Man-spooky-Halloween-decorations-viral – Newsweek

The original Halloween production that a man and his friend created together has amazed viewers online.

John Essex, known online as @johnessex3, took to Reddit on October 29 to share a video of the little holiday miracle he and Adam Kasper made — a tabletop cemetery diorama with flying ghost illusions. The post, which was upvoted more than 57,000 times, sparked applause from online viewers. One wrote: “Next level, congratulations!”

The footage shows the “custom-made” diorama placed on a small dining table. Inside the square box was an elaborately assembled cemetery. The 44-year-old Essex had added floating ghosts to the display, which hovered over the atmospheric graveyard, without using any special effects.

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“My friend and I built this 1:48 scale tabletop diorama for Halloween 2024,” Essex said in a comment on the post. “It uses the 'Pepper's Ghost' illusion with AtmosFX ghosts.”

“This is not VR or phone-based AR; You can see this in real life without any special equipment,” he added.

Essex, in Indianapolis, said Newsweek: “I have known my friend Adam since I was a child. When we were 20, we built elaborate front yard venues on Halloween to entertain neighborhood families.”

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“As busy dads, we don't have the time in our lives for this like we used to, but we still love the Halloween season and the idea of ​​delighting and astounding people.”

Kasper, 43, added: “I believe in the balance between work, private life, basement and hobby. Sometimes you have to do something creative with no intention other than to bring joy to family and friends. The experience may be motivating for my future projects, but it is also difficult. “So that we can be ahead next year.”

Essex later told viewers that he and Kasper had no plans to mass-produce the creation, which was merely a fun activity for the two friends.

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It was Kasper who first began building dioramas with intricate weathering and detailing. A few months ago in Essex he suggested the idea of ​​creating a cemetery scene for Halloween.

“I told him we could do a Pepper's Ghost illusion to make it seem like ghosts were flying in and out of the scene, without any special observation equipment,” Essex said. “Pepper's Ghost is an ancient stage illusion technique from the 19th century used by Disney for the ghosts in its Haunted Mansion ride.”

“It's conceivable we could do it in miniature, and I had been using AtmosFX ghosts to haunt the front of my house for several years; “We just had to translate that to a 1:48 scale,” he continued.

The project required a lot of sketching and testing over several “lunch work sessions” in late summer, but in the end it came together spectacularly and amazed viewers.

Reddit users have reacted positively to the Halloween presentation. More than 600 users took to the comments section to express their love for the creative statement piece. Some commenters said they now feel inspired to tackle their own creative projects.

“Just like the Disney Haunted Mansion! I love it. Great job,” one viewer wrote.

Another added: “Thank you for teaching me something new today! Pepper’s illusion is fascinating and I’m working on scale models to really get it going.”

“Could you post a tutorial on how it was done? I really like this and want to make one,” one commenter wrote.

“The video clip has been viewed 3.8 million times and shared over 10,000 times,” Essex said. “It was a surreal experience, but the response was overwhelmingly positive.”

“This little diorama has captured people's imaginations in ways we didn't expect, but I love that it has inspired people to explore new avenues and push this concept further,” he continued.

Essex said that as two dads, he and Kasper have always found a special kind of magic in the spookiest season, adding, “We couldn't be prouder of the life this little Halloween project has gained.”

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