# Where do you get your inspiration from?



## bignick (Sep 25, 2008)

So i am trying to think about what cool props i want to either build or use next year and this year i was mainly inspired by Kevin242's Haunt. So i got most of my ideas from him but now i am looking to add something different but i can't seem to get any good ideas. Where do you guys look for inspiration or does it just come naturally?


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## Spookie (Aug 26, 2008)

Sometimes from others; there are some very talented people here on the boards who do some outstanding haunts. Great teachers here also. Learn so much from the tutorials.

Sometimes it's fun to go onto photo sights like Flickr.com, or web areas like YouTube.com and search for key words like "halloween" "props" etc. and see what comes up. 

I saw "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D" (for the first time) the day after Halloween this year and saw lots of little details that inspired me. 

Sometimes the props or accessories you find or buy just speak to you.

Sometimes you just want to do an effect and you find yourself brainstorming to incorporate it into one of your props or scenes.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

Movie movie movies.


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## blacklightmike (Nov 2, 2008)

Inspirations vary, but for me it mostly it comes from sticking to a theme. For example, I wanted to add a puker to my graveyard haunt this season, but the old 'guy in a toxic barrel' didn't work in my mind. _What's a barrel of toxic waste doing in a 19th century graveyard?_ So, I found a way to make it fit in... it became a disembodied witch/vampire head held aloft by a demonic hand erupting from the ground, over a cauldron. That made it work.

It helps to listen to your patrons as well. My haunt plans for next year have come as a direct result of listening to my guests suggestions and wishes. The satisfaction of creation for your own edification is great, but it's better when you know you're doing it to please an audience of well-meaning repeat patrons.

Sometimes, they don't even realize they are saying something constructive. I heard enough repeats of "Is something going to jump out at me in there?" to get me to realize _that's *exactly* what they will get next time around._

Perusing others' work is also very inspiring.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

I agree with Jeff, movies can be a good source of ideas, there are a number of very talented folks in here whose stuff is worth looking over, take a run through the monster list of projects is also good. 
Generally if you stick with a theme, be it classic horror, cute, butcher shop gore, ect., there usually are more items to make then you have time or money to do anyway. 
http://www.halloweenmonsterlist.info/


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## NoahFentz (May 13, 2007)

I always loved old school Halloween. Not so much scarey but creepy. Twisted trees, old witches, rotting pumpkins. The first haunting years was a mismosh of stuff. I finally found what I was looking for when I was directed to Terror Syndicate...then Uncle Binley and now PumpkinRot. I'm inspired by the grey, browns and ambers of Fall. All of these haunts have some of those components.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Since I don't have a haunt, I don't make a lot of stuff. When someone pays me to make something, then I go by what they want. But, for my own stuff... I'd say movies mostly. For traditional gothic horror, I love the old Universal, Hammer, and AIP movies the most, but it would of course vary depending on what the subject is.

I love video games as a source of inspiration too. Doom, Quake, Thief, and even Duke 3D (for sci-fi) are my favorite sources of scenic horror imagery; When I can finally do an enclosed walk-through haunt I know I'll be borrowing extensively from those for my scenic elements in addition to the classic movies. And I haven't played all the way through any of the Silent Hill games but I love the imagery of what I've seen. I actually prefer the older games because they're lower-rez and sort of leave the high-detailing up to the imagination; they give you the basic image and establish an atmosphere & mood that makes you remember it as being a lot more detailed and polished than it was.

For supernatural ghost/wraithlike things I just wing it and see what develops.


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## HauntedHacienda (Sep 16, 2008)

Really, it is the area where I live and the Old West History of my Family that gives me the most inspiration.
There is a lot within the Western Genre that I can work with quite easily and that would fit in with the area.
A lot of my Kin lived in the Post C.W. era and the Cowboy Old West Era, with many of them being Outlaws.
I draw on thier Memories and the Good things about them for a lot of my inspiration, plus the Hispanic Dia de Los Muertos Celebrations held here annually.
A lot of it lends to the mystic, Psychological, spooky, death kinds of things.
Plus, the Lifestyle of the Old West has been a Love of mine for a long time.
If I were to be building Props, then I would draw on these things to give the Atmosphere that I want out of my Haunts.


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## chisox100 (Nov 12, 2008)

Saw really gave me some good ideas this year but the best way to go is. Go to Blockbuster or any other video rental store. Go to horror movies and look at the covers of the moves and read the backs. You get a great variety of themes and ideas from that.


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## higginsr (Oct 4, 2007)

It comes from lots of hard work and working out with heavy weights.... sometimes when I go running or jogging or when it is really hot outside... THAT is where my perspiration comes from!


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## Eldritch_Horror (Jul 27, 2008)

I work at a boring, mind-numbing, unchallenging job that does it's best to devour my soul. As a self preservation tactic my mind often kicks into creative mode to stave off atrophy. I spend a LOT of time inside my head while I'm at work... So, essentially my ideas come from where I work?


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Inspiration from Diseased Imaginations - that's my route, whether my own or others

And I agree with what some others have noted here - sticking with a theme of some kind really unifies a haunt and gives you a base to build upon.


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## p3ppy (Sep 18, 2008)

I usually gather some ideas from going to www.halloweenmonsterlist.info/ which is a website dedicated to submitted how to instructions. Also most of my ideas come from going to various haunted houses during halloween to see how the scenery looks, for example; im doing an asylum theme for my party next year after being blown away by the setup of a haunted house i checked out this year that was a haunted asylum theme


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## Death's Door (Mar 22, 2006)

Well, I usually peruse a forum called, Hauntforum.com. The members on that site are definitely masters at their craft. Unbelievable things that I have seen on that site. It made me a better home haunter and it raised the creative level as far as having a display like I do.

A theme is the other way in which to build upon.

A lot of space between my ears for anything like the thought of a Halloween prop or change to my haunt. I'm a licensing coordinator for my company and we operate in all 50 states so I constanting dealing with forms all day long so my outlet is to let my mind do some wandering. It doesn't go far but the things it can come up with surprises me to this day.


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## HauntedSFX (Nov 5, 2008)

My ideas come from films mostly. Iv always wanted to do an insane asylum! Nothign to do with halloween though... Kidding! it would be cool to have everyone stand in the middle of a room with cells, then the power get cut off!


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## Eldritch_Horror (Jul 27, 2008)

HauntedSFX said:


> My ideas come from films mostly. Iv always wanted to do an insane asylum! Nothign to do with halloween though... Kidding! it would be cool to have everyone stand in the middle of a room with cells, then the power get cut off!


If you do that, make sure you have a great sound effect of the cell doors opening to play while the lights are out.


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