# Necropolis Manor 2009 - Necropolis Harbor *OFFICIAL*



## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Well, after much much deliberation we've FINALLY settled on a theme for our 2009 haunt (and we're sticking with it). After tossing around ideas for such themes as faeries, 30's nightclub, and spiders, we finally settled on pirates.

Why? Well it's a good time, the pirate fad has settled down a bit and the next POTC flick isn't scheduled till sometime after 2011. The waters are calm and you know what they say about the calm before storm maties!

As everyone knows I like to do things quite different than what's been classically done and that goes no different in 2009 than any other year. Our undead pirates will be more along the lines of water logged zombie pirates than the traditional skeletons. For me skeleton pirates evoke images of POTC way too much and I'm just not Disney, it's not my thang.

Of course I'll have to squeeze an element or two of Lovecraft in (think Dagon or Deep Ones) somehow and I'd be forced to walk the plank in shark infested waters if I didn't include the Roarast.

Our big project will be of course a sunken pirate ship in the front yard. I plan on building the internal infrastructure from 1" PVC for modularity and weight reasons (ie: later storage). Then skin it with all that cardboard I got last year and did nothing with. I'm not worried about weather and the cardboard since we only setup for one night. It's far cheaper than foam - well, free since I already have it.

I have special plans for a singing pirate using a gemmy skull mounted on a pan/tilt servo kit for 2-axis control. More on that later when I get to the build.

This year's game is still open for debate. I'd like to be able to drive post ToT traffic to my website so trying to think of something that could do that. The best way I can see doing that is to give out something with goodies maybe with the lure of winning additional booty at the site. Was originally thinking of handing out little treasure maps with the URL on it but not sure how to work that just yet. 

Another idea I got this morning was to pick up a set of the Pirate Tarot Cards. The ToT would then draw a card from the pile. If the card was one of the major arcana cards they get a bonus big candy. They then can keep the card. Sign in at the website and enter the suit and number. A drawing would be held announcing the winning card. The winner can then choose a prize (most likely a DVD) and pick it (bringing their card to claim it). My main concern with tarot are those bible thumper parents who come through and think I'm exposing their kids to the devil's toys. Are those who get the Death card and actually think it foretells death or a bad omen, which if you know anything about tarot you know it doesn't (damn media). Meh, for that matter those that believe the darn things have any sort of mystical power at all and feel I'm pushing some sort of fate on the kids. Then again, most of those folks probably avoid my place anyways hehe.

Admittedly not as fun as the instant win DVD from last year. But at least a way to A. drive traffic to my site; B. assure the prize is age appropriate. 

I'm open to ideas, suggestions, and comments.

-TM


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I think your plans sound lovely (in a creepy way, of course). It's clear you put a lot of thought into your haunt, and I like seeing people do twists on the traditional.

You may be right about the tarot card thing - people can be funny about things that hint of the mystical. Is there perhaps another type of card readily available that would do, or that could be stamped or altered to tie in with your haunt? I'll bet TerrorApprentice could come up with something for you


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## Ghoul Friday (Oct 6, 2007)

Sounds like you haven't thought much about this.

*wink*

Man. You're preparation is making me feel like I am way behind schedule, even when I'm not!


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Okies, gonna resurrect this thread cause I'm having a complete mental meltdown over this and the clock is ticking (well doing a little better now than earlier thanks to some tips from Rev).

Here's the basic setup of my yard:










The scene's I'm looking at doing are: an old witch shack, a swamp, and of course a graveyard. I'm pretty much settled on using the porch as the witch shack. The swamp will be where the remains of the pirate ship lurks along with a ground breaker or two rising from the bog.

Here's the rub, access to the porch needs to be cutoff as I am directing all traffic to the driveway this year. Last year there were just too many ToTs cluttering up the walkway and some tombstones were trampled in the congestion. So the walkway should actually be part of the display and not accessible.

I have a few ideas but I've been having trouble with the transitions between areas. Rev has given me a couple excellent ideas that could very well work. However I would like to hear any additional ones from the rest of you haunters.

Any help, feedback, or suggestions are always greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-TM


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## Kaoru (May 6, 2009)

Thanks for reposting the diagram. The tricky part will be the fence and columns that are part of the graveyard unless your getting rid of them all together? I think you should have the fence on lawn B the corner thats facing the driveway. I agree with Rev's idea about putting dirt or sand looking dirt on the walkway or you can make it part of the watery swamp and have it cover the walkway to make it less messy that way? 

I think once you have this settled we should concentrate on building the ship. The smaller props like the MiB you can do on your own. Multi-tasking is your best friend.


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## FrozenPumpkins (Jul 5, 2009)

Would you consider turning your sidewalk into a dock? I think that would help transition between the two areas, and tie into the witch shack as well. Of course, that's another major piece of work and it seems like you've already got lots going on. 

I think it would look good to have the ship and bog on lawn A, the cemetery on lawn B. The dock would make it seem like a "seaside cemetery" - even though that "sea" is sure to be a nasty shade of green!


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Life's a bitch sometimes. But when ya get lemons, just make lemonade... Piratey theme canceled for this year. For details as to why, check out the announcement on our site: http://necropolismanor.com/2009/08/pre-season-update-good-news-bad-news/

-TM


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## Draik41895 (Oct 25, 2008)

that really sucks!


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Ya it does but we're still gonna put on the best show we can for what we have and can spend. 

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions.


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