I've aged the dolls with crackle paint, glue, and paint. I left the real-looking baby doll as is--he's creepy. I got some barbies that will probably hang by their necks. I'm collecting and fixing up more dolls and doll heads to hang above. All of these will be set up on the food spread table area staring up at people as they get food/drinks. It should be pretty unsettling. The patio will be lined with tattered tea-stained curtains fluttering in the wind and candlelight. Should have a very eerie effect, I hope.
I made a huge long black tattered robe with hood and laid it in the yard to age in the sun and fade and get dirty from the rains. That will go on a huge tree limb as the body of a reaper. I'm making a large fake sythe. The skull I started to make out of a craft store mask. I cut the nose off and the eye holes bigger and cut the jaw off to hinge it. I started paper maiche'ing over it and will keep layering until the brow ridge and cheekbones are more prominent. Then, I'll get that painted up in bone colors and have it inside the black tattered robe on the tall tree limb. When folks arrive, it'll look down on them from above with a lightning flashing spotlight with tons of white crosses in the entry yard and a few wooden tripods with Jack O'Lanterns on them.
I'm pleased so far with the layout. I'm making bodies to float on the pool face down with the red pool light on, so that should have a nice effect. The pool is enclosed tightly by walls covered thickly in vines which will have giant spiders.
All in all, I'm getting things done. The hard part will be finding lots of scraps to fill the yard to make it into a post apocalyptic compound. We're having bulk trash pickup soon and neighbors leave furnishings, scrap wood, and all kinds of junk out front, so I might be able to get some weird creepy stuff that would fill the compound in a post-apocalyptic sort of storage way.
I have a complete cemetery ready to go and a fantastically creepy ghost that will hover over it. There'll be a slideshow against the wall of the shed flashing totally creepy pictures nonstop the whole time projected onto it. I think the live music will be the big draw.
Luckily, I have lots of "little elves" to help me out with the stuff. Even though it's two months away, there's a lot of stuff to make.