Moving Haunted Overload

[Banshee]

Good luck with the new haunt!

[graystone]

Looks like we got alot in common! I am glad we got to hang together this year at TransWorld I am sure were going to have tons of storys to tell each other. Good luck my friend and keep us posted! Shane and its gonna be bigger and better! Shane this time.

[SpookywoodsFX.com]

Looks like you found a REALLY great spot. Congrats!

Can you tell us a little bit about how you approached them, cost, just details you don't mind talking about?

[elowther]

Thanks a lot for the support everyone! Damon and Adam, it was great to talk to you at Transworld. Adam, the nursery sound effect CD and others I bought from you will be the perfect sound track for a scene I have planned. Eerie sounds of kids crying in the woods will send shivers down peoples spines. It's an awesome CD. Wayne, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you much this time at TW. the time flew by.

Shane, we do have a lot in common this year. We will both be up to our eyeballs with setting up new haunts. It's going to be fun to watch each others progress. Thanks for the awesome time at the party and Fearfest trip, it was a blast. Anyone who missed Shane's party this year make it a point to attend next year, it was great!

SpookywoodsFX, to answer your question. I search for farms in NH and found their website. http://www.demeritthillfarm.com/

I wrote them an e mail telling them I had to move and that they were the very first ones I was contacting. I sent on line reviews, photos and videos to them so they would know what they were in for if they took us on. Turns out they had been wanting to do a haunt for years but never had the time or know how. They had even been to Transworld Chicago years before. Instead of rent, we agreed on a % of the profit. If I have a good year, they will have a good year and vice versa. They see the value of having us at the farm bringing in so many more people in the fall.

I plan to cross promote with my old location and also buy Hay bails, pumpkins and cornstalks. Being right down the road will make life a lot easier for me.

My wife asked me what keeps me going on all this. After all, I have a full time job with hellasious 60 mile commute each way. I just killed myself for 3 years building this haunt up only to have to start all over.

Here is some of the answers below.

We have these patches on our cast jackets with a version of our pumpkin logo. Two of my actors went and got the design tattooed. I couldn't believe it. Now that's dedication for you! In fact more on the crew want to get different versions and my video guy wants to tape the next one for a promo piece, lol! Insane, I just wish I had thought of it first. How can I quit now? lol!

Also I just saw this killer review of our attraction. He just put it up last night, it really made my day and makes me want to strive to kick as much ass as possible at the new place. I wrote him and asked if he would mention the new location in the review and he did it right away.

http://www.bmoviegeek.com/2010/04/ha...9-haunted.html

Andy's tattoo







Emily's tattoo

[poison]

That is a GREAT story Eric. It's so important to LOVE what you do. And clearly you and your crew do. EAT, DRINK AND SLEEP THIS BUSINESS! And loving every minute of it!

And glad you liked the Children's Nursery CD, That and Evil Whispers are the creepiest!

[MDKing]

Hey Eric,

I'm really glad to hear you found another great location this year I'm sure you'll create an even better show this year.

Also, that was a great review of your haunt. From a guests' perspective reading that I would be excited to come out too!

Congrats on your successes!

Allan

[elowther]

Thanks Allan! I'm very excited about this new location. I always wanted to do a haunt in the woods and now it's coming true.

I made a scale model today of the new 24 foot entrance way to the woods. It took a long time to figure out how I was going to build it. The whole thing comes apart so I can show people the under structure and remember myself what materials I will need, how many 6x6 beams etc. I build the model 1 inch = 1 foot scale so in the field I can just measure the pieces and that makes it real easy to cut the beams and figure out the angles.

I opened this in Photoshop so I could play with the proportions. I wanted to make the eyes bigger and more evil looking. The nose I want to move down. I will be able to make these adjustments in the field when we are building it now that I have the mock up photo. I went a step further and played with how I want to light it. I'll have fog coming out of the mouth like crazy. I did it last year in a facade and it was a big hit. I like lighting up the fog, it looks great in the mouth when people walk in. I have it shooting straight down, and the actor has a remote to give patrons a blast as they enter. There are two trees at the site that will frame the structure so I added them in the mock up so I could get an idea of what people will see when they walk up.

Enjoy,

Eric

[Scream Shack]

Very Cool!! Can't wait to see Pics of it finished!

[SomeThingInTheIce]

Eric, you rock! I love that you build models before you start but everything you do is on a grand scale so I guess you have too. Looking forward to seeing pics of your new haunt, good luck!

[elowther]

Thanks!

Yeah, I'm kind of forced to. I could never wing it on a building like this. I approach it like a building first and sculpture second. I go through each step in my mind with the model to see if it will even work. Then I know exactly what and how many of each beam I will need and calculate cost. Also I can figure out the best way to actually build it and the steps in order because it's not like building a house where there is a set way of doing things. For instance, I will build the eye sockets on the ground so I can get a nice mean shape. Then install them on the structure.

Building this also gets me excited to get going on the project because I can see it finished in my mind already. I'll keep you posted.

Eric