“Al…Bob Here. I have a new post for “My Other Hobby”.

Halloween is a big celebration in our neighborhood because there are so many families with children who look forward to it every year.

Most of our neighbors put up Halloween decorations, some more elaborate than others. Because our house is located on a corner lot, our front yard is an ideal location for Halloween decorations.

And because I love to make stuff, our decorations seem to get a little more elaborate every Halloween.

In past years, our Halloween decorations consisted mainly of giant insects, specifically spiders and scorpions, which we placed in the front yard of our old house.

I constructed the bodies from large trash cans (the scorpion) and flower pots (the spider). The legs and other body parts were made of wood and the eyes were LEDs.

As you can see, some years the exhibits were more gruesome than others. I don’t use the giant insects anymore (my wife doesn’t much like bugs).

The first Halloween after we moved into our new house I constructed the horse-drawn hearse (except for the wheels which I purchased). I had originally intended to make a full-size horse skeleton from plywood but was fortunate enough to find the plastic skeleton you see in the photographs.

I also purchased the two dog skeletons and the tombstones. The next Halloween I added skulls, assorted bones, a casket with a paper mache zombie and a vulture.

I have long been a big fan of the movie “Monte Python and the Holy Grail”. The “bring out your dead” scene was the inspiration for the plague cart. The two bodies on the cart and the vulture are sculpted from paper mache. Adults seem to appreciate the plague cart more than the children.

Because the city where we live has a large Hispanic population, we get lots of Halloween visitors who celebrate the Mexican Holiday, Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead).

Many of the children who trick-or-treat at our house are dressed in Day of the Dead costumes. So, this Halloween, I used lots of Day of the Dead masks to decorate the hearse. I also put two Day of the Dead skeletons on our veranda.

I also typically decorate the front porch with a paper mache witch, a black cat, assorted pumpkins and a little zombie boy with an ax in his skull (gruesome I know but the children love it).

When we have Halloween parties in our home, I put out my paper mache “Nightmare Before Christmas” life-size figures of Jack Skellington, Sally and Zero the dog.

This year was more of a challenge because of social distancing but it didn’t interfere with the fun. I constructed a rope and pully hoist
system to lower a skeleton holding a candy-filled caldron from our veranda.

The little ghosts and goblins took candy from the caldron. When the caldron was empty, I hoisted it to the top of the veranda, refilled it with candy and lowered it back down. The children loved it. I think we will use the skeleton caldron again next year.

Jim”