# Garage or Display?



## GrimleeFeindish

Hi All Haunt friends, I am stuck in a paralysis by analysis/ crossroads situation. Garage or Yard haunt???

I am trying to decide if I should continue to expand my home haunt yard display which would incorporate the driveway and maybe make more props and some scares coming up the driveway or abandoning that and just build a small walk through in the haunt. I have been slowly building up my yard display but I dont get many TOTs and sometimes that can be discouraging. I guess my question is if it is worth the effort of doing the garage haunt even though it will be kind of weak to start out or just keep going on the yard/driveway display type haunt. An actual haunted house in the garage would be a **** ton more fun than just hanging outside of my haunt getting drunk by myself. 

Time and money are at a premium and that is a big contributing factor for making me want to just keep building up the display rather than trying to make the garage into a haunt. I was thinking I could make a decent maze in the garage with about 10 panels to start and a little bit of darkness and some of the outdoor props could come inside. I was thinking of making some fairly cheap panels with fabric for some and some thin plywood or wood-ish material for some of them and brace the hell out of it. I figure at least starting an indoor garage haunt this year would be a big step, I can always keep decorating my yard, but the garage would be a big draw and a **** ton more fun I think.

I have a 3 car garage and about 2/3rds of it is usable space. I am so damn indecisive it isnt funny. Any suggestions? BTW, check out my haunt on facebook, its Twisted Tree Manor.
Thanks everyone!


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## GrimleeFeindish

https://www.facebook.com/TwistedTreeManor/


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## jdubbya

As we expanded our yard haunt years ago, we statrted using the driveway, then the back covered patio, and eventually the garage as part of the experience. We have a 1.5 car garage, so considerably smaller but we hung black plastic on the walls and made a couple of partitions. Made a couple of neat scenes and hid some actors to jump out and scare people. It was fun and having the covered space gives you a lot of options to expand w/o doing some major building. I like the idea of garage haunts and have seen many of them o nthe forums. Keep in mind your traffic flow, having an entrance and exit path. The use of wall panels would be great to make corridors and small rooms. Throw a drop panel scare in there somewhere for some added punch. You mentioned you don't get a lot of kids but this will up your game and your numbers if not this year, down the road. A little advertising could also hike your numbers too and people love this sort of thing. I'd say go for it, if even to spread your wings a bit and see how it works out.


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## GrimleeFeindish

Thanks for the reply Jdubbya. Its definitely food for thought. I just need more time, money and energy. I hate not doing things right and I guess I am worried that if I dont make it right I wont be happy, I am also kind of worried about the whole insurance, liability thing. I dont know. Ill keep ya posted.


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## 69-cat

My stuff is outside but the other thing you have to factor in is the weather! I do my setup for just Halloween night and have had very good success. Hurricane Sandy made it a little messy but no rain. I do a path in my back yard with an enter and an exit for groups of 6 to 8 at a time. I do use the garage doors as props by removing some of the windows and replacing them with drop panels. I like how my setup is because I can build, setup and test without anyone seeing what I have in store for Halloween.
Dave


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## Palmdale Haunter

Moving to a walk through will take more time and effort...
If you are unsure, go another year as a display...


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## GrimleeFeindish

Your right Palmdale Haunter, Im thinking that with the stress of my job, budget concerns and the fact that I just dont think I have the time to do a good walk through I might just do the display again. I can work in a couple scares along the path up to the house to get my scare fix in. I dont like doing things half assed and I think that my garage haunt would end up looking like that. I really dont want to have to do plastic walls for the whole fire hazard thing and there is the issue of liability etc. I read on another haunt where someone was talking about how we all want to re-create the Haunted Mansion in our garages but the reality is that it isnt that easy. It takes time and money and I am just not too loaded up on either one this year. Thanks for the sounding board. Sometimes you have to just talk it out with people that get it.


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## Pumpkin5

:jol:I would say do the yard haunt. The reasons being, obviously you have reservations about changing to the walk through, and if time and money are issues, that would decide it for me. Another thought is, some of the younger TOT's can be too intimidated to go through a walk through, so you'd be playing to the older kids, rather than the younger ones. And I don't know that for a fact, just from kids coming to my yard for treats, some times the younger ones are too scared to come up for the candy, even though we are a "kid friendly" haunt. (nothing too scary, no blood or gore)


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## wandererrob

What do you mean "or"? 

I do both. I grew the yard display to where I was happy with it then started in on the garage. Now I have a full cemetery in the yard with a walkthrough crypt in the garage.

Best of both worlds!


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## GrimleeFeindish

Hey Rob, I guess the question was whether or not to make a garage haunt or just keep building the yard display. I keep going back and forth because its obviously a commitment either way. If Im going to do a garage haunt I need to focus on making walls and the stuff inside it. if I go for making the yard haunt bigger then I need to do different props. I think Pumpkin5 makes a great point about the garage haunt being too scary for younger kids. I really want to try and do it, I think I can get away with 10 panels or so to at least make some kind of rooms and halls, Im thinking anything that isnt covered by walls I can hang black plastic. Ill go for low lighting with LED lights to keep the heat down. I guess I just want to make it and even if it kind of sucks the first year it will continue to get better as I keep building. Im pretty happy with the yard and Im thinking that the long term goal is keep working on the yard and include a garage haunt. I think I I can do the panels/walls for under 200 bucks that should be pretty good. The other props can just be my usual cheap stuff that I make from nothing.


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## wandererrob

That's exactly what I did. I pretty much shifted gears a couple of years ago and started focusing on making the garage walkthrough. I put out what I already had for the cemetery, but most of the new building was for the garage. And yes, the first year it was pretty... basic. But folks loved it.

It is scarier than the yard, but we warn people that it's not suitable for little ones and their nightmares are on their heads should they choose to proceed anyway. Still, if I know some tool is bringing their three year old in anyway, I'll back off. I can't ruin a little kid's Halloween because their parents are idiots.

I highly recommend low level LED lighting for two reasons. First, as you said, heat. My garage (11'x17.5' total) is lit entirely using single LEDs running off 3.3v on a battery pack. Heat is not an problem. Secondly, because it's completely closed off from any external light sources, you really don't need much light in there. 

But I say go for it.

Use what you already have for outside and set it up as you have in the past, maybe rearrange a bit. But focus all your new construction energy on the garage for a couple of seasons. It's totally worth it and it's a big hit with the TOTs and their parents!

Oh, and if you start now, start posting on your local Freecycle list and cruise Craigslist for building materials. I scored quite a bit of my paneling, plywood and foam on Freecycle and really kept my initial building costs way down.


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## GrimleeFeindish

Thanks Rob, I appreciate the feedback and that is the direction I am going to go. I think as all the kids in the neighborhood get older the garage haunt will also grow and evolve. My kids are 8 and 9 and most of their friends are in that age range so I wont be making it too scary, nor too gory (not my thing), but I would like to start and if I dont start this year Ill regret it come November when Im sitting in McDonalds some monday morning drinking my caffeine and planning a new floor plan for the garage for NEXT YEAR. Its always hard to come up with a budget and time, so I wont be using that excuse anymore. Ill build my panels and props and just like everything else I can usually make them better and they will evolve.


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## wandererrob

That's the way to do it. Jump in, Build what you can, improve it next year. 

Looking back a few years now at my first attempt at the garage, it really was a bit goofy, and a bit confusing for the victims going through. But they still loved it and we're excited when they returned the next year.


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## GrimleeFeindish

Hey Rob, had a setback this weekend whilst at the Home Depot. I found some super cheap wall paneling that was really really thing, I figured I could make a 4x8 panel with two of those and some 2x2s as the frame. Couldnt get them in the 4runner even though they were so thin I could bend them quite a bit. Got pissed and decided to take them back. I only bought 4 because I wanted to just make two panels. Then the doubt started creeping in on whether or not I should even do the damn garage thing. It looks good on paper but Im just not sure what to do. I dont know why Im so indecisive about this, but I think the reason is that when I was just doing the display its easy to make a prop or two and then work them in somewhere, its not such a big step. I think actually going and buying the wood for the panels (which I think is too thin) was like saying ok now I actually have to do this, even though I may not be ready. I dont know.


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## GrimleeFeindish

What did you do for your panels? Im kind of nervous making 10-12 panels with thick playwood because of the storage and the weight of the damn things. I was wondering if I could do foam. That was why I was going to use the really thin board, maybe even a panel board like you can get for your garage where you hang your tools on it.


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## Acererak

Hi GrimleeFeindish,

As Nike says, "Just Do It!" 
You're gonna drive yourself nuts if you keep second-guessing your decision, make the commitment to do the garage as best as you can within your time limits and budget. Stop wasting precious time looking over your shoulder and move forward.

First thing you need is an idea or two for your feature scares/displays in the garage. This will be your main thing to build around. Is it a vampire's crypt? A slaughterhouse? A spooky maze? Focus on that and design your garage floor plan around that. For example, I decided last year the feature room would be a slaughterhouse a la Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So I designed the room and roughly how much space I would need for it, and with the space left over (which wasn't much) I had enough for a short hall and one small room. Once I had the main area figured out I was able to work on that and the rest just kinda came together as I progressed. Having a rough idea of what you want is good, I just wouldn't recommend having every last detail planned because you will likely make changes as you go.

I recommend checking out JB Corn's series of books for wall panels and everything else you need to build a haunt. Just bear in mind that these are tutorials for pro haunts but there is a wealth of info that is invaluable to any haunter. You can view his books and videos for free right here:

http://www.chillisintheair.com/jb-corn/

Another great source for walls are old wood pallets. A search around industrial areas or behind warehouses will usually get you several for free, the older the better. You can stack them on their sides and screw or nail them together with 2x4s or whatever scrap wood you have lying around. They have to be secure, of course, but they are very effective. You can hang black plastic or whatever behind them so people won't see through the gaps and the plastic won't be so obvious.

I started with a yard display and eventually made our large shed into an indoor haunt. I can't tell you enough how awesome it is to work and decorate indoors, its a great freedom - especially where I live as it rains a lot in October. Go for it and don't look back.

Good luck!


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## GrimleeFeindish

Thanks Acererak, Im thinking that you and Rob are right, just stop over-analyzing this and try and do it. Learn and then get better each year. I am just one of those people that likes to over think everything.


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## Acererak

GrimleeFeindish said:


> Thanks Acererak, Im thinking that you and Rob are right, just stop over-analyzing this and try and do it. Learn and then get better each year. I am just one of those people that likes to over think everything.


Same here, I'm a total perfectionist and that leads to decision paralysis a lot. But you said it perfectly: learn and then get better each year. Remember that most folks that come to your house dont expect much (or anything), so whatever you display is just gravy for them. Start with whatever you have, then push to one-up yourself each year.


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## GrimleeFeindish

I am really trying hard to let that part of me go and just get moving, Im such a procrastinator and then every October I am pissed because I wasnt doing alot more earlier on. I am also slightly paranoid, and I keep hearing all this stuff about people getting shut down, sued, etc. I really think its probably overstated and maybe not such a big issue. But its just the unknown I guess. I think I can make it pretty safe, I wont be smoking in the garage and their wont be any flames, but Im also not going to be going overboard either and spending cash I dont have to fireproof every prop in the garage. 

I think one of the things that drew me to doing an indoor walk through is just the fact that people blow right by things and this would be a way to make stuff that doesnt have to be water proof, and can help set a scene where people are kind of a captive audience. Of course not every detail will be seen, but its a start.


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## jdubbya

did you have an idea of what kind of layout you wanted? Maybe just some wall panels to form a single room or perhaps add a few to make a division/entrance/exit hall. Below is a link to our haunt structure build with a few pics. We erect a free standing structure but the methods can apply to any garage haunt. Wall panels can be built for cheap using 2x2 or 2x3 studs and luan overlayment. lewlew and I made 30 of them in a weekend! Here's a link to the thread that shows some of the build. I get that you're concerned about the safety aspect but at the ed of the day, it's just a small garage haunt that shouldn't cause you any problems and will make the Halloween experience so much more enjoyable or you and your guests.

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=39770


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## GrimleeFeindish

Thanks Jdubbya, holy crap I cant wait to look through the rest of that thread, its 11 pages, awesome. 

As for a layout Im going to do an entrance, a hall with a drop panel, a witch room and a vampire room. Thats about it for now, Im going to make 10 panels that will frame out the maze/rooms from the inside and the walls of the garage will be just the outer walls, Im not going to make walls where the garage door is and the interior garage walls. I will probably have to hang some of the dreaded black plastic or some landscape fabric to cover up some areas, but I think the general layout should be pretty cool. Just got to get to building. I know it wont be too great the first year but neither was my yard haunt. Got to start somewhere. Thanks for all the advice and encouragement. Id buy you all a beer if you were a bit closer.


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## jackrum

It'll never be what you want it to be but if you want it to be anything you got to start somewhere. You're indecisiveness probably comes from the fact that you're starting something new. I go through the same thing anytime I build anything. It'll probably never be exactly what you want. You'll never finish you'll just run outta time. Once you except that you can concentrate on building it and even having some fun along the way. Good luck. I'm in the third year of trying to improve my yard display. A walk through of some sort seems years away.


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## Longmont Haunt

Grimlee, I didn't notice you were in Aurora earlier. We might have to pop by to check out the haunt once you're rocking it! Might have to steal some ideas and inspiration, too, as we eventually want to build up to a walk-through.

Cheers, and big ups for just going for it!


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## SCEYEDOC

Hi GrimleeFeindish,
I may be a little late putting my 2cents worth in, but I built my walls out of thin luan and 2x2 just like JDubbya. They will hold up nicely and much easier to store. I ran my yard/garage haunt for about 7 years and never had anyone come close to damaging the thin walls. Check out how scared our patrons were. Just make it a maze with plenty of turns instead of having any long runs like more than 12 feet and you will be fine. We stabilized the walls with a plywood triangle brace atop each corner. Don't sweat the fine details. If they are walking through a haunt, they are just trying to get out without soiling themselves. They are not taking the time to admire the 2 hours you put in to putty every screw hole or your 2 coats of paint. It's a haunt and the more imperfect it looks, the better.


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## GrimleeFeindish

Thanks again for the encouragement. Hey Longmont Haunt, my garage is always open, stop by anytime if your in the area. As a Bonus I live fairly close (15 mins) from August and Pandora Rose of DRM!!!! 

You are more than welcome to steal any ideas that I have stolen from other Haunters! Too bad Longmont is far away, do you go to any of the make and takes? Im on FB, on the Colorado Haunters group, etc. I havent really done anything with them yet though, I just joined their facebook page.


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## GrimleeFeindish

Well, 8 of my 10 panels are up and are fairly sturdy. I was a little worried but mostly that is my nature, its because I have not done this yet. But Im learning that if it isnt sturdy enough than make it more sturdy. This will not be a great year of getting detail, but Im glad Im making the jump to a walk through and at least Ill have a base of panels to work with. I wish I could have made more panels, I have more space that I could be using, but its all good. Im going to roll with it and cant wait to do my favorite part, all the detailing. Pics will come eventually.

Thanks again to everyone for the encouragement!


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## jdubbya

GrimleeFeindish said:


> Well, 8 of my 10 panels are up and are fairly sturdy. I was a little worried but mostly that is my nature, its because I have not done this yet. But Im learning that if it isnt sturdy enough than make it more sturdy. This will not be a great year of getting detail, but Im glad Im making the jump to a walk through and at least Ill have a base of panels to work with. I wish I could have made more panels, I have more space that I could be using, but its all good. Im going to roll with it and cant wait to do my favorite part, all the detailing. Pics will come eventually.
> 
> Thanks again to everyone for the encouragement!


Exciting! Looking forward to seeing your new venture!


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## Gruenenfelder

I checked in a little late on this, but make sure to put up the finalized pics in the Showroom!


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## GrimleeFeindish

Hey guys, Ill post some pics here at some point. Im posting more on facebook on my haunt page, its Twisted Tree Manor on facebook, or just friend me, Im Sam Kadi. Ill be posting a bit on there just because its so easy with uploading pics from my phone. Its going good so far, just trying to figure out what I want to put in my rooms/halls. Its pretty fun, Im so glad I listened to everyone on here. Thanks again. Cheers.


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## GrimleeFeindish

I am so glad that I finally decided to do the walkthrough, what a fun night. I didnt take that many pics or videos but I will be posting some soon hopefully. 

Bottom line is it was worth it, all the things I was worried about were non-issues. I was worried about so much and everything turned out great, people loved it and we had way more people than when I had just the display. It was so much fun also, my kids loved acting and scaring, I loved acting and ad libbing with the crowd. We had about 100 or so people and people thought it was great. Cant wait for next year.

Thank you everyone on here that helped me decide to take the leap and just do it. I was so worried I wouldnt have enough props and actors and it all ended up working out. I learned alot and Ill be posting some of those thoughts later, but just wanted to tell you guys thanks!


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## jdubbya

Awesome! Glad it all worked out for you, and even better than you imagined as well. I think you'll see your numbers go way up next year. People will remember and tell their friends and so on. Looking forward to seeing the pics you took!


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