# New Additions for Seven Oaks Cemetery



## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Just thought I'd share some glimpses of a couple new projects for my Seven Oaks Cemetery yard haunt. They're mostly done at this point.

First, I'm dipping my toe into the homemade animatronic waters this year (instead of just buying them at Spirit, etc). I've been seeing everybody's awesome leering skeleton props online and I just knew I had to have one of my own, so he's my inaugural attempt at making animatronics. Just finished painting the tombstone yesterday...










Also making a "techno tombstone", similar to what K&T Do Halloween posted on youtube last year (minus the computer monitor in this picture). Figured this one would be a perfect excuse to pay homage to H.P. Lovecraft...










Also working on an animated grave slab, which I'll share later.

Thanks for looking.


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Pretty awesome stuff!
Really cool looking!


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks bobzilla.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Dang! That skeleton is first class! Looks like a high end prop you'd get from one of the big name companies. Love the tombstone too! Please post pics of these in your display. I bet they'll look amazing under haunt lighting!


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## yeloowtang (Aug 7, 2012)

top notch work right there, that is awesome


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks Yelootang.


Thanks jdubbya. Glad you like the skeley. I still have some dressing to do on him and some tweaking of the lantern, but I think he turned out pretty decent. I have to give props to Stiltbeast Studios on their youtube how-tos on aging skeletons. Really came in handy.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Holy cow! Gorgeous pieces and so much better than store bought.

I also love the leering skeleton prop. One of these days, we're going to have to make one.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks RoxyBlue! Glad you like 'em. Very nice of you to say they are better than store bought, though I don't know if I can say they were cheaper than store bought.  And I certainly have the sweat equity invested in them, building them in the summertime Georgia heat and humidity.


I have already grown quite fond of my leerer, Malachi. I highly recommend adding one to your haunt in the future. Not being an experienced builder of animated props, I will say the worst part was getting that darn motor assembly set up. For all the youtube videos and forum postings out there, I couldn't find one that gave any real specifications on how to configure the moving pieces. Had to do a lot of guesswork mimicking what I saw in the short glimpses of other haunters' internals. I know it all depends on the size and dimensions of the individual prop, but it was a lot of trial and error (mostly error) until I got it right. But in the end, so worth the effort. If I could figure out who the true originator of the leering skeleton idea was, I'd give him or her a big wet sloppy kiss for sharing it.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks Roxy. Yes, I am familiar with stevesHauntedyard's version. Didn't know his was the original-ish version, but his youtube vid for the leerer was one my primary go-to references while trying to configure my own. If I ever meet him, I'll be sure to properly pucker up.


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## Plant 175 (Jan 11, 2017)

I have a skeleton I need to start working on but you have raised the bar so high mine won’t be anything as good as that !


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

I don't know about raising the bar, but thanks so much, Plant 175. I've got to give my kudos to Stiltbeast... using his technique on aging the skeleton worked wonders, and soooo easy. Just a can of brown spray paint and an old rag. Made all the difference on my store bought pose-n-stay.


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## bobby2003 (Oct 9, 2017)

stoic_clown said:


> I don't know about raising the bar, but thanks so much, Plant 175. I've got to give my kudos to Stiltbeast... using his technique on aging the skeleton worked wonders, and soooo easy. Just a can of brown spray paint and an old rag. Made all the difference on my store bought pose-n-stay.


Which Stiltbeast video are you talking about? This one?


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Yep bobby2003, that's the one. About as easy as it gets.


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## uncle (Sep 26, 2007)

Looks fantastic! And it appears you did a bit more work on at least the skull than paint and rag.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks uncle. Yes, way to be the eagle eye. Actually, I did 2 things with my attempt at the leering skeleton that are a bit different than what I've seen in others' versions. First, I wanted my skeleton to lean forward but have a more natural hunching curve to his spine, so instead of using a 45 degree PVC angle joint like I saw in most other versions (which creates an unnatural straight-lined bend in the back), I used my heat gun and bent a fully rounded curve into a 1/2" PVC pipe that runs up the skeley's spine (though you can't tell that in the photo I posted). The 2nd thing was the skull. I wanted to add a bit more life and character to my skeleton and have a bit more animation than just the turning hip. But I'm in no way a wizard with servos and animatronic mechanisms. So I removed the stock skull that was part of the pose-n-stay that I used and replaced it with an animated skull decoration I bought from FrightProps. So as the body of the skeley turns side to side, the skull's eyes (which I covered with half pieces of roll-on balls and black hot glue) will light up green, the jaw will jabber and clap up and down, and he'll grown and growl. Since the animation is set off by a built-in sensor it makes it more random instead of constant. Really works well I think. After I finish the last little details on him I'm going to try and post a video to show him in full motion and you'll see what I mean.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

The next in my new additions for the yard, and my 2nd attempt at homemade animatronics. Borrowing (very heavily) from the grave slab prop at RavenMonor.com, allow me to introduce the final restless resting place of the infamous Countess Erzsébet Bathory.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Beautiful work and detailing!


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks RoxyBlue.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

OK, my 3 new props are pretty much done, so I figured I'd take them outside in the cold hard light of day and take them for some test drives. Please forgive the low quality of the footage, they're just quick little vids using my smart phone.

Malachi, my leering, grumbling skeley...





Countess Bathory, my restless grave slab resident...





Mr. Lovecraft, my techno tombstone...


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Lucky for you that you don’t live next door to us. I’d have to sneak into your yard and steal that leering skeleton:googly: He is da bomb. The curved spine is a brilliant improvement.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Good luck with that, Roxy. I put LOJACKolantern on my skeley.  Glad you like him.


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## stick (Jan 21, 2009)

Everything looks great and like Roxy I love the leering skeleton Malachi.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks stick! I won't repeat your compliment to Malachi himself. If his head gets any bigger he may just fall off his tombstone.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Malachi waits (im)patiently for his moment...










My leering skeley is finally complete with all the little finishing details. The lantern is done ("staining" the globe and upgrading to a brighter LED light than what this store-bought decoration originally came with) and you can see I added some shreds of decrepit freaky fabric to the bones. You can also get a better feel for the curvature of the spine thanks to the heat gun curved PVC I used. (Turned off the light in my basement and looked back at Malachi and just thought it was a nice shot with the lighting. Just me being an amateur photographer, and by "amateur photographer" I mean not a photographer at all.)

Haven't put my graveyard out yet, which is a good thing, since we're supposed to get some residual winds from Hurricane Michael blowing through in a couple days from now. But soon.


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## stick (Jan 21, 2009)

Great looking picture stoic_clown.
Hope you get no damage from the storm. What is left is coming my way Thursday night.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

That's a great shot!


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

I like the leering skeleton too. I'd be tempted to place a sound-bar at the base of the headstone for the sound though.
Do you do much with sounds in the rest of the graveyard?
I know that sometimes the "competition" between prop's sounds can be an issue.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks stick. Fortunately we fared pretty well as Michael passed. Not much wind, just a butt-ton of rain (yes, "butt-ton" is the proper meteorological term). Hopefully you came through the storm without a scratch as well and avoided getting slashed by Michael.


Thanks Roxy. Not sure if you would consider my photography art as "avant garde" or "garde l'eau". Either way, they both sound fancy.


Thanks fontgeek. No, I haven't played with audio effects very much in my yard yet. I usually have some spooky music+sound effects playing on loop through a small stereo for the general ambiance, and just let the animatronics speak for themselves with their own internal speakers. It's certainly noisy enough as it is. And actually, though it may not come across that way through the vid above, the skull on my leering skeley is pretty loud, especially when you're up next to it.


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## stick (Jan 21, 2009)

Yes we got a Butt-ton of rain also along with the wind from Michael. It knock over a couple of my Halloween stuff but no damage to it, home, trees or vehicle thank God. Glad to see it back where it came from in the ocean.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Ha, stick! Back to the ocean it came from. Makes me think of a good exorcism... "Begone Michael! Back to the foul and pestilent waters from wince thee came! BEGONE!"


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

A spur of the moment add for the yard. Broke down and picked up a sabertooth skeleton from Home Depot. Of course, he needed some mods. Took off those ridiculous ears, gave him some new eyeballs to better accentuate the lights in his eyes, and gave him a paint job to make him look more petrified and dirty. Such a dirty, dirty kitty. Thinking of putting a collar and chain on him and making him the new "guard cat" for the cemetery.


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## DandyBrit (May 23, 2013)

Nice work on Malachi. Your Lovecraft stone reminds me of the Cheshire Cat peering out.


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## Plant 175 (Jan 11, 2017)

Where did you get the lantern ?


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Plant 175 said:


> Where did you get the lantern ?


Hi Plant175. So sorry I didn't notice your question way back in November, and sorry that I'm not getting around to answering you until now.

The lantern is just a cheap, all-plastic lantern I picked up at our local Home Depot a few years ago, albeit with some modifications. First, the stock lantern had a very weak flickering light rigged up with an audio recording of various sound FX. And the lantern was rigged to work off a typical cheap motion/sound sensor, so the light and sound FX would go off once triggered, run a few seconds, then stop. Of course, I wanted a lantern that would stay lit constantly, and I didn't want or need the sound FX. So I gutted the electronics out of the lantern and replaced them with a brighter battery powered LED light I cannibalized from another old store bought decoration. I then painted the inside of the lantern globe with some amber-colored stained glass spray paint I got off of Amazon, to give the light a more aged and grungy look. The great thing about this Home Depot lantern is it is very light weight, as it is all plastic, unlike the glass and metal prop lanterns you find in other stores. So it puts less weight and stress on the skeleton's arm while moving back and forth.


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## Plant 175 (Jan 11, 2017)

Thanks


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Well, finally got the 2 newest members of my cemetery crew up and running. Say hello to Bill and Willy, a pair of grave robbers who were so dedicated to their chosen profession that they continued their work even after the grave. Bill is my version of the popular digging skeleton prop. His less than industrious partner, Willy, is my own concoction. They turned out pretty decent, I think.


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## Plant 175 (Jan 11, 2017)

Can’t see anything


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Plant 175 said:


> Can't see anything


 Really? Plays fine for me. Sorry it's not working for you.


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## stick (Jan 21, 2009)

Yea it comes up with this.

Content Warning

If the owner of this video has granted you access, please sign in.
This video is private.


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## Cephus (Sep 10, 2018)

Same here. Says video is private.


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## uncle (Sep 26, 2007)

Yep, I too get the owner access message.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Hmm... Must have screwed something up with the upload to youtube. Try this one on for size...


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## stick (Jan 21, 2009)

Love how you made them.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

stick said:


> Love how you made them.


Thanks Stick!


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## uncle (Sep 26, 2007)

Love them! Thanks for fixing the video!


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

uncle said:


> Love them! Thanks for fixing the video!


Thanks a bunch, Uncle. Glad it worked for you this time.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

Another new addition to the cemetery was tucked back in my witches' graveyard. To go along with my voodoo necromancer costume I built this manually powered body flinger. Basically I was raising the dead remains of Hecubah, the leader of the executed coven buried at the cemetery. (Pardon the poor lighting of this video).


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## stick (Jan 21, 2009)

Stoic_clown I love the dead remains of Hecubah also.


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## stoic_clown (Nov 11, 2011)

stick said:


> Stoic_clown I love the dead remains of Hecubah also.


Thanks stick!


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