# Evil Candy Machine! (my 2011 haunt)



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

I finally put up enough of my 2011 display to show off. Below is the front facade of my Evil Candy Machine. It eats trick-or-treaters and makes them into candy. The design idea is whimsical, akin to The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is why the panels behind the furnace-face are a crazy shape. I still aim to creep out the little ones, though!










The main panels are OSB. The furnace is made of blue foam left over from last year, which I had distressed with black spray paint. The rivets are wooden half-balls. My wife painted the metallic finish. It will have faux flames inside, once we set it up (the store-bought braziers didn't fit well). The grate in the mouth is an old portcullis I made from discarded baseboards a few years back, naturally weathered because I left it outside the whole time.










Obviously there's much work to be done, but it's already pretty creepy with minimal lighting at night. (No photos of that yet.)

Look, the eyes follow you!


















Hopefully it'll all come together in the next week and a half.


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## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

Looks cool! 

I could see an actor going in on the right side, & having their head come out on a conveyor belt on the left. Hmm, I might have to borrow that idea for next year...


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Make it stop looking at me!:googly:

I love the almost childlike look this piece has - very fun yet creepy at the same time.


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## allisonmagic (Aug 20, 2011)

wow that's a really cool design, where u gonna put it ?


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## HalloweeNut (Mar 2, 2010)

What an amazing idea! Looks great!


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## FRIGHTGUY (Sep 1, 2010)

I love it! Love the playfullness.


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## kiki (Oct 6, 2011)

cool... got that steampunk flavor to it.. great size too..


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## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

That is really nice. How do the kids go in and the candy come out?


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## Rahnefan (May 1, 2009)

I love it. Makes me think of Bender and all the mean stuff he would say to ToTs.


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## HalloweenZombie (Jul 22, 2007)

Love that!


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## DarkLore (Jan 25, 2009)

Very cool


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Thanks, I'm pleased with how the cartoony look is turning out. Which reminds me, does anyone have ideas for what to name this thing? I want a big sign out front to let people know what they're looking at. Right now I'm thinking of "Gobblin' Candy Factory" but I have a feeling we can do better.



allisonmagic said:


> wow that's a really cool design, where u gonna put it ?


Same place, my front porch. Right now it's pushed back under the roofline until I see the forecast through Halloween. Not much chance of rain in this drought, but it'd be just my luck for the OSB to get soaked. When I'm confident about the weather, I'll move it forward to the edge of the sidewalk. That creates an enclosed area on the porch. When we darken the house and light up the display, the space works pretty well.



goneferal said:


> That is really nice. How do the kids go in and the candy come out?


This is the front facade. It's built on a steel frame that was once a loft bed for my kids. I have a second steel frame that will form a wall on the left side, making a square room that will be decorated like a machine. The plan is for the second frame to serve as a hallway into the room, so that's the entry. Once inside, the kids must interact with a big mechanical face that wants to eat them. After they dance on my hook for a moment  the machine will decide to give them the candy it made from the last group of ToTs. Then they leave the same way they came in.

Meanwhile there will be gears and giant sawblades and leaky steam pipes, visible from the outside, that "process" each group that goes in. Also a stack of boxes of fresh candy on the right side with (if I get to it) an overhead chute to dump candy into them. My accomplices and/or I will be hidden inside the frame you see in the pictures, working the mechanics and the face puppet. When a group comes in, we crank up the machine and then dump candy into a box. It's a gag for viewers on the outside.



Rahnefan said:


> I love it. Makes me think of Bender and all the mean stuff he would say to ToTs.


Heh, I don't watch Futurama, but now I'll have to see if any of those scenes are on YouTube or something. Might give me some good material. :devil:


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## HalloweeNut (Mar 2, 2010)

Here's some name ideas I had: "Prof. Dread's Marvelous Candy Machine!" Or maybe "Dr. Dismal's Trick or Treat Factory!". Or if want to get really creepy: "Silver Shamrock Novelty Co." ;D


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

Wow! That is so cool!!! You just made me want to do an entire candy factory haunt, make Wonka seem like Mr. Rogers. Well, Mr Rogers could be pretty creepy too sometimes, especially the Neighborhood of Make-Believe... Sorry, got off on a tangent... I absolutely love your candy machine!!!


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

HalloweeNut said:


> Here's some name ideas I had: "Prof. Dread's Marvelous Candy Machine!" Or maybe "Dr. Dismal's Trick or Treat Factory!". Or if want to get really creepy: "Silver Shamrock Novelty Co." ;D


Heh, not sure how many people would get that reference. "Trick or Treat Factory" has a nice ring to it though.



nixie said:


> Wow! That is so cool!!! You just made me want to do an entire candy factory haunt, make Wonka seem like Mr. Rogers. Well, Mr Rogers could be pretty creepy too sometimes, especially the Neighborhood of Make-Believe... Sorry, got off on a tangent... I absolutely love your candy machine!!!


Thanks! My wife is excited about building on the theme next year. I'm not sure if we'll ever do a walk-through, but it could get pretty elaborate.


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## CreeepyCathy (Mar 28, 2009)

looks great! and great idea!


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Don't have much time for details, but here are some photos of my candy machine. First, two nighttime shots from the week before Halloween. This was what the neighborhood got to see for two weeks, as a preview:


















And here it is Halloween night:










We used the name "Gobblin' Brothers Candy Factory." We were way behind and a lot of work didn't get finished, but you get the gist of it here.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

I really love the concept and design. It turned out awesome! That piece is so big you might be able to use it for a storage shed.


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## DeathTouch (Sep 6, 2005)

Wow! I really love this design.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

Pretty cool idea!


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

I love it with that lighting. How did it go over with the ToTs?


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## Hellvin (Jul 6, 2008)

Great idea and presentation!


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Thanks, we're going to build on the same display again, so maybe the execution will match the design next year.



Lunatic said:


> That piece is so big you might be able to use it for a storage shed.


If I had a bigger back yard, I might consider it! As it is, I still have to figure out how to store the thing in my current shed.



Spooky1 said:


> I love it with that lighting. How did it go over with the ToTs?


Amazingly well. You can't see from the photos, but there was an entryway on the left and a short, dark hallway to reach the other side of the furnace section. Of course entering the dark unknown was enough to creep out a huge swath of young'uns. A couple of them flat out refused to approach the talking mechanical face inside, until I stopped using the robotic voice changer on them. Nobody really expected to talk to the machine once they got in. It seemed like a fun surprise. When we kicked on the strobe and noisemakers while the machine "manufactured the candy," it was another surprise that generally (and surprisingly) got a great reaction.

We got some nice vocal feedback when the ToTs left. The best of the night was "See, I told these people are always awesome on Halloween!" That by itself made the whole effort worthwhile.


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Here's a shot of a control panel on the candy machine:










The electrical testing equipment was donated by my brother-in-law. The clock was so hideous I had to buy it when I saw it at an antique mall. The covering and labels were knocked out by my wife a couple hours before the ToTs started arriving. The panel lit up from inside when the machine activated.


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## randomr8 (Oct 24, 2009)

Neat idea!


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## murpup (Aug 1, 2011)

very creative idea!


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