# Using a steep hill



## cleavedCognition (Oct 2, 2015)

My yard is located in a very hilly area of the twin cities, meaning I have around an 8' x 6' flat area to work with when making any sort of display. To add to the frustration, that area only has about a 4' long shared edge with the path to my house.
Most of my yard is a steep hill, too steep to walk on safely (around a 40-45 degree angle.) Even though nobody can walk on it, I feel like there has to be a way to use this space for displays.

Does anyone have any experience with using a steep hill for haunts? Ignoring it severely limits me every year, since it encompasses around 70% of my yard space. Any and all ideas are welcome!


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## Dave Leppo (May 16, 2012)

i would think you could put tombstones on it, and they would all be visible like bleacher seating, the rear ones higher up..


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## cleavedCognition (Oct 2, 2015)

That's definitely a good idea. I think a hill would make for a perfect Tim Burton-esque graveyard. While I drum up some plans, I'd love to hear other suggestions too!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Graveyard was my first thought, too. You could add in some lanterns or small lighted pumpkins on stakes.


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

My first thought was lots of pumpkins and some fog


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

^Fog rolling down a steep hill would be a cool effect!

Are there any trees on the slope that could be used for hanging some props or lighting?


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## cleavedCognition (Oct 2, 2015)

I wish we did, but we do not. I can probably build something artificial to hang things from instead, though. We have a lot of excess wood from our remodeling, and some great tools to boot.


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## ryschwith (Oct 27, 2014)

Does the hill rise above your yard or fall away from it? From the discussion thus far, I'm assuming the former. Could you have something at the top preparing to roll stuff down on your guests? If, for example, you're doing a pirate theme (they seem popular), you could have some pirate skellies preparing to roll explosive barrels down or something.

Alternatively: fill it with crawling zombies. Possibly in addition to the graveyard.


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## cleavedCognition (Oct 2, 2015)

The hill sits above the street, with my house on top. The sidewalk sits at the foot of the hill, with not an inch of flat space between the slope and the pavement.


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If I had the time and budget, I'd love to do that pirate theme suggestion! For now, a graveyard seems to be more doable. I'll try to budget for a bigger display next year.


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## matrixmom (Aug 20, 2011)

How about pose n stays skellies trying to climb up the hill and climbing up your house? Good lighting works too.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Pop-up ghosts from behind the stones and monuments would work well too.
Maybe a static reaper or grave digger figure amongst the stones?


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## joker (Sep 25, 2007)

Could you lay body bags along the ground to make the hill look like a huge pile of bodies? Maybe a character at the top throwing another one on the pile?


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## dynoflyer (Oct 8, 2006)

Sounds to me like a good place for an Axworthy Flying Ghost. Have them looping back and forth up and down the hill, hide UV and/or Strobes behind gravestones pointing up so the ghosts light up and flash as they pass over. If it's too steep for people to walk on you can have the ghosts flying low over the graveyard.


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## tjc67 (Jul 28, 2013)

A faux cave/mine/tunnel/tomb entrance that something can pop out of may also work.


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## wandererrob (Aug 8, 2007)

I do a cemetery on my front hill. Though not quite as steep as yours, it's a similar situation. Since it'll be viewed from the road, I've started making oversized, relatively simple but boldly details stones and figures to put out there.

I like the mine idea posted above. A couple of mine entrances build onto the hill, maybe some fascades of a mining town, toss in some ghosts, skeletons, etc. and you could get one hell of a drive-by mining town display. 

That's really the key though, think "display" and build whatever haunted image you can conceive.


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## mikeythemars (May 10, 2008)

My front yard is also a hill, not quite as steep as the one described by the OP. I actually feel that topography is ideal for a graveyard themed haunt. The fact I have receding, vertical space to work in makes the whole production seem larger and more immersive from the street. To give you an idea of what I mean, below is an example of a similar "tiered theatrical set". This also allows me to more easily set tombstones and other props so that they don't fully obscure one another and create a meandering path from the street up to our front door. That allows me to have multiple spots where TOTs encounter separate animatronic based routines that sequentially tell the story of my haunt.


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## Lizzyborden (Sep 7, 2012)

Locally we have quite a few cemeteries on steep slopes. I guess since "flat land" was such a premium in times when agriculture was key to survival, cemeteries were relegated to land not fit for farming.


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## busmonkey (Nov 23, 2012)

So your house is at the top of the hill? Sounds imposing... creepy even. Play with lighting and I'll bet you can get a great look from the street below. Uplighting with a creepy color--blue or red (not both)--seems to work well for us. Build or buy a lightning controller and add some sound. Certainly not the kind of thing you can whip up in a week, but it's November again... 12 months to prepare!!!


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