# Need ideas for a sewer



## GOT

For 2010, I am going to trap the kids in a room with a cauldron creep who threatens to eat them. A sympathetic rat opens up a passage and lets the kids escape into the "sewer" (yes, that part is light-hearted but this will still be a scary haunt). The sewer is 3' wide, 4' tall and about 20' long with a few twists in it. I would like some ideas on any decorations and scares I could put in there. I would like to incorporate some running water but don't want to get anyone wet. This is also a home haunt, not a professional one so cost is an issue and I won't be painting the floor of my garage. The sewer will lead directly to the exit and I need at some point to pass out the candy. I was thinking maybe rubber rats with attached alligator clips could hold candy near the exit. Any brainstorming?


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## Spooky1

Any good sewer would have cockroaches too.


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## joker

Instead of incorporating water directly into the haunt why not have drip sounds and maybe even a pipe not large enough to enter but view through that looks like it leads to another area with water? Maybe use something like this http://www.americandj.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ItemNumber=1906&Category=L.E.D.&txtSearch= in an area that can only be viewed by looking through the connecting tube/pipe.

Definitely rats, roaches, flies.

An ankle tickler would be great for this too.


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## morbidmike

need some slimmy gelitin stuff for the sides nothing that would come off just feel gross like that stuff they put in the keychains that when you squeeze them they poop or whatever


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## Devils Chariot

you can make the walls look wet with some gloss varnish over a dark colored base, like a grey/green.

If you have a humidifier you could run it into the tunnel area to make the air feel wet.


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## The Archivist

Don't forget to use something that SMELLS like a sewer! Most important in my opinion.


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## fick209

Lots of great ideas posted above for you...how about a great big old slithering snake in the sewer? BTW, what are you building the sewer out of?


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## GOT

I LOVE the water LED projector. Too bad I can't justify the $200. I have two trains of thought on the sewer construction. The first is to make all walls out of foam board. The problem with that is the time to carve and paint 360 square feet of board. Plus the cost adds up (over $100). The more realistic approach (in terms of feasibility only) is to make the walls out of hardboard panels and use the "scene setters" brick wall. I hate to use that stuff but it will save me a bunch. The ceiling will still be carved foam board. I am thinking of making the lighting entirely out of glowing slime (Mucus lights, that I used to sell). The floor with be, well, white concrete. I like the idea of seeing water running past a hole/pipe in the wall. I can use that.
I will have a locked grate the kids will run into, then let them hear the growl of a monster following them down the sewer.
Great ideas. I want more...


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## Mr_Chicken

or you could make the sewer a giant pipe a la _The Fugitive_
perhaps using partial hoops similar to those of a vortex tunnel covered in lauan plywood.


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## JohnnyL

I think a ton of piping running along the top, with a lot of roots and vines hanging off of them would be great. Also, for lighting, every couple of feet have a metal grate on the (ceiling) with a blueish/white light shining down (moonlight) and pump a TINY bit of fog inside so you can see the beams of light as they pass through the grate.

Sounds like an awesome idea! VERY original too!


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## hauntedyardofdoom

don't forget the ninja turtles


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## GOT

I don't have room to make a giant tunnel so I have to keep it to 3'x4'. I like the idea of light shining through the grate. I was thinking of putting in a tall section (6' tall) with a ladder terminating at a "manhole". Someone could be at the top of the manhole to scare anyone who opened it. I am nervous to put an actual ladder in my haunt for safety reasons. Maybe a scene above a non-openable grate would be better. Someone could still reach in for a scare.


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## Warrant2000

WIll it be a continuous stream of tot's or a staggered entry?

Every good sewer has steam (smoke) coming out of pipes and cracks. You can also use air hoses to squirt air through holes at the tot's feet. Those could be activated by pressure plates, or someone hiding behind the wall.

For the floor, you can use washable craft paint. I used it one year to paint snakes all over my cement porch entry. Or use 4'x8' plywood planks as the floor. Then you can paint it anyway you want, and have an anchor surface.

Green or blue back lighting will give a good visual. Get a good soundtrack for the sewer - I recommend PoisonProps.

Dangle things from the ceiling like fishing string, black nylons, creepy cloth to drag across their faces as they go through.

I like the idea of an overhead grate. You can also build that on the sides. Sort of like dark alcoves where actors can hide. You could put a few dummies in to wear down their defenses, then later have a live actor that comes to life. A dark alcove could also have two red led's (eyes) with a growling soundtrack - something like a giant rat or dog in that dark corner.

One safety note: some parents like to escort their kids because a) the kids are scared or too young, and b) to experience the haunt themselves. A 4' tall tunnel may be too short for them to go through. That's ok if that's the effect you are going for.

_Story: during a garage haunt I did many years ago, the tot's had to crawl under a long table that I made into a cave. I had staple-gunned nylons to the underside of the table. The crawling kept many parents outside that couldn't make it. Some brave ones did crawl with their kids._


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## GOT

They will go through in small groups. 
I am 6' and have been crouching around under an imaginary 4' ceiling at work when no one is looking. I think 4' is reasonable enough for a short walk. I will have the grate up 7' so there will be an area they can stand up in the middle.
I think good sound will be key and I like the idea of things wiggling around in small side tubes. Washable paint is a good idea since a clean, white concrete floor is a bit of a mood killer. I will have to test some out.


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## joker

How about using the bottomless pit idea for adding some depth to your sewer. Here's one I found on the monster list that uses a 55 gallon drum. Cut a hole in your wall for the drum, build a stand for the barrel and maybe put a round grate over the opening.


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## DeathTouch

How about a load of crap? (I am so funny in my own mind)


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## Erebus

Get a scent from minions web and put a small fan in front of it. I bought a 4" high velocity fan from walmart for $10 and did this exact same thing. Works great. X2 on painting plywood or something and using as the bottom. Or just get some black tarps and lay down. Don't paint those cause paint really doesn't stick to them though.


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## nixie

Some great ideas here!! GOT- Can I come to your house on Halloween?????? I would love to go through this!! Alas, I think TX may be a bit of a stretch for me...


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## joker

nixie said:


> Some great ideas here!! GOT- Can I come to your house on Halloween?????? I would love to go through this!! Alas, I think TX may be a bit of a stretch for me...


It's a bit of a stretch for me and I'm in TX...lol.


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## Erebus

Joker, I will come over. I live in the same city :biggrineton: Sorry about not coming over this past halloween. Just got busy trying to build last minute props.


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## Eeeekim

Did anyone mention Alligators or C.H.U.D.? http://www.horrorsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/CHUD.jpg


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## BackYardHaunter

i like this idea. but for parents who dont want to go threw have a exit for people. this could also work as a fire exit. which the code guys love that stuff

-BYH


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## Indyandy

Any good sewer needs an alligator. Put it in a side vent and have it snap when you pass by it.


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## jabberwocky

Ive been debating, picking one of these up......
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.29747
Havent seen it in person, but looks like something you could use.


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## Eeeekim

can you use that with a green or red filter on it? that would be cool.


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## Spookie

My contractor laid some masonite board (believe that's what he called it) down on our floors to protect our epoxied garage floor during some work we were having done. The stuff comes in good size sheets (maybe 4 x 8 feet) and I think he said it was only like $8 a piece. He laid the smooth side down on the concrete with the more textured, fiber-y side up. This worked out well because it made a pretty non-slip surface to walk on. I was thinking of this material for your flooring in the sewer. You could prime it with spray paint and paint and decorate it to make it look like there was water at the bottom of the sewer. I've seen sites that show using masonite in place of a painter's canvas so am sure it can be painted.

I would add lots of floating stuff along the sides of the sewers--save up packaging and cans from products and gross them up to make disgusting floating debris. I'd add a few water snakes crawling over the debris. Sewer rats a natural inhabitant. Maybe some shredded cheesecloth hanging in strands from the sewer ceiling in spots. Make it a slimy green/black color or tea-stained brown/rust maybe. If you run some piping (pvc grossed up) along the side of the tunnel you could have mice run along it's upper surface.

I'd consider using one or two wire covered cage utility lights in the ceiling. You could use a "very" dim bulb in them (maybe colored bulb or just dirt smeared looking bulb). Maybe connecting the lights to an F/X box to make it flicker with sounds from the kids or your background theme music. If you don't have an F/X box you can pick up one (around $10) in the after Xmas sales (here's a link to one over at ABC Distributing). The Xmas version is the same as the Halloween version BTW, just the outside box is different.

I'd be careful about using a fogger in a confined space because some people could have a respiratory problem with the fog juice mist in such a confined space. Instead I'd set up small bucket areas among the floating debris (the debris can conceal it) and fill it with water and use those "fog" mist-ers to add some atmosphere and create a muggy atmosphere.

I like the addition of the urban alligator in the sewer idea. You could easily create a feeder tunnel off to one side of the sewer and have the gator in there. If you have some help running the haunt, they could push the gator out of the tunnel into the main sewer as the ToTs approach (a cheap set up, obviously sensor triggered and motorized for a more expensive prop version).


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## GOT

I would love to do some fog but, every year I ditch it because my haunt are always cramped. Mister fog doesn't travel far but I like the idea of putting one in a side tunnel close to the ground. I have a pretty big one.
I am an expert at making slime. There will be slime. And pipes with rats running through them.
I wasn't thinking of trash and debris in the sewer. Great idea. I can have a pile with things moving in it.
Good idea on the cage lamp. I will have to recess it so no one bangs their head, but that will be simple. And a recessed ceiling means dropping spiders!
For the overhead grate, I am thinking a creating an overhead moonlight scene like they are looking up at the night sky from underground. My ceiling is only 10' high, but I realized that, since the viewing angle will be small, I can use a 45 degree mirror just above the grate to project my moon scene several feet away. I will put a small bushy plant and some tall grass just above the grate so that it looks like they are below a field.
I am not sure about the alligator, though a sewer does scream out for one, because I'm not sure I will do it justice. I would hate to break the mood with a fake-looking alligator snapping at the kids. What I will do is have them come to a passage sealed off with bars, then have a horrible echoing roar like one of the monsters they are running from is following them down the sewer. I think a light with a projected monster shadow on the wall would be appropriate at this point. I would open the gate a few seconds later.


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## Spookie

GOT said:


> ....
> I am not sure about the alligator, though a sewer does scream out for one, because I'm not sure I will do it justice. I would hate to break the mood with a fake-looking alligator snapping at the kids. What I will do is have them come to a passage sealed off with bars, then have a horrible echoing roar like one of the monsters they are running from is following them down the sewer. I think a light with a projected monster shadow on the wall would be appropriate at this point. I would open the gate a few seconds later.


I was thinking about the gator and have to agree with if it doesn't look real and frightening enough don't do it. And to be honest I got just as scared by the old B&W horror movies by the anticipation they set up so alluding to one being in the sewer could be just as effective...urban legend says that a nearby zoo's alligator escaped a decade ago and has been living in this sewer system. Now we don't know if it's true or not but you might want to be on the lookout for anything moving in the water...

And something for you to consider might be this gator however if you are still thinking about some kind of gator in the sewer. I bought two or three of them a few years ago from TJMaxx for something like $19 a piece (to add ambience at a New Orleans theme backyard party) and saw them sold the last few years at FrightCatalog I think. They float and are solar powered. It's just the head but who needs more. The great thing that sold me about these was that the eyes glowed yellow at night from being recharged with the small solar panel hidden in its back. Really great effect and if you like it and don't find one might still be something you could sculpt out of some foamboard and make with dim LED lit eyes. If it's going to be seen in the dark anyway it wouldn't need to be perfect. Just seeing the glowing eyes off in a side tunnel might be enough. I really do love my gator props and use them for swamp scenes in my haunt.

BTW Here's another pool gator I saw that has a frightening head you might want to model one after. http://www.thepondoutlet.com/home/tpo/page_2557_142/floating_alligator_decoy.html A lot of the pool places have picked up on items like these but I find the pricing to use as a halloween prop is a bit high.


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## operatingnurse

Whenever I think of a sewer, I remember Stephen King's "It".


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## abner135

why dont you make some type of animal with moving jaw and sound


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## Palehorse

*how about pipes*

You can attach PVC pipes with some fittings to the wall, glob it up with either great stuff foam or some plaster in some spots, let it dry the paint them red, maybe even run a small fogger through them to make it look like steam is escaping from them.


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## The Watcher

The fog is a good idea. But I would make sure you use a good grade, since it will be a small area.


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## TrailofDarkness

you should put speakers ALL through out the sewer and let it have that echo-ish running water sound and ripping sound. add some toxic waste too!


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## haunted canuck

Rats on strings running across the floor maybe like an axworthy system or on mini radio controlled cars


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## wickedwitchwest

You could also add a small skeleton representing the last little kid who got lost wondering in the sewer.


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## divinedragon7

you could make a small side passage, half a foot wide or so with some strange creature looking in the shadows. have it make some kind of noise as the children are passing


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## Revenant

You should have at least one intersecting side passage (or more if possible) that's grated off that they can't get through. Every FP video game with sewers to run through always has grated-off passages; it doesn't have to be a long section of passage, maybe just one that turns a corner just on the other side of the grate and so a fairly small block of space can really add the illusion of a big confusing tunnel system. Make sure to have lots of nasty crap and crud hanging from the bars of the grate. Lots of trash and crap piled at the bottom of the grate on one side -- with a badly decomposed body or skeleton mucked in with it.

When you hang your nasty stuff and trash and slime, think in terms of direction of water flow and where the debris would tend to collect -- subconciously it will totally sell the idea. It's like when you apply snow fluff outside on a movie set; just sticking it everywhere will look slightly wrong to people but if it's placed just so in terms of wind direction people will buy it as real snow hook line and sinker. They may not know why, but subconciously it'll register and it cranks up the realism big-time.

In places on your trash piles, a few days before H-day put toilet paper, stretched-apart cotton, dryier lint, whatever all over it and spray it down good and wet and let it dry. It'll turn to membranous muck that will conform to the shape of the pile and hold that shape when it's dry. You see a lot of that in a sewer.

And don't forget smell. Sinister Scents has scents like raw sewage, flatulence, mildew, swamp, urine, dumpster, rotting decay, and many more. Mildew and swamp are available as a fog additive. Use fog scent additives with Froggy's Fog, the stuff is so pure it's totally scentless and let's the stink really shine through. And Froggy's is also very hypo-allergenic; the company owner is severly asthmatic and he and his dad (a biochemist) formulated it to be non-irritating so they could use it in the skating rink his family owns. He breathes it just fine. If you don't want too much fog to collect they make a fast-dissipating fog that's made for indoors; this is also the fog that a lot of people use for the steam-pipe effect.


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## Revenant

Ooo! I just saw Bobzilla's tutorial on making vines! Betcha a few of them would look great in your sewer... coming down through cracks and voids in the masonry/concrete.


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## steveshauntedyard

Warrant2000 said:


> WIll it be a continuous stream of tot's or a staggered entry?
> 
> Every good sewer has steam (smoke) coming out of pipes and cracks. You can also use air hoses to squirt air through holes at the tot's feet. Those could be activated by pressure plates, or someone hiding behind the wall.
> 
> For the floor, you can use washable craft paint. I used it one year to paint snakes all over my cement porch entry. Or use 4'x8' plywood planks as the floor. Then you can paint it anyway you want, and have an anchor surface.
> 
> Green or blue back lighting will give a good visual. Get a good soundtrack for the sewer - I recommend PoisonProps.
> 
> Dangle things from the ceiling like fishing string, black nylons, creepy cloth to drag across their faces as they go through.
> 
> I like the idea of an overhead grate. You can also build that on the sides. Sort of like dark alcoves where actors can hide. You could put a few dummies in to wear down their defenses, then later have a live actor that comes to life. A dark alcove could also have two red led's (eyes) with a growling soundtrack - something like a giant rat or dog in that dark corner.
> 
> One safety note: some parents like to escort their kids because a) the kids are scared or too young, and b) to experience the haunt themselves. A 4' tall tunnel may be too short for them to go through. That's ok if that's the effect you are going for.
> 
> _Story: during a garage haunt I did many years ago, the tot's had to crawl under a long table that I made into a cave. I had staple-gunned nylons to the underside of the table. The crawling kept many parents outside that couldn't make it. Some brave ones did crawl with their kids._


GOT we plan on doing an air cannon make and take as well if you are going to do the steam shooting out of a pipe in the sewer.


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## scarymovie

I think alots of rats will do the trick get some real ones too! You should make the sewer smelly as well the more realistic you get the more people will get the feeling they are in an actual sewer!


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## Dark Carver

*Mainly...*

You will probably need... Sounds, perferably driping noises (Check out Gore Gallore's CD's), Scents (minions web), Vines/plants (erosion cloth), dripping water, I know you said you didn't want any one wet but... (water pump) lighting (floodlights), and of course props ( I would cover the props in vines or plants and paint them green or dark green and grey. I would also seal these with acrylic sealer to make them look wet. DC had a good idea to make the walls look wet (on the first page).


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## Tinman

Don't forget the urban legends of giant alligators in sewers. 
http://www.unmuseum.org/sewer.jpg

and maybe a teenage mutant ninja turtle with a pizza box.


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## Dark Carver

Here's two links for you. Trust me, It'll be money well spent. Gore Galore's CD's and Minionsweb's Scent Packets. Air cannons and ankle ticklers are a good idea. Type "Brandywine Cemetary" in YouTube. His haunt is awesome.


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## The_Caretaker

GOT so with all these great ideas what are you plans?


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## Tinman

I like the idea of the grates. how about one they need to crawl over with running water under the grate (small pump)


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## Dark Carver

Here's some realy neat ideas.


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## randomr8

I keep on thinking of the movie "IT" when the kids are in the sewer and the dead lights roll over some of them, in a smaller pipe with lots of holes. I have to watch it again but seems like there was a fair amount of mist.


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## GOT

Dark Carver,
Thanks for the video, I think I will try my hand at the flailing tentacles in the pipe thing.


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## madmomma

Hey GOT, you have tons of great ideas to work with now. I especially like the grating ideas. Dark Carver, that was a cool video.
I can't wait to see what you come up with!


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## lowdwnrob

Everytime I have to mess with a sewer it has roots, turds and usually some femine napkins. Not sure if you really want to use any of that but thats what we always pull out of them when they get clogged.


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## STOLLOWEEN

What about some reflective water lighting effects, imagine how it looks when you are at a pool at night and the light from the pool water bounces and dances on the walls. The water lighting effect would give the illusion of a wet sewer, add sound and I think you would have a believable effect. A simple method would be to fill some cookie sheets (the kind with sides) with a small amount of water and aim a spotlight into the cookie sheet creating the "water" reflections on the surrounding walls. Hope this makes sense. I've used the technique in the past while producing commercials for boat dealerships and seafood companies, it works great.


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## HAUNTEDBARN

Add some smell .....froggy fog has a mildew scent just add to fog machine.I think it would work good for a sewer room.


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## GOT

My biggest issue now is... how long do I make it. It is time consuming and expensive to make foam-board walls ($0.25 a square foot doesn't sound expensive but it adds up for a garage haunt), but I hate the idea of using the plastic "Scene Setters" brick wall here. At least the shiny plastic looks wet. The roof will definitely be foam board. Anyone have ideas on how to make a super-cheap sewer wall?


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## grim reaper

not sure if im too late posting or wether this will be more expensive but what about routing bricks into the wood walls ?


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## TheMikeBarrera

Hi all, for our sewer we usually hide a couple pairs of these red LED glowing eyes. Seems to be a really cool effect, guest seem to really enjoy it. Looks realistic. 
personal ebay link removed by moderator


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