# Theme HELP!



## Jansenhuant09 (May 25, 2011)

I was just reminded that there is only 199 days left till Halloween! My friends and I like to put on themed parties. So far we've done general scares, and twisted fairy tales. One of the people in our group wants to do zombies and another wants to do scary movies. We don't have the biggest budget so I was wondering if anyone might have ideas that are affordable in either direction. We end up with a not so scary walk through since we don't have people working it and I was hoping to up the scare factor. Thank you in advance for any ideas you might be able to share!


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Tell us what space (measurements and type), actors, and props you have to work with.
Describe the space, and tell us whether you are trying to do a haunt or a party, it's hard to decipher from your original text.
If it's going to be a party then it's really more about the decorations and consumables than full blown props.
For a haunt, having zombie props as well as actors tends to be not very expensive, and you can make it as humorous or scary as you wish. Maybe open up with a zombie family room with a couch full of a family of zombies watching something like "Leave it to Beaver" or "The Brady Bunch" with bowls of "finger" food and snacks, have the kid zombies covering their eyes like it's a scary monster movie. "Mom" can be working in the kitchen on the evening "meal", and dad is hunting around for the next "meal" for the family.


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

A Laboratory can be tied into a zombie theme with either toxic waste or bio-hazard gone wrong. A good method is turn your bathroom into the shower scene from the classic movie, "Psycho" with a sillouette behind a bloddy shower curtain and the _skree! skree! skree!_ music playing. Even better would be to have everything in the bathroom be black, white, and grey to mimic the black and white movie.

Each room you have can be theamed from various scary movies, amplified with a soundtrack from that movie. So even if the decorations or props by themselves may not be the best, seeing them with the movie music or soundtrack helps tie it in.

To scare people you need surprises, darkness, things that jump out, sudden sounds, etc. You can also play on phobias by using snakes, spiders, cramped spaces, darkness, bio-hazard contamination (water spritz), etc.

One method a party hoster did one year was to have all guests waiting outside the house to get into the party. The guests would be let into the house one at a time and into the main room. There they would find out that everyone there is a vampire complete in makeup and teeth. The vampires would then "attack" the new guest, who was then taken to the side room where there were several makeup artists standing by that would set them up with makeup and teeth. The new vampire would then join the group in the main room to participate in the attack of more guests. This happened to everyone until all were inside, then the party started. I think they used lights and sound effects to amplify the terror of the "attack". Not a fast process, but very effective and fun.

You could do the same with zombies, where guests would come in one at a time, get attacked, then taken to the next room to get "zombified".

Check out the *2011* link in my sig for ideas on a laboratory.

Ditto what fontgeek sayz about telling us more info.


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## N. Fantom (Sep 8, 2011)

For girlfriend's birthday, i'm throwing a zombie Disney party. Everyone comes as any Disney character, but zombiefied.


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## Jansenhuant09 (May 25, 2011)

Exciting ideas! We put on a party and have a roughly 24' squared space that we're usually able to separate into 4 different "rooms". We try to make this space as haunted as possible but since we're all trying to enjoy the time with our friends we don't usually have any volunteer actors so we end up pretty prop heavy. Whether we make or buy the props completely depends.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol: I vote for Zombie/Graveyard theme. It is so easy and cheap to make things look like a creepy graveyard with Spanish moss, creepy cloth ($1 from the Dollar Tree) handmade tombstones out of foam insulation, cheap spiders and cobwebs.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

JasenHaunt, is there dancing, eating, drinking, etc.?
If so, my temptation would be to leave most of the space open and put your props/scene against a wall, and or maybe make the tables and chairs look more like tombstones, sarcophaguses, etc. Make the door to the privy look like the door to a crypt or mausoleum, make a sign that looks like stone that says Hiss and Hearse.
Having the open space will let people dance or congregate as desired.
Just because you have a ton of props doesn't mean you need to use them all. People come to the party to celebrate the event, not to view your props. Keep the focus where it should be, on the participant's enjoyment. This also lets you show a movie if you wish to (or can).


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