# Overdone?



## Monk (Aug 26, 2008)

I have recently moved to a new house with a pretty decent sized lawn and yard and since moving, I have been overwhelmed with ideas for what I want for a haunt this year. I really like the combination pumpkin patch/cemetery idea complete with mutated JOLs and scarecrows as well as the groundbreaking zombies and some combinations of the three. Do you think this idea is overdone?


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

I think the combination is a solid one. Those three components are, what many consider, Halloween staples. I think the majority of haunters incorporate a graveyard into their display. You can't go wrong with the accompanying ground breakers. JOL's are just classic Halloween and go good almost anywhere, as do scarecrows. My own front yard has all of these things and it ties in very well together. Lots to look at and admire. Put your own twist on the setting and props and make it unique to you, then build on it ever year.:jol:


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I agree with JD - sounds like a very good, compatible combination.


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## Frankie-s Girl (Apr 5, 2009)

I'd only consider it overdone if everyone in the neighborhood decorated, and used that same theme... and the same props.

Like the other posters said, it's a tried and true part of Halloween decoration, and you really can't go wrong with that theme.

There are so many ways to customize the graveyard/pumpkin patch look.


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## Monk (Aug 26, 2008)

Thanks. I am fairly certain that I will be the only one with this type of look in the neighborhood. Sure there will probably be a JOL or 2 and an occasional scarecrow or tombstone, but from what I gather about my new neighbors is that anything more than that is asking too much. Now I'm getting excited and want to start working on some new creations.


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## Spartan005 (Mar 13, 2007)

nah its actually not as overdone as you might think considering that 90% of the pro haunts out there now rely on the torture/gore factor. Thats why home haunts are so cool... most of them go back to the classic look of halloween (cemetery, witches, ghosts etc.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

Not at all. If you would have said chainsaw, I would have said yes.


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

I agree with everyone else. It sounds like a classic display to me.


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## The Bloodshed Brothers (Jan 25, 2009)

is overdone even in anyones vocab on this forum lol


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## sharpobject (May 7, 2008)

I agree with everyone else - go for it !!


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Sounds good to me, but leave a little room to grow. I also agree with Bloodshed, you may be asking the wrong folk about what is "overdone".


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## MotelSixx (Sep 27, 2008)

Excess is best!


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## chubacabra (Jun 14, 2007)

Honestly, it's only overdone if you make it overdone. As long as you put your own twist on it, it's something completely original.


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

Sounds like a perfect scare.....go for it man


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

New twist on a classic. Sounds like a weiner!


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## HauntCast (Jul 25, 2008)

It may be done a lot by us demented home haunters, but not to the average family or neighborhood. It's a great starting point. You can always change things up year to year.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Besides, it's the individual props that determine whether or not a display is stale or unique, not the overall theme. When you think about it, there's only a handful of actual themes out there. If you're making your own props, or at least customizing the ones you buy, you now have a unique look that's all you. Throw in some stylistic elements that are consistent among all of your props together, and the whole thing will click as a single work and you'll be Mr. Originality.

Never turn your back on the classics! I mean, it's Halloween, man. :jol:


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## HibLaGrande (Sep 25, 2005)

it's all about how cool can you make those classics. I don't go by and say "eh' just another cemetery". I say to my wife "Hey did you see what what that guy did with his cemetery? I gotta kick it up a notch hon!"


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## maximpakt (Aug 19, 2007)

Now now, the chainsaw still sends them running out screaming and everyone seems to like it. I cant imagine my haunt without it.


Frighteners Entertainment said:


> Not at all. If you would have said chainsaw, I would have said yes.


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## maximpakt (Aug 19, 2007)

You could always just fill the whole giant yard with inflatables, thats always a good look.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

maximpakt said:


> You could always just fill the whole giant yard with inflatables, thats always a good look.


LMAO!!! I think you are my new best friend, Max.. As long as you are joking, which I hope to gosh you are.

Yes, the overuse of inflateables sickens me to no end and whatever causes nausia, in my opinion, is what constitutes "overdone". The cuteness factor can really be annoying if too much is implemented, even for a toddler setting.


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## ithurt (Jun 23, 2008)

I agree with the cuteness factor but it is prolly nice for the scared little kids who will not walk up our side walk! We had one dad force his little guy up to the grave grabber prop he was scared to death. So I unplug every thing and showed him how it looked then he did not want to leave. 

I say who cares what any one else thinks EVER! Do what you want and enjoy it.


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## Rahnefan (May 1, 2009)

What do you do when you have put cumulative hours and weeks into making props as realistic and scary as you can, and then your significant other decides they want to plop some silly, childish, off-the-shelf plastic thing into the mix?

(purely hypothetical question)


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## Beforedawn (May 29, 2009)

What I did when my husband didn't want to get rid of our inflatable was pop it on craigslist when he wasn't looking and it sold quickly


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## DarkLore (Jan 25, 2009)

maximpakt said:


> Now now, the chainsaw still sends them running out screaming and everyone seems to like it. I cant imagine my haunt without it.


Sorry...not everyone likes it. A six year old girl in white makeup, sitting still on a porch chair is scarier than a chainsaw routine.


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

Sounds like a classic combination you can never go wrong with! Have fun!!


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## joker (Sep 25, 2007)

Sounds like a pretty solid display to me. I can't wait for pictures to start showing up of everyone's displays



Rahnefan said:


> What do you do when you have put cumulative hours and weeks into making props as realistic and scary as you can, and then your significant other decides they want to plop some silly, childish, off-the-shelf plastic thing into the mix?(purely hypothetical question)


That's part of the reason I'm still single...lol. I did run into this just this past weekend with my dad. I bought a box of Halloween stuff for $3 (actually was a nice score) but it had some cutesy stuff in it that just wasn't going to work in the haunt. He started hanging stuff up and I politely told him I don't think that that prop will go in that spot. I had something else in mind for there.



DarkLore said:


> Sorry...not everyone likes it. A six year old girl in white makeup, sitting still on a porch chair is scarier than a chainsaw routine.


I agree that the chainsaw is overdone. I am considering using a chainsaw sound effect in my haunt because everyone expects it, but I think this will only keep them on their toes for the chainsaw guy making other scares that much easier.


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## Mudbeast (Aug 14, 2009)

Is there such a thing as over done? I say no. Make it scary and they will come.


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

Rahnefan said:


> What do you do when you have put cumulative hours and weeks into making props as realistic and scary as you can, and then your significant other decides they want to plop some silly, childish, off-the-shelf plastic thing into the mix?
> 
> (purely hypothetical question)


This is easy. It isn't your fault if in the process of putting everything out to stage it (said item might just happen to end up in the driveway) and you just happen to decide to move the car and it just happens to end up crushed under the wheel (it may require a couple back and forths over it to guarantee it can't be fixed...) Run horrified into the house with it and state "Oh, honey, I am SO sorry, I don't know what to say" (do not smile)

Be sure not to do a victory dance taking it to the garbage can. Of course, depending on the damage, you may actually be able to adapt the thing to work for a new prop ha, ha!

(purely hypothetical answer)

Back to the topic, it is never wrong to go with a tried and true theme. My neighbor on the other side of the street and I both have a graveyard theme. His is cute, illuminated with big white spot lights and for the younger TOTs. He has done a great job on it, it is just a different style. Mine is spooky, lit with black lights and while the actors don't move or scare young TOTs going by, it still scares the daylights out of a bunch of them.

The key is to add/change something each year. The last 2 years, I've overheard people say "They added that this year, there is something new each year so we always come to see what it is."


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## Rahnefan (May 1, 2009)

Gawd I like the way you think, Daphne. Noted and logged.


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

I agree with the others but only make one or two new props every year so that you won't have 8 unfinished props 2 days before Halloween and you are already exhausted.


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## Night Watchman (Aug 15, 2009)

I think that if you like it most other people probably do too. I like to just look at my haunt, watch the fog roll, see how people react. Juat see how it looks and enjoy it. At the end of the night I think maybe I should do this or take that away and I chalk it up to next year. In the end I don't think anyone feels you can over do it with your theme. Do what makes you think your haunt is cool. In the end most people will think your crazy anyways, but hey I'm not the one on my roof in the middle January/February taking down lights in the snow.


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## steveshauntedyard (Nov 16, 2008)

Yeah I have had a cemetery display as my main theme for the four years I have been haunting. I got 57 pumpkins this off season from another haunter. I built a scarecrow to go into the pumpkin patch. I have also made some groundbreakers this year as well. I agree with everyone they all fit very well together. I am so excited to see all my stuff together this year as I have made more stuff this year than ever before. I am very excited to see the pumpkin patch. I will have to use my neighbors yard to use them all. Good luck and I can't wait to see everyones displays


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## fick209 (Aug 31, 2009)

I also do a cemetery theme each year in my front yard complete with a fence, entrance columns, ground breakers, skeletons, & tombstones. I've never done a pumpkin patch theme with it but I do place a few JOL's around mostly because I enjoy carving them I don't think anyone can ever go wrong with a cemetery/graveyard theme. Perfect Halloween staple.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Agree with the graveyard theme. I mean, you can't have the undead coming up out of the ground if you don't have a graveyard, right?


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## Offwhiteknight (Sep 17, 2008)

Just to dogpile/chime in, I agree, it's a good core theme and it all depends on you choose to interpret it. I'm doing something similar myself after all and if I can them done on time, including some pumpkinrots in the mix. Make the theme your own and it won't be overdone.


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## EvilQueen1298 (Jul 27, 2007)

Standard staple for Halloween....and that is why we LOVE IT SO MUCH!


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

Graveyard and pumpkin patch ARE Halloween. Gotta have a cemetery.


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## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Totally agree with everyone else,cemeteries and pumpkins are halloween. There really is no wrong way if you are having fun. I hate going by and seeing all the houses that have absolutely nothing set up, so when i see anything decorated i have to feel good that people are trying to do something. I love the great awesome haunts as well as the cheezy easy ones, it's all halloween to me.


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