Using a large room

[Boni]

I have access to a large building and can't man all of it. I thought about having one of the large rooms have one actor in it with 10 or so obstacles, guests must wander through to a hidden exit at the other end while the actor terrorizes them.

Is this lame or not.

[Dr. Giggles]

Well its not lame if your haunt is one with a story to tell, but if not and there arent multiple GOOD places the actor could hide or something then yeah its pretty lame. But what scares guests the most ((From My experience that is)) is the fear of the unknown. I once held a haunt and i had this huge room, it was just one dim light in the center. I had no actors in there. Just one guy banging on pots and pans in a dark corner. I got many comments as people were leaving that, "That big room with that one light was terrifieng!". So im sure you could play of that factor.

-Zackary J

[Jim Warfield]

The one-light thing is great!!
We had such a situation and the scary thing was spontaneously all the guys working behind the plastic sheet walls began singing!
A slow version of the old song with the lyrics:"I Need You Baby, I want you Baby, I want your body....." Or something like that?
No music accompanyment, therefore very real, very scary.
The customers had to have felt surrounded, because they were.

[Dr. Giggles]

Hahaha, i must admit Jim, i love your choice in music lyrics!
Its usually darkness plus an enclosed or surrounded feeling leads to fear....or claustrophobia which ever comes first. But yeah it usually is the expectation of someone going to jump out or not knowing whats infront of them OR behind them....or to the left or the right of them....that is the real scare. Or atleast thats what iv gleaned from my experience.
"Um Excuse me Sir?" asked a guest one time
"Whats in that big dark room with that dim light hanging down?"
"Absolutely nothing....or is it something? I wouldnt know, id have to look!" This reply actually scared her, at the time i wasnt even thinking about it. But alas in the end it proved worthwhile because she came back with her bacherlorett party....who has a bacherlorett party at a Haunted House? Hmmm, haha well i guess she does.

-Zackary J

[Jim Warfield]

Ravens Grin Inn plus a bachelorette party plus adult humor= Blackmail video!
(Potentially, anyway)
Because of the flexibility of the different types of performances I can do here, bachelorette groups frequent here often, often with memorable experiences for all!
We had such a group that had some special arrangement made ahead of time in which the fiance dressed in old clothes and a mask and basically got real frisky in the dark with his soon to be bride as she was attempting to hide in a confined area to scare the girls in her party.
The Maid of Honor was working the camera, getting pictures of her ordeal.
The Bride was only told who her molestor was after the wedding.
Extreme, funny and outrageous entertainment is what this type of a group is looking for...then I shift gears and we do a Sunday afternoon tour for little kids just a few hours later, it keeps life interesting.

[Dr. Giggles]

Indeed gotta love bacherlorette parties. They were a great bunch with not but a few drunks, but then again with every group when is there NOT a few drunks? Well it kind of ruined the night for us and for them when in the second to last room one couldnt hold down her dinner for the rest of the tour. I do believe it was lobster and corn....very disgusting...very messy.....
So yes very outrageous...not always funny entertainment is guranteed.

And how very scary, not to know who the molester is until after the wedding. Lucky you didnt get served Jim. Hahaha


-Zackary J

[Boni]

So did the she join in with her molestor, that might have been an interesting conversation on their wedding night. "So honey, I hear you were getting a little frisky with some guy at a haunted house the other night."

[Dr. Giggles]

Hahahaha you have to love ackward conversations. They make the world go 'round...or atleast embarassing television shows that record ackward moments/conversations go 'round.

-Zackary J

[Boni]

Back to the big room question.

Based on some of the ideas, I'm leaning toward some back lights at the far end of the wall, many hiding places, including dark shadows caused by the light. But make sure the actor is not obvious or in a hurry. let the people anticipate the scare, let it build up.

The room I have to use is 20 feet wide and about 75 feet long, so the guest will have to wander on their own for a decent amount of time before the actor actually pops out.

What else could make this room better????????

[Dr. Giggles]

Hmmm, i wouldnt advise letting customers roam around by themselves, at all. This could end up with things getting broken people getting hurt or them just spending to much over all time in this room. I would suggest making it appear to them as if they have lots of options such as left right or center, but you could make something really scary and obvious in both the left and the right directions so naturally they would choose the center, thus going where you want them to go. Or you could place key things in the way kind of herding them towards the exits/actor.

Another pluss with a room like this is you can really mess with there minds like make them go down a hallway that isnt a hallway then make them turn around and all this. Since the room is big you could put in a claustrophobia tunnel or something, if your budget isnt to small.
But yeah one actor in a large room isnt that scary, like me and Jim said it would be just as effective to have no one in the room but just darkness, some one banging on pots and pans or something like this. Its not always the jump out and BOO tactic that works the best, this could also be a room that leads to another room which WILL have the BOO scare. You understand? Like to build up the anticipation then BOOM you get them when they least expect it.


Well Once again this is just my take on things, hope i helped.

Yours

-Zackary J