# Robisc garage haunt 2010



## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

So here's my detailed foray for my 2010 Robisc haunt, after the second year, this being the third for my garage haunt, I wanted to work a completely new idea, I have had the gore, pop-ups and typical props everywhere in the past and was gonna try something completely different this year and use more atmosphere, audio, disorientation and lighting to step it up even more this year, though hoped it didn't bomb. 
First thing to keep in mind this is primarily built for a large group of young preteens teens thru high-schoolers for a huge Halloween party but what is really one drawback is that since it is built in a 3 car garage (24 x 21 workable space) there is only one walk thru exit door so I have to make do with that being both the entrance and exit though it usually works pretty well and did this time too, the other door goes into the house which is not an option for use.

Looking at the drawn plans link below starting out first from the bottom right of the drawing you enter into the exterior walk thru door into a multi color mini spotlight lit hallway with slatted walls on the left with strobe light behind it lighting the way, this hall is the opening and needs to look good IMO, it is decorated with haunt cloth, netting and burlap and a Gemmy Jason with no mask on right in the entrance in your face, also lots of webs from a webshooter, once reaching the end of this hall you have the only option which is to go left, this hall will be all strobe lit from which the light that is coming in from the slats in hall 1, about midway down this hall there is a loud remote control popping prop, don't know what else to call it, sounds like very loud firecrackers and its mounted up high, great startle effect and worked well for some screams.

Now on forward to the next "door" and a right turn into an almost completely dark and very foggy hall, there's one green mini spot to kinda blind the folks from being able to see the drop panel about halfway down the hall, they had no clue this was here and it worked well, It's funny how 95% of the guest that were of course huddled up onto one another also tend to cower down for some reason, as if something gonna get them from above, here at the drop panel a red mini spot shined behind the actor and into the guests eyes, then you proceed down the hall with no lights and then a 90 degree turn left at the end of the hall, now totally in the dark, no light seepage anywhere. Next after feeling your way thru and around the corner there is a dimly lit opening of which you would assume you must go into, here is a caged area dead end with the same actor from the drop panel banging on the cage with a bloody leg, of course the guests have to back out and find their way on down through another opening still in complete darkness, through the dark halls then on to another hall after a couple turns an air cannon will be activated directly in front of the guests for the scare before going into the next "room".

This next room will have hazard, dangerous gas signs and is multi red and blue colored mini spot lit all trying to draw attention to the frankencuted prop for misdirection when the actor from the corner that can't be seen gets the scare with a circular saw. Then on to the next hall behind a clear plastic "door" lit green from behind, unfortunately there's nothing in here except at the end of the hallway is a doorway arch cut that is only about 4 ft tall with signs lit up mentioning "caution confined space" into this claustrophobia hall the guests will have to go through a 4 ft tall 18 inch wide strobe lit hallway before exiting into the last 2 areas. Now on into a solid white room (walls and ceiling) white sheets hanging every 18 inches apart lit by 3 blacklights, and an actor in a white costume hiding behind any one of them. Once past the sheets onto the final room which starts with 4 hanging pipes from ceiling to floor you have to go through, all multi fluorescent colored as well as all the walls with multi colors, lit by blacklight and glowing webs shot everywhere, this area looked pretty good until onto the exit, the end and send in another group of 4.

We had about 125 that went thru the other night and expecting more on run 2 tomorrow night, the screams were great there were actually quite a few that didn't go in and 2 groups that made it about halfway through and backed all the way out the way they came in. I was a bit leery of my idea this year since there was a total lack of props of which my wife didn't think was a god idea, nor was there the seemingly obligatory "chop shop" type area but I wanted like I said earlier, atmosphere and the unknown, I know props can set the stage or cause misdirection but they don't usually scare people that much in my experience, but the overall responses from the kids were that this year was much better than the last 2 and after all the work I've put in I'm definitely glad to hear that.

The all wood wall panels of course were a lot of work but were well worth it in the long run as I didn't have to make any repairs during the night, they held up well. I have changed the format, the theme and the maze all 3 years and next year will be no different but am thinking I want to bring back a butcher and go bigger and better with everything, specifically maybe have the guests entering an area a lot like the TCM scene where leatherface is butchering something or someone on a table as the guests enter before he gets after them??

Also my audio was a little lacking really due to me running out of time, I didn't want to go with the typical Midnight Syndicate or Nox Arcana type haunt music this year, so I found some sound clips that I used in three areas from 3 different audio devices, it's the first year I've "zoned" the audio but wasn't real crazy about my selections. 
Also I really struggled with getting fog to all the areas, even with 2 fog machines, since the walls are solid, I had to actually get the doorman to hold up the guests a couple times for a fog break for a couple minutes where I had to move the foggers around and fog everything back up, I would like some sort of hose dispersion system next time but I will say Froggys fogs are where it's at, I have 3 different types though I can't really be sure there really is much of a difference in how they perform but do know they are as odorless and non irritating after being in the stuff for 2 hours at a time as anything I've ever used, this stuff is well worth the few extra bucks compared to the stuff you get from Wal mart.

The link below has the plans and pics, I have a few of what the garage started out as and some of the build then a few of each area, the walls aren't painted but in the dark in the right lighting, I think it looked great. I appreciate too all the ideas that came from here and also look forward to any comments or suggestions for next year as I'm already planning that out on paper. Especially thanks to the master haunter Mr. Shane Dabbs.

Pictures linked here Haunt 10 pictures by robisc - Photobucket


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## thealmightyzenk (Jul 7, 2010)

Looks awesome. Very nice work. The only suggestion I have is possibly more props, like you said. They are great at disorienting people and giving your actors more places to hide and things to interact with. They don't have to be anything fancy, just junk and other crap you can find layin around...also if you have time next year I'd paint the panels. A great thing to do is paint them a solid color and grunge them up with watered down brown or black paint. This can make the rooms appear bigger (important in a small space, trust me) and make it look more detailed and creepy. Don't think I'm criticizing your haunt, I really do like it alot, just tryin to give you ideas. Feel free to do the same to mine...lol


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

Zenk, thanks for the comments and suggestions, I am definitley changing things up next year so I know some of your suggestions will be incorporated for sure. As for your haunt, where can I find pics, couldn't find any on your site?


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## DynomiteDaniel (Apr 3, 2012)

Great haunt sir! how has it come along? I would love to see more recent pics!!!


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

DynomiteDaniel, 2011 was a great year, my biggest ever and completely different, I had a separate entrance and exit this past year which was great for me. I will definitely post pics from last year and thanks for the compliment, I try and do the best I can with the space/budget constraints and look forward to something new again in 2012, I'm already in the planning stages.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol: Wow, that looks like a lot of work to set up! I agree with the earlier post about painting the walls, that would give it a more erie feel, plus be a great backdrop for whatever props you come up with. I like your use of creepy cloth and the neon room. I am guessing that was a blacklight area? I can't wait to see your pictures from last year, and compare to see what's different. Thanks for sharing your haunt.

P.S. Dr. Pepper is delicious....


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

OK guys here's my pics from last year though in the light they don't do it justice, it's all about the lighting and fog, I used a variety of colors of mini LED spotlights and of course in certain areas strobes and blacklights, also I did paint some walls but most are still in just natural wood but this was unnoticed for the most part because of the lighting. The main entrance with the cheesy skeleton I hated but it was the one request my 10 year old wanted so I had to oblige though in the right lighting it didn't look too bad and this area was passed by very quickly once the door was open to let the group in. This year I also had a separate entrance/exit, the exit was from the dot room and couldn't be found without the actor showing them where it was, it was very disorienting after coming from a partially lit room, the dot room had no light leaks so it was very dark. The preliminary plans are scanned and attached and the flow was basically this but a couple rooms were completely different and much larger though i didn't update the plans I just did this on the fly and it turned out great. Pictures are attached and if any questions please ask, I intend on completely changing it up again for 2012 and am already working on the plans and ideas.


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)




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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)




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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)




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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)




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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

And finally here's my haunt crew including me and ya gotta love the dot room guy in the Ivy Crew shirt, but he was scary particularly when he was yielding a chainsaw.


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## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

That dot room is awesome! Hey I have a question. How did you build your walls? I'm not a carpenter and I really need someone to tell me how to do his is simplified terms for a dummy. Haha. Thanks......last year I used black plastic it sucked I wanna try wood walls also how much did the walls cost if you don't mind me asking


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

Plastic walls don't compare to wood I agree, glad I made the move though the storage can be an issue though, I have about 40 4x8 ft panels. I use 1/4 inch OSB which is very cheap and lightweight, for the framing I use 1x2s and just screw all of it together. Thanks for the compliment too.


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## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

Cool. I guess what I was asking, if anyone can explain, is how are they put together and able to stand without being attached to the ceiling? I wish there was a solid video tutorial on it.haha


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

The way I do it is, I screw the panels together in 4 places and use 2 1x2 braces up top going acrosss to the other wall that is parallel to this one to hold them in place, once they're all together they are very sturdy and don't need to be attached to the celing because of the weight and the fact that the whole thing is like one big piece, meaning if the 1st wall on the north side was moved then every wall between it and the last wall on the south side would have to move as well. Hope this helps.


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## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

I gotcha! Great way to do it. I think I will try that. Great job on your haunt!


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## rubberband1293 (Jun 17, 2010)

Love the "dot" room!


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## The Rotten Pumpkin (Mar 28, 2010)

Nice job, the haunt looks great!


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## graveyardmaster (May 14, 2012)

hey robisc,you"ve put alot of hard work into your haunt,fantastic job by the way,well done!


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