# Home Haunt



## Lukec (Sep 20, 2018)

For the first time I am actually doing a walkthrough home haunt. I’ve done displays and scenes for the last 7 years and have always received great feedback so now I’ve been propositioned to create a home haunt. The house is empty and I can utilize the 2 main living areas plus kitchen, screen patio and back yard. All in all I’ll have about 700 sf under air and another 500 sf of covered patio. Each area will have its own scene. Clowns, butchers and zombies. I am drawing a blank on how to setup my walkthrough. I plan to build walls but just can’t seem to get the layout I want or when I think I have the right layout, I can’t fit all of it. Any help would be appreciated.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

I'm a little confused as you said you're utilizing main living areas. Are you allowing people into your house? What is the flow like, that is where will they enter and where will they exit. Does it flow in one direction so that people don't have to walk back the way they came? Are you looking to partition areas to make different scenes. Without a diagram or pic, it's hard to envision the space, obstacles, and layout you're shooting for.


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## FlaHP (Sep 15, 2018)

We try to end with the scariest one. Ours starts really slow and just keeps building. No one can tell what it is from the street. It just looks like a spooky trail with black lights and Skelton’s. We don’t use any actors till they are out of sight from the line. 
We only use the garage. The rest is the yard.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Make sure you have at LEAST one cast member in each and every room, all valuables and delicate objects and props need to be out of reach of the guests. Make sure your home owners insurance is up to date, and that it will cover you and your property against injury, vandalism, etc. I know that that all sounds like paranoia, but I had a neighbor who used to do a walk through, that is until some guest(s) decided to slash furniture, props, etc, and spray paint walls and such, it wasn't discovered 'til the haunt was over. That ended their decades long Halloween tradition of doing a haunt.


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## ifyoudare (Sep 1, 2018)

Get. Event. Insurance. That's the advice I have!! All home haunters should have it, but if lots of strangers are literally entering your home you should cover your behind.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Personally, I'd be reluctant to open my home to strangers, no matter how inviting the idea of a home haunt might be. Use your outdoor spaces; driveway, covered patio, yard, garage, etc.. We use pallets and construct a maze going down a portion of our driveway. If you have access to corn stalks, you can make a really great corn maze with this method. We've made a scene on our covered patio and also in the garage, and done a portion of the walk through in our back yard. Much depends on your anticipated traffic and how many guests you expect. Maybe simplify the plan a bit to make it manageable this first year. I agree with fontgeek in having helpers in all areas. You can't have too many sets of eyes keeping watch to make sure no one is acting the fool or trying to damage anything. Recruit some friends to help you set-up and be there on Halloween. It will make your night a lot easier and more fun.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Lukec said:


> For the first time I am actually doing a walkthrough home haunt. I've done displays and scenes for the last 7 years and have always received great feedback so now I've been propositioned to create a home haunt. The house is empty and I can utilize the 2 main living areas plus kitchen, screen patio and back yard. All in all I'll have about 700 sf under air and another 500 sf of covered patio. Each area will have its own scene. Clowns, butchers and zombies. I am drawing a blank on how to setup my walkthrough. I plan to build walls but just can't seem to get the layout I want or when I think I have the right layout, I can't fit all of it. Any help would be appreciated.


Even though the house may be "Empty", the potential damage to the structure and to your property (props, sound system, etc.) is still a major issue. The potential costs for repair, or, God forbid, injury and lawsuits, is great, and you, as the host, are where the buck stops. If you are taking in money, then you also have potential issues with the city and or county for permits and the requirement of insurance. If you aren't getting money, then the expense is all on YOU.
We're not trying to scare you away, we are trying to share our experience, much of it painful, from having issues at haunt's we've run or been involved with.


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## Lukec (Sep 20, 2018)

jdubbya said:


> I'm a little confused as you said you're utilizing main living areas. Are you allowing people into your house? What is the flow like, that is where will they enter and where will they exit. Does it flow in one direction so that people don't have to walk back the way they came? Are you looking to partition areas to make different scenes. Without a diagram or pic, it's hard to envision the space, obstacles, and layout you're shooting for.


yes people will be entering the house and will start at the front door and exit through the back patio. There is no walking back the way they came. Yes I am looking to partition areas to make different scenes. My problem is when I design it, I don't have as much room as I intended to match the flow I want or the scene areas.

First scene area: 15'x12'
Second scene: 15'x18'
Final Scene: 18'x20'

I have a diagram but I can't upload it for some reason.


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## Lukec (Sep 20, 2018)

Here’s a the layout of the house.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Luke, you'll need to use a photo hosting service to upload and post a link to a picture. You can't upload directly to this site.


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