Ring Street Cemetery Has Moved!!

In case it wasn't already obvious, Ring Street Cemetery has moved to a new location! We are now located in Garden Grove, near Valley View and the 22 Freeway. Leave us a comment with your email address if you would like information on the new location. Happy Halloween!!

EFX-TEK EZ-8 Review

When EFX-TEK released the EZ-8 bit-banger prop controller this year, I must admit I was cautiously excited. I have always appreciated the ease of programming of the EFX-TEK line of controllers, and wasn't exactly sure that there was a need for a simplified version. But that has all changed...

It was the afternoon of Halloween, 2009, and I was still fighting with my major popup. The compressor wasn't behaving, and with the touchy compressor, I had to be extremely precise with the timing. Turns out that on a short timeline, and with the need for precision timing, the EZ-8 was the perfect solution.

After quickly skimming the manual, I got right to work programming my EZ-8. The simplicity saved the evening, and the controller worked wonderfully all night long. Thanks to Jon and John for another awesome product!

How-to: Cemetery Columns

Over the weekend, I built some cemetery columns. My columns are 6' tall by 1.5' square. You can modify my instructions per your needs. They aren't quite done yet, but should be done this week.

Here's a list of the material I used:

(10) 2"x2"x8' pine boards
(4) 3'x7'x1/8" pieces of cheap luan
Approximately ten feet of basic crown moulding
Lots of 2.5" drywall screws (preferably self-tapping)

The basic cuts are as follows:

(8) 2"x2"x6' pine boards
(8) 2"x2"x1'6" pine boards
(8) 2"x2"x1'9" pine boards

The above cuts will yield the wood needed for the basic frame. To build the frame, here are the steps:

Start by making a rectangle out of two of the 2"x2"x6' pine boards and two of the 2"x2"x1'6" boards. Screw them together using the drywall screws. You should end up with a total of four of these rectangles (two per column).

Next, with the 2"x2"x1'6" boards facing the outside of the column, screw the two rectangles together with the 2"x2"x1'9" boards (these should also be on the outside of the column). They should look something like this (without the crown moulding of course):



From here, you can decorate the columns as you see fit. I used crown moulding around the top (poorly, but it works), but you can do whatever you feel would work to spice them up. I would offer advice on cutting the crown moulding, but it was basically a disaster.

The nice thing about making columns that are 1'6" wide is that many lumber yards sell luan sheets in 3'x7' sizes. All I did was have them rip the sheets down to 1'6"x7' and cut them to fit. How you accessorize your columns will determine how you cover them with the luan.

Here is the almost final product before paint:



And here is the almost final product after paint:



Please let me know if you have any questions. This is a fairly easy and highly effective project, and I highly recommend it.

EFX-TEK FC-4 Board - Review

On Saturday my FC-4 package arrived. As always, shipping by EFX-TEK was amazingly fast. Although I didn't have time to play with my FC-4 boards on Saturday, I did break one out and set it up yesterday to control my Christmas lights. I am happy to report that set up and programming is simple beyond words. (For those of you unfamiliar, the FC-4 is a control board that allows you to control incandescent light levels through a Prop-1, 2, SX, or PC using Vixen).

I probably went a bit unconventional, and used indoor two-prong extension cords from Target to connect to the AC terminals. It seems to work fine, plus now I can easily attach three lighting instruments per channel (up to the wattage limit, of course).

Once I had my FC-4, Prop-1, and requisite cabling secured to a scrap piece of 1"x4" lumber, I was good to go. I downloaded the FC-4 test code from EFX-TEK and uploaded it to the Prop-1. Things worked perfectly, so I got to work programming my sequence.

Fortunately the FC-4 test code comes with a bunch of subroutines. All you need to do is copy and paste them from the program section to the subroutine section, add a "RETURN" to the end of them, and call them up as necessary. I tweaked some of them to suit my needs, just changing the timing and such.

Anyway, if you haven't yet gotten into prop control using Jon and John's products, you are missing out on a lot. I know the whole "programming" thing is intimidating, but it really couldn't be easier. And for those of you who are already EFX-TEK fans, take advantage of the FC-4 holiday sale. You'll absolutely love it.

I should also mention that Jon wrote me a program (actually three) last night for a random flicker. I'm hoping to simulate the Indiana Jones Adventure flickering light effect in the queue for next Halloween's project. I'll try out the programs tonight. Being able to fade incandescent bulbs is HUGE.

Hours of Operation: Halloween 2007

The Ring Street Cemetery will be open on October 31st, 2007 from 5:30PM to 10:00PM. We are located at the intersection of El Dorado and Ring Street in Long Beach, CA. Nearest cross streets are Wardlow and Norwalk Blvd.

We recommend that smaller children who may be more scared stop by while it's still light out (up until about 6:30-6:45 or so), and that bigger kids and adults who want to experience the haunt in its full creepy glory stop by after 7:00PM when the sun has set.

For the last hour of operation, from 9:00PM until 10:00PM, our soundtrack will change from creepy ambiant music to your favorite Halloween rock songs featuring everyone from Rob Zombie to The Misfits. If you want a little different experience than a normal haunt, stop by after 9:00. Or if you're really hard core, stop by twice, once before 9:00 and once after.

Beginning to materialize: Part 2

This weekend, the Ring Street Cemetery really started coming together. The cemetery is partially built, and spiders have begun spinning their webs all over the house. The house and cemetery are partially lit, and will be completed this week. More gravestones are in the works, as well as a wrought iron gate.

Next up is the walk-through, so the next few days will be heavy on the wall fabrication and layout.

Here are some cell phone pics I took on my way to work today. I'll take some pictures with a real camera tonight, and will hopefully get some daytime and nighttime shots.

Beginning to materialize

The Ring Street Cemetery will begin to materialize this weekend, the first weekend of October, 2007. Spiders will spin their webs, and an ancient cemetery will emerge in front of the Ring Street Mortuary, preparing for the arrival of the undead on October 31.

Pictures to follow...