drasticshift
New Member
This thread will be dedicated to "the shack", what we called the unused garage.
I'll try to keep this story as short as possible, but not likely... Set and prop decorations which I will share pictures, photos, dimensions, and more info will be shared in future threads.
Beetlejuice Fireplace: Beetlejuice Fireplace
Beetlejuice sign: Betelgeuse Sign... yes Betelgeuse. Beetlejuice flashing sign.
The Shack: The Shack, the useless garage turned Halloween party and set build.
Dante's Inferno Room: Beetlejuice Dante's Inferno Room
Nightmare before Christmas: Nightmare before Christmas Halloween party set build.
The Goonies Halloween party Sett: Goonies Themed Halloween party build.
It begins in the winter of 2011, I befriended another artist online. Randomly, we chatted, became facebook friends, occasionally shared articles on art creations, and yet we wouldn't actually meet in person for another year.
Her Name is Christina, also known on IG as @blacklotusclothing
She bought her place in october of 2011 and was in the process of making it her home. A year later she was hosting her first Halloween party/house party.
The year is 2012.
She invited me to attend, I went with my girlfriend Irene (now my wife) to Christina's Halloween party, where we met in person for the first time.
It was like seeing your best friend you haven't seen since childhood. We gave each other a hug and this is where we begin.
This is the shack, visible in the back. Not much to look at, just your ordinary garage that was built sometime in the early 1900's. wooded slat siding, white paint... and bland.
Christina and I became instant best friends.
The next party I would be invited too was a western themed party. The shack has now been converted into the fort rattlesnake, a swampy marshy area. True blood was very popular during this time.
The Next party was a speakeasy... not much changed except for fancier decorations and costumes. The speakeasy was the first party I helped with. Some small sets and props set in place, cleaning, setting up, lighting... Nothing major. At this point all birthdays and get togethers were just held here. I met amazing people over the years.
Michael Aiello was one of the first people I met thru Christina. He was Christina's bestfriend and roommate... and an amazing prop and set builder. Long time RPF member Lostcasket. lostcasket
Halloween was quickly approaching and the ideas started to simmer. Michael, Christina, and the rest of the house guests wanted to do something amazing, something big, something....with the shack.
Nightmare before Christmas. That was the theme and the shack. It was now city hall. My girlfriend and I did help a lot more for this build than the past builds. Small structural stuff, attaching the moon, mostly painting, prop placements, lighting... and some last minute drainage ditch digging. Antonio, Bryan, Chris, and Michael were all the main builders for this set. Antonio is an amazing builder, he's a contactor and construction worker by day.
More on This in a separate thread. A lot of work went into this build.
Even the inside was redecorated into the Oogie Boogie Room
Unfortunately, the set did have to come down at some point... but it was up for quite some time. So what was next?
Drive Inn seemed to be the next plan.. not for Halloween but just for fun. I was not available for this build, i was too tired from the breakdown of the nightmare set, as well as several other set design builds and projects was working on with Christina... separate from the shack.
So what was next? the Nightmare before Christmas party was HUGE!!! but how can you top that?
Goonies Themed Halloween party.
This was a massive ordeal. We had planned the party in June and had to get going on finding as much free, and cheap materials as possible. the only new wood purchased was for structural support... the rest was donations, craigslist free pickup, or cheap bulk discount buys from salvaged lumber. Antonio was the main builder here, but he knew I had experience, so he made me his left hand. If he couldn't figure it out, he knew I would. This build took months, and several help from friends and neighbors. However, you can imagine the constant noise of power tools did upset several other neighbors.
That party was even bigger, so we decided to take a break. a long break.
This build was left up for almost 3 yrs... before a specific neighbor complained to the city.... and down it came. The teardown felt like it was the end of the partying.
The garage was back to it's original self. but worse for the wear. The roof was decaying and the inside became storage.
During the lul of no major Halloween parties, we were building several other projects, Store fronts and interior, festivals, concerts, other parties, etc.
Christina got new roomates. Freddy Schramm being one of them. also a long time RPF member. FreddySchramm
The Year is now 2018.... A lot happened. Friends were lost, People moved away, I got married, and Michael passed away. Christina Lost her best friend, her family, her creative partner. We decided To do something about it. We made the shed into a 50's Peewee Herman Tiki Bar. In honor of Michael. I went to work on repairing and fixing the shack. In the process, I learned that whoever tried to fix the roof in the past, just covered it and never fixed it... I moved on to being the main builder, less painting. We had a Halloween party / wedding reception/ in memory of Michael party. Then a Thanksgiving, and Christmas party. It was great, the place felt alive again....
Then 2019 happened...
Fast forward to 2021, and covid cases we slowly going down, we were in isolation for a year and a half. We decided to have a covid safe, Halloween event. covid cases were down and masks highly recommended... but many people, including ourselves had already been vaccinated by this point.
So what was the Halloween Theme? Beetlejuice.
At this point I was fully in charge of the build. I did lighting and construction. I had lot's of help with painting, and other details. Freddy worked on the Beetlejuice tombstone and the Shrimp hand.
Sorry... not a very short story... but here we are. 10yrs later and still more to come.
....to be continued.
I'll try to keep this story as short as possible, but not likely... Set and prop decorations which I will share pictures, photos, dimensions, and more info will be shared in future threads.
Beetlejuice Fireplace: Beetlejuice Fireplace
Beetlejuice sign: Betelgeuse Sign... yes Betelgeuse. Beetlejuice flashing sign.
The Shack: The Shack, the useless garage turned Halloween party and set build.
Dante's Inferno Room: Beetlejuice Dante's Inferno Room
Nightmare before Christmas: Nightmare before Christmas Halloween party set build.
The Goonies Halloween party Sett: Goonies Themed Halloween party build.
It begins in the winter of 2011, I befriended another artist online. Randomly, we chatted, became facebook friends, occasionally shared articles on art creations, and yet we wouldn't actually meet in person for another year.
Her Name is Christina, also known on IG as @blacklotusclothing
She bought her place in october of 2011 and was in the process of making it her home. A year later she was hosting her first Halloween party/house party.
The year is 2012.
She invited me to attend, I went with my girlfriend Irene (now my wife) to Christina's Halloween party, where we met in person for the first time.
It was like seeing your best friend you haven't seen since childhood. We gave each other a hug and this is where we begin.
This is the shack, visible in the back. Not much to look at, just your ordinary garage that was built sometime in the early 1900's. wooded slat siding, white paint... and bland.
Christina and I became instant best friends.
The next party I would be invited too was a western themed party. The shack has now been converted into the fort rattlesnake, a swampy marshy area. True blood was very popular during this time.
The Next party was a speakeasy... not much changed except for fancier decorations and costumes. The speakeasy was the first party I helped with. Some small sets and props set in place, cleaning, setting up, lighting... Nothing major. At this point all birthdays and get togethers were just held here. I met amazing people over the years.
Michael Aiello was one of the first people I met thru Christina. He was Christina's bestfriend and roommate... and an amazing prop and set builder. Long time RPF member Lostcasket. lostcasket
Halloween was quickly approaching and the ideas started to simmer. Michael, Christina, and the rest of the house guests wanted to do something amazing, something big, something....with the shack.
Nightmare before Christmas. That was the theme and the shack. It was now city hall. My girlfriend and I did help a lot more for this build than the past builds. Small structural stuff, attaching the moon, mostly painting, prop placements, lighting... and some last minute drainage ditch digging. Antonio, Bryan, Chris, and Michael were all the main builders for this set. Antonio is an amazing builder, he's a contactor and construction worker by day.
More on This in a separate thread. A lot of work went into this build.
Even the inside was redecorated into the Oogie Boogie Room
Unfortunately, the set did have to come down at some point... but it was up for quite some time. So what was next?
Drive Inn seemed to be the next plan.. not for Halloween but just for fun. I was not available for this build, i was too tired from the breakdown of the nightmare set, as well as several other set design builds and projects was working on with Christina... separate from the shack.
So what was next? the Nightmare before Christmas party was HUGE!!! but how can you top that?
Goonies Themed Halloween party.
This was a massive ordeal. We had planned the party in June and had to get going on finding as much free, and cheap materials as possible. the only new wood purchased was for structural support... the rest was donations, craigslist free pickup, or cheap bulk discount buys from salvaged lumber. Antonio was the main builder here, but he knew I had experience, so he made me his left hand. If he couldn't figure it out, he knew I would. This build took months, and several help from friends and neighbors. However, you can imagine the constant noise of power tools did upset several other neighbors.
That party was even bigger, so we decided to take a break. a long break.
This build was left up for almost 3 yrs... before a specific neighbor complained to the city.... and down it came. The teardown felt like it was the end of the partying.
The garage was back to it's original self. but worse for the wear. The roof was decaying and the inside became storage.
During the lul of no major Halloween parties, we were building several other projects, Store fronts and interior, festivals, concerts, other parties, etc.
Christina got new roomates. Freddy Schramm being one of them. also a long time RPF member. FreddySchramm
The Year is now 2018.... A lot happened. Friends were lost, People moved away, I got married, and Michael passed away. Christina Lost her best friend, her family, her creative partner. We decided To do something about it. We made the shed into a 50's Peewee Herman Tiki Bar. In honor of Michael. I went to work on repairing and fixing the shack. In the process, I learned that whoever tried to fix the roof in the past, just covered it and never fixed it... I moved on to being the main builder, less painting. We had a Halloween party / wedding reception/ in memory of Michael party. Then a Thanksgiving, and Christmas party. It was great, the place felt alive again....
Then 2019 happened...
Fast forward to 2021, and covid cases we slowly going down, we were in isolation for a year and a half. We decided to have a covid safe, Halloween event. covid cases were down and masks highly recommended... but many people, including ourselves had already been vaccinated by this point.
So what was the Halloween Theme? Beetlejuice.
At this point I was fully in charge of the build. I did lighting and construction. I had lot's of help with painting, and other details. Freddy worked on the Beetlejuice tombstone and the Shrimp hand.
Sorry... not a very short story... but here we are. 10yrs later and still more to come.
....to be continued.
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