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On
April 30, 2005
Spider Hill (a Haunted Attraction in Chillicothe,
Illinois) hosted their 2nd Annual Spider Hill Haunters Workshops.
Haunted Attraction owners & actors from all over the state of
Illinois
gathered to share their knowledge and learn from others, in this series of
seminars and demonstrations. Noting a large increase in attendance over last
year’s numbers, the Spider Hill staff reported that there were more than 70
folks from 14 different groups in attendance. For
a modest $5 admission fee, attendees were able to enjoy an entire day filled
with seminars, along with a great lunch, dinner and beverages.
In appreciation of Spider Hill organizing this event, the Lincoln
Jaycees Haunted House group brought a cake (see picture below) for everyone
to enjoy, for dessert.
The day was jam-packed with
eleven seminars in total, with topics ranging from prop-building to managing
the business end of your haunt. After
the seminars were over, The Spider Hill group opened up one of their
attractions, “Massacre
Mansion”, for a fully operational haunt tour. Later in the day, there was also a raffle with free giveaways and a
cocktail party.
Spider Hill Haunters Seminars
The
following is a group of pictures taken at the Spider Hill seminars.
Click on each one to see a larger version.
Drywall Compound
Props Demonstration
Presented by Rosemary
Griswold (Spider Hill
Haunted House)
This demonstration showed
attendees how to create creatures out of a few basic materials. Rosemary
Griswold showed her audience how easy it is to create your
own static props with a
sturdy base, drywall compound, paint and towels.
3D Artistry Seminar
Presented by Julie
Shielein (Spider Hill
Haunted House)
During this session, Julie
Shielen explained the basics creating 3D artwork for your Haunted
Attraction. A tour of the 3D area inside the Spider Hill Haunted House was
given, showing attendees some of the 3D artwork the group had created.
Everyone was provided with 3D glasses, so they could see the 3D
effect created by the various colors of fluorescent paints, glowing under blacklight.
Airbrushing Demonstration
Presented by Kevin
Angone (Creatures
Crypt Haunted House)
In this demonstration, Kevin
Angone described the equipment used in applying airbrush make-up. After
addressing questions about the basics of airbrushing, a demonstration was
given, showing everyone how easy it is to create an airbrushed character, using a
few simple airbrushing techniques.
Stilt Characters Seminar
Presented by Chris
Cassidy (Spider Hill
Haunted House)
During this seminar, the
general usage of stilt characters was addressed.
A few basic tips on how you can create your own stilt monster were
presented, along with a stiltwalking demonstration.
Ground Hugging
Fog Machine Seminar
Presented by Jack
Morgenstern (Spider
Hill Haunted House)
This demonstration showed
attendees how to create a fog chiller from scratch. Surprisingly, there was a fairly short
list of necessary materials: a Rubbermaid trash can, 2 short lengths of
PVC pipe, 18 feet of flexible dryer hose and a few bags of ice. With this
simple set-up, you can get fog to lay low in your Haunted Attraction.
Kudos to the Spider Hill folks
for putting all of this together. Not
only was it a very educational day, but it was also a great opportunity for
Haunters to get together and socialize. A
good time was had by all! Special thanks to Steve Geldmacher and the
rest of the folks from Spider Hill for organizing and hosting this event.
Happy Haunting,
Webmaster of HauntedIllinois.com
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