Trixy Treats 2022 BTS Blog & Photos

Hi everyone! I am so excited to release our new work for Trixy Treats, as well as my favorite stories from this project! I have a lot to share with you guys, so let’s go ahead and get into it!

Alright so let’s first take it back to October of 2018. I had just released my first original character, Trixy Treats, to the world and to my complete surprise, the photos went viral. I began my business with a dream and hope that if I kept going forward, it would lead me to where I wanted to be. I had no idea that Trixy would have allowed me to continue to create and leave the job that no longer made me happy.

During the summer of 2018, I was working as a freelance makeup artist and model, and had been for years. In addition to my freelance work, I had a retail job in cosmetics. It had been that way for so long, and the retail aspect became draining over time. It didn’t allow me to create as often as I wanted, or be as creative as I would have liked.

While Brendan was on tour that summer of 2018, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted career wise for my future, and how I could turn these dreams of mine into reality. I kept my idea for Trixy entirely to myself, and moved forward while making some necessary changes in my life.

Fast forward to September of that year when I approached Brendan with the idea of a photo shoot. I gave little to no context, but he was totally down! He then watched me work on bringing everything to life. From painting my hammer, to dying my hair extensions orange. This project was something I wanted to do without any outside opinions. This was something I needed to do for me. To prove myself.

Creating Trixy was the first time in my life that I truly believed in my work and went forward with my vision regardless of my often crippling anxiety that I had been struggling with. I didn’t desire outside opinions while working on her. I wanted to trust my own.

After the unexpected success of our first time working together, I began to think about the other characters I had in mind, but I didn’t want to move on from Trixy quite yet. I had an idea for a more elaborate costume design that I hoped to bring to life in the future.

I began to imagine how I would want her costume to look, and while brainstorming, I came across the most adorable jack o’lantern bells. They didn’t cost much money, but at the time I also didn’t have much to spend. Before leaving my retail job, I took any money I made from Trixy, and invested it into my future projects. I hoped that in doing so, I could one day make this my full-time gig, and I did. I went ahead and purchased the bells, and held onto them for years.

Some of you may remember me talking about the offering I made to the Native Americans at Lake Shawnee in 2020. I ended up mailing 4 of those pumpkin bells to Chris White (owner of Lake Shawnee). I wrote to him and said that those 4 bells represent the 4 looks I had created for my character Trixy Treats, and that I planned on using some of them in the future for her 4th design.

After holding onto the them for 4 years, I am happy to say that I finally designed a costume where I was able to use them. To many, it may seem silly, but for me it represents how far I’ve come and how I chose to believe in myself 4 years ago. I have overcome each obstacle, and even when times were challenging, I stayed focused.

Fast forward to now. Once I had my new design finalized and sketched, I sent the drawing and bells off to the designer who ended up bringing Trixy’s new look to life.

Now it was time for the fun part, finding a location! Just to clarify, I currently have many locations in mind that I have grown very fond of over the past few years. Unfortunately, a lot of these locations are not properly cared for and they often become vandalized and sometimes burn down, which is what happens when they’re not protected. With this most recent project for Trixy, I actually stumbled upon the chosen location very last minute.

There were some delays with the costume which caused certain locations I had in mind to no longer be available during the timeframe I was looking at. With very little time to figure it out, I began to feel overwhelmed. I spent days and days searching, when FINALLY I came across the perfect spot. The location I chose to shoot this project at was the Indiana State Sanatorium.

We immediately reached out and tried to schedule a shoot, and were quickly told that they were no longer doing private rentals at this time. During October they offer haunted tours, and overnight attractions which fill the majority of their schedule this time of year. Well, luckily they were kind enough to work with us and make an exception! To say I was relieved was a huge understatement.

With just a week away from our biggest shoot of the year, I had to tie up a few loose ends and get everything ready to go for our shoot. After sorting everything for our travels, and whatever equipment we needed for that day, I had to wrap up what I planned for Trixy’s new props.

This year I was able to find antique juggling clubs for our shoot at the Sanatorium, which I then designed and painted. I also created custom made tickets with Trixy’s logo all over them. Everything was finished on time and we were finally able to head towards our destination on October 8th, which would allow us to shoot the morning of the 9th!

When we arrived at the hotel, I got everything set up for the transformation process that began at midnight. I attempted to take a nap, but couldn’t sleep because I didn’t trust that I would hear my alarm, so yet again, I pulled an all nighter. I started getting ready at midnight, and we left for the location at about 7AM.

The 40 minute drive to Indiana State Sanatorium was peaceful. Brendan put some music on for me, as we watched the sun begin to come up while the fog rolled in ahead. Very spooky, but most of all very COLD. Have I mentioned yet that it was 30 degrees outside when we arrived? Oh yeah, that part was super fun haha!

While pulling up to the property, it was more gorgeous than I could have imagined. The photos online do not do this place any justice. Brendan and I have said many times since leaving that we barely scratched the surface of the massive property. It keeps going and going, and is so beautifully preserved.

After finding the office, we were greeted by a very kind staff member, who then introduced us to the property owner Gregg Larson. I feel like I’ve said this a few times about past hosts, but Gregg and his coworker could not have been any more accommodating and wonderful. Gregg showed us a map of the property and began to explain where he felt we would get the best shots based on what he saw in front of him, which was me in full Trixy hair and makeup, wearing my Killer Klowns sweats over my costume, and shivering from the cold. Shivering so hard in fact, that my bells were jingling the entire day, which I found to be hilarious. Not so funny at the time, but I can laugh now!

Once Gregg helped us with a game plan, we headed towards the administration building to begin. As most of you know, I’ve been to a few haunted locations, all of which have been incredible. However, what I will say about this place that separates it from anywhere else we’ve been is how truly terrifying it is. One of the first shots we nailed was “Ballistic”. This was taken near the backdoor of the administration building which lead to some stairs that take you to the room with the organ.

To clarify, Lake Shawnee was cold that morning initially, but nothing compared to how cold it was this day. If you look closely at the “Crescendo“ photo, you can see goosebumps on my skin. "Now listen closely and you will hear the jingling of my bells" lol kidding.

While shooting at these locations, I usually feel very at peace. I’m sure being miserably cold the entire time of this shoot didn’t help, but this place had a dark vibe. The energy was entirely different than anything I had previously experienced, and there were multiple times where I felt afraid.

While shooting near the stairs, there was suddenly a strong smell of rotting meat that quickly came and left. Around the corner from those stairs (where I did not venture off to) was the morgue. I’m sure you’re wondering if I checked it out at any other point while we were there that day, and to answer your question, I say hell no haha!

Normally that would intrigue me and I would want to venture into the darkness and try my best to “see” what was there. Because of the dark vibes I felt coming from that place, I stayed as far away as I possibly could.

After taking the photos on the stairs, we quickly headed towards the next level of the building! From the moment we left the spooky morgue behind, there was a shift in energy. Still scary, but less threatening. Sunlight was shining through the windows and the energy felt peaceful.

I shivered on over to the sunbeam that was coming in through the window (very similar to what my chihuahua does at home) and I waited for Brendan to set up the lighting. We took a few shots by the window with the juggling clubs, and moved on to the organ where we spent quite a bit of time. While shooting, it often takes some time to nail the perfect shot, but for this shoot I had to stay moving or I would get too cold and the discomfort would then become visible on my face.

After a few shots at the organ, I needed a break. I went into the car for about 15-20 minutes and tried to thaw out. Did it work? No, but it felt much better than standing in the freezing cold, and it allowed me to pull myself together. At this point we only had an hour and 45 minutes until we needed to get back to our hotel and collect our belongings.

I took a few sips of Monster and headed back inside. We took many pictures by the organ and moved into the next room. At this point, people were starting to show up for their self guided tours of the property. Everyone we came across was very respectful and kept their distance, even though at that point they had every right to be there just as we did. So, thank you, random amazing people for allowing us to wrap the last hour of our shoot!

One of my favorite things about this location was that it’s as though it was left behind and hadn’t been touched since. There was no graffiti, magazines were left in the salon area, and the organ was in tact. Though it has aged greatly, it has been treated with the respect it deserves. Too often with these abandoned locations, people take pleasure in destroying them and breaking things that don’t belong to them.

Gregg and his team do a great job of keeping the property safe from these types people who don’t respect abandoned properties. The textures and colors of this place were to die for. We did not get enough time to explore the entire property because it simply was too big and our time was limited. We’ll definitely have to go back!

While Brendan frantically packed up the lighting equipment, I went exploring, but didn’t get very far. I made my way towards a large room with wheelchairs and found myself in the middle of a hallway. A gentle breeze came through and as I looked behind me I saw some caution tape begin to move. This place had such a dark eerie vibe, and even though the breeze was clearly moving the tape, it felt unsettling.

I usually love to explore these places by myself. In the blog I typed up about our shoot at Saratoga Homestead, I talked about how Brendan went up to the gas station and I was left behind with Steve roaming the property. At no point was I afraid. This location was different. I couldn’t bring myself to walk into the room with the wheelchairs. It felt like I was being physically stopped, and though it was probably just my own fear, I couldn’t go further in my exploration.

Once we were packed up, we headed towards our car and loaded it up. I could see people anxiously arriving at the property with hopes of experiencing something paranormal for themselves! One man who was there with his children asked Brendan if he experienced anything while we were there. Brendan politely said no he hadn’t (or so I thought), and we headed out.

The truth is that, while I was defrosting in the car for those 15-20 minutes, Brendan did in fact for the first time experience something new. While I waited, Brendan took a video walkthrough for all Bad Witch tier members to view of the location. While doing so, I received a text from him saying that he was afraid. I honestly thought he was messing with me, because as I’ve mentioned before, Brendan doesn’t necessarily believe in the paranormal.

He came back to the car and explained that suddenly he felt a chill through his entire body while he was approaching the hall that leads to the morgue. Brendan described it as something unlike anything he had ever experienced before. I wanted to laugh it off, but I already told ya’ll I was afraid of that area, so I’m not even going to attempt to downplay the situation haha!

Once the car was packed up, it was time to leave. I enjoyed the drive away from the property. The entire way back the hotel, Brendan and I talked about how we couldn’t wait to go back. This location surpassed any expectations I had going into it, and I’m excited to explore it again in the future. Maybe when it’s not 30 degrees outside!

When we got back to the hotel, we quickly rushed to our room, but something stopped me at the doorway. There was a penny sitting there on the ground in front of our room. I snapped a picture for you guys, smiled, and put it in my pocket. Another good omen, just like the ladybug from Saratoga Homestead that wouldn’t leave me alone!

I hurried into the hotel room and began quite literally throwing everything into my suitcase. I consider myself to be very organized. I’m one of those crazy people who unpacks minutes after arriving home from a trip, BUT we had to go. I very quickly threw everything in and we were on our way. Well, not until peeling the latex costume off. Ouch!

Brendan, who is also organized, repacked the car and it was time to head back home! I left that day feeling grateful for the opportunity to shoot at such an incredible location, and I could not wait to go home and take a look at what shots we captured together!

When we arrived back home, I unpacked (told ya) and decided to look at the photos the following day. It was getting late and I wanted to look at them with a clear and well-rested mind.

I hope you guys love what we created this month at the Indiana State Sanatorium. I’m excited for you to see everything and to finally reveal this costume design that is so special to me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and allow me to share my stories with you. I love you guys and can’t wait for you to see more photos from this shoot!

Happy launch day! I’ll be speaking with you soon.

Much love!
Angelica