pt 7: the Craft Cottages by Omar Najam

In which guests build their own fiendish familiars, stuffed with cotton, felt and possibly even some more… haunted materials.

Hello all, 

This year I’ll be, over the span of the next thirteen days, describing a Halloween-themed amusement park that I got to develop with Surena Marie, for fun, specifically for 13 Days.

As a big old imagineering nerd, this is a dream project and I’m so excited to share it with you all. Please excuse the shoddy sketches that accompany the overly written descriptions.

Enjoy.

Image by Mirosław i Joanna Bucholc from Pixabay

Far from the sentimental sand dunes of Bonfire Beach, guests will begin to make their way back towards the heart of the park by way of a cobblestone path that carries them up from the beach, through a small canyon, cresting the cliffside and over towards the rolling hills bathed in early afternoon light. Just beyond the curve of the road, trails of chimney smoke will graze the horizon. 

Welcome to Craft Cottage, a collection of small shacks held together by mud and straw and sticks and… assorted shiny objects? 

That’s because this township is run by two of the most recognizable Halloween features: scarecrows and scary crows. The first is a living, breathing, walking construction of burlap and hay, stitched together into a shape familiar and yet uncanny. The second are brilliant, mischievous beasts that love to gather attractive items, imitate voices and flock intimidatingly.

Apart, they are diametrically opposed in their purposes. But together, they are the best of friends. Crows gather discarded objects from the surrounding area and the scarecrows incorporate them into their crafts, which more often than not involve them taking apart and rebuilding their appearances. 

Here guests can learn from the scarecrows how to knit scarves, build little houses for bird friends, bundle farm flora into beautiful decorations. And the crows will teach young guests (and guests young at heart) how to sneak around, impersonate voices, and find needles in haystacks. 

There are also various wonderful eating stalls that offer fare such as farmhouse onigiri, chocolate haystack desserts, and crow-gathered roasted nuts. 

But perhaps the most intriguing activity is the Doll House at the edge of the cul-de-sac. A mostly unremarkable little shack with a trail of smoke drifting up. But inside, guests will find an assortment of fabrics and buttons, as well as threads and paints and little bits of clothing. Here, guests can assemble their own dolls, in any shape or fashion that they desire. What makes this activity so special though is that in the back are a collection of haunted objects. Coins from battles long ago, keys belonging to doors no one dare open, love letters that brought only misery and strife, burnt matchsticks, and so on. 

Guests are invited to bury one of these objects in their doll, which, in many ways, will haunt the creation. After being sewn up, these dolls will have an eerie and unnerving aura. 

Why include such evil in the park? 

Well, haunted dolls have a long history in popular culture and campfire stories. But it’s a misunderstood history. Dolls are often regarded as items of misfortune. But the truth is that haunted dolls only bring misfortune to those who threaten their owners. A haunting is an illumination, a gift of life, and at the heart of life is choice. 

If someone wishes ill-intent on the doll owner, the doll will respond. And that response can be… scary. But is it any scarier than the ill-intent? 

So while they are creepy dolls, guests will leave this cul-de-sac with little protectors. Totems that will keep watchful (button) eyes on home and hearth. 

Because when something is made with love, made with good-intent, it’s not a haunting but a blessing. Even if something looks perturbing, it can offer just as much care as anything else. 

Hopefully guests take this sentiment with them as they leave the hut with their little protectors back out into the town run by scarecrows and scary crows. Creatures and creations that have come together to make even more wonders. 

And if guests take some more time to think on these collections of symbols and metaphors, they might even realize that all of us are, in our own ways, creepy little dolls constantly being made and remade. 

What you keep in your heart makes all the difference. 

Bring your little guardians with you to the next stop because before us on the path is a swamp. A swamp that might just swallow us whole. Or is it the other way around?