# Totally dark room



## medusa53 (Apr 11, 2010)

If you were escorted into a totally dark room, what sound would scare the yell out of you? And...once the light was turned on, what would completely freak you out if it were in that room with you? 
The sound and visual do not need to be related.


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## Mattimus (Oct 23, 2013)

The sound of snakes.... turn on the lights: Snakes!

::Wet my pants::


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

A deep gutteral growl. When the lights come on exhibiting a cute pussy cat. That last part is for me....that would make me laugh. Probably not the shock value you're looking to create.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

your pitch black room would probably be lit by 2 or 3 cell phones, so the surprise would be very difficult to get. But I would escort into a room that wasn't pitch black, Shut the door, then kill the lights and have no sound at all. When the lights come back on, have 2 or 3 shadowed figures in the room with them and part of their group. Just my thoughts.


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## RowlandHarris (Sep 11, 2009)

In addition to sound, what about a slow "breath" of air (sound AND actual air) from behind where people are facing? Also, maybe something coming at their feet (strings on a motor by the wall?). Something subtle, but creepy. I love creepy...


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## hauntedyardofdoom (Nov 6, 2008)

do the opposite, shut off the lights then turn on a really bright light and blind them that way. Cellphone light won't have any effect. As their eyes are adjusting you can then start the noises... then you can shut the lights off again.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

Dark room with silence to keep'em guessing then....BAM!
Several strobe lights along with amplified sounds. That would shock me!


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## MansionHaunter (Sep 20, 2006)

The sound of clanking gears and splintering wood, as though the room were being squeezed inwards. That would freak me out in a dark room! 

Also, slithery sounds coming from all directions, like the room was slowly filling up with spiders and other creepy crawlies.


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## shannibal (Aug 14, 2013)

I think for me, a quiet whisper right behind me would do it. Then when the lights come on, a quiet little girl not moving or reacting. Just standing right behind me.


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## nimblemonkey (Aug 21, 2011)

These are all good ideas- I like this thread. I like the idea of breathing but in surround sound or whispering then the ceiling is lit and a bunch of ghouls hanging down and grabbing from the ceiling toward your "victims".


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## nativehaunt (Oct 2, 2013)

I've posted this on another topic but I will add it here as well, the most memorable dark room I've been through, the scene before it had a lot of lights so when you entered this room your eyes never really adjusted, fishing line was hung from the ceiling and would run through your hair and over your shoulders, some had weights on them and would grab a hoodie or hat and move it on your head. There where actors in the room, that you could never see because your eyes didn't have time to adjust, they remain in the room so their eyes where adjusted enough to see you, "come in, we wont hurt you" softly whispered as you walked through the door, they would also creep up close to you or behind you and whisper into your ears, in this case it was about a "Jeepers Creepers" themed haunt, and they would say he's watching you, or he wants your flesh, etc.. a small red light above the exit to your room gave you a general direction to walk.


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## MurrayTX (Nov 4, 2011)

I would go for whispers from different locations and a lights-on ending where the guest is virtually surrounded by multiple masked props and one masked actor. No one copes well with being immediately surrounded by a group (even if they are mostly made of latex and old clothes).


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## smootah (Mar 23, 2014)

I love whispering. Totally adds an effect. Turn the audio from this YouTube video into an mp3 file and have this play in total darkness: 



When the light flickers on have characters like "the strangers" w/ plastic masks be standing the corner running at them. Masterpiece.


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## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

We had a room like this in the pro haunt I used to work at.You hear whispers and crickets. When the lights come on, there is camo netting on the walls, with two or three actors in ghillie suits. You can't discern them from the walls. The lights come on bright, then dim down to a twilight-type ambience. As they cross the room, the actors detach from the walls and "join" the group. Whisper or yell into someone's ear and watch them jump. Great times. Especially when you have an actor with a deep baritone voice.


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## smootah (Mar 23, 2014)

I love whispering. Totally adds an effect. Turn the audio from this YouTube video into an mp3 file and have this play in total darkness: 



When the light flickers on have characters like "the strangers" w/ plastic masks be standing the corner running at them. Masterpiece.


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## jabberwocky (Apr 30, 2008)

Childlike whispers from different sides.
Lights turn on, long haired little girl in nightgown holding a headless doll, with a blank stare at the crowd.


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## Troll Wizard (May 3, 2012)

_*So a room with total darkness? Well I think what would be a great effect is that you have no sound at all. Make people wait a little bit, nothing more scarier than to have a bunch of people in a dark room and no sound outside of the people in there. Then maybe have a creaking door opening from behind where they came in. With footsteps walking towards the middle of the room. Then the whisper...."I'm right behind you!"

You would then have a small dim light come on showing people the way out of the room to allow the next group of people to come in to get scared all over again. *_


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## Mystique1980 (Apr 29, 2014)

Pitch dark rooms are sometimes amazing and sometimes terrible. They are often ruined with cell phone lights and sometimes drag on for far too long and lose the effect. 

I agree with the idea of having them come into a brightly lit room and then turn the lights off quickly, really soft whispers are horrifying which can fade into the sound of maniacal laughter. Basically anything to get the audience unsettled. 

In terms of what to have in the scene when the lights turn on...I've always thought it'd be cool to have a large mirror so they see themselves, but there is something lurking behind them that they don't notice at first. It'd turn into a bit of a surprise scare in the end.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

A slightly different take on Mystique's idea, and that's to have a room that has "windows to the exterior" that's reasonably well lit when they go in, but then the lights go out. With the lights out, the bright flashes of lightning and the loud claps of thunder scare them both visually and audibly. If there are mirrors in the room, the "monster(s)" can come up behind the guests before the lightning strikes so that they get this wild glimpse of something behind them. The monsters go back into hiding and the lights flicker back to life, revealing the same room they entered. You can use drop panels not only to have actors pop out but also to reveal and then hide mirrors.
Hope all of that made sense.


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## Beach Zombie (Jul 19, 2015)

we have a completely dark dead end hall once people realize they cant continue our man in a black morph suit starts yelling at them "wrong way" "get out" etc.


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## Richie4540 (Jul 23, 2015)

not sure how to set it up, but say have 4 speakers in different locations that are hidden, then when the lights are out, have someone whisper a message that travels around the room from the different speakers, and then when the lights come on see if they can figure out where it came from.

maybe " Marco" "Polo" would be good.


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## Hoowil (May 18, 2016)

Did a dark room for my kids' school haunted house last year. There was just enough light to make out the exit. I had a couple oscillating fans, that just caused a inconsistent breeze, but didn't use actors or sound. The response was that everyone so expected a jump scare in there that the tension went through the roof when it didn't happen.


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## thegothicprincess (Jun 10, 2008)

Start with a trigger word in a child's voice saying please no in whispers, then go up in volume saying no, over and over, until the voice is a womans scream.


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