# sticking to a theme ?



## Pumpkin head

Does any one else have a problem sticking to just one theme? My kids want to do circus theme this year (pretty specific). I have so many other cool props that really dont fit the circus theme :googly: .ie witches zombies gohsts tomb stones and such. Im trying to figure out how to incorporate it all but dont want it to look goofy.some of the zombies will be retro fitted in clown gear and my front yard is kinda small so cant really do in sections.What do yous do? stick to one theme per year ? or mix it up ?


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## The-Hog-Flu

I guess it depends on how adaptable your existing props are. If you can turn them all into clowns then I'd stick with that one theme. Otherwise, mix it up. I put what too much work into my props to not display them just because the don't fit into a specific theme. With that being said, I have a pretty big yard so I have the liberty of making mini sections.


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## Abunai

We've got the same problem. 

This will be our 9th year, and we've NEVER had a backstory or a cohesive theme; just a hodge-podge of differently themed props.

We have tried, but it's always those darned pirates that throw it all off and won't fit into a theme or backstory. 

We could go all pirate, if we built or bought enough props and decorations, or we could get rid of the pirates, at the expense of some pretty cool props, decorations, and projections we've built and acquired over the years.

All in all, our guests don't seem to mind the hodge-podge.


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## Headless

I'm the same. I would LOVE to do a carnival theme but it would mean so much work building a heap of new props. I would like to work up to it some time by adding bits and pieces but I too have a mixture of prop themes.


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## austenandrews

I'd love to do a different theme every year but my wife insisted we pick one and build up the props over time. We have an evil candy factory which is a bit narrow in focus, but it's not hard to work in random little details.


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## RoxyBlue

We stick to one theme (graveyard) because we have so many tombstones and skeletons now that it would be a shame to set them aside It just seems easier to have a central focus and add details over time.

That said, Abunai is correct as well. Your guests probably aren't going to mind seeing a mix of props. I would suggest grouping similar sub-themes together if you have enough room.


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## Chuck

We change up year to year. I have tombstones, reapers, skeletons, etc. Last year we did the carnival/circus theme. I reused the skeletons in certain places. I re-dressed the zombies as clowns.

Make the tombstones into a carnival game. Like a skeleton or a zombie bowling down tombstones. Use one of the witches and re-purpose it as a fortune teller.

Sometimes you can't put everything out that you have, and that is OK. You fit what you can into the theme and go from there. My wife and kids were the reason I switched to a Carnival theme last year. It turned out great, people still come up to me in the neighborhood and say, oh yeah your the scary clown guy from last year. Sure leaves a lasting impression because it is less common than the graveyard theme.


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## Wyatt Furr

I have stuck to the same theme now for quite a few years. just adding new elements to liven things up. Works for me.


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## scarycher

I like a mix myself


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## heresjohnny

I started sticking to a theme a few years back (ghosts) and recently started enhancing it with haunted mansion graveyard. That works for me.


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## S L A M

This will be my second year with a graveyard theme and I can see myself doing it year after year however, I do have this vision of one year a big ass flying saucer that has crashed into the middle of my graveyard and going into an alien theme. I think that would be kinda fun. Aliens vs Zombies! LOL


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## Pumpkin head

well I guess for the kids I will change the theme this year. I will try and incorporate what I can of the props i already have and see how it goes .We have already started with a few clown props and I have to admit CLOWNS are creepier than zombies I think lol. the bonus is my wife if freaked out by clowns so this could be an interesting halloween


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## scareme

I usually go with a theme every other year, and just a hodge podge in the off years. But the problem with that has been the expense and the storage issue. We have a really large lawn, so we can work with a couple of ideas. I think we have a couple of more years of themes, and then we'll just settle into our hodge podge. People seem to like what ever we come up with. As long as they are getting their treats, they don't complain.


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## fontgeek

Some thoughts from the cheap seats.
I think that a lot of this issue comes down to; Who are you doing the haunt for, yourself or your guests/TOTs? If it's for you alone then do what makes you happy, theme or no theme.
If it's for TOTs then you need to look at your haunt from their side of things, though keep in mind that the mindset and age of the TOTs is going to change every year, not to mention normal attrition. Hard to believe as it might be, but there is no rule that you have to use EVERY prop EVERY YEAR. 
In the end you have to weigh out what you are willing and able to build and store or dump with the decision of whether the haunt is for you or the TOTs/guests.
Me? I like themes, they let me use "Mental Props" (the TOTs own imagination) to help sell the effect(s) or fear. Having the mish-mash of stuff never lets me get them, the TOTs, imagination going about some thing or being that they would find scary.
I hope all of that made sense.


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## Pumpkin5

:jol:I guess I am a bit of an eclectic haunter.... But I am strictly 'creepy, ghostly, scary" not bloody or clownie. I'm trying something new this year....I'll let you know how it goes.


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## ATLfun

I am not big on feeling the pressure of changing themes. I think as time goes on and your inventory grows, your display naturally changes. Items become stale or broken and you replace them with new stuff.

If I only had one area, I would tend towards a cemetery because almost every element can naturally fit: tombstones, skeletons, witches, animals, zombies- etc. Plus, I would think that if you are building static props, you could just change a few outfits and you would have a whole new cemetery look.

Just my two cents which is normally worth less.


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## MotelSixx

My theme is 'creepy haunted house'. Boarded up windows, gravestones, overgrown yard, skeleton , ghosts etc. However I always find room to incorporate other objects, such as torture chamber behind house, gaggle of clowns in back corner on a trampoline, Michael Myers standing behind a tree and headle ss horseman in amongst the trees. All in all, I just put it up and let the guests take in the sites. Not once had I heard a complaint about continuity or color schemes etc.


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## Pumpkin head

Alot of good points and suggestions .I guess halloween has always been big with my kids and I .I never noticed until this year how much they effect our theme and how much we put out.As they get older the cutesy stuff gets pushed back further and further in the attic .We have always built our haunt around the cemetary theme and have expanded around that.So now the kids have suggested we start utilizing the back yard as well so we can build and display even more and not have to worry themes clashing.Either way the nieghbourhood kids always love what we do and start comming around in early October to see if we have started and whats new and thats all that matters theme or not


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## jaege

I have been doing the same theme for a few years, so no, not a problem. I tend to add a piece or two each year or upgrade a prop which are more or less in theme. Although I guess my theme is evolving over time as those new props are added.


It would be tough to make a complete change, since I would have to add so many props to do it.


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## Dave Leppo

If I don't have a party, no one sees my haunt: So it's more the journey of the build than the end result.

I do themes. This year Pirate, last year haunted mansion, next year my son and I are planning Alien/Space. I have a witch prop I plan to use this year as the figure head of the Pirate ship "Sea Witch", but I guess my tombstones will stay in storage.


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## diggerc

I've been working the same creepy old house/cemetery since grade school. I'm always trying to improve, never fully happy with the results, FAR from board, limited more by storage and time than ideas so no, no theme jumping in the foreseeable future for me.


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## fontgeek

One of the challenges/benefits we have to deal with is that kids don't stay "little" for very long. As they age, their tastes change, and what they find scary or interesting changes too, and before you know it, those "little" kids are grown up, and now as teenagers or even as parents themselves they come through the haunts with a new outlook/perspective, so often times we can keep basically the same haunt for years or decades without any problems. Creating a haunt that satisfies all ends up being a major challenge on it's own.
Sometimes just adding or deleting something, or changing the order in which the TOTs see them is more than enough to satisfy them. As far as satisfying ourselves goes...
That's a whole different ball game, most of us are never completely satisfied. That's what makes all of this so fun or interesting.


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## Mm&M

*New Theme Every Year!!*

Switch it up every year.... by the time your kids get ready to go off to college you'll be glad you did!!!! We (and the entire neighborhood and multitudes of repeat ToT's) fondly remember years past every October when we bring out the decorations and tey and figure out how to repurpose them. We've actually had people out front arguing over which year we did the Aliens or the Hippie Zombies or the Egyptians or the Cannibals.... and if they've made it to our neighborhood every year or not.


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## Troll Wizard

_*Fontgeek hit on an interesting point here.....kids do grow up and I find that as they do they seem to appreciate what I've done from year to year. You find this to be true especially if the kids grow up in the neighborhood you live in. They tend to expect to see the same things with maybe once in a while some new items to display, but not taking away from the theme they grew up seeing from year to year.

Yes, some of us like to mix things up a bit every year and there are those who keep things rolling along just as before. The real fun and enjoyment is what you get when you see the kids faces light up with excitement and fear!

So I guess what I'm saying is....do what you feel comfortable with doing. And make sure that what ever you set up, that you're happy with it, and that it will be acceptable to the kids around you on Halloween night. 
*_


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## Terror Tom

I don't really have a theme. Just a mishmash of various stuff that I thought was cool and unique. I even have stuff I've never really used..... I love themed haunts, though. I don't think I have the attention span to commit to one.


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## Fate

I change my themes every year but i use a lot of actors, so i just have to change the scene a little bit and then change the make up. its fun to do different themes so if you have the ability to, do it.


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## xredge

I'm in same boat with small, figuring do a campground haunt which also accommodates a 33 ft trailer, Older big diesel suburban or HD Truck, then the wifes equinox, and I put up a 10x20 shelter which is part of the display plus protects us if raining during TOT time.

I'm sort of a mix but was talking with the wife this year that I really need to theme it more and get rid of some stuff like the headless horseman and skeleton vampire. My 2 animated reapers are a big part along with the jumping spider,have a couple of Zombie pieces and a lot of skellies that I use, along with lots of spiders, which have increased this year with the wolf and attack spider from Spirit. I need to come up with something to incorporate what I have and to put up a facade for the shelter. think shelter aspect ruins things but animated or stuff that can be ruined is in there for the weather


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## mroct31

Same "cemetery" theme every year, but I have enough props now that I don't have to bring everyone out as it would be way to hard to make them all fit! In essence it's different every year and by moving props to different locations in the yard, people actually ask, "is that new, you didn't have that last year" But of course I did, just in a different spot but to them it' new and different! There will always be the props that always get put out, you know the one's I mean :jol: but having been doing this for 14 years now, collected a lot that I can mix and match as I need, Not to mention, there's always new ToT's so to them it's always a new theme!


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## jaege

I stick to an haunted graveyard with skellies and ghosts and a small pumpkin patch to one side. Its easy to fit additional things into that.


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## Pumpkin5

heresjohnny said:


> I started sticking to a theme a few years back (ghosts) and recently started enhancing it with haunted mansion graveyard. That works for me.


:jol:I started copying heresjohnny a few years back....it's worked out quite well for me.


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## jdubbya

Guess I never weighed in on this so here's my 2 cents. We've changed themes over the past 4 years since teaming up with lewlew and Road's End. We've done a zombie research lab, a creepy carnival, a vampire crypt, and last year's witch forest/coven. There are certain things that we can use for practically any theme; skulls, bats, skeletons, posable pvc armatures, certain tombstones, etc. Much of the theme specific stuff gets sold off to other haunters each year as we likely won't repeat any of the themes we've already done. This year we're doing a Frankenstein laboratory so the entire haunt will be different. I'm struggling a bit with what to do with the front yard as I'm not sure we want a typical cemetery, but more of a sparse cemetery with lots of dead trees, some skulls, etc..something that could be seen outside an old gothic castle. Not sure yet. The insdie of the haunt will be a laboratory and we have little to nothing along those lines so we'll be starting from scratch. Prior to our collaborative haunt, I did pretty much a traditional graveyard with a variety of spooky props, not necessarily themed. I had accumulated so many things that I could rotate props so the same stuff wasn't used every year. The upside to changing themes is the variety and challenge of coming up with new stuff each year. Kind of tests your creativity. The downside is having to start all over and the inhernet expense of certain things you have to buy, etc.. We've been fortunate that that's never been a major hurdle but I hate to think of the expense over the past few years!! I can see reverting back to a single consistant "theme" once we both feel the time has come to no longer do the big haunt structure, but that's a ways off


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## Dr. Maniaco

You all know I like to pick a different theme each year. I know some people like to have one theme, and build on it - improve it - each year. And that's great, but I think I would stagnate that way. For me, the creative challenge is to do something different (for me) each time. If I can use some of the same elements each time - fences, skeletons, etc. - great ... but I don't start there. I don't know what this year will bring. I've been out of work since September, so priorities are shifted. I would like to take a season to just visit the Haunts and such ...


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## Lyric8881

One year I took all my favorite decorations and just did an overall Halloween theme instead of being specific. It was awesome


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## Mamushka

Every year is a different theme.

2018 Graveyard
2017 Ghost pirates
2016 Five Nights at Freddies
2015 Walking Dead with a real wrecked car pinning a zombie against a tree
2013 Mincraft with a exploding creeper


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## SkeleTom

I've just kept collecting as I go, and ended up with different scenes for different parts of the house/yard. Scarecrows, pumpkins, airblowns and general friendly stuff out front for the little ones, ghosts, witches, bats, general spooky wildlife in the side yard, graveyard in the back yard, Mad Scientist Lab in the basement.


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## Cephus

I don't switch out themes. I have what I think works the best and while I add new things every year and move things around, the theme remains consistent.


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## ttsnuffy

I have a theme per room. But each year I add to the story. So I grow every year and just enhance the experience in the other areas. I dont get trick or treaters where I live but I have a party every year. So I decorate every room in the house!


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## fontgeek

I think it's a mechanical issue (the nut behind the wheel).
For some, doing the same, and maybe expanding story or theme each year makes it easy for them to do, and it lets them focus all of their attention and imagination on how to display what they have, or will have. For others, having a new theme offers them a challenge to create something new, and maybe different, in what or how they tell their story/display their theme.
Some don't like to have to work their imagination that much or that often, and for many, the time element in creating something new, as well as storage of the props, is a major concern or challenge.
There are some, like one of my brothers, who is a die hard fan of one particular theme, for him and his wife it's pirates. So thinking outside of that realm is, for them, wasted time.


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## kallen

When we did our Halloween parties, we would always decorate to match the theme. It's hard! I tend to have a 100$ budget and universal studios design wishes &#55357;&#56847;. No I tend to stick to the haunted house theme.


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