The All-New CFX Exclusive TOXIC AVENGER ‘TOXIE’ Mask!

Our friends at COMPOSITE EFFECTS are at it again bringing you the BEST in silicone masks and the overall best detailed creations for your costume, event, haunted attraction or just to collect!

“Now you too can become a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength, without having to leap through a window into a barrel of toxic chemical waste. This officially licensed Toxic Avenger mask captures the lumpy, malformed majesty of Melvin the monster hero down to every disgusting detail and features a drooping realistic silicone left eye. (Remember to watch that depth perception, as it does cover your real left eye.)”

This Toxie mask is fantastic. The overall detail is dead-on with the character in the films we all know and love! You can get your TOXIE exclusively from CFX Website

This Toxie mask is available exclusively from CFX.

The Toxic Avenger is licensed from our friends at:

GET YOURS AT: www.CompositeEffects.com

CFX’s “Mask of the Month for October” Beetlejuice Sold Fast

A good friend of ours at Rotting Flesh Radio makes some of the best silicone masks you will find within the Haunt Industry! Composite Effects has made their mark in the Halloween and Haunt Industry with top notch quality silicone masks. And each month they offer a hidden gem in the Mask of the Month.

The Mask of the Month is the CFX Team’s way of offering a limited ONE UP, ONE OF A KIND silicone masks. Each month they are different and the first person to snatch one up gets that one of a kind piece. From the Joker, to Darth Maul, they have explored many unique Masks of the Month.

For October, they decided to go in the direction of a fan favorite 80s classic…BEETLEJUICE! And as much as we are excited to let you know about it, it has already been sold.

So one lucky Haunter out there will be able to done the ghoul’s face that Keaton brought to life in Tim Burton’s classic. And even though you missed this chance, look at the detail, the care and the movie quality of the mask!

Let this remind you to keep looking for the Mask of the Month and keep an eye on November’s right around the corner. And if you still need a mask for the Haunt Season right now, check out all their current inventory that we are sure you will encounter at a variety of haunts this Halloween.

For more on the CFX Team visit them at: www.Compositeeffects.com

A Twisted Family Reunion Every Halloween Season

by: RFR Casket Crew Hatter 99

It’s here…Well, it’s here for me at least. Last week I reunited with my morbid “family” for some good old-fashioned pants-peeing fear-mongering. As I settled into my groove and became acquainted with my fellow scareactors, it reminded me of a fundamental reason why I love the industry so much.

Hat ON.

Many of us involved in the haunt industry are not, as some would believe, vampires who sleep all day and stalk all night. Most of us have day jobs (or school responsibilities) during the “normal” waking hours, venues that are rife with politics, cliques, and endless drama. Spending all day, every day, with the same group of people is the ideal incubator for those social diseases that can suck a lot of fun out of life. In the haunt industry, though, I work with my fellow scareactors only a couple of days a week for only one and a half months out of the year. That’s not to say that it completely prohibits the growth of those social parasites; no, they are clearly alive and well, but between the limited hours, the finite season, the various characters we have to play, the masks and makeup and costumes that we wear, and the common goal of scaring the collective pee out of the unsuspecting public, the amount of room for such social barriers to develop diminishes greatly.

For the most part, then, we scareactors can enjoy our camaraderie and not worry about how our clothes look, whether our hair is fixed appropriately, if our voice sounds funny, or whether we’re being accepted into the “IT” crowd. As a result, the industry has a remarkable air of acceptance that is noticeably absent in most other facets of society as a whole, and to be able to escape into that alternate reality for a few hours each week is a breath of rotting-fresh air.

Hat OFF.

Glue On, Fill In, Creep Out

by: RFR Casket Crew Hatter 99

Last week I talked a bit about the value of experimentation in the haunting industry. This week I’m going to zoom in a bit more on one of my own off-season experiments from the past week.

Hat ON.

I remember way back, when I was a wee one, when I could smear grape jelly all over my face, and everyone would just laugh, comment on how cute I was, and then clean me up with a moisty nap. At some point, though, when I entered the public school system and had to begin to conform to society’s vision of a good citizen, that type of play was, for the most part, abolished. As much as I wanted to dig my fingers into the pudding on my lunch tray, draw little ghosts onto my face with my pen, and spread the contents of my little Heinz ketchup packets around my mouth, that type of activity would have been frowned upon. So I retreated to the safety of spelling and mathematics, and over the years in school I learned quite a bit of book-stuff. I don’t regret that one bit; however, that little fanciful child within still pokes my ribs sometimes, yearning to break free. How can I provide an escape for him, allowing him to vent that pent-up energy that has accumulated (and continues to accumulate) over all these years?

Well, thankfully the Halloween and Haunted Attractions industry comes to the rescue. I can scream at the public. I can wear clothes that don’t fit. I can forget the chemistry and calculus for a bit. I can smear stuff all over myself, and it’s accepted. Case in Point: Last weekend the little wild-child inside me became enamored with the oncoming Haunt season, so I decided to run out to Spirit Halloween, buy some makeup, and use my face as a morbid canvas for the afternoon. Was there a real-world reason for me to do this? No. Was I working in a Haunt that night? No. Did I have a costume party to go to? No. Was anybody going to see it in person? No (except for my cat). I just wanted to do it. So, I bought my makeup, turned up the Halloween music, and set out to glue toilet paper all over my face. Of course, the whole time I was envisioning teachers and parents, shaking their index fingers at me, insisting that Elmer’s school glue was meant for gluing cotton balls onto lambs made out of construction paper. And toilet paper, of course, was made to be used on other parts of the body, NOT on the face. But I imagined their disapproving stares, smiled slyly, and squirted even more glue onto my face. After an hour or so of gluing, shaping, and drying, I pulled out the base makeup to fill it all in, blobbing huge gobs of brown, purple, and yellow onto my cheeks and lining my eyes, nose, and lips with black. Then I ripped parts of the toilet paper, creating areas of morbidly delightful peeling skin, filling the wounds with red base makeup. Then, of course, the blood. Ah, the blood. By now I imagined the proponents of propriety turning their heads in disgust, so I gladly pulled out globs of thick blood and smeared it into the wounds before accenting them and my chin with stage blood. Finally a quick dabbing of my teeth with black paint finished the job.

I had no real plan for what this face was to become, so after a few moments of reflection I decided to make myself an evil elf. I grabbed a hat from my closet, blackened my neck, and that was it. I took a few photos, admired my work, and then peeled off the mask and cleaned up. I was quickly my “normal” self again, but the evident joy of that little freak inside me is clear in the photos. I enjoyed myself, and for a time, that placated me.

The result wasn’t perfect. The hat could have used some distressing work. And a few parts of my face needed some more makeup, but overall I was satisfied with what I had accomplished in a couple of hours. I’m still very new to the horror makeup processes, and while I’ve attended some seminars and watched numerous YouTube tutorials, I’ve found the most effective (and most enjoyable) means of learning is by experimentation. I don’t always have a plan for what I want to do. I just pull out the glue and start molding. And I take pictures so that I can study what I did and tweak my methods in the next session where needed. It’s a scientific method. It’s academia. Nothing wrong with it.

Now, I can feel the little rascal within me wriggling again. I think I’ll go make a cotton-ball-construction-paper lamb. Maybe I’ll decapitate it. The blood sticks to the cotton balls well. Lamb chops?

Take THAT Establishment.

Hat OFF.

Immortal Masks Launches All-New Website in Time for the Halloween Season

As the Haunt Season draws near, Haunt Owners, Halloween Enthusiasts and more are getting their hard earned money ready to purchase props, animatronics, and masks.

With that happening all day as we count down to the season, Immortal Masks has just launched their All-New Website from Sinister Visions.

The new online store is home to their premium silicone masks for haunt scare actors, enthusiasts and mask collectors. It was designed and created by friend of Rotting Flesh Radio, Chad Savage of Sinister Visions. It showcases the masks currently available in a simple blog style site that can be updated often with new products, masks in development and just studio workshop ramblings from the team of Immortal Masks.

They have made the statement already:
“Here at Immortal, we produce the strongest, most detailed, film quality silicone masks on the market… period. Don’t be bamboozled by cheap imitations or flashy websites. These inferior masks currently on the market simply wont hold up to the rigorous of normal use. It’s not a matter of “if” these masks will tear, rather, it is “when” these masks will tear. Our masks feature the industry first Total Power Mesh Encapsulation Technology. In short, this technology makes our masks virtually tear proof.”

This is a plus to many scare actors putting stress on the masks in the heart of the Halloween Season. Over at the new site you can browse current products, get your order in and placed, and see the gallery.

To check out their full lineup of creepy ghouls and masks including Rotten Seed, Scavenger, Zombie and more visit them at: www.ImmortalMasks.com

ABOUT IMMORTAL MASKS:
Here at Immortal Masks our customers are our number one priority… Period.

Immortal Masks LLC was established in November 2010, but is based on our combined 35 years of special effects experience in the film, theme park, and haunted attraction industries. Our company is comprised of working Hollywood effects artists that take pleasure in giving our customers film quality products at competitive pricing. Immortal Masks sets its self apart from the other companies as a result of our unrivaled designs, superior paint schemes, prompt customer service, and our industry first total power mesh encapsulation technology. As haunt industry professionals we take great pride in offering the highest quality, most durable silicone products on the market.

A Rockin’ Way to Prep Your Limbs for the Haunting Season

by: RFR Casket Crew Hatter 99

In a few short weeks we as scareactors get to shine up our trusty black hauntin’-shoes, de-coagulate our fake blood, and scrape the crusty crud off of our makeup tubes. Mentally, we’re ready. Physically, perhaps not so much. So this week I’d like to share a fun way to get into nimble shape for the haunting season while perhaps fulfilling a lifelong dream that you might have.

Hat ON.

As a child of the 80s, I grew up identifying Michael Jackson’s Thriller as my all-time favorite music video, and it remains so to this day. Killer makeup + Vincent Price + Zombies dancing in the street. It’s a perfect mashup. I always loved that zombie dance sequence, and through the years I would sit on the couch and dream of doing those moves. A few years ago, as I was watching the video, I finally discovered that I actually had legs. I wiggled my right foot. And then I wiggled my left foot. And then–wait for it–YES! I wiggled them both. I stood up, rewound the video to the beginning, and tried to dance along with the video. My confidence quickly fizzled, though, when I discovered that it’s a friggin’ hard dance to do without any instruction. Distraught but still keen to learn, I Googled “How to do the Thriller dance.” After sifting through a few useless sites and smart aleck comments of “Watch the music video,” I found one site that looked promising, THRILL THE WORLD, an entire website devoted to teaching people how to do the dance, and it’s a FANTASTIC resource. The goal of the site is to gather as many people as possible to perform the iconic dance at the same time in their respective areas of the world, and within the site are a plethora of resources for teaching and learning the dance, including dance scripts and instructional videos. If you click “Learn the Dance,” you’ll be taken to a page where you can order the DVD or view all of the videos on YouTube. The instructor breaks the dance down into manageable little chunks, creatively naming each move (e.g. shuffle, hop, stare, roar), and instructing the dancer to say (out loud) those moves when learning the steps. It works like a charm, and in a few short days you’ll be able to mentally chant those moves as you are performing the dance alongside MJ in the video.

So, if you’re looking for a fun way to loosen up for the haunting season and don’t really want to hit up the boring old gym, you can cue up the videos and rot away in your living room. Pull the shades for some spooky darkness. Put on a costume and some makeup if you’re so inclined. And remember: You don’t have to normally be a dancer to have fun with this; after all, you’re playing a zombie, so you can stumble around and screw up your moves all you want, and nobody will be any the wiser. I have zero experience in dancing, but the way the lessons are structured with the emphasis in naming each movement rather than counting, I can do the dance now at will and will likely never forget the chants. That’ll come in handy when I’m six feet under and have a sudden hankering to climb up and do an impromptu performance in the street.

Hat OFF.

Save 20% from Fright Catalog on Masks Until Thursday

Many of the Halloween stores are probably popping up in your area, from Spirit Halloween ,Halloween Express, Halloween Adventure and more. With that comes the rush of Haunt Enthusiasts looking, wanting and buying masks. Well now is the time to save on masks as Fright Catalog has 20% Off Select Masks ON SALE NOW until Thursday, August 25, 2011.

“Almost gone are the days when you would take a trip down to local comic book store to get the latest edition of your favorite comic. Now not only can you order these awesome masks from your own home but now you can collect your favorite characters masks for display. With such a wide variety ranging from Uncle Creepy to the ever popular Spider Man ready to ship out immediately how can you go wrong? And be quick, these deals expire on Thursday August 25, 2011!”

So take a moment, look, buy and add to your Halloween spookiness, collection, party, and be ready to scare those trick or treaters. And hey, they also make sweet props for your shelves to dazzle the folks.

See all the masks and sale at: www.FrightCatalog.com

Halloween Asylum 4th of July Sale!

So with the current holiday fast approaching, July 4th in case you were unaware, it is a time to spend with friends, family and of course, mapping out your haunt, party, or home for the upcoming Haunt Season!

Yes, in addition to celebrating the Land of the Free you can also save if you look for just the right deal and sale this weekend for you haunters and Halloween Asylum is doing just that.

Halloween Asylum’s online store is chock full of Haunt Goodies for you from an Uncle Creepy Mask, to Triggers, Costumes, Body Parts and more. And for a limited time this weekend you can save 15% off your order to celebrate the Birth of our Country! Yes, 15% is a pretty haunting deal Deadites. So go and surf the store, look around and when checking out all you need to do is use the COUPON CODE: JULY 4 when checking out.

This is a limited sale so take advantage. It is running from Wednesday June 29 through Monday July 4. So celebrate being free, American, being a haunter and enjoy some sweet holiday deals.

To visit the store and sale check out: www.HalloweenAsylum.com

COUPON CODE: JULY 4

HauntedIllinois.com 2011 Midwest Haunters Convention Review with Over 370 Photos

READ THE FULL REVIEW AND VIEW OVER 370 PHOTOS AT: www.HauntedIllinois.com – 2011 Midwest Haunters Convention Review

Courtesy of our good Friend Adam Drendel:

Over the past several years, the Midwest Haunters Convention has grown to become one of the biggest and most popular events in the Haunted Attraction Industry, (Listen to over six hours from the social events, vendors, show floor and more. Click Here For Part One from RFR and Click Here For Part Two from RFR ) and for good reason. This show has a lot to offer, including a wide variety of workshops and seminars, a large trade show floor, product demos, contests and of course, the masquerade party. I also can’t forget to mention the pre-show haunted attraction tour. This two day haunt tour, which filled four charter buses, included hotel accommodations, meals and access to 20 haunts in 10 different haunted attractions throughout Central/Northeast Indiana and Western Ohio. There was also a free haunt tour of Terrorfest, a local haunted attraction in Columbus, on Friday night. It was reported that there was a 50% increase in pre-show registration compared to last years’ figures, which is no surprise to me, considering all that MHC has to offer.

More than 75 vendors came to the convention with practically everything you would ever need to run a haunted attraction, including props, lighting, music, make-up, special effects, and various haunt services like online ticketing, promotional services and event insurance. While walking up and down the aisles of the show floor, there were many things that caught my eye, including the following items & vendors who deserve special mention:

Raven’s Wolf had one of the most visually appealing booths at the show. One half of the booth was themed with boulders and stone arches, while the other half was decorated in an industrial style. The walls were dirty, distressed and adorned with rusty pipes. Featured in their booth were custom T-shirts, amazing wall art, distressed costumes and more. What a great way to showcase their impressive design services for the haunted attraction industry!

Another company that did a great job of creating an elaborate, eye-catching display was Screamline Studios. The majority of their booth space was filled by a realistic-looking old tool shed, with weathered wood and a corrugated metal roof. Hanging from the walls were several “weapons” from their ever-expanding line of “Meat Mangler” tools. Additional themeing was provided by accent lighting, cobwebs, and a wooden workbench inside the shed. Great job, guys! It was like something you would see inside of a haunted house.

Pumpkin Pulp Productions’ booth really stood out, because of their eight foot tall Zombie Rocking Horse. It definitely attracted a lot of attention at the show. What is even cooler is that fact that the horse wasn’t just a static prop, it was a sturdy, working display piece. PPP staff was even letting show attendees climb up on the horse and rock back & forth on it.

At the Sinister Scents booth, there were many interesting products made by Dark Hand Designs. The booth featured creepy hand-made ornaments, jewelry boxes, sketch books, costumes and home decor. My personal favorites were the tree ornaments and jewelry boxes with teeth. These items would be perfect for anyone with an appreciation for dark art or the macabre.

It was another great year at the Midwest Haunters Convention! MHC continues to raise the bar, making the show better and better each year, which is why it continues to be my favorite Haunt Industry Event. Special thanks to show organizers Barry Schieferstein, Kathy Schieferstein, Kelly Collins & Neena Collins for putting together such a phenomenal convention.

Click here and throughout the several pages, there are more than 370 pictures. I hope you enjoy this online review!

Happy Haunting,

Adam Drendel

Webmaster of www.HauntedIllinois.com

Dental Distortions New Packaging Look for 2011

When it comes to FX Teeth for your haunt, actors, characters and costume, I only think of one provider of custom, realistic FX Teeth and that is Dental Distortions.

Over the years, Thad and Dental Distortions have become a staple in the Haunt Industry with the easy to apply, realistic fx teeth. These teeth add that special touch to any costume or character you have. And now they had revamped their packaging. All-New for 2011 is a new look to the classic Dental Distortions packages. Before they came in a small vacupack seal. Now as you see the new look really show cases the teeth, you are instantly given the feel and impact they will have when applied to a scary face and best of all they are ship resistant. What does that mean?

Well the new packages even are stronger, and will hold up to those pesky mail carriers. The new packaging has integrated a special insert tray that adds ALOT of strength to the veneers so that they won’t break no matter how rough the shipping is.

So check them out if you haven’t already, great teeth, a new look and there are even some sweet limited edition teeth on the site where you can get your name as an IMDB lisiting and in the Credits of David’s Dinosaur. Discover the unsavvory teeth at: >a href=”http://www.dentaldistortions.com”>www.DentalDistortions.com