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  • Scare tactics...

    We have been in kind of a rut in the past years with our scare tactics using the same style of scares. I would like to hear from others some of there favorite scare tactics.


    Other than BOO!! haha

    ~Ryan
    BARN OF TERROR
    www.barnofterror.us

  • #2
    Try invoking claustrophobia! Make a section of a hall/trail really tight via walls, blankets, nets, whatever. Fear of enclosed spaces is a totally different kind of fear than "boo!", so it helps spice things up a bit.
    Haunt: DARK REALMS

    Day job: Game Composer/Sound Designer

    My "geek rock" band: Legendary nOObs

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    • #3
      Think in reverse.

      Not "what's a good scare" then you have to figure out how to implement it into your theme and scene. Instead look at the scene. Stand in the room, feel the room... "channel it" if you will!! Now with the room in mind, what would scare you in there? What would you expect? What wouldn't you expect?? Too many times we go for the obvious. Think outside the box. Years ago had a customer in line, he had worked several haunts, was telling his friends to stick with him, he would show them where all the scares would be. When they got out he came over and asked if he could talk to the owner/mgr. Said he was going to show his friends how the haunt business worked and kind of "lined" them up to receives the scare, then it came from a different location. Tried it in the second room, missed again! Friends told him to shut up and enjoy yhe haunt! Said he was wrong almost every room! Scares in the rooms didn't come from the obvious spots which increased their effectiveness.

      If you fit the scare to the room instead of the room to the scare it becomes more "organic", it doesn't appear forced but natually part of the environment. Think outside the box, move things that wouldn't move, come from places you don't expect, use things to scare that you wouldn't expect. Then if you do have to have a scare from a normal obvious place...IT becomes unexpected!!!
      Last edited by RJ Productions; 07-19-2012, 09:55 AM.
      R&J Productions
      Las Vegas, NV
      www.LasVegasHaunts.com

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      • #4
        Originally posted by RJ Productions View Post
        Think in reverse.

        Not "what's a good scare" then you have to figure out how to implement it into your theme and scene. Instead look at the scene. Stand in the room, feel the room... "channel it" if you will!! Now with the room in mind, what would scare you in there? What would you expect? What wouldn't you expect?? Too many times we go for the obvious. Think outside the box. Years ago had a customer in line, he had worked several haunts, was telling his friends to stick with him, he would show them where all the scares would be. When they got out he came over and asked if he could talk to the owner/mgr. Said he was going to show his friends how the haunt business worked and kind of "lined" them up to receives the scare, then it came from a different location. Tried it in the second room, missed again! Friends told him to shut up and enjoy yhe haunt! Said he was wrong almost every room! Scares in the rooms didn't come from the obvious spots which increased their effectiveness.

        If you fit the scare to the room instead of the room to the scare it becomes more "organic", it doesn't appear forced but natually part of the environment. Think outside the box, move things that wouldn't move, come from places you don't expect, use things to scare that you wouldn't expect. Then if you do have to have a scare from a normal obvious place...IT becomes unexpected!!!
        This is the best advice and a tactic I've picked up since designing entire haunts myself. At first I'd visit haunts and take from what I liked...granted there are only a certain number of scare techniques to pull from, it's when you design a room THEN a scare your ammo is multiplied. Think about it. Every haunt you go in utilizes a drop panel but some are completely unique in execution. If you see a picture frame 9 times out of 10 it's a window...but when you place them on crate faces, blocks in a toy room or even inside of a pantry full of food then you get an all new, unexpected shock with the same basic principle!
        O'Shawn McClendon
        Creative Chair -- Operator: Cayce-West Columbia Hall of Horrors

        One mans junk is another mans kick-ass new prop...

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