# Storylines



## PeeWeePinson (Feb 23, 2006)

Most years I have a storyline that goes with my haunt, it helps me build around a theme and figure out what props, etc. I will be needing. Just curious, what are some of your storylines this year or years past? For 2013 I am working on: Dark Harvest--Season of the Witch, more to come on that!


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

you came to the right place. 

My haunt is Misty Moon Orphanage. Many young creatures of the night are orphaned by angry villagers and vigilantes, but once in a while a caring person will come upon one and bring it to me. Be they winged, blood drinking, or mutated, they always find a home at my Orphanage.


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## PeeWeePinson (Feb 23, 2006)

Ooooo...that sounds good Dark Angel, that is a fresh idea, never have heard of it and interested in how it goes. 

Anyone else got one going?


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## PeeWeePinson (Feb 23, 2006)

I am just beginning to outline mine for 2013, nothing planned for 2012 due to son's surgery this year , but thinking of Halloween 2013 is my way of not thinking of this year. I am trying to keep my mind off of what's coming. With rough beginnings and knowing I have access to corn fields and woods next year I have a Harvest theme started to work around a witch, a forgotten town, an ancient burial ground, complete with a Harvest Demon (yeah, I loved Pumpkinhead!) I am going to develop a story for myself and concentrate on what I think will work best in the scares department around that story once I get it finished.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Since we do the cemetery thing every year, we don't have a storyline for the yard display. We do often develop a background story for individual props just because it's fun


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Dark Angel 27 said:


> My haunt is Misty Moon Orphanage. Many young creatures of the night are orphaned by angry villagers and vigilantes, but once in a while a caring person will come upon one and bring it to me. Be they winged, blood drinking, or mutated, they always find a home at my Orphanage.


That's a terrific idea. Would make a good book.


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## Abby Normal (Jan 4, 2011)

what great ideas! Misty moon orphanage would make a good book! love it! Season of the witch with almost 2 years to plan will be fantastic! Your lucky to have such a great setting as the cornfeild to do it in.
My halloween is sort of divided into 2 parts,..there is my party and my haunt for the tot's The party theme is tucker st insane asylum ...where the most dangerous of the criminally insane are given controversial "treatments" described by some as torture. Im still working out details of the backstory.... is it haunted? rumour has it that the house itself will drive you to madness,..those who go in will never get out. My character is the nurse "sadistic sadie" and give guests a tour of the asylum, and free phyciatric evaluation. The "haunt" part of the party will be in the basement and the yard will be somewhat related with a graveyard and a cornfield "garden" that the patients created ..
whew,..I got to go,..sounds like I have alot work to do!
just kidding its not work its fun! i have alot of fun to have!


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Kelly/PeeWee, how about "Revealing" the story of the lost village that once stood where the cornfield or forrest now stands? Having the village wiped out by the demon, who killed all of the people then collected their souls, binding them to this world for eternity?
That lets you have your demon, a graveyard, "remnants" of the village, and all the ghoulies and ghosties you want. You can include monsters and other creatures who are the minions of your demon. You can create a Native American, European, or Nordic "legend" that gives a backstory to the demon itself. That legend can be posted at the beginning of the trail, and lets you post additional signs like you might see on an historical trail, those signs can start heating up the people's imagination by getting wilder and wilder with each new sign.
Hope that made sense.


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

thanks guys. now that i think about it, it would make a good book....something to think about.


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

and fontgeek. i love your idea too!


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## PeeWeePinson (Feb 23, 2006)

I love what everyone is working on! Ok Font, I'm gonna run with some of the ideas you gave me. We've got ALOT of time but it wouldn't hurt for you to start rolling some invite ideas around in that creative, brainy head of yours. I will pm you some pics I am using for inspiration next week.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

For things like cornfield and forrest haunts, if you have landmarks or well known features you can tie your story to, you can help sell your story. Getting guests worked up with the story lets their imaginations do much of your work for you, you just get to fulfill their dreams/nightmares by bringing your creatures to life. Letting a demon loose who captures the unlucky souls and trap them in their mortal form (or what's left of it) is a start, you can fill in the rest of the demons deeds around the props you have, and the features of your haunt/area available to you.
If you make your village something like Roanoke, then you need to costume your creatures, or at least some of them, in that period's garb. You can dress some of the creatures in modern garb to act as "Guests" who've just been captured and enslaved by the demon or his minions.
Sorry, once my imagination gets going it's hard to stop.


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## Scarypumpkinpie (Feb 1, 2012)

Hello!! Newbie here 
I used nightmares as my theme last year, using horror flicks as the source of the bad dreams. 2011 was our first year, and the start up costs forced me into choosing simple but effective scenes. This year I really want to play up the history and the name of the place. It is actually located on "Cemetery Lane" and has a couple of old cemeteries near by. I like Fontgeek's idea of a village wiped out by a demon. Maybe I will twist it a little and add that it is something that was buried on the grounds and no marker was erected because it was never to be spoke of again. I thought about adding in some sort of possession that perhaps caused one man who sought to resettle the area to go crazy and maybe murder his family or neighbors or something to that affect. Perhaps this man was really sick and had various torture devices and used them on his victims. I also want to recreate a simple old house modeled from the original home built there in the mid 1800s. Given the location and the area, it would have been a prime Indian "homestead" with level ground, trees, and easy access to a large river. A major battle in the Civil War was also fought just a stones throw away. Maybe I can weave some Indian curse into my story line? What do you think? Great ideas on this thread...my mind is racing


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

You can always throw in the cliche "The South will rise again", but make it rise from the dead rather than as a separatist movement. It can be soldiers of both sides claimed by the demon/creature, but I think I might avoid dragging the native Americans into this as bad guys. I don't know where you are in Tennessee compared to PeeWee. I hope you're not close by to each other, I'd hate to see any haunt get tainted or tagged as being a copycat of the other. If you are a good distance away then I don't see it being an issue.

Are you talking about creating a full size house for people to walk through, or would it just be a shell/facade to see and help anchor the story-line?


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

Maybe you could combine the two?

I love the idea of 'plants' in the crowd. if you use the 'rouge demon' idea, maybe the 'plant' could suddenly start freaking out, screaming, jumping around convulsing' or you could go with the way they did the possession scene in HP 'order of the phoenix'. it really creeped me out.






but make sure, you have enough room so that no one gets hurt.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

The "Possession" thing is interesting, but I don't know how you would present the visions the character/actor is having, and with no foundation or preknowledge of the character who is supposed to be possessed, people would probably just thin e person is acting weird, but that's just my opinion.


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

i just posted the video for ideas. the people in the crowd don't have to see any images. if the plant is a good actor and can really sell the 'possession' i.e the contorted body, the screaming and thrashing about, it could seriously freak people out.


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## YoSeminoleSam (Dec 21, 2010)

We are a small rec center with an even smaller budget, so we try to maintain a central theme for a couple of years and change it up enough to make it somewhat different. a few years ago we did Carnival of Carnage which limited what we were able to present. Keeping with that theme left a lot of our quality props unused. So... last years' theme was "Pandemonium" which allowed us to be more flexible, a theme without a theme. We had a Clowning area, Spider area, Rock music, a zombie horde, a crypt. the horde was very popular so next year we will highlight that as "Pandemonium 2, return of the horde". half way through the build we will have our idea for 2013.


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## Scarypumpkinpie (Feb 1, 2012)

I don't know where pee wee's location is, I am going to look over his profile. I am in the upper north east corner of the state. I think I have the perfect story line, but I don't want to reveal too much just yet  Yes, I wanted to build a full size two room house, that would be used year after year as the original "home place" of the first settlers. But my dad, who is also our carpenter, said that he did not feel comfortable using the aged barn wood I wanted to use. With the house being built so long ago, the wood has to be old to be realistic. But, he said this wood is not structurally sound to build an entire house with. That said, we are playing with the idea of building a log cabin instead. But, I think I might just go with my back up idea. We could build the "remains" of the fallen down house. Mostly just the rock foundation with some remains haphazardly standing. I thought about burning the ends of the boards and using spray paint to add to the story how the house was burned. We could place it off the trail and illuminate it with fire light so that we pass by it. Then have the trail go through the "old Wood Shed" where various torture devices would be hanging on the walls outside. We can hang some realistic plastic chains, picks, blades, etc on the inside. Maybe have an old potting table inside with some various vices and such laying on it. We can build the shed out of new lumber, the add the barn wood siding over that on the outside. My dad says it will be easier to make a small building like a wood shed structurally sound, but still look like it is old. By using things like salvaged rusted tin on the top in pieces ( leaving holes open) and painting the new lumber on the inside of the shed black, it will appear old and rotted in the dark. Just the fear of walking into something like that will be scary on it's own  BTW my dad is a carpenter by trade, building houses was his for years job until he retired. Anything he builds is going to be sound.


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