Our crypt is set up in the garage and houses our Flying Crank Ghost, Melissa.
The front is hinged to the rafters so we can swing it up when not in use.
We chain the front of the garage off so people can't get too close to this prop.

We used two pieces of wafer board and cut half an arch in each piece.
The arch measures 4' across and 6'tall. The ghost is set 4 1/2' back from the opening.



We used firring strips along the back of the wafer board for support.
TIP- Liquid Nail the firring strips to the wafer board first and then screw them together.



We then screwed a board to the garage rafters. We attached the wafer board to this board by using hinges.
This serves as a double purpose. First it drops the wafer board to the floor so there isn't a gap.
Secondly we can swing the whole thing up and hook it to the rafters when not in use.
TIP - Make sure there is room to swing this up. We couldn't swing it forward because
of the garage door opener and swinging it backward we had to move it over because of a light.



I then painted it black around the arch to give shadows between the stones that were going up.
I painted the textured side of the wafer board because it would take the paint better than the smooth side.



I then cut out stones using 1" foam. Using Keeba's method I took a flame
to the stones to give them a warped look. I painted them a dark grey and when dry I
sponged them with black, light grey and moss agate paint. I then attached the stones with Liquid Nails.
I painted the rest of the wafer board a lighter grey and added a 2" black border around the edges.



For the next steps I used a permanent magic marker and made the brick pattern. Using a sea sponge
I sponged on black, white and moss agate colored paint. I then cut in half a cheap plastic hollow skeleton
and painted it a dark grey with the moss agate paint sponged on. I Liquid Nailed the foam "Melissa"
sign to the crypt and screwed the skeletons in place. We added a gargoyle flicker lamp between the
skeletons hands and at the bottom of the crypt we screwed an extra firring strip (painted black)
along the bottom to help keep the two halfs together and from twisting. We then stapled
black plastic to the garage rafters and to the back of the wafer board to enclose the sides and back.

For those extra touches we added Spanish Moss hanging down from the arch and had pink plastic flowers
(they glow eerily) strewn about the floor. For lighting we mounted a black light to the rafters
and also we have a red light bulb shining on her (which gives it an awesome effect).
We also have a fog maching hidden so it appears she's floating above a mist of fog.
The flowers, fog and lighting are missing from the photo. I'll get one when we set up for the 2002 season.



Here's how it looks folded up and attached to the rafters. We have 4 hooks supporting the bottom and two supporting each side. Before we swung it up we put Melissa in a trash bag and stapled it up. We also left the black plastic stapled to the rafters. Next year all we have to do is swing it down and uncover Melissa.






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