# The Haunt NJ - Dark Carnival 2010



## thehauntnj (Sep 8, 2010)

Hey everybody my name is Brian. I just wanted to introduce myself here and the haunted house I did this past Halloween weekend, The Dark Carnival. This is a home haunt in Eatontown, NJ that takes place in my garage, a room off of it, and my backyard. This is our 6th almost annual haunt, we've been alternating off and on the past 4 years since I've been busy with college.

http://www.thehauntnj.com
You can find links to our Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Youtube there.

Here is a video of the haunt. A detailed description and some pictures follow below.





This year's theme essentially was a combination of carnival, circus, and sideshow elements.

Out front we had a carnival barker with an LCD head. The screen played a loop off of a laptop of the barker enticing patrons to come in.

To start off you entered the funhouse through the garage door opening which I have modified to create a normal door while still maintaining the ability to open and close the garage door, which required a swinging wall. The first hallway consisted of several small clown paintings and two posters, one of which is a drop panel, the other which is a picture we've used in the past two haunts, clowned up for the occasion.

After the next bend is the "hall of mirrors." This had walls covered in tin foil, a large mirror on either side, and two swinging doors with mirrors on them. The hallway was lit with strobe lights and has a buzzer sound effect.









Once through the swinging doors a turn to the left put you into the L shaped dotted hallway, with glowing strings hanging as well.

A U-Turn to the right took you into the vortex room. This consisted of a disco ball, wind (fan), and a large tv with a wacky spinning wheel.

A turn to the right put you in front of a stretchy wall lit with a laser light, creating a cool depth effect.

Going around this wall put you at the exit to the garage into the gypsy's corner, where she creepily warned guests.









Going through a set of curtains led to our show area, where our great magician sawed someone in half. A programmed light sequence, soundtrack, and dropping curtain really bring this room to life.

The conclusion of the show queued the outdoor carnival portion of our haunt. As you exited the house the first area you entered had a picnic table of creepy "finger" food to the left, with a glowing grill to the right, and a cotton candy tent/wall straight ahead (surprisingly one of the best scares). There was also a little girl doll holding a balloon to the right who cried via a mat hidden under the hay.









Next we came to the ticket booth where Scabs the clown talked to guests via wireless microphone.

The first game tent was balloon darts, where a balloon was inflated to it's popping point from behind using an air compressor.

The next tent contained a tin can alley type game for scenery.

To the left was a high striker pole, complete with a bell on top.

Walking around the trampoline, which has become the bounce house where a clown has unfortunately hung himself while bouncing.

The entrance to the woods brought us to Camp Clown, where all the clowns staked their tents up for the event. Balloon lined rope guided guests through this wooded loop.

After the woods we entered our final run with large black plastic on one side and plenty of short trees for hiding on the other side. Once guests reach a certain point an actor on a zip line flew over their heads.

Amazed, not for long, as a chainsaw wielding carnie quickly escorted guests through the exit path.

Here is a group picture of our cast.









Please let me know your thoughts and questions. If you'd like to see pictures of anything specific just let me know, I didn't want to include too many. Thanks!


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## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

Nice job! It looks like big walk through. You definitely have the carnival vibe going on. I love the person flying through the air.


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

I wanted to make it over to your place this year but unfortunately we were busy doing ours too. My son in law is a cop in Eatontown and told me about it. We'd love to have you join our make and take group...we meet right here in Neptune, about 10 minutes from you!


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## Eric Striffler (May 6, 2006)

This is great, looks like you guys had a blast


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## thehauntnj (Sep 8, 2010)

Glad you guys like it. We still have tons of footage to comb through, behind the scenes, a funny run, and stuff that just didn't fit into the sequence of the normal run through video.



trishaanne said:


> I wanted to make it over to your place this year but unfortunately we were busy doing ours too. My son in law is a cop in Eatontown and told me about it. We'd love to have you join our make and take group...we meet right here in Neptune, about 10 minutes from you!


Where is your haunt located? Understandable you couldn't make it if you were running your own. I wish I had the time to run ours and see everyone else's too! I've never done a make and take but sounds like it could be fun, I'll check out the forum for that.


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

This was our last year doing it since the house is going on the market soon and everything will be packed away. We're over by the Home Depot and Walmart in Neptune. Our theme this year was a tribute to horror movies and actors.."Horray for Horrorwood" and it was probably the best we've done to date. I almost hate to pack it all away..lol.

As for the make and take, we usually meet once a month but with everyone still taking stuff down and then Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, we're not meeting again until January for our annual Christmas party. We'd love to have you join us to get to meet the gang, while they are still on their "good, company, holiday" behavior. After that, once prop building starts, I can't make any promises..lol. There is a section on the forum for make and takes so keep your eyes open for that. If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you the contact information and address. Hope to see you then.


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

I just got a chance to watch the video....is this your yard? HOW BIG IS YOUR PROPERTY? sheesh! I would love to have property like that, without having to deal with all the obstacles that I have here..the AC unit, the pool, the oil tank, etc...lol. I'm jealous!


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## wheussmann (Sep 30, 2010)

looks awesome. and i agree with Trishaanne WOW now thats a yard to play with.

great video. look forward to what you do next year!!


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## FRIGHTGUY (Sep 1, 2010)

Love the Haunt and nice video! I really like the LCD head and the cotton candy scare!


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

My son in law just told me exactly where you guys are located and what the set up is. LUCKY DEVIL!!!


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

Great Video and haunt.....NICE WORK


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

Great Concept and very well executed!!, Loved it. Now the big question is.... How did you get so many friends to help you??? Live actors make SUCH a big difference and you had a HUGE cast of charactors.

GREAT JOB!!


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

Very elaborate home haunt. 

It looks like so much fun.


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## fick209 (Aug 31, 2009)

Great carnival haunt. I loved the magician who saws the child in 1/2, and the flying guy. Lots of great atmosphere and lots of great actors. Job well done!


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

WOW!!!! i'm extremely impressed! you are very talented!


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## thehauntnj (Sep 8, 2010)

Thanks again for all the compliments. To answer some of your questions, I researched that our entire property is 20,299 Sq Ft. We actually go around our pool which takes up about 1/2 of our backyard. Here is a bird's eye view I took from Bing maps. Our house is the one with the giant covered pool in the back.









trishaanne, lucky because we're so close to the mall you mean?

Most the cast and crew are people that went to high school with me, their friends, and friend's I've acquired over the years. Many of them have been doing this with me for several haunts now. It amazes me everytime how motivated and dedicated they are. I have ideas of where actors are going to be but they really create the roles and characters that bring it to life on their own.


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