You seem to have several scenes that could be easily incorporated into a larger narrative. You have a cemetery already in sight, and "extending" it into your haunt has been suggested and is brilliant.
You asked for scenes you could include in your haunted wood. I have some thoughts on that.
Are the woods naturally scary? Why? I think because they are not tamed, they are not "smooth", and nature cares not one whit for us and our big brains. Stuff in the woods will eat us, and we cannot see it coming. It's not arranged for our convenience, and our hyperactive imaginations see all kinds of patterns in the trees and shadows.
I have a story in my mind. I wonder if you will see it too. Will the guests be self led or have a guide? I like the guide, though it is not necessary. With or without a guide, they should be told that whatever happens, keep moving down the trail. A groundskeeper has lived here for years in a small cottage on the trail, and they can go to him if they need help.
Fog is everywhere. Firelight illuminates the way. Our two guides - why are they armed? - lead the way. Or maybe they just tell us the way. Cowards.
1. Eyes.
I have a few thoughts about eyes. First, eyes watching you are generally creepy. You can make eyes that seem to follow the guests pretty easily and cheaply. Here's a
LINK.
We see a set here and there at random along the trail, in bushes and even up in the trees.
Then a kind of "dot room" - maybe an actual room, but even better if it's an enclosure of woven sticks and vines. Of course, the dots would be eyes. They don't even have to be hollow face eyes - just glowing stickers with pupils. Be sure to
vary the pupil types. Anyway, like any other dot room, an actor is camouflaged in the scene, and scares them.
Blinking glowing eyes like
THESE watch at various points along the trail.
I saw a huge board once that had a thousand nails in it. On each hung a small reflective circle. The overall effect suggested water as stray winds made them move and reflect the light differently. Could something like that, on a smaller scale, make convincing eyes here and there? Maybe nailed to trees, or boards on trees, in pairs?
2. Off the trail over there is a ghost. We know it's a ghost because although it looks like a woman, we can see straight through her.
Chicken Wire Ghost
Basically, it's a human figure made of chicken wire so you can see through it. My thought it it could be painted in glow in the dark paint and illuminated with a blacklight. That would be cool. If you light the rest of the scene with a red flood light, it will be clear that they are seeing through the figure. A strategically placed limb or something in front of the red light could cast a shadow on the form, preventing the red and UV from interfering with one another.
3. Axworthy ghost.
a specral shape zips in front of some trees and behind others, in and out of hidden UV LED mini spots. In case you need it, here's a
LINK. OK,
maybe two.
4. Werewolf. What would a haunted woods be without a werewolf? Or werebear, though I doubt you'd find many who would see enough to know the difference. Check this out - I just was directed to a
LINK showing how to make a girl turn into a gorilla before their eyes. How easy to make it a woman into a werewolf? Maybe in her human form, she tells how 20 years ago tonight she lost her little girl to the horror of the woods? Maybe they were picnicking not far from here. Her husband had gone back to the car for a surprise. A beast attacked them and the girl ran into the woods while she - the mother - tried in vain to fight the beast. Where is she? Then she changes into a beast. The werewolf "Attacks"! How cool would it be if the werewolf was a played by a man much larger than the woman? Wearing strips of fabric like the woman had on, of course. How cool if she was one of two guides? Assuming they were there to begin with. Cowards. With the wolf behind, the only thing to do is move forward.
5. Birds. Dollar store crows can be painted different shades to create many different birds. Do they move? Depends on your budget. Sound effects, my friend.
6. FCG - Another old standby that I think would be even better in the woods. Here's one
LINK, in case you are unfamiliar. So, why not expand the basic plan to make it a giant spider? Spiders live in the woods. A nest of spiders would be a creepy think to walk into on a trail. Sure, you can have a bunch of web and fakes spiders of all kinds, but a giant spider bobbing up and down and moving its legs individually? Yeah. A "
Spider victim" prop is a classic. Can we just make out that the victim is dressed like the guides?
7. Levitating girl. If you have an actor who is willing to stand on a platform secured to a tree, you can make her levitate there. Just dress her in a white dress - except her white stockings and shoes are stuffed with pool noodles and are in front of her real legs - which are all in flat black. She should be clearly off the ground, and the white legs should extend below the platform. Everything should be flat black but the parts you want to appear to be part of her. UV helps here. She can bob a bit to help the illusion, and ask for help. She is lost and scared, and wants to find her mommy and daddy. they are lost, too.
A peppers Ghost could be used instead of an actor, though to really sell it, it needs to be triggered only when the guests get to the scene.
In my mind, she's dressed in an overly frilly dress, inappropriate for the woods. One half of her face is torn, as if by claws. She would turn that part away from the guests at first. Then she would turn to face them. I imagine her eyes getting wide, looking behind the guests, and she says "Mommy?" Then the werewolf roars and charges again! Unfortunately, the other guide never had a chance to draw a weapon before being killed. Find the groundskeeper! Assuming the guides came this far. Cowards.
8. Trees. Nothing scary about trees, right? They are everywhere, and pretty much succumb to whatever we wish to do to them. Not
walking trees! Standing there, minding their own business until a bunch of guests stumble upon them unaware. Then they move, making horrific noises and bringing the woods to life! Of course, you could do other
haunted trees throughout the haunt. I personally would save it for later though.
THIS is what I would do earlier.
9. The grounds keeper. The cottage is not exactly what we expect. More of a shack - or even a shanty. skins nailed to the walls. Is
that one human? Stains on the ground. An axe - not in a stump, but in the wall. claw marks on the rotting boards. The door bursts open, and there he is, chainsaw roaring! "Where is she!?!?!" he screams "Tell me!!!" Whoa. Let's get out of here!
10. Almost done. There are the lights marking the exit. A roar from the left. It's the werewolf, attacking! A roar from the right - it's a chainsaw! Run! Only as we flee do we realize the wolf and groundskeeper are battling each other. They crash into the dark, and all goes silent.
Time to go home.
I know there are all kinds of ideas out there for lighting and sound effects and whatnot.
I refer you to Revenant and his Theater of the Mind segment on HauntCast, where he recommended a soundtrack that would allow even the blind to know what is happening in each scene.
None of these ideas are original to me, but I hope in presenting them here I have helped in some way.