Clown area or no clown area?

[Dr. Giggles]

I would say ditch clowns as a room. But they can be very entertaining and scary characters if portrayed and acted correctly. But yeah they are usually a crutch used by haunts, but they are usually very effective.
So personally i think they make great que line entertainment.
Er my summary on a clown
Good:
*Entertaining
*High Energy
*Creepy
Bad:
*Over Used
*Usually the actors who portray them dont have the energy to keep up the high paced persona of a clown all night

[mindtumor]

The way we worked clowns into our haunt so it meshed with the continuity of the rest of the house is we had a birthday party scene. We had a fake cake, presents, party favors, a fat kid pinata we made, and of course the clown you would hire to entertain a party. Last year was the last year we will do that scene but it always worked well. Just a random clown or clown room in your haunt doesn't always work.

[damon carson]

Clowns are not scary to me. But some people are freaked out by them. I guess if you like them use them. But the only one I think was ever scary was the clown from IT.
Damon

[StackerSteve]

I'm all for clowns....especially since I just sculpted a new mask for this year. LOL. I see clowns freaking out more people than anything

[Brandon_K]

I don't find clowns to be scary, at all, but the simple fact is, clowns and chainsaws scare the bajeesus out of people. Better yet, a clown with a chainsaw

What we find scary is completely different than what Joe Public finds scary. Last June when we had the MHC bus tour come through, I asked numerous people that came through what they though. The general answer was "It was a great haunt, but I hated the maze". A few people followed that up with "But, for whatever reason, patrons love mazes, so you gotta keep it".

As for keeping to a theme, there are pro's and con's. Yes, it's hard to script in a clown house after a hospital and a toxic waste area. But on the other hand, I've been though haunts that follow the same theming throughout and I've found them incredibly boring. 45 minutes of straight clowsns, or aliens or swamps or ruins is just to much.

My 2c.

[Jim Warfield]

Put the evil clowns in the swamp, chest deep in quicksand , as aliens open their rubber heads(the clown's) and eat their brains.
Who would come to see this?
All the people scared of clowns, that's who!

"The monster in distress" is a good theme that will satisfy many.
The Aliens could be little blondhaired/blue-eyed children from The Village Of The Dammed, which would also serve to make them more likable..to some.
Then others may pick up on the "Poor Monster" theme too.
Trading pure revulsion and fear for sympathy or feelings of justified revenge works.

[piercemanor]

Have you ever walked into a haunted house about lets just say area 51, and the story is all the same thing, area 51, You don't need a clown room, if your attraction includes a storyline that includes, say a birthday party gone horribly wrong, You could include maybe a few clowns, (it depends on whos birthday it is and how old they are) If its a little girl's birthday, Absolutely! But if its an adult or older teen's birthday in your haunt I would Say NO. My haunt will not include clowns in the main haunt, however, I will have a side attraction, Dr. Pierces Field Hospital That will include clowns because of the storyline. If you would ike to read it please click here

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piercemanor.webs.com

[MDKing]

Clowns are REALLY played out at this point. I may incorporate clowns again is some way in the future, but for so long people just threw in a clown scene for no apparant reason, and it can come off as cheesy!

Allan

[drfrightner]

Clowns are scary, they might be the single most thing people comment on 'you don't have clowns in there do you?'

So yeah you want clowns but does it fit your haunted house if not no... on one hand can you have a gacy type of character who lives in a real mansion who dresses up like a clown and kills people...sure.

But a clown room in the middle of a mansion or just inside the haunt somewhere no way...

Larry

[newhorror2010]

For years we have done a clown area. For the past 2 years it has been a clown themed hall, for 2 or more before that it was a full blown room. I am considering getting rid of the clown area next year and just dispersing some of our clown props throughout the house and having clowns up front as crowd entertainers. What are your thoughts?

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE clowns! So obviously I'm all for them! We have our 2 clowns set up in the back of the haunt, & we're making plans to expand the clown room out onto the dock area. It started out in just a hallway, then it became a room, now it grows even MORE which means maybe we aughta hire 1 or 2 more clowns then....
Either way, I'd say HELL YEAH to clowns! People are & do get terrified of clowns, I dressed up as one a couple years back & simply walked out front towards the line. I didn't get even halfway there before people saw me & started freaking out, I didn't have a chance to do my clown laugh, honk my horn, none of that stuff, people just took off all of a sudden! Good for me & my makeup/costume, kinda sad though I wasn't able to get closer 1st though before anyone saw me!

John
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Death Row- Sanitarium of Slaughter
Nashville, TN 37211