Uncle Timmy Zombie's How-Tos

Pepper's Ghost (a.k.a. The Blue Room)

One of the most startling illusions ever to be used in our Haunted House was an illusion that is centuries old. It is called Pepper's Ghost, or the Blue Room Illusion. This illusion, which was invented even before electricity, creates the effect of changing a person into a monster, making them disappear by slowly fading out of view, or appearing to be transparent in nature.

According to a magic book in my library by Ottokar Fischer, which was published in 1911, theaters sometimes had large versions of this illusion built into them. This was quite an undertaking since, as you will see in the description, it required quite a large plate of glass. One of the most well known uses of this illusion are the old ''Girl to Gorilla'' illusions seen at carnivals and county fairs. Some video games use the same principal to project video onto a glass screen display.

Let's talk now about how this illusion is created and how you can apply it to your Haunted House. This is a description of how a basic model can be built. You can apply these instructions to larger and more elaborate ones. To build the basic illusion you will need;

These supplies and a fair bit of knowledge of carpentry work, some nails, rulers, and a gallon of patience on your part, can build a blockbuster illusion. The basic effect causes whatever you are looking at to visually change into something else. This is done with reflection. I'm sure you've heard the unwashed explain away incredible tricks by saying, Òit's done with mirrors.Ó Well, this one's close. You actually use a sheet of clear glass. To illustrate how this principle works, look out a window at night with all the lights off inside. You can see whatever's outside your house. Now, turn the lights on. Now you see your reflection, that is, if no lights are on outside. A sheet of glass with a light in front becomes a mirror while a sheet of glass with a light behind it becomes a window. Got it?

Step 1. To build a freestanding Pepper's Ghost, we will lay out the basic shape, which is sort of a ''T'' shape on its side, on the floor. The main viewing area, we'll call it a hallway, is 2'10'' wide and 12' long. There is also a small hallway jutting off to the right. This is 2'10'' square. If you look at Fig.#1 you can see the exact measurements.

Step 2. Build the frame from 2x4 studs and anchor it to the floor, in the design indicated, with concrete nails or a stud gun. You might want to build it in sections and hinge them together so it will be portable, in case you have to move. Now attach your sheetrock or cheap panelling to the inside face of this hallway.

Step 3. Install the glass upright, at a 45° angle, as shown in the illustrations. It can be held in place by strips of thin wooden molding, or by a cross piece across the top.

Step 4. For lighting, I would recommend 2 small tract lighting strips, with 3 small spots, each. Each of the 2 strips need to be attached to a dimmer. One of our club members was an electrician, and built a box that could control this. It was made up with a motor, which drove a chain mechanism, that turned the two dimmer posts. One dimmer, he said, was turned backwards so it would go in an opposite direction of the other. This causes the lights on one side to go up, while the other side goes down. I hope this makes sense.

Step 5. The back panel of the long hallway as well as the back panel of the short hallway, need to look identical. You need to be able to fade from one light to another and see no change whatsoever. This takes a lot of work adjusting the lights, adjusting the glass, cleaning the glass, and painting the walls, etc. As for the tiles, these help mask the bottom of the glass. Lay them in a pattern illustrated in Fig. #2. Line up your actors. Have one dressed in a werewolf costume, the other dressed identically, without the mask and hands ( a mortal ) and set your lights in motion. The man will slowly turn into a werewolf right before the guest's very eyes. You can also make an actor vanish by having his side of the illusion fade into nothing on the other side of the illusion. By leaving the lights up halfway on each side, you could have an actor on one side just be translucent, giving the illusion of a real ghost. You can even beam up Mr. Spock or a weird alien.

Have fun and be creative with this incredible illusion. But you also must swear the club to secrecy on how this is done. If word gets out, then people will just stand there and say ÒOh look, I can see the glass.Ó That isn't good at all.

The above "How-To" is an excerpt from Tim Harkleroad's "The Complete Haunted House Book" for more information about this and other great haunted house reference books go to MoonLighting Publication's website "Haunted House Books On-Line" at www.hauntedhousebooks.com. You can e-mail Tim at moonpub@aol.com