Summary

The author, a Halloween enthusiast, shares their plans to create a haunted dollhouse and horror dolls for Halloween despite a recent knee injury that requires surgery.

Abstract

The author is an avid Halloween enthusiast who, along with their family, creates elaborate displays for the holiday. However, a recent knee injury requiring surgery has left the author bedridden and unable to drive for eight weeks. Despite this setback, the author is determined to continue their Halloween preparations by working on a haunted dollhouse and creating horror dolls. The author has already finished painting the dollhouse and has completed three horror dolls, with a goal of making ten in total. The author also mentions the possibility of opening an Etsy shop to sell their creations. The article includes photos of the author's previous Halloween displays and their work-in-progress horror dolls.

Bullet points

The author is a Halloween enthusiast who creates elaborate displays for the holiday.
The author recently tore their meniscus and will be undergoing surgery, leaving them bedridden and unable to drive for eight weeks.
Despite the injury, the author plans to continue their Halloween preparations by working on a haunted dollhouse and creating horror dolls.
The author has finished painting the dollhouse and has completed three horror dolls, with a goal of making ten in total.
The author mentions the possibility of opening an Etsy shop to sell their creations.
The article includes photos of the author's previous Halloween displays and their work-in-progress horror dolls.

Halloween DIY Part One (In August, Yes I Know)

Knee surgery, mini-haunted houses, and horror dolls, oh my!

I know, I know, it’s not October yet. It’s not even September. It’s early August, technically closer to mid-summer (also known as Lammas) than mid-autumn, and we still have 85 days to go before Halloween.

But I don’t care. I’m starting.

See, we do Halloween big.

No, I mean BIG.

We are haunters, which means we decorate our front lawns — sorry, decorate is the wrong word — we build ghostly worlds on our front lawn using the collection of Halloween stuff that we’ve accumulated over the past fifteen years (and that takes up a full quarter of our garage.)

If you’re not familiar with the concept of haunters, we are a huge community of Halloween enthusiasts who love to decorate (ahem, build ghostly worlds). Being that we live in L.A. among film industry folks, many of the haunts are insanely professional quality. Like full builds and mazes with the most incredible details — sometimes better than Universal Studios Hollywood Horror Nights. (I’m not kidding.)

[If you’re in the Southern California area, you can use this list to plan your visits.]

We once walked though an actual bayou, with bridges and water and everything — but we were in the middle of Van Nuys, California. It was nuts.

I loved it.

Ours is less… professional. (I’m a teacher/writer and my hubby is a PT — we are NOT professional film people.) But we do host an outdoor walk-through with a witch’s hut and a Dr. Frankenstein scene and a cemetery and a cafe and a crypt and more — lots and lots more.

photos by writer, previous years’ Halloween displays — just a small sampling

Alas, this week, I was in the middle of cleaning up the garage so we could have a yard sale and make room for our Halloween yard as well as building haunted dollhouse when I tore my meniscus.

Am I An Athlete with An Injury or Is it Aging?

Either way, I’m back in bed for a while

medium.com

I am now bedridden and due for surgery next week, and I won’t be able to drive for about eight weeks. This is a major bummer for many reasons, but of course, I’m most nervous about our Halloween plans. Thankfully, we were able to secure a wheelchair, and I told my family that no matter what, we are going to Universal Studios Hollywood Horror Nights.

As for decorating…we’ll see. That’ll depend on my family’s energy levels.

However, I am still doing Halloween. Somehow, someway.

I am doing it.

I don’t know about our yard display, but I have various projects that I started before I tore my meniscus that I can continue to work on while I heal.

The first is the haunted dollhouse that I, thankfully, finished painting before my injury. I’m going to ask my husband to bring it inside so I can decorate it with little skeletons and such. I want to set up a craft table in our spare bedroom so I can work.

Since late July, I’ve also been working on making horror dolls.

We’ve purchased a few horror dolls in the past that we love, and I’ve always been interested in making my own.

I’ve finished three so far, and I’m eager to make more.

photos by writer: before (purchased at Goodwill) and after (Horror Dolls)

This process will also have to happen in the spare bedroom since the horror dolls are creeping out my kiddo too much (they’re not allowing the dolls in the living room.)

I have two more dolls that I purchased locally via Offer Up that I was mid-process on, and I’ve discovered the shipping options on the app since I can’t drive anywhere. My goal is ten — and then maybe I’ll open an Etsy shop? I’m not sure yet.

Right now I’m just having fun giving these poor, lifeless girls stories and afterlives.

If it doesn’t creep Amanda Laughtland out too much, I’ll be documenting my process here — partly to encourage you to DIY for Halloween, partly to keep myself sane during my healing process.

Yeah, I know — how sane can I be while making horror dolls?

I guess we have eight weeks to find out.

By the way, I also started a Twitter account that’s dedicated to my love of all things Halloween/ paranormal/ creepy, and I’ll be documenting the craft processes here as well if you’d like to follow along there, too.

E. Katherine Kottaras the writer, voice, and co-creator of Yoga with Eleonora on PillowFortTV and the co-writer with Vanitha Swaminathan of the forthcoming picture book, A RAINBOW INSIDE MY BODY, illustrated by Holly Hatam (Viking 2024). She holds an M.A. in English and an M.S. in Kinesiology with a focus on Integrative Wellness, and she is a contemplative writer and holistic teacher, having worked at the K-12 and community college levels for over two decades. She is a yoga teacher, personal trainer, and health coach while also living with invisible illnesses and neurodivergence, and as such, she is passionate about mindfulness, bodily self-determination, and health equity. As the queer daughter of an immigrant, Katherine believes that holistic and inclusive approaches to expression, healing, and growth should be accessible to all.

Connect with Katherine on the social medias: IG, YouTube, FB, LinkedIn, or at katherinekottaras.com. Check out Katherine’s new series, Yoga with Eleonora on YouTube, which helps kids of all ages calm their minds and bodies so they can respond to and communicate their feelings in healthy ways.

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