Hello All,

Welcome to My Halloween Page for 2008. We've decided to do things a little different from now on. We decided that we would bring back our old Halloween favorites, and in addition to these we are then going to add a new feature to be used for one year only. Build it, use it one year, and then store it or tear it apart to be used for the next years feature. The new feature this year is the Talking Pumpkin Head narrating the story behind the Cannon shooting a Witch at my neighbor's house. The storyline is that a Cannon shooting out Witches is the reason that so many Witches are stuck to so many trees around Halloween time. (You've seen 'em, the Splat Witches that are stuck to the sides of trees.) Rachel programmed the Talking Pumpkin (voiced by Skippy.) Will, Rachel, Skippy, and most of the shop at Hamilton helped with the Cannon and yard decorations/plumbing/wiring. The Singing Pumpkin uses electroluminescent wire, an ice cube relay bank, and a Light-O-Rama control system. A/B plc drives the show (thanks to Robert.) Check out the videos below.

If  any of you Automation types want to contribute to the cause, I'll let you.

Rob

The videos at the bottom will show the stuff actually moving: Daytime video of the show (hard to see the Pumpkin talking, but easy to understand the words), Nighttime video of the Show with spectators commenting, Nighttime video (quieter so you can hear the show), Jacobs Ladder, and Spider. The Pumpkin Man narrates the show, a Cannon "shoots" out a Witch, the Raven flaps his wings, tilts forward and backward, rotates his head, and his eyes flash red, Ghosts light up and pop up, Creature tries to escape from the coffin, Three pumpkins rise up and light up (The Pumpkin Dance), The rocking chairs are lit up and rock. Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton, and Jr. are rocking and greeting guests dressed in past Halloween costumes donated by Rachel and Will. The spider travels his web from top to bottom, The fog machine adds ambiance, Lights and pumpkins add to the festivities, and of course Disney's "Grim Grinning Ghosts" Haunted Mansion Theme Song is playing in the background.

Click on the Little Thumbnail Pictures Below to see a Bigger Picture. I forgot to take more outside pictures, so some of these are recycled from last year.

Enjoy!