# What are the biggest weaknesses of your Haunt?



## halstaff

What does your haunt need to have to improve? 
I know I struggle with lighting and am always trying to improve it. 
I also love to build complex props but never seem to make the time to work on all the background items necessary to really bring the scenes alive.


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## Osenator

Freaking Mother Nature.. she is a B....h!


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## BioHazardCustoms

I think mine would probably be sound, and very few animatronic props. As of right now, mine is more a static display than anything else.


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## MurrayTX

Verticality. I am trying to achieve it visually by placing props in ways that may result in keeping viewers eyes darting everywhere, but no doubt some will go unnoticed. What I would love but can't have in a walkthrough yardhaunt is physical verticality. Stairs add tension. The best I can do is mound the mulch in the"bog room" in such a way as to give a slight sensation of stepping down into the fog floor.


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## Offwhiteknight

Hmmmmm...I need more tombstones...and good fog too...and I'd love some technological element, like moving parts or triggered sound or something...


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## MapThePlanet

I have issues maintaining a flow and continuity. Last year it looked like I had a haunted garage sale going on. Sound and lighting are good, fog control could be better (but Mother Nature kicked me in the pants). 
I have changed a lot of things this year, so we'll just have to wait and see.


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## ouizul1

I have the opposite problem of Halstaff. I tend to spend most of my time on the detail bits...the dressing, so to speak. All the little stuff that very few people probably even notice. But have very little in the way of "premier" props.


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## davensj

My biggest challenges are getting better details for scenes and lighting. This year I hope to do better.


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## Lunatic

Minimal prop storage and the fact that I want more props. But realistically, I'd like to improve my lighting setup to highlight the props but conceal the lights at the same time. More props will come eventually.


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## CrazedHaunter

Lighting, definitely lighting, but I am working on it this year. Hope to improve it a little bit every year.


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## jaege

Really good sound is what I am missing. I have a bunch of animatronic props and some great static pieces but my sound is just a couple of speakers with one of those "haunted sounds" cds. Its a good one but I would love to do some more appropriate sounds for each prop. That and some more space.


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## Troll Wizard

With me it's mainly the weather. Sometimes the rains will hold off until later in November, but if they come early then I can usually count on it raining on Halloween.


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## debbie5

All static stuff, except for my floating skull puppet.
Need something animated.


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## stagehand1975

For me its location. I am very rural. Tots don't come out to the country. I still put up a display. That why I work with a pro haunt. My big challenge there is a need for more time and a bigger budget.


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## CreeepyCathy

The staff. It's just me and I am so anal.


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## [email protected]

Walgreens tombstones. With glitter. Not very convincing.


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## Lunatic

CreeepyCathy said:


> The staff. It's just me and I am so anal.


HA...Weeeez...snort! Good one CC!
You and I are alike.


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## Georgeb68

Lighting and the size yard that I have to work with, I am new at the lighting thing! I see how much difference it makes now.......well I plan to get more spot lighting at e moment!


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## thanosstar

mine is fairly new. kind small last year. over this past year we hav epurchased double the amount of things. weakness is to much to fast


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## highbury

Mine is getting the TOTs to slow down and engage them a bit more in my yard. They run up the driveway, into the porch for candy and then quickly off to the next house. I'm looking for ways to route them more.


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## diggerc

location.


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## Gallows

I am my own biggest weakness. I get too worried about details that less than 1% of people will notice, and don't spend near enough time on lighting and sound.

My goal for 2013 is learning to use lighting to illuminate the details I'm most proud of, and to be more comfortable just covering up the small flaws.


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## mkozik1

My wife will tell you the same thing - Too anal with the small stuff!! My biggest issue has been our spinning tunnel. Each year I think I have it right and I end up under the tarp helping the motor spin the wheel!!

Lighting has been a pain for me as well. I have some new things in the wings, RGB LED mostly so I can multi-pupose them and use them for lightning as well as highlighting the props.


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## PlaceboFX

Acting. Just acting.
The haunt I work is mind-blowing in every other way. It's been compared to Universal Studios on several occasions. We have fantastic sound, props, costumes, makeup, everything.
But we're a charity haunt, so the actors they have to settle for can be pretty lousy. Some are fantastic! But it's those dozen of HORRIBLE ones that really drag us down.


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## austenandrews

Sound & music. I have good intentions every year, but I always just chuck something out there at the last minute.

Also organization. I'm terrible at organizing people. I try to make my haunt so it can be run by one or two people, in case everyone but me and my wife desert us. Not that it's ever happened as such, except for short lulls during the eveningh.


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## DreadKnightswife

austenandrews said:


> Sound & music. I have good intentions every year, but I always just chuck something out there at the last minute.
> 
> Also organization. I'm terrible at organizing people. I try to make my haunt so it can be run by one or two people, in case everyone but me and my wife desert us. Not that it's ever happened as such, except for short lulls during the eveningh.


I have a lot of the same issues, we are pretty good with Lighting but sound is never thought through well enough. I have put my 16 yr old in charge of a few rooms sound this year since that is one of her pet peeves, you don't like it you can fix it LOL!

We too have made our haunt to be ran with minimal help because you never truely know how many people will show up to help.


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## The Red Skull

Doing everything by myself....


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## GOT

Space. I do mine in a garage and the ceiling is never tall enough and the walls are always too close together. Then there is that #^@/%ing garage door opener railing that is ALWAYS right exactly where I don't want it to be.


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## heresjohnny

my lack of spare time


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## kauldron

The time my town allows trick or treat. It is normally from 6 - 7 pm, yep only an hour, and it is really only dark when I begin to tear down after it is all over. We make the best of it and the tots always seem like they have a good time but I wish it was longer. We are hoping to move in the next year so hopefully the next community we live in will have better times.


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## mroct31

heresjohnny said:


> spare time


What's that?


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## Dr. Maniaco

I'm always striving for that little something extra. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to pneumatics or animation. That's what my haunts lack, and what I'm working on.


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## Mazz

My biggest weekness is finding volunteers. Here lately it's like pulling teeth from an unsedated gator!!


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## RoxyBlue

The chick that passes out the candy...oh, wait, that's me....


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## MommaMoose

Lighting and the stupid hill that my house is on. It shows off the tombstones really great because I don't have to worry about staggering them so they will be seen but on the same note I can't have anything like a mausoleum or such because there is no level place to put it unless I want it in front of my door. Heck even my cemetery fence had to be built at an angle.


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## DandyBrit

Because I do my haunt stuff at work for the kids October half-term hols I am hampered by colleagues saying in August "why are you doing that now?" They don't seem to realise that if you are going to do it properly you have to have the time - other things always come first for them, so I end up doing it at home, unpaid, in my own time. Every year I say never again but I can't help myself.


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## Nrthrnstr

Securing props was an issue for us last year. We are so worried that if we set up a day before things we put inside our walk through will go missing or that someone will slash a gash in one of our walls. So we tend to set up our base a few days before then the day of we put up walls and fill in the props but never have the time to secure them all before kiddies start arriving. This year we are going to set up the walls the night before so as to give ourselves the time to secure. Hopefully it all goes over without issue.


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## Death's Door

I have a streetlight directly across the street. The wind is always a factor. Also, I have a cemetary across the street that is always trying to compete with me.


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## mikeythemars

highbury said:


> Mine is getting the TOTs to slow down and engage them a bit more in my yard. They run up the driveway, into the porch for candy and then quickly off to the next house. I'm looking for ways to route them more.


I have a somewhat similar issue. My haunt is a graveyard on a slope, where TOTs have to enter through the cemetery gates and go up a winding path to get to our front door. I have four animatronics that run routines, two closer to the fence on the street, one about a third of the way up the path and the fourth near the front door of our house. Adults tend to "smell the roses," taking in all these details and in particular watching my tri-axis skeleton with animated three degree motion arms do his 1.5 minute "show."

But the kids generally just rush up the path, after briefly stopping down near the graveyard entrance to look into my bottomless tomb. I do get to startle them when they get near the front door with a lightning routine, but by and large they run in, get their candy and rush out. I am almost thinking about testing some additional ways to subtly force them to slow down as they make their way to and from the house (such as moving the bottomless tomb to further up the path or adding some other "stop-and-experience" elements).


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## Copchick

My weaknesses? I want more space. More porch space to put more animatronics and more time to make things. I would love the time to make the things alot of you have inspired me with. Time and space.


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## Headless

Let's see:

Lighting
Lighting
Lighting
Lighting
Lighting


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## iowachap

halstaff said:


> What does your haunt need to have to improve?
> I know I struggle with lighting and am always trying to improve it.
> I also love to build complex props but never seem to make the time to work on all the background items necessary to really bring the scenes alive.


YES BACKGROUND, the SCENE setting and decorations! This year we were lucky our neighbor wanted to help and so I said ok do this room and lets see what you got. She decorated the background and put up spider webs with leaves, twigs, branches and i was like.. holy s**T! That is friggen awesome, ok you just do your magic you dont need to ask me anything here out you just do it cuz thats great. Sure enough, her and her b/f sig other, decorated behind the hack in the box, exorcist, nurse, and zombies and totally blew me away as we never had time to do the scene interior decorations, hell i would suck at that anyway, and she loves it.. we found our interior decorator


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## iowachap

I am amazed at how many say lighting is an issue, with LED bulbs that are cheap and low energy that do very well for red and blues that give just enough to light up an area or scene I think we have a total of like 18 LED bulbs 7 from Spirit that were 9 bucks back in the day, and then i found these others online for like 4 bucks a pop and got like 9 half red and blue, and then got 2 from amazon that have remote to change to multiple colors, and thats enough for our maze and graveyard. Oh yeah we have like 3 red rope lights we used along the maze path to light the pathway on ground.


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## Headless

iowachap said:


> I am amazed at how many say lighting is an issue, with LED bulbs that are cheap and low energy that do very well for red and blues that give just enough to light up an area or scene I think we have a total of like 18 LED bulbs 7 from Spirit that were 9 bucks back in the day, and then i found these others online for like 4 bucks a pop and got like 9 half red and blue, and then got 2 from amazon that have remote to change to multiple colors, and thats enough for our maze and graveyard. Oh yeah we have like 3 red rope lights we used along the maze path to light the pathway on ground.


Oh to live in the USA........... I really would love to give making LED's a go but totally electronically challenged and a little nervous about burning the haunt down.


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## mroct31

I get all my LED's from China so being in the US I don't think makes a difference. Also they run on 5v-12v DC so burning down anything isn't much of an issue either. I've purchased all my pre wired LED lamp bulbs on ebay and you can get whatever size, usually 5mm-10mm , color and numbers you want which makes building LED lights easy and cheap. These sellers ship everywhere so you'd have no problem getting them in Aussie! This past year was my first all LED lights used and I won't be going back to standard bulbs again!
Here's an example of the type of bulbs I use in my multi-bulb spot lights:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wholesale-P...hash=item51c0b44e57:m:mUWMvxVGhO8IYdHgzMKEbnw


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## jaege

Lack of space and sound. I have pretty good lighting, but that can always improve.


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## fontgeek

getting and keeping good actors can be really tough, especially with teenagers and/or a competitive market.


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## GhostshipManistee

We are housed on a natural historic landmark and can't start building till the 3rd week of September as the museum is open till then. Additionally we can't staple or ail or tape anything to the walls. We have to zip tie everything. We build flats basically everywhere and wedge that in places where normally people would just nail a wall up etc. Nothing can be permanent.


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## Hoowil

Sound for sure. Aside from a few store bought animatronic props, I have no sound at all. It is a pretty serious weakness in my mind, but it is something to a dress after all my other prop projects, as it is a different work style than I'm used to.


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## BloodyBreathitt

Our biggest struggle is the lack of fog. We are located inside a public library with super sensitive smoke detectors. 

Thats the biggest problem we face and there isn't a whole lot we can do about it. Of course there's always this lights is too harsh or too dim or the sound isn't quite right. But, thats we we take all month to tinker with it.


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## elguapoguano

Space. I have a full cemetery in the front yard. But I only have , well it's less than a 1 car garage. I do a small walk through, but to pull it off, I have to set most of it up in the driveway. Wind and rain give me fits, so the walk through goes up just a couple days before ToT and comes down the next day. What I wouldn't give to have at least a 2 car garage.


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## GhostshipManistee

getting enough qualified help to do the scaring


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