# Gore vs Unsettling Ambiance



## MurrayTX

I watched a few YouTube bids from pro haunts. The big ones seen to love screams and bizarre gore. As a yard haunt, I am on the fence. I have props for both. Since we all likely have limited space, we don't have a great concern with desensitizing like a big haunt does. But what are your thoughts on the balance between gore and ambient scares. Or are there any purists as yard haunters focusing on only gore or only ambience?


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## fontgeek

Gore for the sake of gore I can do without. If it helps tell part of the story then it's okay, up to a certain point. With a pro-haunt, where you have to pay to get in, they can set the rules and guidelines for who gets to see what, with a home haunt, especially a front yard haunt or display, you don't have that kind of control. and leaving little kids terrified of your house, Halloween, etc., doesn't help you your favorite holiday.
I think a lot of haunters get caught up in the special effects or a scene from a movie, but kind of lose the connection to Halloween itself.
Just my two cents worth.


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## The Watcher

Blood and Gore is for older people.Half a body laying on the ground pumping out blood will give small kids nightmares. I let little kids go through my haunt during the day. But I have stuff that will scare the crap out of grown men and women. So you need to look at what group of people you are trying to entertain. My first years I didn't use any gore. I relied on spitters and surprise. I also used a lot of animal props. If you are running a neighbor hood haunt with most kids under 12 coming to get candy. You don't need gore in my opinion. Where I live I don't get many tot's. So I have a party for older folks. My friends bring their kids by the the day after. Skeletons, mummies, witches, clowns and pirates are great things to build around. With out have a head roll off to some little girls foot. The cheap gemmy props put some kids in a stat of panic.


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## RoxyBlue

Not a fan of gore in general. We have one severed head prop which probably would not have made it into our yard display, but I wasn't with Spooky1 when he bought it We also set up a birdbath with eyeballs and a crow holding one, and that one is always popular, and that's as close to gore as we come. As fontgeek noted, if you're catering to kids (and we do get young ones on Halloween as well as teens), you want to keep it spooky but still fun.


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## MurrayTX

My wife is concerned since likely 60% of our many TOTs are under 12 that I should show restraint at least near the candy area. Let me add likely 80% of my clientele also speak very little English. I can hardly warn them or plead to not take the youngest to my yard haunt down the side alley. Still, I don't want to neuter my whole haunt. Repeated gore is the only thing I am really considering avoiding.


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## The Halloween Lady

I generally agree with everyone else. We have a really big adult bash, so my more intense displays are inside and in the back yard. The front yard I try to leave more neighbor and children friendly. Still really scary (with slight gore) but not as disturbing.


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## fontgeek

Murray, you can tweak your haunt and it's signs to reflect and inform your guests in different languages. Having a sign that gives a message in English on top, then repeats it in Spanish, Chinese, etc. beneath it, or have an identical sign to the original but with the other language used on it. But the actual use of gore for a haunt that will primarily be seen by little kids will cause problems regardless of the language they speak.
This sounds like your haunt is more for yourself rather than the kids.


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## Spooky1

We go for more on the creepy ambiance than gore. If you have a walk-through or party that caters to teens or adults gore can be fine, but since our yard haunt is for ToTs, we aim for a fun scare, not to gross out anyone.


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## fontgeek

Put yourself in the place of the parents of the young kids. Would you want your little kids exposed to that kind of gore and horror? Would you want to deal with the nightmares, and the fear of going out on Halloween?
If you want gore, keep an isolated section for the adults, and keep the kids side spooky but friendly.


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## Ramonadona

Yeah, not a big fan of gore either. Some blood, sure...but plan on mixing props...some not so scary and some kinda scary. The TOTs though, will not be to close to the scary props. That way it should not scare the b-geez-us out of the little ones and hopefully the older, more inquisitive ones will appreciate the more "adorable" props.


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## scarrycher

DITO to all of the above


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## DynomiteDaniel

hmmm. I am trying to run my home haunt in 2 stages. I will have a tame first section that will be about 4 or 5 minutes. Everyone will go through this part and Candy will be right at the end of this section. At this point everyone has a choice to continue or leave. From this point on I plan on scaring the crap out of everyone who continues. Gore will play a part my friends....GORE will play a part! 

Last year we had one continuous haunt. I warned EVERYONE but we still had lots of pissed off moms. All of the Dads loved it. THis year I will not feel bad at all is someone decides to continue through and we will bar nothing.


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## fontgeek

Sounds like you are in for a repeat of last year.


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## DynomiteDaniel

fontgeek said:


> Sounds like you are in for a repeat of last year.


You think so? Even if I go through the trouble of having 2 separate sections? Heck it is like I will have 2 separate haunts. That would be a total bummer.


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## MurrayTX

I see 2 big challenges for anyone who sets up a haunt. First, young kids terrify easily while parents respond to that in ways a haunter can't really prevent. Secondly, even if one sets up a segregated haunt (part kids, part adult) some parents are still going to lead the youngest ones over to check it out. So while I will try to minimize kid trauma, I see it as a near hopeless battle. Rather focus on the fun of building a haunt and let the complainers froth while they walk away with their free candy.


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## N. Fantom

I always go full out gore. Especially 3 years ago when I did my funeral home theme. It was a horrible bloody hell hole, filled with the stench of burning flesh, the sounds of slopping intestines, and pile after pile of human innards and I didn't have a single compliant. But that was the walk through. I always have a more family oriented display in the front yard and a very intense walk through in the back. My secret is to not let anyone under the age of 12 in at all. I even had a friend of mine (she's a baby sitter) stand by the entrance and watch the kiddies while their parents went through.


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## goneferal

With my work, I am not a fan of gore in my haunt. I'd feel bad if a family member or friend of a dead loved one saw my haunt and was offended.


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## Jaybo

We generally do not have much gore, but that's really not the problem with the little kids. They're overactive little imaginations will create things in their heads much worse than what you've really added to your yard. We had a real problem just getting the kids to walk up the sidewalk. LOTS of left over candy. 

So, we came up with a solution. 

My wife and I both carry bags with little plastic costume rings. We call these our "Rings of Protection". We inform the little ones that the rings have magical powers that will ward off any monsters in the haunt so that they can get to the candy. All of our actors know to act afraid and to run away from the kids who hold up the rings. We also take the kids by the hand and escort them to the candy, all the time announcing that the kids have the rings of protection. We really ham it up for the little ones. They usually forget to be scared and really get into the act. Some of them will even chase our actors. It's great fun!

You really can't separate the age groups at a home haunt unless you run two different events, so you might as well go for the one that you enjoy the most. Just realize that if you take it too extreme, you will usually get a few upset parents. That's ok if you are prepared for the consequences, and do your best to forewarn them.

I usually find the gore is not really necessary. It really does not take that much to scare people. Just find ways to get in their head, and they will do the work for you.


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## fontgeek

While the gore, burnt flesh, etc., may be fun or funny for you, if you terrify little kids, you scare off future haunters rather than initiating them into the enjoyment of the holiday and all of your hard work. As I said before, if you are only doing the haunt for your enjoyment, then build it and enjoy it by yourself, but if you are building this for the public, then you need to build it with them in mind.
When you read about people who have phobias, do you ever wonder how they got those fears? Like the fear of clowns, the little kids were probably forced into a confrontation they weren't able to understand, and while the clowns didn't do anything to scare the kids on purpose, they caused life long fears that keep those people away from clowns. Well, it works the same for doing haunts for little kids.


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## Troll Wizard

I have to say that I believe gore has replaced a lot of what used to be scary in movies. It seems the more gore the better in Hollywood these days. I remember a time when movies used suspense and fright to accomplish what now has been replaced with gore. 

I believe with fontgeek gore has it's place, if it goes along with the storyline then use it if needed. Like telling a true story or something along that line. But I think it is overused today in Hollywood, it seems that every horror flick has gore in it. Or with remakes same thing, overuse of gore. 

Now to use gore in a home haunt, I think you would need to feel out what type of neighborhood you live in. If you have a large amount of small children, then cater to their needs which would mean no gore. If it's mainly teens and adults then go ahead and have some things that make people turn their heads. I would suggest to use it in moderation, don't overdo it. The main thing I'm trying to say here, is that gore is not scary. It is designed for one purpose only and that is SHOCK VALUE!!!! 

I like a good scare, but I like to use my imagination, I like the suspense that builds up from not knowing whats around the corner. Let me anticipate whats lurking behind the curtain, let me guess who's going to jump out at me from behind the door. I don't need gore to be scared, just let me jump out at someone from behind something in the dark and say BOO! :jol:


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## Lunatic

Not that I have anything against gore but my haunt is more of a creepy ambience. It's mostly focused on my side yard where the graveyard is located. I like that people can use there imagination to creep themselves out expecting a startle. Not that I want to dissapoint anyone who's expecting a scare but I don't like to startle because that can **** off some people. My haunt usually scares a couple young tots but the parents are cool about it.


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## HalloweenZombie

Gore is too easy to do. Creepy is more challenging. I've kept gore out of my home haunt for the most part. I'll be introducing some gore into the new pro haunt, but I'll still use it sparingly. As much as I don't care for it (gore doesn't impress me), other people seem to like it a lot. Sometimes you have to think about what your actors and audience wants or can tolerate. If you've got younger kids visiting your haunt, gore probably is best left out.


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## Lord Homicide

HalloweenZombie said:


> Gore is too easy to do. Creepy is more challenging.


Agree 100%. It's easy to paint fake blood on fake guts and call it macaroni. A psychologically terrifying haunt the way to go in my book (and scarier) - with gore accents. Who doesn't get scared when undead or spirits stalk you whether you believe in ghosts or not?

But who asked me anyways? heh


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## Sawtooth Jack

No real gore for me either. I want a creepy atmosphere and a focus on Halloween and Halloween archetypes. And while I'm all for a fright here and there, I'm not trying to recreate certain professional haunted attractions...whose themes often have more to do with torture and horror than they do with Halloween. The difference for me being, I can enjoy a horror movie or story all year long, but actual Halloween and its folksy trappings only happen once a year, and that is what I want to have fun with! 

...And I love a GOOD haunted attraction, sadly of which there are few.


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## diggerc

I am not a fan of gore in my haunting I always saw Halloween as time of spirits and maybe evil demons, I go for an old, dusty, neglected atmosphere much like the Haunted mansion minus the comedy, not slaughter, but that's me. The dead don't bleed.


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## diggerc

Now that's what I'm talking about.


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## DynomiteDaniel

diggerc said:


> I am not a fan of gore in my haunting I always saw Halloween as time of spirits and maybe evil demons, I go for an old, dusty, neglected atmosphere much like the Haunted mansion minus the comedy, not slaughter, but that's me. The dead don't bleed.


I like that last quote. I never really thought about it that way.


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## Dr. Scarecrow

PG-13 haunted mansion, best I can describe my goals. I find gore to be more of a cop out, same with startle scares. Spooky is the operative word for me. Morbid, gross and disturbing are all out for me. But I have a toddler and our neighborhood is all young kids...


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## Lord Homicide

diggerc said:


> I am not a fan of gore in my haunting I always saw Halloween as time of spirits and maybe evil demons, I go for an old, dusty, neglected atmosphere much like the Haunted mansion minus the comedy, not slaughter, but that's me. The dead don't bleed.


Diggerc, you are right in tune with me. They are called haunted houses, not slaughter houses or gore houses (well, not called _gore_ houses in the land of the living - heh).


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## MurrayTX

How about a middle category, where there are no flailing intestines and other wetworks, but the props are manufactured in a gory image. I am thinking of some of the pretty amazing masks I have seen where the decomposing circus face is bad enough to have my wife ask me to turn the page because she is a bit freaked out by it. No need for spurting blood...just put such a mask on a dummy and prop it into your scene. Is different than putting in a skeleton or an actor with wild make-up. But does seem quite gory if you really look at it. Gore-lite?


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## diggerc

MurrayTX said:


> How about a middle category, where there are no flailing intestines and other wetworks, but the props are manufactured in a gory image. I am thinking of some of the pretty amazing masks I have seen where the decomposing circus face is bad enough to have my wife ask me to turn the page because she is a bit freaked out by it. No need for spurting blood...just put such a mask on a dummy and prop it into your scene. Is different than putting in a skeleton or an actor with wild make-up. But does seem quite gory if you really look at it. Gore-lite?


Some corruption of the grave is a good thing on Halloween night.


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## jaege

I am not trying to put anyone down, but gore is the easy choice. Cheap scares, at best. Very popular with the unimaginative IMO (or someone with a limited budget). Successfully using ambiance for scares shows the true skill of the haunter IMO.

Myself I have more of a spooky/goofy haunt ala Disney. I use gaudily painted bluckys and happy JOL, goofy scarecrows, and funny animated tombstones. Nothing too realistic, no corpsing, definitely no blood or gore, or stray body parts.

I aim toward the younger TOTs, so try to keep it light.


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## DeadSpider

diggerc said:


> I am not a fan of gore in my haunting I always saw Halloween as time of spirits and maybe evil demons, I go for an old, dusty, neglected atmosphere much like the Haunted mansion minus the comedy, not slaughter, but that's me. The dead don't bleed.


That's my take on it too.


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## fontgeek

I think people, in general, see way too much gore in their daily lives. Add to that the "entertainment" (my) industry and people get saturated with horror, real or fantasy. The horror movies and shows have to keep upping the ante in what they depict, and many haunters take horror movies as the goal or measuring stick to emulate or be judged by. As stated in the previous post, the "Gore" angle seems to show a lack of imagination on the part of the haunter, and it fosters/festers the belief that somehow all of the blood and guts, misery, and pain are part of Halloween. I think that haunts like The Haunted Mansion do so well because they don't embrace the horrors of real, everyday life, but let us visit a bit of the supernatural with a bit of humor and music instead.
While the gore may fascinate some, it, to stay fresh, has to get more and more graphic to keep some element of surprise for the guests. On it's own, after you've been through a slaughterhouse scene you start to get numb to more of the same, so year after year those haunts get worse and worse, and your market gets smaller and smaller. There seems to be an almost cult following of some teenagers with the gore for gore's sake, but I don't understand why or what it has to do with Halloween and haunts.


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## hedg12

I've never used gore in my yard. I personally don't find it scary, & I don't need it for shock value. To me grossness doesn't add anything.

I used to strive for eerie creepy ambience, but lately I've even moved away from that to more of a comedic, rated G display. Most of our tot's are very young (most were 6 & under last year) & I try to keep the display from frightening them. Even at that I have to be careful - last year I had a thunderclap in one of my routines that sent a few tots running.


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## Troll Wizard

fontgeek said:


> I think people, in general, see way too much gore in their daily lives. Add to that the "entertainment" (my) industry and people get saturated with horror, real or fantasy. The horror movies and shows have to keep upping the ante in what they depict, and many haunters take horror movies as the goal or measuring stick to emulate or be judged by. As stated in the previous post, the "Gore" angle seems to show a lack of imagination on the part of the haunter, and it fosters/festers the belief that somehow all of the blood and guts, misery, and pain are part of Halloween. I think that haunts like The Haunted Mansion do so well because they don't embrace the horrors of real, everyday life, but let us visit a bit of the supernatural with a bit of humor and music instead.
> While the gore may fascinate some, it, to stay fresh, has to get more and more graphic to keep some element of surprise for the guests. On it's own, after you've been through a slaughterhouse scene you start to get numb to more of the same, so year after year those haunts get worse and worse, and your market gets smaller and smaller. There seems to be an almost cult following of some teenagers with the gore for gore's sake, but I don't understand why or what it has to do with Halloween and haunts.


I agree 100%! The more you see of gore in movies, the more we become immune to the real world around us. We saw the horrors of the Vietnam War first hand because of television bringing it to us for the first time. We didn't have to watch things like newsreels which was seen during World War 2, which you had to go to the theaters to see them. We see tragic and terrible things happening today around the world in an instant, and we just tend to sit there and not be bothered by it. Unless it effected us personally.

We have become numb (as fontgeek stated) to the awful things that happen to us in real life. I think a lot of it has to do with the movies that are presented to us these days, and it's not just horror movies. They seem to be pushing the envelope to do more and more. Each one has to top the other and the sequels have to be better than the last.

It's one thing to have a mad scientist operating on a body in a haunt, its another thing when you start having that same mad doctor start ripping an spewing blood and guts all over the place just to make a point. As I said earlier it takes away the imagination of one wondering what he is doing to that poor person to make him scream like that.

I too don't understand what gore ever had to do with Halloween and for that matter haunts of any kind.

Webster describes the word "haunt' as: a place often visited - to visit often; to pervade.

Where in the world "gore" fits in, well you tell me? :jol:


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## kevin242

I try to maintain a "dry" scene, meaning that most of the props are dessicated. I do have one gory vignette, but the whole effect is supposed to be that of morbid humor. Too much blood detracts from the scene. Brown paint is just as scary as red paint.


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## Darkmaster

The only place I have seen some realistic gore is in the movies. I haven't seen a haunt where the "gore" looks real. To me I see botched paint to simulate gore. When I see this in the haunts, I'm not impressed or affected by it.
You can have good scares without bloody scenes. You need good actors to accomplish this.


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## scourge999

Totally going with Ambiance. Something about an unkept house, cobwebs and sinister lighting will tell anyone.....somethings bad happened here or is about to. I think that's why attractions like Disney's The Haunted Mansion have such staying power. Being surrounded by just enough light to make out your own terrifying story gives credit to the folks brave enough to wander into your madness.


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## Paul Delacroix

*Gory vs. Eerie*

I'm a big fan of gore in films, but in haunts, blood effects do not seem very impressive to me. Perhaps because the blood effects are hard to do well in a haunt...the blood is usually too dark, looks painted on, not generally doing a lot of pumping or dripping onto fresh clothing, and so on.

What I feel would be most terrifying, in a haunt, would be a good Pepper's Ghost effect combined with an indoor maze.


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## TheOneAndOnlyKelly

I avoid gore myself. I prefer my undead dry and dusty, I guess


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## spong8

Gore is cheap, but it isn't something really to be looked down upon. It is a tool, just like creepy atmosphere, sound, lighting, etc. when combined well they generally go unnoticed. The problem about the kids being to scared is a fault on the haunter. Know your demographic, you got a bunch of teens in the neighborhood, focus on them. If you got a bunch of young kids, focus on them. Neighborhoods grow backwards or forwards, grow your haunt with it.


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## The Rotten Pumpkin

spong8 said:


> when combined well they generally go unnoticed.


Well stated.

In my haunts I generally strive for an overall creepy atmosphere with fresh gore thrown in to deepen the plot. I use the ambiance created by the creepy sets to prove that something happened in the past (backstory) and the gore to prove that something _is happenning now_ (plot). Gore can be very cheesy if the haunter assumes that all he/she needs to scare people is Great Stuff and red paint, and I think that's what many other haunters think of when they hear "gory haunt." Like I said above, my haunts are all about creepy, detailed sets with a little frest blood, but hey, that's just my personal preference.


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## Terrormaster

I never ever use gore in my display. To me gore is nothing but a cheap scare tactic overused by Hollywood and way too many pro-haunts. I always tend to avoid cliches and movie tropes when possible. I design most of my scenes to be unsettling and creepy. 

I try to attack as many senses as possible using imagery, ambient soundtracks, well placed lighting, fog and sometimes even scents. I like to delve into their comfort zones then make them uncomfortable. It's way more fun to watch them walk cautiously through your haunt getting lost in the setting scaring the crap out of themselves way more than any pneumatic ever could. A slow descent into madness beats out a cheap startle scare or over the top gore any day in my book.

Ancient creepy ruins, creatures of my own created mythology, and rotting dusty old corpses. That's how I roll.


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## Johnny Thunder

Use what works. Some people react & enjoy cliches, while others react to creepy.

Do what you dig. Don't worry about the masses or public opinion.


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## Hysteria17

I personally think that rooms and rooms of sensless gore is unscary and pointless. I think the unsettling ambiance is most important, and gore should be place where it makes since in the storyline of your haunt.


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## DynomiteDaniel

I really have fun with Gore! For some reason it is fun and I love the reactions I get. Am I wrong for liking Gore? NO! Are you wrong if you don't like gore? NO! Can't quite figure out why people are saying it is a cop-out or lazy if you use gore in the haunt. Really? You can say the same thing about someone who puts out 50 tombstones and a few bones or has a few strobes and spooky music.


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## jaege

I would not call someone who used 50 tombstones and a few bones lazy, and as to unimaginative, that would depend on the setting. Are they trying to make a full graveyard? Is sound and lighting used? Fog? A big graveyard could be pretty spooky. 

Anyone can have a guy in a hockey mask covered in blood, wielding a chainsaw, startle little kids and teenage girls. Where is the imagination in that? After all, we have all seen that is about 20 movies. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is still unimaginative and bland. Although there is nothing wrong with liking it. Someone has to order vanilla ice cream.:jol:


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## DynomiteDaniel

jaege said:


> I would not call someone who used 50 tombstones and a few bones lazy, and as to unimaginative, that would depend on the setting. Are they trying to make a full graveyard? Is sound and lighting used? Fog? A big graveyard could be pretty spooky.
> 
> Anyone can have a guy in a hockey mask covered in blood, wielding a chainsaw, startle little kids and teenage girls. Where is the imagination in that? After all, we have all seen that is about 20 movies. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is still unimaginative and bland. Although there is nothing wrong with liking it. Someone has to order vanilla ice cream.:jol:


:rolleyekin:


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## fontgeek

I don't brand everyone who uses gore as being lazy or unimaginative, I guess my stance is based more upon the haunt being entertaining to the guests and relating to Halloween rather than grossing them out or scaring away future haunters from the enjoyment we've had for decades. If your guests are little kids, you do Halloween and haunting a mis-justice because those little kids get what they see at that age stuck in their head as what the holiday are about. Rather than having fun they are truly terrorized and end up hating Halloween, not to mention the nightmares the parents will have to put up with. You, the haunter, have to use some common sense in what you show and who you show it to. While I'm not a big fan of gore for gore's sake, I can see it being used in some scenes quite effectively, providing it's used or shown in front of the right crowd.


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## Haunted Spider

Having been in pro haunts, done the make up gore, set up the gore scenes, and everything in between, I have decided with my home to leave the gore to the haunts. You pay to get scared there and you know what you are paying for. Kind of like watching an R rated movie in the theaters. You know there will be blood, sex, nudity, violence etc. But you wouldn't expect that to be on the screen of a movie shown at a local park for a free event. 

I apply the same logic to my home when I decorate. I go for ambiance and all around spooky fun without any of the blood, body parts, or gore. Skeletons climbing the house, yes, those are fun. A hanging guy in the tree, kids didn't pay to see that. 

Even though you are doing a yard haunt vs my display, you are not charging anything so kids that would normally chicken out and not pay for a haunt may go through yours not knowing what is inside or how much they can handle. 

Ultimately it is your call. You can create one heck of an atmosphere with ambiance and startles without having to gore some one into screaming. 

Just my 2 cents.


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## DynomiteDaniel

I do not disagree with many of the comments and have 2 kids 15 and 11. Gore is used in my haunt, not exclusively, but we have a butcher shop. We also have a large section for spiders, large cemetery, Clown area, ghost area etc..... I want to scare the crap out of people. I think my butcher shop, with over the top gore, is a great piece to the whole haunt. 

With that, the very first section, about 5 minutes, is very g with animations, halls that have animated pictures, animated frank singing the monster mash etc. At the end of the G section, tot's can press through to the "haunt" or they can leave. We have someone placed at this section warning everyone.

If someone continues through, they will get it! We will have around 10 actors this year. I do not think I should hold back on my haunt and omit scary/shocking things. There are 50 times more activities for little ones than there are for teens/adults. I have some neighbors who do not like Halloween and think I go over the top. I am very vocal and tell them to pretend that my house doesn't exist during the month of October.


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## Offwhiteknight

I think most of us here tend towards ambience, and I do think it is more difficult to do, or at least do well.

Let me use pro-haunts as my examples. Knott's Scary Farm, the granddaddy of them all. They, like most such places, have had for several years a 'slaughterhouse' sort of maze. It's my least favorite as it (like others of its kind) tends to rely upon shock and grossness. It really just doesn't work for me and it seems to be one of their less popular mazes.

On the other hand, a new maze last year was Delirium and it was very well recieved. They did all sorts of new weird stuff to create a disturbing ambience, such as uneven floors, sections with no right angles and whispering. Very well done but it also required more imagination and was assuredly more difficult to pull off (imagine telling your carpenters to build a hallway, but to not build it "right" but also ADA compatible...).

There is a place for gore. That's true. But it's not what I want or what I aspire to.


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## spong8

jaege said:


> I would not call someone who used 50 tombstones and a few bones lazy,...


I wouldn't call someone who uses body parts, entrails, dummies, body bags, great stuff, latex and blood in order to create a crime scene right out of CSI lazy either. Add the killer who returns to the scene of the crime and you got something that could be pretty fun to get scared by.

I'm starting to get the general vibe that those who call gore makers lazy never really has seen a gory show. To use a prohaunt as an example, Bodycollectors at HHN was incredibly gore filled. It was shocking yes, but it also had a story behind it as well as a reason behind the gore. Good gore takes a lot more imagination and backstory than I would think some would believe.

However, I must admit I'm thinking less from a home haunter's perspective and more from the perspective of a pro haunt...seeing as I've been with one for three years now.


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## jaege

spong8 said:


> I wouldn't call someone who uses body parts, entrails, dummies, body bags, great stuff, latex and blood in order to create a crime scene right out of CSI lazy either. Add the killer who returns to the scene of the crime and you got something that could be pretty fun to get scared by.
> 
> I'm starting to get the general vibe that those who call gore makers lazy never really has seen a gory show. To use a prohaunt as an example, Bodycollectors at HHN was incredibly gore filled. It was shocking yes, but it also had a story behind it as well as a reason behind the gore. Good gore takes a lot more imagination and backstory than I would think some would believe.
> 
> However, I must admit I'm thinking less from a home haunter's perspective and more from the perspective of a pro haunt...seeing as I've been with one for three years now.


Lazy is not a term I would use for anyone who actually put up a display. Anyone who has knows the amount of work and dedication that goes into it. I am not sure anyone here suggested that gore users are lazy, did they? I know I said cheap easy scares, which it is. The use of ambiance is a craft that requires a great deal of imagination and skill to be effective. A very great deal. My style is a goofy spooky genre Ala Disney. It also requires a great deal of work and skill, not only for the animation but in keeping the props lower key but still maintaining a spooky atmosphere that older TOTs will also enjoy (although you cannot please everyone) As far as backstory it is a fine thing but the only one who is really aware of it is the haunter himself. Unless the visitor has to read a pamphlet or sit through some sort of soliloquy, there is really no way to learn what it is. Believe me, all those subtle clues are typically missed by most visitors. Again not always, just usually.

As I said in my original post, I am not trying to put anyone down. I respect and applaud anyone who actually puts up a display even if it is just a few carved pumpkins. Something as large as a gore haunt requires, is that much more deserving of admiration and respect. The OP asked what we, as haunters, thought of gore. So I answered honestly. It is a cheap and easy way to get scares. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Lots of people go to haunts expecting just that, to be scared. And if the haunter has a limited budget, gore can be inexpensive as well. Neither do I want to give the impression that I believe all use of gore is cheap and easy. It can be expensive and extremely intricate, requiring a great deal of work from the haunter.

But I find that the use of that much expense and effort is rare. I have been to many a so called "pro" haunt around the country and find the gore-centric ones to all be very much the same. Bland and repetitious with the oh so obvious stuffed bloody dummies and that requisite guy in the hockey mask with the chainsaw.

As a haunter myself, I expect more.


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## Regions Beyond

Gore and ambiance/sound/creepy vibe are both tools. I admire the haunt which uses both with restraint. Ambiance alone without scares or 'substance' is disappointing, as is wall to wall shlocky gore. Therefore, I love both, and I admire the haunt which can use whatever elements to maximum effect to tell a story/set a scene. 

As an example, back to Universal Orlando, their Scream House Resurrected maze was near the best of both worlds. Great set design and sound, eerie rooms, all the haunted house staples delivered in a upscale way plus the 'morgue' type elements presented in a fitting context to the larger whole: corpses both preserved/skeletal and fresh and gory. It was superbly executed.

So, I say they can (and should) work hand in hand. Some people rely too much on straight gore and I find those haunts often boring, sadly. That's personal taste. My own home haunt is maybe 15 percent gore and largely about atmosphere (old western facades, jack o lanterns, 'still' graveyard scene, a few automated jump scare props, many full size static figures), but I love horror/splatter films and appreciate a gory gag that has character or adds to a movie, maze, comic, whatever. 

If a haunt has personality and style/a solid and original concept, I'll likely forgive excess of things like clowns, gore, etc etc, the overused stuff. If that's all there is, no thank you.


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## N. Fantom

jaege said:


> Anyone can have a guy in a hockey mask covered in blood, wielding a chainsaw, startle little kids and teenage girls. Where is the imagination in that? After all, we have all seen that is about 20 movies. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is still unimaginative and bland. Although there is nothing wrong with liking it. Someone has to order vanilla ice cream.:jol:


VANILLA ICE CREAM!!!!! Are you kidding me? When I did my funeral home haunt, not only did i have a fully developed story line and tons of great scares, but over the top,incredibly complicated gore scenes! I had a woman being drowned in her own blood, a man being strangled with his own intestines, and last year, i had a scene were a mother was forced to cook and eat her own children! Yes, anyone can pick-up a chainsaw, but anyone can plop down some tomb stones and some Christmas lights as well. The scenes I created where incredibly difficult to build and pull off well (which i believe i did). I know from experience (I also do a creepy ambiance display out front) that gore, at least done well, is soooooooooo much more difficult to imagine, build, and display!


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## Terrormaster

I think what Jaege, myself, and others were getting at is that when we say "cheap and easy" we don't mean those literal two words. When we say cheap we don't mean cost, we mean something more akin to "cheap shot". The same with the word easy. While from a haunters perspective both gore and ambiance aren't necessarily cheap nor easy to pull off. In terms of effect it takes a whole lot more work and effort from the haunt designer to scare someone with ambiance than it does with gore. I think a lot of us go for ambiance because of that extra work and effort feels more rewarding than gore. It's easy to scare someone with gore because of the fine line between shock and scare. Doesn't mean it's easy over all, just easier to achieve the same end effect than it would be with ambiance. Sure, like Fantom said, anyone can throw some tombstones in a yard with some Christmas lights. Just like anyone can put a guy in a hockey mask with a chainsaw at the end of a maze. Neither are incredibly creative. But the later is a guaranteed scare. The former requires a lot more thought and work.

I will admit gore is becoming harder because of desensitizing by films like Saw and Hostel. Personally I'd rather sit through something more psychological like The Woman in Black. But the typical American doesn't want to have to think when they go watch a movie and Hollywood knows this. So instead of making something cerebrally creepy they go for gore and shock. Same with pro haunts. People are money and the more you can push through your haunt in one night the more profit you make. If people have to stop and think or visually spend too much time in a scene you end up with a huge cue line and some really pissed off customers.


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## jaege

Terrormaster said:


> I think what Jaege, myself, and others were getting at is that when we say "cheap and easy" we don't mean those literal two words. When we say cheap we don't mean cost, we mean something more akin to "cheap shot". The same with the word easy. While from a haunters perspective both gore and ambiance aren't necessarily cheap nor easy to pull off. In terms of effect it takes a whole lot more work and effort from the haunt designer to scare someone with ambiance than it does with gore. I think a lot of us go for ambiance because of that extra work and effort feels more rewarding than gore. It's easy to scare someone with gore because of the fine line between shock and scare. Doesn't mean it's easy over all, just easier to achieve the same end effect than it would be with ambiance. Sure, like Fantom said, anyone can throw some tombstones in a yard with some Christmas lights. Just like anyone can put a guy in a hockey mask with a chainsaw at the end of a maze. Neither are incredibly creative. But the later is a guaranteed scare. The former requires a lot more thought and work.
> 
> I will admit gore is becoming harder because of desensitizing by films like Saw and Hostel. Personally I'd rather sit through something more psychological like The Woman in Black. But the typical American doesn't want to have to think when they go watch a movie and Hollywood knows this. So instead of making something cerebrally creepy they go for gore and shock. Same with pro haunts. People are money and the more you can push through your haunt in one night the more profit you make. If people have to stop and think or visually spend too much time in a scene you end up with a huge cue line and some really pissed off customers.


Well said.


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## jaege

N. Fantom said:


> VANILLA ICE CREAM!!!!! Are you kidding me? When I did my funeral home haunt, not only did i have a fully developed story line and tons of great scares, but over the top,incredibly complicated gore scenes! I had a woman being drowned in her own blood, a man being strangled with his own intestines, and last year, i had a scene were a mother was forced to cook and eat her own children! Yes, anyone can pick-up a chainsaw, but anyone can plop down some tomb stones and some Christmas lights as well. The scenes I created where incredibly difficult to build and pull off well (which i believe i did). I know from experience (I also do a creepy ambiance display out front) that gore, at least done well, is soooooooooo much more difficult to imagine, build, and display!


Wow. Eating her own children. That is not really in the spirit of Halloween so much as being grotesque. Although I am sure that the scenes were difficult to build, assuming they were realistic. You do have a morbid imagination. I will give you that those scenes are not vanilla. I cannot even think of an ice cream flavor to describe them.

Still, you are the exception. Most "pro" haunts (and amateur for that matter) that use gore just splash a lot of red paint around toss in some body parts and open the doors. Little thought or background or "artistic" craft. Even the gore fanatics will have to agree with that.

Your example of a few gravestones and Christmas lights just illustrates my point. That chainsaw guy in the hockey mask will startle and frighten many visitors, no matter how poorly done, but for the gravestones and lights to be effective a lot more thought and creativity have to be used. That is all I am saying.

Let me amend my original statement: Gore can be cheap and easy, and often is, while for ambiance to be effective a great deal of forethought and creativity are required. There are exceptions to both.


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## RoxyBlue

Perhaps it would be worth mentioning again that the original post was about the balance of gore and ambience in a *yard haunt*, not a professional haunt. It is still true that, on Halloween, a good number of your visitors will be young children, and for them, I feel gore is not appropriate. For haunters who like to include gore, the most sensible approach I've seen which has also been mentioned in this thread is to have that part of the display separate, with suitable warnings for those brave enough to enter


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## Howlinmadjack

Such a great topic, and the general consensus is that creepy is more effective than gore. I use mostly gothic type of ambiance, dark and grim, but little to no blood. I do use body parts, but they are understated and not bloody so they blend in more so than stand out, for example in the witches scare zone there is a plate with severed fingers, but it's in the background, and look to be decomposing as opposed to bloody and bright. They add to the ambiance without being too extreme. I also have my demon by the front door holding a severed head, but the lighting, and flames underneath make it look almost cartoonish, and not quite so scary. I do monitor the tot's, and the younger ones receive the little candy bags at the front, and if they insist on walking through, I escort them with their parents and make sure they understand it's all make believe and fun. Jaybo has a great idea that I might have to borrow about the rings. I think I might use the glow sticks, or necklaces so they're more focused on the glow sticks than the scary scenes.


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## QDance

I like having a creepy atmosphere. Half of my TOTers are in elementary school, and were already scared enough with just the creepy atmosphere I created. So I'm going to stick to that.


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## Gorylovescene

This year there will be a fair amount of gore in one section of my haunt, but it will be in its own area, and there will be warnings about the nature of the display. The rest of the walk through is going to be through the exit of the gory display, but part of the grave yard at the end will be viewable from the side walk area, and that will be pretty tame. This is the first year I have a large enough area to really go all out, so I'm going to do all the things that I've been dying to do, but I suppose next year I'll reel myself in and be more practical. I may have to have a party just so I have some adults who can appropriately enjoy this sort of thing...


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## Horror Roots Productions

I guess it all depends on what theme your going for... Last year we really were busy with other projects and didnt have much time to put into halloween. So we just hung some corpses from trees and put up alot of police tape and had a police car at the house. Along with some strobelights and a PA system hooked up with sounds of people dying... it was pretty damn scary for most... no blood - no gore.... well no REAL gore. It just looked like a police suicide scene...

This year we moved to a new house with palm trees and what not... so i had an idea to theme the place after ancient hawaiian death rituals. However, me and my wife were watching APACLYPTO on tv and it gave me a desire to build some props based on the movie. My wife doesn't want gore (because its our first year in the new house and she doesnt want the neighbors to know us as _that house that gave my kids nightmares for weeks...)_ but i think in the right scenario where the scene is complimented by blood, gore, body organs rather than focused on it... is acceptable.

But then again, some of my most memorable halloween moments as a child were where i was scared/horrorified by one of the neighbors houses (I grew up in the valley of LA around lots of people who worked in the movie fx industry...) or pro haunts, or horror movie. I feel that halloween _should _be scary. Thats the fun of it... theres plenty of cutesy feel good holidays... in fact just about ALL of them are... so in my opinion i will do the house any way i like...and if less kids have the courage to come up and get candy (which is usually the case), that just means the kids that do come up will get handfulls...

Just my .02 cents...

HRP (_keeping the HORROR in halloween....)_

_>>>However I would like to add that I really REALLY enjoy Craig's haunts (devil's workshop). They feel so creepy in such a cartoonish R.L. Stein sort of way. Hes really captured something very cool & unique and he does it damn well..._


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