The Crypt

October 31 2023

Behind the Spooks

You may have noticed a new hogyween Headquarters this year. It's been quite a hectic year but I didn't imagine that we'd be moving into the new house the day before Halloween. Alas, I'd like to thank the family for helping to set everything up. The idea this year was to plan everything in advance, and because we were unsure of the moving date I ended up designing something that work for the old and new properties.

This year's theme is a crypt, inspired from a trip back in the day to Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic. Although, a lot of the graveyard material from 2019 returned. To recreate the effect I batch-produced a lot of milk jug skulls, collected over the course of the year. I started with a resin skull that acted as a template, and used a heat gun to 'shrink wrap' the plastic around the skull. The shape is 'locked in' by applying a cold cloth to the plastic. Then they can be spray painted and detailed. I found that taking an ivory acrylic base and mixing in a small amount of brown created a decent-looking aged bone colour.

The floating candles return from last year, in larger number. These are super-easy to make, my eldest had great fun joining in.

This year's centrepiece is a cemetery column, which I made out of wood and a large cardboard tube. At the top is a large skull, within which is one of those atomizing misters, to create a spooky and ethereal look.

I purchased a fog machine and connected its output to a chiller box, stuffed with ice cubes. This cools the fog down so that it has a higher density than the air, which then 'hangs' to the ground.

This work by Sam Hogarth CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Skull background by Hero Patterns

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