# Haunted school



## divaann (Aug 7, 2008)

Hi there! I'm looking for ideas that my daughter and friends can use for their haunted school. Every year the band lets the kids set up the school for a 1 night haunt. Everything has to be set up in the morning and be ready to go at dusk. They can not leave any evidence behind when their done. I'm trying to come up with ideas to throw at them that won't put a strain on their budget. I have one idea of putting up my scene setters of the walls and adding plastic bugs on the walls as if they are crawling all over . Then putting walnut shell pieces on the floor to simulate stepping on bugs. I'd like to hang cobwebs (string) from the ceiling and use strobe lights to make the feeling of the bugs moving. I also have that spider that drops from the ceiling when triggered. But thats where I'm stuck. The kids love to dress up and scare people but what would work with this idea?:jol:


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## joker (Sep 25, 2007)

How many actors/participants? Zombies in bulk are always intimidating/scary.

The cosmetology dept at the community college I work at always does a hallway haunt. They use black plastic hung from the drop ceiling to divide it up into multiple rooms. They usually have several different rooms, but not much of a theme.


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## divaann (Aug 7, 2008)

There about 100 kids in the band but they divide into groups of about 6. They each get a portion of the hall which is divided into sections with black cloth hung to keep each "haunt" seperate. They can have anywhere from 20 different areas. Thank god I only have one section to help with.


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## Monstermaker (Aug 4, 2008)

A graveyard is always a good add-in. They could make tombstones/ crypts/ etc. out of cardboard (layered and glued together to add details). Get some old wooden pallets to cannibalize for creepy-looking fencing. (Grocery stores and furniture stores are a great source for cardboard/pallets) Kids = zombies....good to go!


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## divaann (Aug 7, 2008)

Well we have beenkicking around some ideas and "think" this is what we are going to do. But with teenagers ya never know they change their minds so quickly. We are going to set up a room like the haunted mansion using my plaster walls scene setters and the paneled wqll one. We will hang cobwebs from the ceiling to brush along peoples hair. I might break down and let them use my victorian gentleman's chair along with a round table. I have some changing gortraits to hang on the wall along with a haunted mirror. Along with my dropping spider and plastic cock roaches on the wall. We want to try to have a ghost butler invite you in to view the "ghosts". Having 1 or 2 kids float around the room as ghost we will have 1 hidden ghost to jump out. The butler will then ask them to leave by the back door and exit thru the graveyard. There we will set up a few tombstones with a sheet made to look like a fresh grave. Under the sheet will be a kid moving and moaning as if to be trying to get out. From in back of the other tombstones will be other spirits that will jump out as the people are busy watching the fresh grave. I might try to find cans of compressed air ( we use them at work to blow dust from the machines) that they can use to shoot at peoples legs as they travel by. Any more suggestions?


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

I'm in the same position, except they want us to set up AFTER basketball practice, be ready to go by 6:00 and break down at 8:00. They have no budget, no volunteers, no props...NOTHING. I think we're going to bail on this little event. 

As for the peanut/walnut shell idea, a member of this forum pointed out to me that this may not be a good idea, especially in a closed in school. With so many kids with peanut allergies, some can't even be around the shells. Just a little thing to consider, since I never even thought of that.


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## octoberist (Apr 3, 2007)

divaann said:


> I have one idea of putting up my scene setters of the walls and adding plastic bugs on the walls as if they are crawling all over . Then putting walnut shell pieces on the floor to simulate stepping on bugs. I'd like to hang cobwebs (string) from the ceiling and use strobe lights to make the feeling of the bugs moving. I also have that spider that drops from the ceiling when triggered.


No, spiders and bugs is not the way to go. Trust me on this. I tried spiders and bugs last year and the kids just laughed and mocked me and my children. I don't mind if I am mocked - but not my children!


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## PropBoy (Sep 4, 2008)

Hit up your local industrial park for junk pallets. These can be made into make shift walls, cages for crazy kids/animals, cemetary fencing etc...

PB


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## divaann (Aug 7, 2008)

PropBoy said:


> Hit up your local industrial park for junk pallets. These can be made into make shift walls, cages for crazy kids/animals, cemetary fencing etc...
> 
> PB


 LOL!!!!!! Now that around here would be scary!!! We have a 2 modular home manufacturers here that throw scrap wood away . People around here wait by the dumpster for any bit of wood. I've seen as many as 5 trucks waiting for the end of shift to bring out scrap wood. Lets just say I value my life too much to fight with the locals looking for free wood for their wood burners.


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## EMU (Dec 4, 2007)

If you NEED to do the spider thing, make its clear strings in a dark room, so they wont know what it was/is or how to it off of them LOL.


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## divaann (Aug 7, 2008)

We will never know what we will end up with for our haunt. But anything we do we are supposed to keep it mild as we get alot of younger kids and it is a school function. The kids 2 years ago changed their whole set 2 hours before the haunt began and ran us parents crazy with calls for different things. They found out some other set of kids had almost the same idea as them and didn't want to look like they stole it.


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