and only need to be packed away. I do have a few things that I’ll have to look at, however.

This year, I had a new prop in the “center stage.” It was my rendition of the “Ghost Rider.” All the regulars returned, though. There was the “dog”, “baby-the giant skull”, “the flying crank ghost”, “the tomb lifter”, “the gassy ghoul”, “the popup ghoul”, “Jack-in-box”, “Naomi-the witch”, “the three sisters”, and “It-the clown in the sewers.” Let’s not forget about the “talking pumpkin”, “Harvey wall breaker”, “the striking snake”, and “the popup mourner.”

Next year, the “Ghost Rider” won’t return but the mannequin will return as “The Devil.” For the Ghost Rider Instead of programming an Arduino microprocessor, I used a prop controller from Frightprops called the PicoBoo MP3. It made the job easier, but I had some limitations on what I could program into the “show.”

It was a great show. My guests for the day before party were impressed and the neighborhood kids seemed to enjoy their Halloween Trick-or-Treat visits. You can take a virtual tour of the whole display HERE.

This year exposed what might be a major problem moving forward. What the hell am I going to do with all this stuff when I run out of storage room? I keep packing things tighter and tighter, but space is getting critical. Right now, I feel that I’m a single cardboard box from being a hoarder. The fact that I build many of my props requires that I maintain a stock of “useful” stuff at the ready for my next project. I try and keep things as organizes as possible, but I feel that I’m reaching a point where I need to shuck a bunch of stuff, I’ll not use in the time I have left.

Every year it gets a bit harder to set up, but I think I’ll keep doing it as long as I can and as long as people appreciate the effort.