# my plans for 2010, what do you think?



## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

I wanted to throw my concept for Halloween 2010 your way and see what you all think and perhaps get some ideas/feedback/suggestions. I had issues last year with my garage haunt. Even though I had a "Rules" sign posted stating that the haunt IS too scary for kids under 10 (and it was!) parents still insisted on bring in their little ones and then complained that it wasn't appropriate for children! DUH! I told them that before they went in! I have 3 kids myself and even though they watched me build the whole thing, THEY wouldn't even go near the haunt on Halloween night! We tried to offer an alternative so parents would not take the little ones in the haunt. I had a whole grave yard in my front lawn and my wife was out there making popcorn and handing out candy. I thought maybe that would be enough but I guess it wasn't attractive enough and curiousity got to the parents and they decided to give thier kids nightmares. This year, I want to do 2 separate haunts. A walk through in the front lawn geared for little ones that is still "spooky" looking but without any high-startle scares, and a new garage haunt that will include my big, paved side yard. Here's my plans so far:

The front lawn:

Winding path through the front lawn that leads to my patio where little kids can get their popcorn and/or candy. I want to build graveyard-style fencing to define the pathways and have a few scenes and small props along the way. Props will include my foam headstones from last year (I have 23 of them), a stiring witch props with audio (saying witch-type stuff), a giant spider scene with webs and all that, and one of those peek-a-boo skeleton props. I have tons of lighting to go along with all this stuff and a fog machine for the graveyard scene. This is where my ideas end right now. Any suggestions? I'm not going for "Scary" here, just spooky and fun; attractive to little kids.

THE GARAGE:

This is where I can go nuts. I have a 2 car garage and a 40' long by 12' wide paved side yard! YAY! I lived in a different house last year and was limited to the garage only. My hallways last year were 4 feet wide, this year I'm making them narrower to like 3 feet. Gotta love a little claustophobia! All my scares last year were live actors and our planning wasn't the best. Everyone was supposed to show up and like 1 pm (the haunt opened at 6 pm) so we could do all the logistics and stuff. They showed up at 5 pm. Everyone was kind of doing their own thing and it was very unorganized. That's #1 on my priority list to fix this year. I'm also adding several static and a handfull of animatronic props. I want people to be confused as to what's a live actor and what's a prop. Here are my ideas so far:

Props:
-The hacked gemmy skull at the enterance giving some kind of monolouge, which I'm also going to "corpse"
-I making the walls in high scare areas A LOT sturdier (we had an incident last year that involved some teenager making a new doorway right through my wall in the chainsaw room) and adding more detail to the walls
-A Rocking Granny-type prop for the living room scene as a distraction for the live actor that will complete the scare.
-New drop panels in the hallways. I has one last year but it was too small. Didn't work the way I wanted it to.
-A manually-operated collapsing walls scare in one of the hallways. I want two opposing walls to fall in towards people with a BANG. Maybe a pulley system of some kind? Haven't really got into the planning stages on that yet.
-Body bag room with live actor. Gotta have it. Saw it in some pro haunts and with a strobe light, it was really cool.
-Hooded victim room. Basically some life-sized dummies chained to a wall with hoods over their heads. One will be a live actor. This would be a good room for one of my flickering lights from last year.
- I want to end the haunt with a motion activated set of car head lights and a horn. You exit my haunt right by the street, so I thought that would be perfect.
I am going to include other static props and incorporate the chainsaw again, but have no set plans yet. Any suggestions/comments? Anything will help.

By the way, I'm not trying to take credit for these props as original ideas. I got them off the internet or of the TV shows that air around October showcasing the pro haunts. I just try to modify them to make them affordable and easy to set up. Thanks for all the help.


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## trentsketch (Jul 27, 2009)

I like the front yard idea, though I'm sure you'll still deal with parents that refuse to believe the garage could be that scary.

The peek-a-boo skeleton could still be scary for some of the little ones. Do you plan on making it cute and friendly? It could still be a little spooky if it's popping up with a big grin on its face or a top hat on.

The garage sounds great, so long as there is still a clear path in the narrower hallways with the live actors and animatronic props.


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## The Bloodshed Brothers (Jan 25, 2009)

you could do a "chicken run" the night before for little ones

thats what we are doing this year its just lights and music 


a friend in town does a chicken run and get about 100 people to show up and bring their kids through


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

For the little ones, think tame & cheesy, like scooby doo. Maybe some cute stuff, like smiling pumpkins, or happy & cartoony props & such.

As for the darker side, have a real person/door man to keep out the dumb parents who want to take there 3 year old through something rated pg-13+ & point out the rules. Make no exceptions to the rules you make.

Also make it very clear that you have a tame AND a scary haunt.
Hope this is helpful. I'd love to do 2 as well, but don't have a yard setup that would really work for it.


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## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

> The peek-a-boo skeleton could still be scary for some of the little ones. Do you plan on making it cute and friendly? It could still be a little spooky if it's popping up with a big grin on its face or a top hat on.


I was going to make the skeleton head just bob up and down behind a head stone using an X-mas deer motor so it moves slowly. I was thinking of a smiling skeleton head or something like that.



> The garage sounds great, so long as there is still a clear path in the narrower hallways with the live actors and animatronic props.


I was planning on building spots for the actors to stand in or behind the walls in narrow spots, depending on what their scare calls for


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## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

> The peek-a-boo skeleton could still be scary for some of the little ones. Do you plan on making it cute and friendly? It could still be a little spooky if it's popping up with a big grin on its face or a top hat on.


I was going to make the skeleton head just bob up and down behind a head stone using an X-mas deer motor so it moves slowly. I was thinking of a smiling skeleton head or something like that.



> The garage sounds great, so long as there is still a clear path in the narrower hallways with the live actors and animatronic props.


I was planning on building spots for the actors to stand in or behind the walls in narrow spots, depending on what their scare calls for.

In regard to parents still bringing little kids into the garage haunt, I'll make sure my door person does their job this year. I do this stuff for people to enjoy and I want everyone to have a good experience. I got dragged through a scary haunted house when I was way too young to go through and it wasn't a good experience, that's why I'm trying to provide something that will be fun for the little kids. My kids are 10, 5, and almost 2, and I would like kids their age to be able to have fun without being scared in a bad way.


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## Psyc0 Walrus (Sep 1, 2009)

dude i would love to do a garage haunt lol however my parents will not let me for the life of me anyway as for your plans they look very good and wellthoughtout only one thing... the kids area thing make sure your pic-a-boo skele isnt to scary.. make him have a happy face or something comical LITTLE KIDS GET SPOOKED EASILY!!!


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## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

Psyc0 Walrus said:


> dude i would love to do a garage haunt lol however my parents will not let me for the life of me anyway as for your plans they look very good and wellthoughtout only one thing... the kids area thing make sure your pic-a-boo skele isnt to scary.. make him have a happy face or something comical LITTLE KIDS GET SPOOKED EASILY!!!


For sure. Like I said, I'm going for spooky fun in the yard and not outright terror. That will be reserved for the garage. I saw some non-threatening looking plastic heads (smiling skull, Jack-o-lanterns, Dracula, etc.) at the drug chains last year. Hopefully they have them again this year.


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## madmomma (Jul 1, 2009)

Sounds like you're doing some thoughtful planning. I agree with the others that a smiling skeleton or pumpkin would be good for the little ones, just not clowns. From experience, even adults are frightened by clowns! Good luck!


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## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

madmomma said:


> Sounds like you're doing some thoughtful planning. I agree with the others that a smiling skeleton or pumpkin would be good for the little ones, just not clowns. From experience, even adults are frightened by clowns! Good luck!


I have to plan waaaay in advance to get this stuff done on time. I've got 3 props going right now. I got my hacked gemmy skull working, and now I just have to record a voice for him. I don't want to be on the mic talking through the skull all night, so I'll probably record something on an MP3 player and loop it. I made some of those LED spotlights shown on Monsterlist and they turned out great. Also started my new drop panel and peek-a-boo gravestone character. My family and I went to Disneyland this weekend and after going to the Haunted Mansion I want to build a scrim wall now!


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## Palehorse (Aug 5, 2009)

*disorient them....*

If you have any money left after taxes invest in an 800 watt strobe. You will fall in love. Saw them last year at Halloween Horror nights. I bought two. I just ran a fogger and the strobe attached to a motion detector and people lost their minds it was great. I had a prop on the proch and a live actor dressed as the prop, they didnt know what hit them. Stay strong, rules are rules. remember....liability, liability, liability. Dont let the ACLU ruin your halloween.


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## Ryan Wern (Dec 3, 2009)

Palehorse said:


> If you have any money left after taxes invest in an 800 watt strobe. You will fall in love. Saw them last year at Halloween Horror nights. I bought two. I just ran a fogger and the strobe attached to a motion detector and people lost their minds it was great. I had a prop on the proch and a live actor dressed as the prop, they didnt know what hit them. Stay strong, rules are rules. remember....liability, liability, liability. Dont let the ACLU ruin your halloween.


How much did one of those set you back?


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## DynomiteDaniel (Apr 3, 2012)

So, how did it go? I have the same problems with some parents taking little kids in.....LOL I just laugh at them when they get mad. As much as I hate to.....I will be focusing attention on a smaller section for the little ones. I have 2 kids and love little ones but there is sooooo much for the little ones to do and the teenagers and adults have to just eat it! hmmm, I am still debating.


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