Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, Dimensioneers! I hope your night is full of crunchy leaves, the smell of roasting Jack-o-lantern lids, sincere yard haunts, and the screams and laughter that go along with this ancient celebration.

"Gallows Hill" of the Salem witch trials?

In the late 80s, my wife and I made many Halloween visits to the Boston area and Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is an uncomfortable mix of history, tragedy, and folk lore, that mixes a shameful chapter of American history with pop culture and Halloween fun. The "witch" trials of 1692 were spawned by paranoia, hysteria, prejudice and possibly spite, and many innocent people were executed as a result. I was always curious as to where the hangings took place, but over the centuries, shame and time erased it from the local memory. I came across this web site by Daniel Boudillion who seems to have located the spot. The grim "Gallows Hill" may be in the backyards of several neighborhood homes, unmarked and forgotten behind a Walgreens drugstore. Imagine being told that your backyard was the site of ancient "witch" executions.
Check out Mr Boudillion post.  http://www.boudillion.com/gallowshill/gallowshill.htm

New Liberty Square Entry

A few weeks ago I posted on the Haunted Dimensions Facebook page that the Liberty Square entry gates were being altered. Here are the results. Along with the fresh paint job on the pillar bricks, the entry arches have new, dimensional lettering and are lit from beneath with rows of LEDs. But what's missing? The traditional brass "The Haunted Mansion" name plaques. I only noticed this after looking at the photos. I'm not sure if they were moved to other pillars, or if they were removed. Do any of you know?

"For the Most Sincere"

Here is my visualization of The Great Pumpkin, called "For the Most Sincere".  Digital illustration.

Gatehouse Model Illustration

For the Gatehouse model illustrations, I started out by creating a blank, white Sketchup model which I then imported to Lightwave in order to position, light and render. Then I brought the white rendering into Photoshop where I apply the textures and text, using the rendering as a shadow guide. I also added a lot of hand-drawn elements, shadows and grunge. I often use this technique rather than creating and rendering a detailed, textured 3D model.

Correction to Gatehouse Instructions

Haunted-dimensioneer, Cees, discovered a glitch in my Gatehouse instructions. The window inserts (parts 4 & 5) DO NOT get inserted into the main building (part 1 & 2)! They are are suppose to be attached behind parts 10 and 13, THEN attached to 1 & 2. Thanks for catching this, Cees! Everyone else, sorry for the glitch!  The instructions have been revised.

"The Gatehouse" Paper Model Kit - RELEASED!

Return to "The Knoll".  Explore the images and wander deeper into the abandoned estate to discover my newest paper model kit! Be sure to refresh/reset your browser cache to ensure that the new links are updated. http://www.the-knoll.raykeim.com/  

The BLOB's Colonial Theater

Here is a little side project I just completed just for the fun of it. It is a paper model of the Colonial Theater, in Phoenixville, PA, as it looked in the 1958 movie, "The Blob". This version is about 7 inches wide.  The Blob creature was VERY easy to "build"! (Sorry, I am NOT planning on releasing the model in kit form for Haunted Dimensions. At least not any time soon).

LegendaryTruth at "Halloween Extreme"

I was excited to be a part of the announcement to kick off this year's interactive Horror Nights game, LegendaryTruth!  Here is a great run-down of our panel discussion and announcements regarding this year's interactive RFID game "LegendaryTruth" for Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights. The announcements took place last weekend at "Halloween Extreme", and included the unveiling of LegendaryTruth merchandise.  (Thanks to "Inside the Magic" for the great post!)

http://www.insidethemagic.net/2013/05/universal-orlando-expands-halloween-horror-nights-2013-year-round-via-next-gen-interactivity-and-customized-scares/

Halloween Extreme

Tomorrow afternoon I'll be speaking on a panel at "Halloween Extreme" as part of the Universal Halloween Horror Nights award-winning game design team, for a comprehensive panel discussion examining how interactive experiences are conceived, their results and exciting plans for the future.
http://www.halloweenextreme.com/

I'm sure by now most of you have heard this news, but just in case you didn't, Universal finally announced what we have been working on for the last couple of years at Universal Studios, Orlando.  
"The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - DIAGON ALLEY"!  I was utilized as a scale model builder during the early design phase of the project.  It will be spectacular!
You can read more about it HERE.

The Master, Mr Harryhausen.