posted on October 14, 2000 01:02:21 AM new
Hmm, trying to remember back to my Haunted House days....
Crawling through a tube with the bottom filled with cooked fettucini springs to mind...oh wait, filled with worms, I mean Or just sticking your hand in something similar, if you don't want the lawsuits when people slip and slide Of course you have to build it up a bit - it's rather psychological
Then there's creating a maze, and having the exit able to be closed and blocked by some scary dude jumping out from the supposed 'dead end', and then after a suitable amount of time, magically having the opening 'appear' there..
Sad as it seems, ultimately you get the biggest scare from the people who 'follow' the guests around and when they turn around they see some scary creature and scream - or from the traditional 'jump out at them in the darkened corridor'...
posted on October 14, 2000 01:20:22 AM new
When we did ours in high school (Boy, was it fun!) we had 'guides' with lights in front and then someone walking behind the group just so no one wondered away (on accident or on purpose).
I remember one time we had a coffin and as the kids went by whoever was in it would slowly sit up and try and 'grab' one (never touched anyone....bad idea!!). I got to do that, was really cool until you realize that, "Hey, this *is* a coffin!"
One year we started a rumor around school that the mall (which is where the haunted house is) was haunted. Something about a girl falling into the foutian.....got the rumor moving pretty good and had our visitors primed for action! I ended up being the 'drowned girl'....
If you know people going through, you can get one or two in on the act. Have them kind of fall behind (after many many warnings to the group to stick together)...then towards the end say, "What happend to so-and-so" which would be their cue to run screaming through the group saying, "Oh my God! Oh my God! Let me out! Let me Out!!" We used to 'plant' people in line for just that reason. It scares the group AND makes an impression on the folks waiting to go through!
One thing about having people 'jump out'....make sure you have them jump out a bit away from the visitors.....we had one guy who got so startled that he decked the 'jumper'. He felt really bad, it was just a knee jerk reaction.
If you want some *really* cool ideas, see if you can find the old Halloween shows that Rosanne Barr did. Those were GREAT!
Having a 'chopped off' head on a platter.....hands coming out of green goo....
posted on October 14, 2000 01:24:38 AM new
Oh Oh, and something else....when making the 'walls' cover some open parts with just black cloth and station your people at that spot behind the wall....Best place is right across from an 'attraction' so people are looking one way with their backs to the wall
As people move by have your people push their hands through the wall hole (but still behind the cloth) and have them tap someone on the shoulder or gently pull their hair.
If anyone notices it looks like the hands are coming through the walls. You can also press your face against the cloth so it looks like faces are in the wall.
posted on October 14, 2000 01:33:47 AM new
Opps, something else (I knew I should have never started! LOL)
One time we had the regular haunted house...kids allowed, but then after 10:00 PM we had the 'adult' haunted house where we pulled out all the stops. Stuff that we didn't want to do with the younger kids because it was to bloody or scary.
We made a KILLING because all the teenagers wanted to go to the 'adult' haunted house.
Another thing we did was the 'lost' routine. Start off with a guide who does the, "this is my first time, boy I hope I remember where to go, golly gee..." type of thing.
As people move past a spot, move the 'walls' (which are really just black covered plywood slabs) behind them. Then, when the walls have been moved, have one of your people jump out...have guide scream bloody murder and herd the group back the same way they came....but OPPS...that way is blocked off and there is an ax murder behind us!!
Where you have moved the wall from creates another (and only) hallway that the guide rushes the group out of and slams the door JUST IN TIME to keep the ax murder/goblin/drowned girl/whatever away. (have your chase person keep pounding on the door)....again, gives the visitors one more rush and the people waiting see everyone running out screaming (a sure sign of a great haunted house).
posted on October 14, 2000 01:38:52 AM new
Oh, and the scares don't have to be bloody.
One time we did a stunt where there was an unplugged in electrical cord hanging down that the guide 'noticed'. Guide stoppes the group saying, "Boy, this is REALLY not safe...sorry guys, we need to stop and get this taken care off....yadda, yadda, yadda".
Guide takes the plug and puts it into a socket (we usually just layed a powerstrip down and had the cord run under the wall).
As guide puts plug in socket, the person behind the wall starts flickering the lights, guide screams, visitors think guide has been shocked, guide drops to floor spazzing....once effect is done, guide stands up and says something about, "WOW! I could do three more tours after THAT"
posted on October 14, 2000 01:46:18 AM new
Oh, and another one:
Have guide do a prat fall as though they slipped on something....have guide roll over right against the wall where your people have put down some fake blood. Guide stands up, starts saying, "Gee something must have spilled..." Have guide flash light on blood..."Oh God!" Have guide flash light on self (now semi covered in blood)....Guide starts to freak, "What is this, this wasn't in the plan...ohhhhh"
Have guy/gal with big prop knife....with blood dripping, grab guide and drag him/her behind a curtian as guide screams and struggles.....have rear guide 'push' group past curtian (first guide can leave feet sticking out of curtain so it looks like they are a goner) and onto next event.
[hint: Aviod having guides scream for 'help'. Had a visitor think the guide really did need help...hehe....*someone* should have gotten an Academy award for that one, but I digress....so visitor TACKLED guy pulling me behind curtain]
posted on October 14, 2000 01:56:53 AM new
Oh (sorry, one more and I promise I'll stop).....
We would have an 'event' that had something to do with bugs....maybe a lady covered in big ol' hairy spiders...or spiders covering a grave (with strobe lights they look like they are moving)...
As people are facing the event, someone behind the wall the groups backs are facing, tosses a handfull of those little plastic spiders over the wall onto the group. You need just enough light that they can see it is a spider, but not to much so that they see they are plastic right away.
What is great is when one gets caught in someones hair and they don't notice it until AFTER they have left. We would hear people screaming half way down the mall when they found the plastic spider.
If you don't want to do a full bug event you have the the guide 'stomp' a few spiders a long the way and comment on how 'buggy' the place is ( "Must have been built on top of a spiders nest" ) before someone drops the spiders on them.
posted on October 14, 2000 08:07:27 AM new
Couple of ideas I have used at haunted houses I put on at my library:
strobe light room: strobe lights are inexpensive to rent. Set one up in one of your rooms or areas, have people in scary outfits slowly approach people as they go through. Wonderfully scary effect.
ghostly wall: This is a "wall" you make by stretching thin latex rubber (can be bought from companies that sell rubber/plastic products, check yellow pages) over a wooden (1x2s do fine) frame. Position scary "family portraits" along the wall to draw the attention of passing people. House workers positioned behind the wall should suddenly thrust their hands (warn them not to use their nails) and faces out into the rubber, making it look like ghosts are coming out of the wall.
Guillotine: I made a working guillotine out of wood and a dummy with detachable head.
posted on October 14, 2000 05:42:04 PM new
Besides sticking your hands in spaghetti, I remember there being a bowl of peeled grapes and some story being told while your hand was in there about a guy losing his eyeballs.
posted on October 14, 2000 06:42:55 PM new
hmmmm... I do remember the 'lost tunnel' situation....
I crawled in with my friend behind me....
by the time I exited the tunnel, my friend was already ahead of me....
now that was spooky!
what you need is some eerie haunting soft music (from "Blair Witch", "the Haunting," ... etc... you get the idea) or howling winds for background noise.
A slow blinking red light above the skull (with fake bugs over it) or skeleton (with eyeball hanging out) dripped with fake blood.
