# My 09 garage haunt ideas and plan



## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

OK after last year's successful garage haunt for a large 10-12 yr old party I'm looking at going bigger and better this year, I started on the preplanning last year but am now going to get started as I have a lot to do. I purchased a lot of stuff after Halloween last year but have a lot to build myself. Here's my idea and would appreciate critique or ideas from you guys. Last year I went with the black plastic walls which worked fair but this year I will have a combination of wood, plastic and heavy cardboard walls, since the plastic didn't hold up so well particularly when kids tried making doorways where there wasn't any haha. So here's my plan below, keep in mind the drawing should be pretty much to scale with each block equaling 6 inches, I have a garage of 24' wide by 21' deep to work with, also I will try and incorporate something on the outside before they enter but not sure what or how I will do so, that's next on my agenda. Once entering the garage I thought about an actor behind a scrim wall right off the bat then they proceed down a 3' wide by 8' hall then you will have to crawl into a 3' wide by 3' high by 8' long wooden tunnel with holes in the left side with maybe fog and a strobe behind it, once inside the actor from scene 1 (scrim wall) will beat on the top of the tunnel with chains. After exiting this and standing up there will then be activated a drop down corpse reaching down from the ceiling then the guests go left across a wobbly floor. Then in front of you an actor is still in a chair which will cause a scare when they approach closer. Once past this they turn and go through another short hall into room 2 where there will be a "Frankencuted" prop and I am building a kicking hangman which will activate as they go by it then into a dark hall 30" wide which will be pretty dark with only dim spotlights on 3 pictures on the wall to the right the last picture will be a drop panel with an actor behind it, and hopefully I have everything set up so the same actor can do everything as you can see by the drawing. Then on to room 3 where it will be either blacklight lit or strobe, I haven't decided yet. There will be white sheets hanging down they will have to go through then past that there will be hanging bodies in body bags they will have to pass and at the end I have an animated Gemmy Jason before the exit. There will be more static props and the lighting and sound will be good throughout but this is the major idea and would appreciate any suggestions from you guys that have more experience than I at this, as like I already mentioned I have been studying this and other forums for well over a year now and have learned a lot and after last year's haunt went over so well, the kids from the party have talked about last year's party all year but are expecting bigger and better this year and I don't want to disappoint.


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## lewlew (Mar 15, 2006)

Wow! You've got a lot going on there. I like the efficiency of having one actor in a position to do multiple scares in different areas. The tunnel idea sounds really interesting as well. 

A couple of things to think about. Anyone going to be in a wheelchair or crutches? I'm not sure if you stated this will be at a party or an overall neighberhood haunt. Another thing I've found is that 36" is a comfortable width for wheelchairs while 30" may be squeezing them a bit much. We have several challenged kids that come to our haunt every year and we design with that in mind.

Can't wait to see the developments with your haunt! Make sure you provide pictures.


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

I do have a lot going no doubt, but want a lot with only a relatively small space to work with. This is also why I have the smaller openings and halls. And no there will be no one in a wheelchair as this will be strictly for a party and then for my small neighborhood afterwards and I know everyone that will go through. I also plan on updating via pics once everything gets going.


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

An added effect in the crawling tunnel could be to hang 1-2-foot lengths of fishing line from the ceiling, so it feels like something is dragging over their heads.

I did a crawling tunnel one year and it worked out great. I took a table and staple-gunned my wifes black nylons to the underside, dangling down. That with fishing line led to some freaked out kids. Only issue was kids that had large blousey-style costumes could not make it through easily. Also, many parents realized there was a tunnel, and had to meet their kids at the exit on the other side, since they didn't want to crawl. Having your tunnel at the front will be good to give parents a chance to back out without being stuck deep in your haunt.


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

Well so far so good, I'm pretty much following my plans that I posted earlier for the most part and most of my walls are up and I'm now starting on lighting and props/decorating. I am trying to use mini LEDs as much as possible to give cool lighting effects so I'm doing a lot of testing. Also this year I'm trying to spend more time on atmosphere but am now worried that it's gonna look really good but hope I can get the scares that I'm looking for that I got last year with mainly black plastic walls and paint, Also I want to kick myself again because I know I should've started earlier as was my intent, but I do have 2 weeks to go. I am gonna try and get some build pics posted once I take some tonight.


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## madmomma (Jul 1, 2009)

Sounds like you're almost up and running. Can't wait to see pix. It's amazing what can be done in a fairly small area. Good luck!


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

Well I got everything done in time and I think it looked great, didn't get pics until Saturday and they don't do it justice in the light, everything is lit with multiple mini LED spotlights except for of course a couple areas with strobes and blacklights in the clown/dot room. Pretty much went by plans too. We had a few go through on Halloween and we got some good scares, but unfortunately we're having Halloween in November since the big party we were hosting and built this for was rained out and we're doing it Friday night. So here they are, feel free to critique as necessary.

Entrance to the haunt, you have to crawl through the tunnel which is pitch black with webs inside.



















After exiting tunnel, this is the first prop:










Then in the same room, to your left you pass this, which has a strobe light and actor inside.


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

Then onto this room, which is lit all by strobes with red LED spots on the parts. no actors here but an air cannon is.



















Then onto this room which is lit by a single flickering red bulb, the props on the right capture attention while the actor that can't be seen in the dark corner on the left gets the scare.


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

This is entering the long hallway which was full of webs has a wobbly floor and is lit by soft white LED spots, it looks very good. The picture at the end of the hallway had a white spotlight on it, holding the attention while the drop panel at the end on the right got the scare.


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

The onto the final room with actors, the clown/dot room. The actor behind the drop panel got a scare here too when they came in, it was lit with blacklights only. Then behind the sheet, there was a final actor with the circular saw waiting by the bodybag, to push them out the last exit hallway which had a green laser vortex tunnel shining at them from overhead, it too looked very good.


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)




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## Creeper (Nov 7, 2008)

I really like your hallway and I'd like to do one myself next year and I have a couple of questions:

How long was that hallway and are those scene setters on the walls? You mention a wobbly floor in there - how did that work since the garage floor was underneath?

Thanks!


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

Creeper, thanks for the compliments and regarding your questions, the hallway was about 16 feet long and yes I used 2 different types of scene setters, and they look really good with the fog/lighting. As for the wobbly floor, it works well on the concrete since it is a raised step up that I built and used last year too, though maybe I won't use it next year since it didn't get much or a reaction for whatever reason. I had a night vision camera up all night but the video didn't come out well due to all the fog. All in all the haunt went very well on Friday night, had a bunch of screaming kids that were really scared, but again I know what to do different this time, I still had some plastic walls and 1 group tried to run through one and make a door where there wasn't one. Also one room that was only lit by a strobe that went out had me having to try and fix it between groups which I wasn't able to so I had to compromise with a spot light which messed up that area, so note to self for next year, have extra lights ready if one breaks.

So since I have done this for 2 years and they have both been a success and were completely different themes and directions, I want to do something completely different next year and need some ideas, I thought about something like a completely dark maze with hidden doors with actors behind them scaring in different areas. Thought/ideas?


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