Behind-The-Scenes of my New Halloween Special!
It’s no secret that I’m crazy for Halloween. I love putting together our Halloween special issue magazine and I simply adore taping our Halloween television special. I hope you’ll join me once again for a great Halloween fright-fest, including thrilling and chilling party ideas. This year, we teach you how to transform an ordinary two-car garage into your very own haunted house for family and friends. Plus, you’ll learn how to create a scary maze from simple lawn decorations. Your house can be a trick-or-treat destination for the entire neighborhood! This special premieres on Monday, October 24, at 8 p.m. on Hallmark Channel. Here are some behind-the-scenes for you to enjoy!
1 We start planning for TV specials months in advance. My TV crew came to the farm last August to scout the location. As we were walking to the Maple Avenue house, I stopped to confer with Shaun Kass, one of my gardeners.
2 Arriving at the Maple Avenue house and the two-car garage where the haunted house is to be built - seeing the space made everyone's creative wheels begin to spin.
3 Accurate measurements were taken and many photographs, too. During the next month, Aaron Caramanis, Anduin Havens, and Tamara Dilworth went to work creating their haunted magic.
4 The actual haunted house was created in New York City and then taken apart, piece by piece. It was transported to Bedford and reconstructed in the empty garage.
5 A prop tent was erected nearby where bins were stacked high.
6 Bins and bins of eeriness
7 And what would Halloween be without candy?
8 Some quite traditional - some quite creepy!
9 TV Crafter Kristin St. Clair and Jim 'Figgy' Noonan worked together stretching special paper onto a frame.
10 It became the sign for our haunted house entrance. Anduin applied a watery paint, giving the sign an aged look.
11 Anduin and Paul Moreno applied some 'aging' touches on show posters for the Voodoo Woman and The Mad Scientist.
12 The same watery paint technique was demonstrated on this spandex wall. Yes, a spandex wall!
13 By using different shades of watery paint, a mildewy appearance was achieved.
14 The spandex is very stretchy and unsuspecting passers by will get quite a shocking surprise!
15 The completed spandex wall all decorated with webby gauze and bones
16 Supervising Producer Maryann Vanderventer mounted a camera for a time lapse video that will be used on the show.
17 This collection of x-rays taped to an illuminated wall easily evokes the idea of a mad scientist.
18 Because the TV special is a how-to, the walls of the haunted house could easily be moved in and out of the garage, making room for the camera crew.
19 Early stages of the Hallway of Horrors
20 Another section of that hallway made with wooden pallets
21 There were many creepy objects to run into.
22 Horrors everywhere!
23 A cage full of rabid rats
24 A giant voodoo doll sits in a corner.
25 But no voodoo shanty would be complete without an entire collection of voodoo dolls! Ouch!
26 Bugs and more bugs!
27 Even ordinary objects looked creepy in this haunted house.
28 A wonderful display of moths
29 Am I having fun yet?
30 Don't even ask!
31 Kristin demonstrated a simple technique of how adding iodine to a glass can make it look dirty.
32 Egads! Snakeskin has amazing texture.
33 Dried and shriveled shitake mushrooms
34 A jar of eyeballs - These are actually the eyes used for dolls many years ago.
35 A closer look and so very creepy!
36 Constructing the entrance into the haunted house - tattered strips of gauzy fabric hung from the door frame
37 To reach the entrance, guests had to first step through a ghost's mouth!
38 We used simple white cord to weave a giant spiderweb on the side of the house.
39 The candy jars look great on this antique wheelbarrow.
40 No Halloween party would be complete without spooky snacks, which were served on this black and white themed table.
41 Spanish moss enhances this display of Funkins, or foam pumpkins, which can be carved just like real pumpkins, but a whole lot easier!
42 What's Halloween without Micheal Natiello, the Creative Director The Great Jack ‘o Lantern Blaze, an annual pumpkin carving extravaganza in the Hudson Valley?
43 Micheal arrived with his creations of jack-o-lantern scarecrows, all made with carved Funkins, which he painted white.
44 Michael crafted thirteen of these amazing and intimidating figures.
45 What's really great about Funkins is that you can carve and reuse them year after year!
46 It's always great carving pumpkins with Michael. More than 4,000 Funkins and pumpkins are carved for The Blaze, most of which are Michael's designs, yet he still comes up with new and original ideas year after year!
47 You can practically hear this heart beating. These blackened carved cameo designs on real pumpkins were made by using wood carving tools.
48 The pumpkins have been opened on the bottom and seeds and pulp scooped out.
49 Lights are placed inside for illumination at night.
50 The areas that have been removed glow eerily, causing the blackened design to really stand out.
51 Michael also gives a how-to on the construction of his scarecrows.
52 Strips of wood fastened together form the body and the arms. String lights are added for illumination at night.
53 Once assembled, the scarecrows are draped with torn sheets.
54 These look especially menacing at night!
55 Setting the scene
56 Of course there was a cemetery!
57 Anduin gives a lesson on the special on how to make these ghastly headstones.
58 Observing the monitors
59 To be continued...
60 Haunted house closed until tomorrow!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
I like the arched window, or whatever it is in photo #18.
Photo $29 is a good one of you. Number 57 is another good picture of you.
Not long for you to wait, now.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | October 20th, 2011 at 12:17 am
WOW!!! looks amazing I love Halloween at your house Martha, great great ideas and so inspiring. I Can't wait to watch the show online.
PS Is there a way we can watch episodes on your website I cannot see the archives. Kindly advise. Thank you
Regards
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | October 20th, 2011 at 1:57 am
Every year you have me waiting with baited breath for your Halloween special!!!
This was such a tease!
Posted by: Eleanor | October 20th, 2011 at 5:09 am
AMAZING!!!!
A lot of time and work went into this project but it looks spooktacular.......
Karen
Posted by: Karen Tracy | October 20th, 2011 at 7:47 am
Martha,
Absolutely awesome, what a great team, can't wait to see the final product.
Posted by: aussie gal | October 20th, 2011 at 8:06 am
I love your Halloween issue !!
Posted by: Kimiko | October 20th, 2011 at 9:30 am
Hi Martha, OMG! I have never known anyone who loves Halloween as much as you do and always shares such fantastic magazines, TV Shows, and blogs all about your fun time with your terrific crews! I'm also glad you are on the Hallmark Channel and I love following every program that you present for us to enjoy! How amazing that you had that actual haunted house created in NYC and taken apart and moved to your Bedford farm and reconstructed in the empty garage! That crew is fabulous! The creation of that haunted house is outstanding! I love all of these terrific photos and can't wait to see that Special Halloween Show on Hallmark on Mon., Oct. 24th at 8PM! Every item created for your Special is superb and I really love the pumpkins, scarecrows, spiderwebs, etc.! The photos of you and your crew are very special! Loved seeing yesterday's TV Show with Joey Kola's 50th birthday, seeing you on the Today Show again, and seeing GK doing more training for the Dog Show on The Daily Wag!!! Have another great day! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | October 20th, 2011 at 10:20 am
Martha, thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | October 20th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Hi Martha,
Thanks for the excellent behind-the scenes photos. I look forward to watching your Halloween Special on October 24th. You should hear me, (better yet, not), whenever I go through a haunted house. I think my screaming scares the performers. The scariest one I ever visited was on Mackinac Island one summer. They had vampires chasing us and movable platforms – everyone was clinging to the person in front of them but it was lots of fun! Today’s show was also fun and I have to say again that I really like this season without celebrities. Maybe you’ll have them later on but I hope not. You host the show perfectly just the way it is. Thanks again. Trish
Posted by: Trish | October 20th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Exciting. The major problem is how many 2 car garages it would take to store all the neat things for the other 11 1/2 months. Oh wait then we also need another garage or two for the year's other decorations. Darn. And is that why you finally had to buy a farm just to store everything?
Posted by: Margie | October 20th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
Your yearly Halloween specials are always must see TV! Thanks for giving us a sneak peak!
Posted by: Cindy F | October 20th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
I look forawrd to the creative genius behind your Halloween projects every year. I love a good project myself and back in the day I pulled out all the stops for Halloween. So fun & such an opportunity to be original.I was in Central Market yesterday and saw that they had an amazing selection of candies. Very cute! Cant wait for the show. Woooooooo (from Texas!)
Posted by: torjie sweeten | October 22nd, 2011 at 9:11 am
Looks great and will be a lot of fun, but as an Aussie, I just don't understand the whole halloween thing, we don't celebrate it!
Posted by: Karen Davis | October 23rd, 2011 at 1:37 am
Thanks for the the slide show. I do not get HALLMARK and miss your show, glad you have a site I can view.
Posted by: gayle moorefield | October 23rd, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Miss Martha,
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Halloween should be enjoyed by all and you not only keep
the spirit going but bring us fantastic ideas as well! I love Halloween and hate to see it ignored or forgotten. It's the one time of the year young and old can be whoever or whatever they want. Thank you again.
Posted by: C Merchie | October 24th, 2011 at 3:26 pm