# haunting with no supplies



## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

As some of you may know, I had a severe disruption in haunting since last year. This year I am forced to bring back a hard haunt in my best friends front yard. Her is the catch. I don't have anything scary anymore. Well props anyway. I still have most of my.lighting and sound and sound effects.

I am looking for tips and trick to make the yard scary with no mateirials and very little budget and no theme. I don't have any pnumatics any more. Just one prop controler that I plan to use for a lightening scare.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Haunting is all about setting a mood, not how many and what kind of props you have (although they help and we love them) If you have lighting, sound, and sound effects, I think you should be able to set a suitably spooky mood and pull off a successful illusion of scariness.

As an example of as a spooky haunt with no props, take a look at what Marrow did here - beautiful and effective:

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=26391


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## Spooklights (Jul 4, 2006)

I love those pictures-they are so haunting. I like the way Marrow uses the old jars to put candles in. The low-tech flickering light is always a creepy effect.


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

IMO the only thing props really do is let you use a theme. Spooky to down right terrifying does not need props, as Roxy pointed out with Marrows pics. You already said you have lighting and sound...that is plenty to do a really good haunt.


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## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

My first year as a haunter, I had a red flood light, a blue flood light, some face paint, and a CD of spooky sounds from wal-mart. I still consider it one of my best years as a haunter. I cut down a couple of small, dead trees, cut them into odd lengths, tied them together and made a fence. Then I picked up some random stones that brought to mind tombstones, and set them up in my yard, behind the creepy fence made from the trees. On the other side I built a half of a toe-pincher from an old pallet I found at curbies. I actually purchased only two bags of spider webbing and a black light. Hung the black light on the front porch, and stretched the webbing all the way down the fence and across the yard. For two weeks before Halloween, my neighbors kids would cross the street two houses before mine, and cross back at the far end of their driveway. The big night, I was busy from 5 in the afternoon till almost midnight. My wife had to leave twice to get more candy. It was great


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## Dixie (Feb 18, 2009)

Oddly enough, I think this is a great opportunity to use your imagination in ways that you have never HAD to use it before, and will probably be the best haunt you have done. Play on natural fears - fear of the unknown, the dark, small spaces, heights, things like that. A creepy scene and live actor or two can really do the trick.


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## MommaMoose (May 15, 2010)

Usually the scariest part is what you don't see. Like Dixie said, fear of the unknown gets most people every time.


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

I must agree. TOTers greatest fears are not what they see, but what they imagine. Usually after seeing it, the fearful thing is not quite as fearsome. (unless it is a huge spider, yech.)


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## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks all. I have gained some visions in my head. I am seeing some pallets, creepy netting and a lot of fog in my future.

I just spent the last 5 years building and working a triple attraction pro haunt and I am used to have a lot at disposal. 

It will be lighting and sound intensive and I will try to remember to take pics and post them in November. 

This neihborhood expects alot from me becuase I have done there before. It's my best friends front yard. Our biggest challenge. We do it kind of like Yard Crashers. It's all up in 2 days and it all comes down that night.


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

We're always on an eensy weensy budget, so here are a few things we've come up with. You could look in nearby woods, and friends' yards for large fallen or dead branches, they can be stood up around the yard for the look of dead trees. I don't know if you're looking to make any props, but you can always scour curbies, craigslist, freecycle, etc for materials to make a few inexpensive to free props. We always have good luck finding foam scraps. Farm stores often give away large blocks of foam that ship with trailers. We use pallets as lumber around here! This year, we built a medieval market cart almost entirely out of pallets. Sometimes, Menards will give away a few of the 2"x3" strap boards that come bundled with the lumber, they're usually about 4' long, and make for nice building materials too.

Either way, have fun!


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Like the others, I think the biggest scare for TOTs is what they can't see, but "know" is there.
Set up your sound system as a hidden surround type of thing, and maybe do the sounds of nature (owls hooting, wind, creaking wood, etc.) and maybe some subtle moaning, whispers, maniacal laughter, wolves howling. 
You could probably scrounge the cardboard to do short life tombstones. Coat the front with dirt to darken them up. In the dark they will look gray anyway. As Nixie stated, you might look in nearby woods, the branches can be used to make a scarecrow, haunted trees, or skeletal hands reaching up from the ground.
Maybe get the friend to let their lawn grow out for this, it will help give the yard a wilder, haunted look.


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