# I Need A Church Haunt, stat!



## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

Soooo...I volunteered to help with our local church haunt, and I met with the other co-coordinator this evening to talk about the plan and way forward. Apparently everything is from scratch.

- Church gym, ~6,000 square feet, 60 foot ceilings, lots of outlets.
- $500 budget
- For pre and mid teens.
- No plan or layout.

The other guy (we'll refer to him from this point on as "Wally", because that's his name) seems to be the facilities and gather volunteers dude, and I seem to be the creative dude.

We're going with a crazed-hospital-doctor-making-zombies theme. Which works since there's a hospital right across the street.

Since it's a family-church haunt, we're going to have families set up thier own "stall" along the first path, swap-meet style, to add to what we have inside. After about 5-8 of those, they'll enter "Ward 4" where it will be:
- dark maze
- chop shop
- laboratory
- morgue

...at least that's the plan.

Oh, and even better news is that we can't start setup until the day before.

We agree we need max and fast support from families and volunteers. And he will check into local businesses to see what material donations they can do.

I feel like one of the Blues Brothers, sitting in the car, _"It's 106 miles to Chicago. We have a full tank of gas, half a pack of smokes, its night, and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it."_

/cue Peter Gunn theme


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## R. Lamb (Oct 11, 2011)

what dates are you doing this?


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## RandalB (Jun 8, 2009)

Sounds Identical to our "Haunted Gym" charity haunted house. Same Budget and Time Constraints and a similar facility. 

LMK if you want any tips and hints...

RandalB


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

*R.Lamb*: the Fall Festival is Oct 27th, with the Haunted House being in the evening. We'll have Friday and Saturday morning to do the setup. Entire HH will be about 5 hours.

*RandalB:* I'll definately take any tips and tricks you can share.

I'll be sharing my sound tracks to add to it, and a neighbor in my new 'hood says he has some old props he hasn't used in a long time.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Do you have an idea on how many "actors" you will have?
What if any materials (curtains, tables, etc.) does the facility have?
What props do you have and are you supplying?
Do you have a floor plan with points of ingress and egress, emergency exits, etc.?
Does the facility have a built in P.A. system?


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

I would start today with a call to the local fire department and get ahold of their fire marshall. When a building changes the lay out, adds barriers or a maze for an event, they need approval, an updated occupancy limit, exit routes and signs throughout, etc. Start here and see where it leads. This is going to give you your limitation on supplies you can use, plastic or wood not treated with fire retardant, limits on lighting, corridor width, use of smoke/fog indoors, etc. 

get over this hurdle then start moving forward.


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## RandalB (Jun 8, 2009)

Dang it Spider, you beat me to the post!

Definately contact your local FD first. They will have the know how on the local fire regulations. 

Get a copy of your local fire regulations for "Temporary Attractions" and their local "Haunted House" Code. Do your planning based on those regs, it will save you time and money in the long run.

We use fire retardant 6 mil black plastic sheeting suspended with masonry twine from the overhead rafters to build our haunted maze. We leave the top open so the fire sprinklers are not obstructed and have the structure designed so there are emergency exits from each room and quick exit from the attraction at any time. This was directly from our local "Haunted House" code in Indiana. We also provide guides over 18 with flashlights and fire extinguishers at regulated intervals. All of this stuff was in the fire code and would have gotten us shut down on the night of our first Haunted Gym if I hadn't talked with the fire dept.

Font makes some good points:
Draw up a plan of the facility with all the features he mentions. I'll bet that your local FD will require all that info in order to work with you on a permit. 

Amazing how similar your attraction sounds to ours... we have 12 hours to set up, run for 2x nights and strike the attraction on the last night within 3 hours of closing. It's a challenge; both creative and technical but it can be done and you'll have a great time doing it....

Feel Free to PM for contact info if you want to chat about it...

RandalB


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## hauntedyardofdoom (Nov 6, 2008)

Your budget seems pretty small, so I'd go around to local businesses and see if they'd like to donate any materials - paints, lumber, etc... Since you are a charity they just might. You could also offer to put up some signage for their business at the haunt. The money you have left could go towards marketing and props/costumes. 

Also wood pallet walls are a good possibility since most places just throw them out (ask first if it's ok to take them).


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

/big inhale

- There is a list of volunteers, but they may not be HH specific. So they may need to put together costumes and makeup on the short. We'll need at least 6 actors inside the main hall.
- Almost zero known haunt materials, maybe an old fogger, but being a church I know they have desks, chairs, chalkboards, etc.
- I will probably provide some of my props, those that won't require lots of setup when I return them to my haunt. I have mostly lab and toxic zombie stuff.
- Draft layout attached.
- They have a old PA system. Old was stressed several times, I told Wally we'll need several boom boxes.
- Walls will probably be 2x4 frames with pallet bases and black plastic, but that can reach $80 for a 100' roll.
- We're definately getting pallets, I know a local gold mine for that. In fact I used ~200 two seasons ago. Pallets are great to add weight to the base of walls for stability. I suggested 4'x8' plywood walls, exciting but more expensive.
-Actor/Staff and entrance will have each guest sign the "Organ Donor" ledger before entering.
- Definately going to pull the string with the fire department.


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## RandalB (Jun 8, 2009)

Looks like a good haunt plan! 

If I may ask, what does the ceiling of the building look like? What kind of support structure? 

RandalB


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

It's an old gym, 2 hanging backstops, no bleachers, arched ceilings are about 40' high nothing easily accessible unless I want to crawl up a rickety ladder. Entire place is about 100'x50'. Luckily there are outlets about every 15 feet along the wall.

But if I had a Cherry Picker...


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Your layout shows a good starting point, but for the FD, the plans will need to be much more specific in how and where you place walls and other obstacles on the route/path.
If your haunt needs to be ADA compliant, your paths will need to be smooth and wide enough so that a wheelchair with support legs can be easily wheeled though. The FD may require a 6' wide path and access.
As stated already, you may want to contact local businesses for help, rental yards can be a great aid, between ladders, scaffolding, wheelchairs, gurneys, lights, etc., they can do wonders for you and your haunt, and the trade of advertising their support can help them too.


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## RandalB (Jun 8, 2009)

Warrant2000 said:


> It's an old gym, 2 hanging backstops, no bleachers, arched ceilings are about 40' high nothing easily accessible unless I want to crawl up a rickety ladder. Entire place is about 100'x50'. Luckily there are outlets about every 15 feet along the wall.
> 
> But if I had a Cherry Picker...


Is the roof supported by trusses? Metal or wood?

RandalB


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## silentskream (Sep 20, 2012)

I would definitely start calling commercial plumbing supply stores or professional plumbers to see if they have any scrap PVC, spray foam, pipe insulation, etc. If you have to, you can build wall frames out of PVC or similar pipe in advance and just move them in the day before.

Also - call your local newspapers (all of them) and recycling centers and ask for their unsold papers (and ask the congregation as well). Most colleges provide local (or school) newspapers for free in their dorms. so if you know any freshmen, ask them to pick up a few stacks!

1) The cheapest "walls" i've ever made were from PVC pipes, I made a 6ft tall, 8ft long frame that stood up, and then I draped newspaper over it (with a thinned out paper mache paste) 
its hard to explain how i did the newspapers, but essentially, drape one wet newspaper page so that it's folded in half over the top of the wall frame, make a whole row of these all the way across the top of the wall frame.
then take another 2 pages and sandwich the bottom 2 inches or so betweenthem and use a hair dryer to dry the paste where they meet. 
then make another row below that, and another, until you've reached the bottom.
The benefit of using newspaper is that it's already grey and the paste blurrs the ink a little so it's pretty creepy as-is.. and just needs a little bit of "ugly paint" to make it creepier. 

2) don't buy spray paint. - ask the congregation to donate black spray paint for detail work, but if you have to buy something, get a 1 gallon bucket of dark grey PRIMER, and some paint thinner, and a spray bottle (or better, see if anyone in the congregation owns a paint sprayer) This allows you to get a thin layer of paint over the largest surface possible. 1) it dries faster, 2) it saves money on paint 3) you can cover more things. especially in dim lighting, it doesn't matter how thin the paint is.

*I don't know if aany of this is FD compliant.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

If you or any of the congregation have an airless paint sprayer, that is by far the fastest and most efficient way to paint your walls. Again, you might talk to local rental companies to see what they have or might donate in the way of equipment (airless sprayers, barricades, scaffolding, etc.) in trade for advertisement, or just plain goodwill.
You can talk to the paint departments at your local home improvement stores (Lowes, Home Depot, etc.) about getting their mis-mixed paint. Once the lights are out, everything becomes shades of gray anyway. You might also see if anyone has a PA system (or two) you can borrow for the haunt. Let the owners set it up and tear it down, they will be much more careful, and it lets them share some of the work load.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

This may be silly as I am sure you have already done it, but you may want to present your plan to the church staff prior to the build. I did a number of projects for my church and things that I thought were good and would be fun was not what they had in mind. They wanted a certain perception since it was a church function and may sensor things. Just something to keep in mind before you get too far with your plans.


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## onemomspov (Sep 25, 2012)

As far as advertising, contact the local papers (and even the larger city, too) and radio stations to see if they'll give you a free spot to blurb about the event. Since it's a charity event, they'll likely help you out, asking for donations/help/get tickets...


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

So we had our meeting with all the volunteers that had turned in cards saying they will volunteer. All 6 of us, which was actually me, Wally, his daughter, another teen, and a mom and her daughter. Very disappointing considering the excitement and scope we had hoped to achieve. I suggested a few other people resources like local Boy Scout troops, having the pastor make an announcement during services, and such. 

It seems like we can get the gym for a few extra days to stage and build things, which would be significant. I asked about a storage area where we can stage all our stuff prior to building, which we still need to find.

No negative feedback from the church yet on our plan, I'm not even sure that it has been presented to them - I should follow up on that.

Wally has access to a large printer - he described it as being able to print on paper that is 3 feet wide. He creates it on PowerPoint then prints, so that covers our signs. Additionally, since he is a CPR instructor, he has a handful of Anatomic Annie's (no legs or arms), and a friend of his has full body ones. Those will go perfectly in our chop shop/lab/morgue. AND he has access to large amounts of viscuin (plastic sheeting).

I got in touch with my new neighbor (actually I'm the new guy to the neighborhood) I met at a recent driveway firepit gathering. He used to run a Halloween store here in San Diego, and used to do haunts. He has been offline for a few years and has some extra props that I can borrow.

If we can't get more bodies to help with construction and acting, we will have to downscale everything.


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## The-Haunter (Sep 24, 2009)

I did a school haunt a few years ago and made my walls out of scrap 2x4s and refrigerator boxes they took paint pretty well so I was able to make " realistic " looking walls.


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

We had to scale down since the volunteers are not materializing. Apparently there are a LOT of people that can help on the day of the event, but that's too late for all the construction that needs to happen.

Still, we are doing the same thing, just in half the gym. The small group and the main coordinator are eager, and they get excited whenever I describe ways to do things using common household items. You know, the stuff we all do. The family (complete non-haunters) doing specimen jars are getting excited and coming up with icky ideas of things to put in the jars.

Seem like we'll have the gym starting on Thursday night, all day Friday, and then Saturday morning. We'll have to be done with setup by 2pm for a 5pm opening.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

Ah, yes, the old volunteer absenteeism. Well good luck on the haunt. I hope it all comes together for you.


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

Just got a mass email from the main coordinator, notifying all volunteers to be at the church at 1:30 for costuming and makeup on FRIDAY. That means the haunted house will go on Friday, which was supposed to be an entire construction day with us opening on Saturday night. All this time we have planned to open the HH on Saturday night...

Hopefully Wally can sort this out, as things just went from tight to constricted.


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

All sorted out, we're only doing Saturday. 2 new guys showed up at the meeting, they are both experienced builders. cha-ching!

Here is the backstory I've written up for the haunt, it will be available at a series of small podiums at the que line:

_
Ward 4 was established in 1954 by the local hospital as a wing to treat children that were suffering from polio. Many children would play in the halls of this wing, while a dedicated and loving staff would tend to their needs. With vaccines for polio discovered a short time later, the children were healed, less patients arrived, and with the discharge of their last child patient, Ward 4 gently closed.

For may years the hospital used this building for storage, and in the 1980's, Ward 4 was re-opened and used as a day care center for the locals and medical staff. This time the staff was poorly trained, sometimes cruel, and would leave children unattended for long periods. After several mysterious accidents and the unfortunate death of the only daughter of an intern, it was again closed. In the following years, several of the former staff workers were found murdered in grisly ways.

Falling upon hard financial times during the housing bust, the hospital sold the building and everything in it to a private developer, and the building is no longer associated with the hospital. Last year, an anonymous buyer purchased the building, and the previous owner mysteriously went missing.

No one knows what is going on inside Ward 4, nobody goes in or out of the building, and it does not seem to have power, although lights can be seen inside. Neighbors have reported strange sounds, awful smells, and an occasional figure seen inside in the dim light.

*STAFF BIO*

Doctor Hernod Slizer: Cured of a childhood disease at a young age, he aspired to become a doctor to help those in need. He married a lovely woman while in medical school and they had a fairy tale romance. But while as an intern at his first hospital, he lost his only child, his dear daughter Mary. This drove him mad with rage, and for years he plotted to track and kill those responsible for his daughters death. With law enforcement in pursuit he fled to Europe to train and develop his medical skills. 
Some say he never got over the death of his child, and conducted increasingly darker and dangerous experiments on human subjects. His second wife encouraged Doctor Slizer to increase his scope of experiments to include techniques with toxic waste and biohazard materials. He has become an accomplished surgeon that frequently does procedures WITHOUT anesthesia. 
Eventually he, his wife, and their son had to leave Europe to avoid persecution and return to California where he planned to open up a new practice. He continues his research using dangerous materials, and can quickly snatch anyone up for an experiment.

Nurse Angelica Slizer: Born and lived in Europe, as a child she was raised in an abusive family, and was later suspected of killing the step father. She ran away from home at the age of 12, lived on the streets for many years before landing in jail. Because of her violent and psychotic nature, she was kept mostly in isolation She passed the time reading, which included many volumes of medicine. Eventually she sweet-talked her way into being an assistant for the jail doctor office, where she would steal medical tools and equipment. She was suspected of being involved with many of the mysterious deaths of 5 inmates, a guard, and another nurse, but it was never proved. 
After release from jail, she traveled the world eventually ending up in Europe, where she met Dr. Slizer. Their common knowledge of medicine fueled each other into a darker spiral When Angelica developed complications during her pregnancy, Dr. Slizer administered a shot that is rumored to be a combination of toxic waste and biohazard material. She gave birth to a boy. 
Her cool and sometimes vacant exterior hides the violence inside that can explode at any time, often with deadly results.

Metzger Slizer: The son of the Doctor and his wife and has severe brain and body disorders. Where his father is a skilled surgeon, Metzger has an appetite for flesh and blood. He has been referred to as "The Butcher", "El Carnicero", and "Laman Mangangain". After dismembering a victim, many times while they are still alive, he has been known to hang up parts to cure, or wear their skin as a mask._


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

In general, I like it, though it will definitely need to be shown at multiple spots.
I think it would take too long for someone to read if it were only posted once.
I might tweak the text a bit in places, like "Metzger Slizer: The son of the Doctor and his wife and has severe brain and body disorders.", I'd probably change the text to "and has severe mental and physical challenges". But I think the people would probably get the message with either wording.
So, do you have a name for the haunt? Maybe "Ward Four" or "Ward 4"?


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

Plan is for this to be broken up into several podiums to be read successively as guests are in the que line. I leaned on disorders vice challenges to make it meaner sounding, since, well, he is the butcher.

It is called, "Ward 4", which plays off the actual hospital right across the street.

Was is apparent the connection between the death of the girl and the Doctor? The hidden message is that when the doctor was an intern, his daughter died. He has now returned as a surgeon dealing death and revenge for those that wronged him...plus anyone else he can get his hands on.


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