HOW TO BUILD A HOUSE HAUNT

[howierd3866]

We had a guy or 2 who thought they were big and bad...last year was our first haunt maze app 200 ft total dark only see 2 ft in front of you. we have 3 actor station inside people walk right by not seeing the actors who would move or say something...I was outside at the end of the inclose maze stand still these guys wanted to be tough wanting to try me I would not move that made them mad then they go to punch me in the face and just be the hit I jump to them never seen them anymore but heard them screaming and run thought the rest of haunt. one of funnies prop was made with my 4wheeler after they go thought the dark maze then past me they go around another corner still looking at me to see if I'm real.and my 4wheeler fires up with the spot on them and plain to see no one on it.

[Front Yard Fright]

I believe actors are the key element. You can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on props, lighting, sound, hell even smells... But in the end it's the actors that are the key part in each haunted house.
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[Stephan (screamwalk]

hey, im building a haunt, and so far all i have is this:
some wood, a trail in my woods, 4 self made manikins, a black light, and four actors counting me. what should i do?
PS: i dont want any animatronics in my haunt.

[Front Yard Fright]

hey, im building a haunt, and so far all i have is this:
some wood, a trail in my woods, 4 self made manikins, a black light, and four actors counting me. what should i do?
PS: i dont want any animatronics in my haunt.

Shoot me an e-mail at frontyardfright@msn.com

[Stephan (screamwalk]

alright, i sent you an email.

[Pumpkin King]

I'm with FYF. A haunt can be great or horrible- it all depends on the actors.

[DrDoom71]

Don't worry. Ideas will come to you.almost like being possessed. Your plans sound good so far. You really don't need much for home haunting. Actors are important. They don't have to be skilled or experienced, just into halloween like you. More people are willing than you might think. If you have kids, especially teenage ones, they will be a HUGE help guiding your haunt plans. They have no problem telling you what's 'lame' and what's 'cool' or better yet 'epic'. I've been doing a garage haunt for 5 years and in the beginning I made the mistake of relying on props too much. Most of the time they don't scare people, plus in home haunting people aren't standing around looking at stuff.
Just remember once you get started, there's no turning back. Your haunt will keep growing, getting bigger and scarier each year like zombies coming out of the grave!

[OgeXam]

...Your haunt will keep growing, getting bigger and scarier each year like zombies coming out of the grave!

This is too true, I now have a 10x14 shed almost full of nothing but Halloween stuff.
I have enough costuming to run a pro haunt probably. hahahaha

[Mr. Haunt]

I have got 10 years under my belt as a home haunter. I must say that I have built a few things, but 90 precent of what I have, was baught at a retail store. This was also my first year that I baught something at a Hallween store, which was just a mask.

I have 30 tombstones that I purchased from, Menards, Walgreens, Target, and the Dollar Store that get me by each year. Yes it would be cool to build these myslelf, but right now my biggest thing to improve on is special effects.

My newest item this year that I baught, was 2 500watt shop lights that I used as lightning. I also purchased a thunder box so that the lights would flicker. I put the lights behind the house and pointed them up into the trees. Problem with all this, I don't thing anyone saw what I did.

The CD I got with the thunder box was LESS then sub-par. So I baught a rain and thunder CD from Target in their "Sound Scapes" section wich was very realistic. My issue with this was, I did not have a stereo that was loud enough, the speakers were crap, and about 7:30pm the stereo quit working all together.

I also had to replace 2 foggers, so this also kept me from doing more. This problem you will always have, things just don't last forever.

Mr. Haunt

[Darkmaster]

For the poll, all of the choices are necessary.For a home haunt, I believe the people like the scenery and settings. The majority of the comments were about the props and room settings, in relation to being realistic.

The majority of our haunt is indoors and last year a good scene was outside. It rained and we could not use that area. It had to be bypassed.