# Faegoria: The Curse of Vodou Hollow



## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

This is the master thread for all things Faegoria: The Curse of Vodou Hollow. This is where I'll be posting photos and updates. I wasn't sure where to put it as it didn't seem to belong in any specific board.

As mentioned in another thread, Faegoria is rebooting this year. You can head over the other thread and read my thoughts there.

TL;DR - start over, start smaller, recycle where possible, enhance and carry the chosen theme over into several consecutive years (much like Devil's Chariot and the Helizondo Haunts), then reboot again. The process should be very organic. As I come up with ideas and sketches I will share them here. Specific prop builds will still get their own threads in one of the prop boards and the showroom. Sketches, concepts, and ideas posted in this thread are tentative and can and most likely will change, evolve, get deferred to a later year, or abandoned all together.

Starting in 2015 the running title will be "The Curse of Vodou Hollow". It is indeed a voodoo theme but with roots in the Haitian version and perhaps a little hoodoo. Trying to avoid as many of the stereotypical voodoo themed haunt tropes and cliches as possible (not that there's anything wrong with those).

Faegoria consists of two parts -- the front yard interactive display which is what the ToTs get to experience; and the private after show dubbed "Faegoria Obscura" which is a small intimate haunted theater performance exclusively for family and friends. The theater area (my basement) is small and guests are limited to 15-20 people. The show typically is themed to go along with the haunt theme with this year bringing the two much closer together.

Stay tuned... Updates coming REALLY soon.


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## highbury (Nov 5, 2009)

The theater performance portion of your haunt sounds really cool. I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread to see what you come up with. And I can't wait to see what traditional voodoo elements you create this year!


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

I haven't started any prop builds yet due to limited space in my garage. We have a donations pick up as well as a bulk trash pick up scheduled. So once that stuff is cleared out I'll be able to work on more stuff. The studio room is also coming along nicely so I'll have that space to work on character props and such as well.

So a majority of my time this last month has been spent cleaning and prepping the basement for the show. I've gotten a good deal of the stage area set up. The scene is a voodoo shop. The way it typically works is I tell stories using interactive elements of bizarre magick. I had a chance the other night to light a few candles and get an early preview shot with my cellphone.










There's much more to go here. Going to use black/grey chalk to add temporary smudges on the walls as well as fake torn wallpaper with slats. I need to get a vodou themed poster to hang behind the altar on the left. And also dangle various nefarious items from the ceiling (which is thankfully tile so the crossbeams are perfect). Open to suggestions for additions as well. Remember, keeping it organic. And nothing wrong with crowd sourcing either.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

A few weeks ago, I started a thread in General Props for Mama Bones.









_Faegoria 2015 WIP: Mamma Bones_










Above is a scan of the first iteration of the Vodou Hollow display concept. On the left behind the tree you can make out Mama Bones. I'm considering moving her to the right. Leading up to the porch is a lantern lit path. Not sure if I will have time to build those and may just go with the pumpkins or something else. In the back you can see the porch which I also illustrated in the close-up below.










On the porch is Baron Samedi with a small shrine on the steps in front of him. The bowl will contain cloth gris-gris bags each pre-filled with goodies for the ToTs. I plan to stand outdoors and hand these out.

Two of the remaing ghouls from the past few years (the ones I used during the Walpurgis Haunted Tiki Hollow last year) and the rising spirits will probably get included if I have time. The concept I'm thinking of is that of Shadow Demons. Paint them completely black (with spray paint) and then dry brush on either white and light with purple light or fluorescent purple and hit them with a black light. Will probably be the former since the street light tends to interfere with black lighting out in the yard.

Comments and suggestions are welcome as always.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Looking good so far. I like the dude in the top hat


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## Grimm Pickins (Nov 4, 2013)

Definitely diggin' it.


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## deadSusan (Jun 26, 2013)

Ooooo, the doorway looks great!!


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Hi folks. This year has been super busy for me and I'm struggling to find time to work on things. And when there is a little time, struggling to find motivation to do so. Partly because I'm just stuck - the creativity is not flowing. So looking for a little help with making the back story for the haunt and show more cohesive. I have a few loose vague ideas of what I want. But I just can't get them working together.

The theme of course stems from Haitian vodou instead of the stereotypical Louisiana bayou voodoo theme (and no Marie Laveau). The Loa Baron Samedi, Papa Legba, and Mamam Brigette (in the guise of Mama Bones) play heavily into the graveyard scene. The graveyard is overgrown and reminiscent of the version of Carcosa seen in the finale to True Detective season one. In fact the scarecrow hints heavily towards the King in Yellow with his yellow tatters.

Chaosium (makers of the Call of Cthulhu RPG) have toyed with mixing voodoo and the mythos already (http://www.chaosium.com/secrets-of-new-orleans-voodoo/).

Baron Samedi works out to be Nyarlathotep;
Papa Legba is Yog-Sothoth;
and Ogoun is Hastur, the King in Yellow.

These all of course work out in Faegorian mythos as well. For example, my take on Slenderman (which is seen this year as Baron Samedi) works as merely yet another mask of Nyarlathotep.

The book "The King in Yellow" will actually be a prop used in the magic show at the end of the evening. The effect plays similar to Dan Harlan's Book of Blood seen at the beginning of the video below:






The other parts of my show do not come from that video but include two card tricks, same fun with coffin nails, a taste testing of zombie powder, and possibly even a voodoo seance.

For the story I'm trying to borrow elements from Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu (notably the 1907 cult raid in Louisiana); concepts from True Detective; references to my mother's childhood who grew up in Cajun country (yes, I'm really half Cajun); references to my father's early teen youth in Pennsylvania where he worked off the books at the Norristown State Hospital (circa 1945-1950); the legend of Esteis Liberis who in 1910 Haiti was a voodoo practitioner who ritually sacrificed and ate children.

In Faegorian mythos, the idea is that Esteis Liberis was part of a larger sect of Vodou practitioners who knew the true name of Ogoun as Hastur the King in Yellow. Part of that cult made its way to the states in the late 1800s with some located in Cajun country Louisiana. The cult busted by Det. Lagrasee in 1907 in Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu were part of it. At one point they tried to open a way to Carcosa during the 1938 Mardi Gras season under the direction of Papa Screech (see Call of Cthulhu supplement The Great Old Ones, scenario "Tell Me, Have You Seen The Yellow Sign?"). This part ties into a made up story my mother supposedly heard from her aunt Bea. A lot of the cult members who were captured alive end up in various asylums throughout the country. One having landed in Norristown. Here I have another fictional piece added where my father supposedly saw the Yellow sign (not by name of course) scrawled on one of the rooms he was cleaning. Supposedly he shared some creepy stories about it and a rough sketch which I still would have of course.

At some point I came into possession of an old satchel (origins undetermined so far) with lots of notes, old letters, a journal, old photographs, some various jars (one containing zombie powder and another supposedly a spirit vessel) inside a box, miscellaneous voodoo implements, and a tattered copy of the play "The King in Yellow". The satchel and it's contents will be presented at the show.

So... Now I'm trying to fill in the blanks and details. And I SERIOUSLY need some help here writing this up. Too many unanswered questions. Where did the satchel come from (thinking it was found by urban explorers in an old abandoned asylum)? How is it tied to the Yellow Cult? What has the cult been up to since 1938? How are they hiding in plain sight (thinking some sort of elite group hiding behind the false front of a benign yet ultimately corrupt organization - but leaning away from using a church group as that's TOO much like True Detective)? What did my great aunt know? How much did she divulge to my mother? What did my father see or know besides the yellow sign? Did my parents know more than they told me? Were they involved at all beyond hearing and seeing stuff? Is there any significance to ME coming into possession of The King in Yellow? Have YOU seen the Yellow Sign? Are we all mad?!

I'm open to any and all help with this background story including making changes to any of the info above.

Thanks,
-TM


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

NM... Just gonna find my own way on this. At this point I'm not sure which direction Faegoria will go. Just gonna create and whatever comes out happens. I'll circle back after Halloween to post pics... Tuning out.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

As you know the planning for the display has grown more into a sort of King in Yellow. The artistic elements borrow heavily from Joshua Walsh (the artist behind Carcosa in True Detective) and Pumpkinrot's 2009 display. So yeah, a lot of stick effigies and such. 

The underlying story of the display is an old abandoned house that used to be home to an obscure cult that worshiped he who is not to be named. The cult leader, a yet to be named middle aged woman known only as Mamma Bones, and her followers died together in a suicide pact on October 31st 1956 shortly before law enforcement raided the house. Mamma Bones earned her name because of the sacrifices she made were sculpted into twisted works of art mixed with branches and sticks forming bizarre, twisted, sick totem-like effigies. At the time of the raid it was thought that the cult were members of either Voodoo, Obeah, or Palo Mayambe followings. But in reality it was something far older and more ancient than anything that could have came out of the Congo diaspora. While the human and animal remains had long since been removed. All efforts to have the house demolished would mysteriously disappear beneath bureaucratic red tape. Over time a small neighborhood has since grown up around the property. Every Halloween after that tragic 1956 incident, a series of mysterious bone and stick like effigies, totems, and scarecrows would appears overnight. Pumpkins would line the overgrown walkway leading to the porch. No one knows how the twisted decor appears but it is gone completely by November 1st. There are local legends surrounding the house and rumors circulate every year of a strange little old homeless lady having been spotted lurking about the property. It's unknown if any kids have dared venture down that macabre gauntlet leading to the front door hoping for a holiday treat. But if any one has, they never returned to tell the tale.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

This should make for a very eerie display. People may not know the backstory but they'll appreciate the atmosphere.


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Finally got the garage cleared and prepped for fall so now I have room to work on builds. A lot has changed since the original plans posted on the first page and I'll have an updated yard sketch and character sketches up soon. Had a little dress up fun with Slenderman while cleaning:










Just needs a cane and he'll be puttin on th ritz!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

LOL, he's very snazzy:jol: I'd have in the yard just like that.


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