Ok folks, here she is, my first Floating Crank Ghost. I built the rig out of an old kids easel which my daughter managed to break (good thing I kept it around). The motor is from one of my older animated reindeers that vandals had smashed last year - I saved the debris for this very occasion.

The ghost was made using some really cheap skull and bones set that I had been using for the last three years in the lawn. The arms and shoulders are the standard coat hanger wire from the original FCG docs. Covered her in about 7 yards of cheese cloth whitened with a strong liquid detergent solution. This is how she looks with the lights on:

And this is with the lights off:

I also have a video clip of the ghost in motion which I’ll post as soon as I get it up to YouTube.

One of the main reasons I’m including Halloween here is because this year I’m starting to get more involved in it than I have in the past. By that I mean that I’ve decided to cut back on the off-the-shelf junk that we always end up overpaying for. So this year I’m taking the big leap into the DIY yard haunt scene. I’ll be coming out the gate with four major DIY projects - the infamous Floating Crank Ghost (FCG), a Grave Grabber, a simple static armature figure made of PVC, and a fog chiller (which will make good use of our old igloo ice chest we used to catch rain water from the leaky roof before it was fixed). These will be mixed in with some of the non-cheezy looking props (such as tombstones) that I’ve collected over the past years. In addition the porch will be enclosed in a facade made of the stone Scene Setter pack and dressed up as a mausoleum to house the FCG.

At the time of writing I’ve already completed the floating crank ghost which only needs a paint job on the rig and a bit of a tweak in the counter-weight department. I’ll get some pics up soon with some notes and comments.

I’ve mocked up a rendering in Photoshop to kind of give an idea of where I plan to go. I’ll take photos on Halloween day and night for comparisons at the end of the month. I’ll also attempt to journal each of the major steps as I go.

Also, to the right is my driveway where I plan to set up my summer lawn tent which I will enclose three sides with black plastic (thank god for the clearance sale at Lowes - picked up a 10′ x 100′ roll for $14 bucks) and build a stone facade with PVC and Scene Setters. Since the front porch will be occupied with the FCG, I will be using the tent as a spooky little booth where I’ll be handing out candy to the TOTs.

For comparison, here is the original photo of the front of the house:

Hello and welcome to the all new Digital Necropolis. Our relaunch represents a metamorphasis of all that was Digital Necropolis in the past into one creation.

Over the last six years site creator, owner, and webmaster (better known as Terrormaster or TM - thats me) has done a lot of different things with this place, mostly centered around creating dark horror games with various makers and formats. And in the later part of our history have focused strictly on music.

But above all we’ve always adhered to our original motto “We bring dark things to life…” I would have continued to use that but GE would probably have my ass in a legal sling for twisting their motto (which is why even the older visitors here may not even recognize it). So in honor of that original motto we will continue to bring dark things to life, be it anything from music, games, or websites, to our newest addition - Halloween.

For those looking for my album “A Strange Case of Madness”, click on over to Soundscapes. Unfortunately it is in a suspended state of production due to an accident in my home studio involving heavy rains, a leaky roof, and an unstable keyboard stand - I’ll leave it at that. It won’t be until sometime next year when the funds will be in place to replace or repair the equipment.

So on that note, what has TM been up to these days? Well a little of this and a little of that tempered with a bit of life I guess is the best way to put it. Right now, with Halloween on the horizon my attention has been put heavily into that and probably will be until November.

I have some other projects on the table though; two new and two familiar. So lets all get a little more up to date:

ELENDARIA: This project is still a bit in stasis. I’ve reinstalled both RM2k and RMXP and am evaluating which will be the better platform. But the plot is a jumbled mess since I last worked on it and needs some serious retooling.

ADRIAN BLACKWOOD: Better known as Shadow of the Necromancer, this project is still on hold until I can nail down some more specifics. It’s been in a weird state of flux since I separated the concept from Elendaria ages ago. What is known: will be a trilogy; Adrian is sort of an Indiana Jones meets Gabriel Knight; the story revolves around fallen angels and the final apocalypse. Tentative titles for the trilogy: Shadow of the Necromancer, The Nightside of Eden, La Mort du Monde.

DARKSIDE: a web and turn-based strategy game in vein of the BBS classic Trade Wars. This is NOT a flash game but instead relies a bit on AJAX. The theme plays heavily on dark magic and a world casted forever into darkness.

DARKLINGS (title subject to change): This is another new project and is only in early conceptual form. Another dark fantasy in a world not too unlike the famed Underdark. I don’t have anything in the way of a plot other than Dark Elves being the central and tragic heroes of the story.

Anyways, all of these are on hold until at least November while I get geared up for Halloween. Hopefully soon I can get all the sections here geared up the way I want making it easier to find information.

I have a small handful of pictures (and I mean small) from Halloween 2005 which were taken with a terrible digital camera. I have some slightly better ones from Halloween 2006 that my sister-in-law took (who has a much better camera than I did).  This year I will have a much better camera on hand and will provide much higher quality pictures than before.