Unthemed Haunts

[virgil]

Okay... I heard that sigh!! Come back here you!!

In the middle of writing/ recording last night I get this
call from a local charity org chair and he wants to put on a
haunt. I'd talked to him, at length, earlier this last fall
during a fish fry about putting one together.
At that time I just covered some basics such as
"theming" and he seemed very interested.

Well last night it was as if we'd never talked.
Seems the conventional wisdom of the
"haunt commitee" is to NOT theme the haunt
but have a series of rooms with no back story
and no way of tying them together.

That said, here I am asking advice....

what room themes do you folks feel are
typical enough to be put into a haunt
that is untheme?

[Jim Warfield]

A Committee making decisions! "The Horror! The Horror!"
Each person on the committee wants to do their own thing?
Someone is really not in charge and they think the only way it will get built is to give everyone involved with it the freedom to do whatever they want to do?
It can work if this freedom level maintains the enthusiasm level for everybody.
My question will always be:"Is copying everybody else any guarantee that the customers will be interested enough with it to come see it? Return to see it again?
"Thinking" inside the box might not be so great if that box is a 100 year-old coffin buried deeply. Earth compacted. Huge gnarly tree roots holding it down. Crushed as the wood rotted away 80 years ago.
Good Luck.
I mean it.

[Mr. Malice]

You might try a generic study with the old 'thru the bookcase' exit or a disgusting kitchen with rotten food and such.

[Spookyfinder]

One that instantly pops in my head is:

A dot room room- Glowing (blacklight) dots cover the black walls, while a character dressed in the same method as the walls wait in hiding. Patrons cannot see the hidden charater until they "appear" out of no where.

Take Care... -Tyler

[SomeThingInTheIce]

Clowns are always good, so is a strob light room. Man I hate haunts like this (no theme) but if thats what they want.

[crazybob turner]

It's Possible but be careful.....

Greetings Virgil,
The first thing is the committee has not really done their homework! With that said and with the understanding that the committee is not interested in doing anyother fact finding on how to be more successful, you must then turn around and do the best you can. Guide them to a series of simple room ideas that take little or no effort to build (as that is all they are going to do). Once you have them committed to those rooms then you can take a universal theme to set the tone of their haunt. Such titles can be YEAR OF FEAR....EXPLOSION OF SCREAMS......TIME OF FUN AND TERROR....etc That is usually the only way to tie in a group of rooms together so that a PR program can put its best foot forward with what the nonprofit group is trying to do!!!!
Be advised that until someone in the group really gets into the Halloween business side of it they will just flounder along trying to make a few bucks here and there.
This story repeats itself over and over all accross the USA. So do not be discouraged if they listen and then do just the opposite! LOL
Someone who has been their and gone through it before you!

Looking forward to your new music ..if it is ready before Midwest Haunter Convention -drop me a line so that I can listen to it before then as we are setting up to do the summer tour on Thursday July 12 for MWH and I would like to include it for that program...Email me at hauntedhydro@sbcglobal.net By the way this event is open to the public so mark your calendars to pay us a visit that night if you want a real summer haunted treat. More info will be posted tonight on this chat line.
Crazy Bob Turner

[PumpkinHead]

Virgil,
I sent you a PM

[ScarlettP]

I LOVED one that Ben did at Netherworld... very easy and inexpencive as well. Just a small, open room totally filled with fog and a strobe light. Gees! It was extreamly disturbing.

[Jim Warfield]

Yes, it was also disturbing to me when I filled the wine cellar with fog, because it was an accident! A circuit was live when it shouldn't have been and my new fogger was plugged into it With a flashlight I could not see my own feet, very disorientating! (And my own feet are not that far away!)
Darn lucky no asthma afflicted people were in the wine cellar when this happened or they might still be there.
That possibility scared me.