Rob and Dan framed it with The Pumpkin King , and 1 part of  our wolf pack. Toni, Ashley, Roman and Tia tied it all together with dressings of blood and gore. They did such a fantastic job that we took First Place Commercial E

ntry and….Best Over All!

We had the Pumpkin King with full animation and the feeding wolf snarling and growling. Quite a sight.

way to go Team!

Check It !

To update a little bit…

Just been chatting back and forth with the peoples representing Elvira, Mistress of The Night. Trying to pull all the right strings and get her on board to make an appearance at this years show. Apparently shes really busy around Halloween. If  Elvira is to Halloween what Santa is to Christmas then Ill bet shes busy.

X our fingers!

For the first time in 19 years I’m working out of a new location for Potters. We have taken on a 4th location at 2124 128th Street Surrey. Formerly Ocean Park Nurseries/Garden Works/Plant Market…now finally its our turn! This will separate me from Potters House of Horrors only by distance. Come fall I shall return to Potters 72nd and begin the convert from peaceful happy garden center, to mad ,evil screaming monster machine!

Our build crew. A scary crew of many talents. Put them all together and shit gets done.

Rob Martin, the “Tech Monster” . Rob can put together just about anything, His main focus is placement,programming and building of all our animatronics. Whether its a prop we purchased or one hes built he puts it all into action. Rob also spends each night as part of our Security Team and keeps the pulses running on all the props each night.

Toni Gibbons, the ”Decor Montser”. All the chilling details and set design within the haunt can be mostly credited to Toni. Id like to say she has a magicwand andwaves it around and what we end up with is simply magical. Truthfully its hours and hours of work and in the end we cant recognize the place as a greenhouse anymore. After the haunt is running Toni shifts into the role of Drama coordinator, putting all the monsters to work each night.

Dan Willing “Build Monster”. Dans a keener, builds most anything. Hes worked with us over the past 3 years building the haunt from the ground up. Dan gives the haunt its bones and ties it all together. Dan follows up each night as part of our Security Team when the haunt is running.

Roman K. “Art Monster”. Roma as we call him is our artistic design and general builder. He puts in all the little details that add a little humour to the event. Follow up after Toni has made her Strokes on a theme room ,we see Roman putting in the final touches. Roma is the one that designs and create our street signs each year.

Geoff Marples”Light Monster”, Geoff puts together the lighting each year for us. Working virtually in the dark at night long after we have all gone home he strings together all the lighting effects and makes the rooms glow with that spooky feeling.

Ashley Gibbons,Chelsea Weibe, ”Paint Monsters”, Ash is Toni’s daughter, and creativity runs in the family, Ash paints all the sets in faux finishes that make it all seem so old and crusty like any good haunt should be. Chelsea also ads those creepy paint fx to the rooms and it doesn’t hurt that she has connections at a paint shop for free miss tints!

Tia Hildebrand,”Assistant Monster”. Well Tia is the assistant manager for Potters on 72nd. and even though shes not a fan of Halloween she puts all of us monsters in place. While we are building the haunt, Tia is interviewing, scheduling all of our monsters. She runs the retail, helps out everywhere she can in the haunt and coordinates the front end of the show.

 Jordy, Heather, Matt, Aaron you all had your hands in on this event as well. As did so many more.

“Potters Monsters” aka our actors. Thanks so much for you effort this year. You really bring the sets to life. You’Ve worked right through the cold and the rain, the pushing and shoving and the yelling and screaming. as good as we can build the show its the actors that really put in the screams. Too many of you to list here but Thanks again for a job well done.

Thanks to the concession crew. My brother in law Tim took on the concession to raise funds for his daughters school trip to Montreal next year. They served up some great hot dogs and hot chocolate. You were the easiest crew we’ve shared the event with to date.

The Photo Ops. Richard Weibe and crew of Pirates did a fantastic job on the photo op this year. These guys are pro photogarphers who sell thier skills cheap for you to take home a memento of your visit to the Haunt.

Many people all come together to make this event happen every year. If I’ve missed anyone I do apologize but please no that we are thankful for all your help and hope we can work together for years to come.

Now Lets get on with planning 2010!

With end of each Haunting season, we soon realize that its really the beginning of the next. Next week meetings are planned to review our season, from the outside in and see where we can improve. I always say it gets better each year, its likely because we try so hard to keep the event fresh each year. And that takes planning, even starting right after we close.

One thing for sure I will always remember after we close is my children were born November 1st! So Ill cut my blog short and get my arse in gear preparing for the most important day of the year…Carter and Sophies  Birthday! @year old twins…what is scarier?

Thanks all

Wow! What a run its been so far, and only 3 days to go. 3 of the busiest days I might add. That always turns up the stress factor a notch. We are ready!!!

If anyone needs to know,we still have all of our actors, all the props are in place and still working. We don’t rest here until haunt season is over. Its been crazy here doing repairs daily getting ready for each nights show. Hammers, drills, saws and welders can be seen on a daily basis. No rest for the wicked we say.

Ive said it before…You don’t want to miss this years show….And this year I mean it…If you miss it you’ll have nightmares for a year. Come to think of it if you come you’ll have nightmares for a year?

Scare ya Later!

Check it out…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHgWwyMp_fU

Tonight being Friday was extra busy. Which means we have to keep a pretty steady pace in the haunt. If we had any complaints it was just that. On busy nights with high volumes it is neccessary to shorten gaps between customers, sometimes this can bottle things up in the haunt and not everyone gets to take in the full scare. For this Im sorry. We take notice of this and do our best to adjust traffic flow.

Often people will ask me “what night should I come to the Haunt” Ill tell you the best nights are early in the week, being Monday Tuesday and Wednesday and early in the run. Come a couple of nights after opening night, line ups are small, flow is great and staging the scares is at its best. or even come early in the evening 7pm is the best time. No line up and the actors are fresh and eager to attack.