# Any Cheap and Effective Room Ideas for a Demonic or Possessed Funhouse or Circus?



## BrotherMysterio (Nov 25, 2011)

I'm working on a project for this coming season (267 days, 18 hours, 41 minutes, and counting) that is sizing up to be a destination haunt (vs. a private production, which we just did, or a home haunt type thing) and I need help with generating some room ideas. For all intents and purposes (and until I hear otherwise), this is going to be treated as a pro haunt with a 30 day run.

The theme we are going with is somewhere in the neighborhood or vicinity of a Circus, Carnival, or Freakshow. (Anything like a hospital, medieval castle, or Victorian manor would be cost prohibitive.) The style of house will be very evocative of a Funhouse in construct and style (vortex tunnels, wobbling floors, optical illusions, perhaps some wacky funhouse mirrors) so it will have a very tactile quality to it, and not just a quick walk-thru.

I don't want it to be too cliché, but I figure a few classic motifs such as clowns will figure into it. It's perennial cuz it works. 

Other than that, I need some fresh ideas.

Any cheap scare ideas that can be easily themed would be a plus. Even those that can't be easily themed will work as well.  If it works, I'll use it. Case in point: black fishing line hanging in the pathway of a dark corridor. Dot room of some sort. Garden hose standing in for live snakes. If it works, I'll use it.

I also have absolutely no idea how big the space is, how big the cast is, how big the crew is, how big the *budget* is, what preexisting materials can be used (I'm assuming we don't have any) and so I need to assume that I have no budget, other than for the bare bones of wall panel material, screws, and paint. I have to assume at least that much. No walls = no haunt. Anything available after that is a bonus.

I also need as many zero actor rooms as I can manage, since I have no idea what access to casting we will have, or even what costuming and make-up will look like. I can't go designing a haunt for 30 actors, only to have only 10 show up on our busiest night. And we may only be good for a spot of clown makeup or a mask. I can't count on anything pricey or elaborate. And I definitely can't do zombie clowns with oozing, pulsing pustules. It has to work with actors with character faces with a small dab of makeup, or even a kid in a mask.

A natural solution to the low to no actor count would seem obvious: _pneumatics_. Normally, I would heartily agree. However, I'm not versant in air effects, and we don't currently have any equipment available. I might be able to sort out a few simple pop-ups or work in some air-jets-up-the-pant-leg effects, but that's absolutely best case scenario, and that's if we can get access to the appropriate compressor. Iow, big corpselators with clown masks or ScareFactory Impalers in circus drag are totally out of the question. (Actually, anything with a ScareFactory price tag is pretty much out of the question.)

As we get closer to establishing the various parameters, I'm sure things will start to gel, but right now we need a very solid foundation to build on. We can't go into the steering committee meeting in two months, all scratching our heads wondering what we are going to do. And when I say steering committee, I also don't know if it's going to be a steering committee of two, namely me and my partner (I should be so lucky), or if I'm going to have to present to a bunch of "investors" who have all sorts of ideas of what they think a haunt should be like, but no real money to back it. Ergo, I need to be solid on this stuff. (The "they" in question are providing the space, and possibly _nothing_ more. Ergo, we might be footing the bill on the initial investment.)

So, with that small preamble, any ideas?


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## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

First big one. I know this sounds odd but don't out any hint of clowns near the ticket booth. You would be surprised at how many would even buy a ticket becuase of there fear of clowns. 
How about a big top room gone wrong, make a room look like the inside of a circus tent, hang some big bulb string light out of reach to give a bit of carnival feel but only have a.few bulbs working, flashing would be better, make an appearence of a bunch of dead clowns and one live murdering clown gone mad.

You could even make a series of room with the circus tent like theme, with some hidiouse looking creatures in each tent. Like a freak show.

Well there are a few ideas.


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## BrotherMysterio (Nov 25, 2011)

stagehand1975 said:


> First big one. I know this sounds odd but don't out any hint of clowns near the ticket booth. You would be surprised at how many would even buy a ticket becuase of there fear of clowns.
> How about a big top room gone wrong, make a room look like the inside of a circus tent, hang some big bulb string light out of reach to give a bit of carnival feel but only have a.few bulbs working, flashing would be better, make an appearence of a bunch of dead clowns and one live murdering clown gone mad.
> 
> You could even make a series of room with the circus tent like theme, with some hidiouse looking creatures in each tent. Like a freak show.
> ...


I like that! We could also possibly steer clear of an obvious circus theme on the outside, to make the clown reveal and even bigger surprise.


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## BadMonkey (Sep 7, 2011)

The whole freakshow/psycho circus thing has really become popluar in the past few years. Why not create a back story about a clown gone mad? Have a central figure that can appear at any time throughout the haunt, but is portrayed by different actors. That way, if you have 5 actors show up or 25, you can always fall back on one fiendish freak to scare your audience.

As for inexpensive rooms themes, paint and a halfway decent artist can go a LONG way! Why not hit a couple of tattoo shops and see if the artists would be willing to trade a room paint for free advertsing?

One of my fav horror movies is House of 1000 Corpses, by Rob Zombie. If you haven't seen it you might want to take a look. May be a great source of inspiration for a twisted freakshow atmosphere. It's also got a very cool retro vibe to the whole thing.

Just a couple of thoughts. Best of luck and be sure to keep us all updated!!


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## BrotherMysterio (Nov 25, 2011)

Excellent ideas! Keep them coming!

More later.


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

Devils Chariot just posted his haunt, and you should take a look at it. Check out the carousel.

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=30327


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## BrotherMysterio (Nov 25, 2011)

scareme said:


> Devils Chariot just posted his haunt, and you should take a look at it. Check out the carousel.
> 
> http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=30327


Sweet!! *going there now*


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