Creative Inspiration: Perfessor Evil

Back in 2005, when I was art director on HGTV's Outer Spaces, the executive producer asked me to help research, easy but impressive looking, decorating projects for a possible Halloween special on the DIY network. That show never happened, but in my web searching I discovered Perfessor Evil's HauntProject.com and was instantly a fan of.


What I enjoyed most was the simple layout that was Pinterest before Pinterest. Photos of great projects to scroll down and look at, each linked to their origin site (and by the way, just celebrated adding it's 1000th project). Perfessor Evil had created a portal to the vast world of Halloween prop makers I never knew existed.

A few years later, I stopped by the site as I often did and was happily surprised to see that not only one of my prop projects had been found and posted, but Para Abnormal was also added to Haunt Project's web comics link page. It made me feel I was now a legit member of the haunting community.

Perfessor Evil was actually Rik Cary. Rik unexpectedly passed away this weekend. He made Halloween decorating even more creative for me as a consistent source of inspiration.

Here's a fun video of Rik's 2011 home haunt.

6 comments:

  1. That is sad. I remember when I sent him a link to my decidedly tame yard haunt and he was kind enough to include a link. Hopefully, the site will continue in his memory.

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    1. Ryan,

      I hope the site stays up too. There's so much he's archived that could inspire others in the future.

      I also passed a few project links to Rik later over the years and he always posted. I loved he was not a critic of work and just shared ideas.

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  2. I had the pleasure of chatting with him a few times at CalHaunts Norcal meetings. He was one of those really genuinely nice guys.

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  3. Sorry to hear the sad new. I had visited this site many times over the years but had sort of forgotten it recently. I also hope the site stays up since I've just now rediscovered it.

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  4. He will be missed. I am so sad about his passing - he definitely was an innovator (like you said, pinterest but for the haunt community - years ahead of its time).
    I heard over on HalloweenForum (I'm Frankie's Girl over there) that the site will be maintained. I'm hoping that it's permanent.

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  5. Oh my goodness! He's one of those constants in the world of haunting for me, and we'd send an email once or twice a year. It's a big loss. I certainly hope the site stays. My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

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