Would this be legal?

[swampboy]

Hey I understand. You may get someone to do it for you for cheap or free to as a project or just a fun project. I think the most important thing to do is to consult an attorney in the state you are operating and get their opinion. Because you plan to use low levels I can't believe it would be illegal, but I'd like to hear an attorney tell me what he thought the risk was.

[Dr. Giggles]

Law suits?

Honestly if you make it well known that you will be doing this and there will be no long term effects, and what they will be experiencing due to these emf machine things eg. paranoia, unease, possible nasuia etc etc etc but yes dont forget if this is a subconcious thing and you have que line actors they will be just as affected as the people and as you said in the long term it could have side affects such as halleucinations, iit happened to me in the haunt i co own. In the middle of the line we use concealed speakers with very low decibels of sounds which has been proven to cause unease and feelings of paranoia and enhanced fear receptors. So i was out their in that line for about an hour or two (the que line actor got food posioning ) and got some of the most amazing scares but after ward or i think because i dont really remember i had to be taken away by two other actors because i was having hallucinations. Its not a great feeling, i was ok at the end of the night the people just that it was part of the show because of my phsycotic clown character "Freakshow" but yes it was quiet scary. So yeah make sure your actors are aware of this emf forcefield ( if you even have que line actors) and make it a requirement that the longest they can be in the vicinity of given emf generators or whatever for like 30 minutes or the extent. If they exceed that they might become dangerous to your patrons.

[Boni]

Another Option

Just post all the warnings with all the side effects. Post them many times, then have some static playing on a radio and a fan blowing air through the que. So psyche them into thinking they are being exposed when in fact they never were.

[tchaunt]

@Swampboy:
I didn't think about that. I could probably find someone to do it for me.
Thanks for the advice.

@Dr. Giggles
That was something I totally forgot. I was planning on having scare actors around the que's. I guess I would have to limit their time around the entrance. Or maybe I could develop a story around it and create a reason why the actors can't get close.
'We have a machine in operation that generates a shield of sorts. It prevents any creature that has crossed over from the netherworld from entering the contained area. The problem is, it still has a few kinks. It has been known to cause paranoia, nausea, and, in rare cases, death.' I cuold have actors come charging at the que-line, and then act like they got zapped and slammed into a wall. It would take a lot of rehearsing, but the effect could come out nice.

[tchaunt]

@Boni:
So basically, make them take a sugar pill (explain to them the effects of the 'medicine' and let them make the effects happen in their minds). Creative thinking.

[robos99]

tchaunt, I see you asking several times "if I do this, can they sue me?". Unfortunetly in this sue happy society, people can sue you for ANYTHING. It doesn't necessarily mean they win. But just a lawsuit alone can kill you. Aside from the bad PR (and if it's controversial you can bet the media will be all over it), a single lawsuit might spark other lawsuits. Other people may try to link a migraine they got after visiting your haunt to the EMF. Your landlord might kill your lease. The courts could shut you down well before the lawsuit even goes to trial if it's deemed you could be doing serious harm. And a good lawyer can drag it out so long in court that you'll go broke just trying to fight.

Some basic things to protect yourself should be done regardless of what you do. Definetly incorporate, or form an LLC or something of the sort. A sole proprietorship leaves you wide open for lawsuits. I'm not saying that can't sue a corporation. But they can't take your personal assets when the corporation loses.

If you print tickets, I'd put a disclaimer sort of thing on the back just for the hell of it. I mean, it doesn't really cost that much more to print on both sides. You may want to speak to a lawyer about the wording, but whenever I put on concerts I'd make sure to specifically say that the ticket is a revokable license. Your haunt is private property, and you're selling a revokable license to attend your event. I also point out a few of the basic rules, and say that the license holder agrees to not hold the promoter, venue, artists, and any other person involved liable.

And of course, put signs out in front of your haunt, warning people of any potentially hazardous things going on, like fog, strobes, etc.

Now as far as pulling off the effects of EMF, other people have mentioned the sugar pill concept. You might want to consider the wording of your sign, since you might be scaring people away from your haunt, when there really is nothing going on in the first place. But you also want to be convincing enough to trick them into thinking strange things are occuring. All the other effects of EMF can be "faked", you just need to get creative to figure out how best to do it.

[Dr. Giggles]

Mmm cannibals? They are kept due to devices fastened around their ankles 5 feet away from you at all times! For your safety an electric shock will be delivered when they get to close. Then when the crowds a safe distance from the emf forcefields you could have the gaurd with the zapper...fall asleep..i mean hey hes been working long hours to make ends meet give the guy a break...so then the cannibals can get closer....Uh Oh! Nu uh it doesnt taste like chicken!

[tchaunt]

@robos:
I keep askng just to try and get a base of what I can get into. I've never worked nor went to other haunts so I don't realy know what to expect. The first thing I want to do is figure out what can and can't be done.
I've got some ideas on how I can convince the people they are being affected by something. I just don't know how good it will work.

@Dr. Giggles:
That could easily provide a scare. I would have to theme it up a bit, but something like that could work.

[Dr. Giggles]

Just a suggestion...and your actor in line would have a lot of fun. Hahaha but not necessarilly a theme about cannibals sepcifically, could be mental facility, prison break out, apocolyptic society...the list goes on hahaha

[Greg Chrise]

You can do so much just with suggestion. For example, a room in the haunt has insulated walls where non of the others do. You get body heat and sound being slightly differently read by the people's sense. The Lab guy is telling them they are being subjeted to an ELF experiment and they may experience nausia diareha what ever, dry mouth. Only nothing has been done to them at all. Maybe the effect comes from a wicked looking machine that has nothing more than an infared cooking station bulb in it.

People will complain of how terrible they feel. Only there is no reason for it. You just messed with their minds and saved $4,000.

[Jim Warfield]

A Mere Block Away....

A man bought the old bank building and planned to rent the bank vault out for people to then sit in and meditate...he called it "The Healing Vault".
Maybe he didn't advertise it enough to draw people here?
I'm not making this up, I sent Gregg a copy of the newpaper's article when it began and he also saw their web site.
Keep those crazed ideas coming, some of them will work.

[tchaunt]

@Dr. Giggles:
I wouldn't do the insane asylum because I don't want to ahve to mess with the freaks at NAMI. But this could really be developed into a good scare that can fit nearly any theme.

@Greg:
To enhance the effect, I could by a Haze machine (like the Stratoshpere from ZONE) or just a plain old fog machine and a few mini-LED spotlights. The LEDs can be placed randomly inside the sinister machine. I can have them strobe on and off. With the right execution, I could use both your adaption of the idea and Dr. Giggle's in my haunt the first year for a cheap, yet effective effect.

And, just wandering, what is the fluffy, pink thing in your signature?

@Jim:
Did he seriously think the vault was special? Or did he just want money? Personally, I don't think small, closed in spaces are good for meditation.
When I do meditate (mainly to calm anger), I sit in a wide, open, natural area. If I didn't meditate, I would go insane. Here's an example-
I am very serious about my art...especially if it is macabre art. I was drawing a scene to go along with my poem about how Jack-in-the-box came to exist (it's actually a very dark poem. I've worked on it so much, I can almost recite it and it's three and a half pages long). This one kid kept dropping crayons and markers on the picture. I kept asking him politely to stop. Each time, I got madder and madder. After him doing this nonstop for an hour, I snapped. I yelled (in the middle of school), "If you do that again, I'm going to suffocate you with a potato chip bag! And you're dieing too fast, I'll put you on life support so you can suffer!"
The funny thing is, both the kid and the teacher were laughing. I think you see why I come home and meditate each day now.

[crazybob]

EMF's aren't very hard to produce. So I was wondering, would it be legal to turn a que-line into a "fear cage" of sorts?

I would guess it would also depend on how you are producing them. EMFs are many times a product of machines that can also produce radiation, etc. How were you planning on producing them?

[Monster-Tronics]

Here is a good site on EMF health risks:

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/EMF/

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/docs/emf-02.pdf

The above report says there are no national standards but a handful of states have set standards for transmission line electric fields which are around 150 to 250 mg

Before I would waste a lot of time testing and or money I would do more research on the subject if I were you. If you are basing your haunt related effects on ghost hunting and paranormal society sites that have a bunch of very subjective info on the effects of EMF and no factual data to back it up is a waste of time in my opinion. Try to find some government or other test studies on the effects of EMF, since most of the crap on the internet is pure bull. Many times you will come across a very official looking document but if it is posted on Angelfire or other free sites it is probably garbage.

For those out there reading this on an old CRT monitor you are probably sucking up about 6 mg’s worth of EMF right now. Do you feel spooky? To get a higher dose of EMF you could give your printer a big hug and see if you feel anything. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be a jerk but to get any weird feeling out of using EMF you would probably have to have them wear a 3000 mg degaussing coil as a hat.

I did about 3 years of research on infrasound before I released the Infrasonic Fear Generator and I’ve got about a half foot high pile of docs from proper test facilities and government reports that have factual data.

Regards,
Jeff Londos
Monster-Tronics
Innovators in Haunt Technologies
www.Monster-Tronics.com
See us in St. Louis at TransWorld’s National Haunt & Attractions
Show, booth 714, March 27th -29th 2009
Proud Member of the Halloween and Haunt Vendor Association
www.halloweenhauntvendors.com
www.youtube.com/MonsterTronics

[monsterwax]

Wait a minute... You're saying the 2,800 mg degaussing hat coil I bought myself for Christmas isn't the latest, greatest? That S.O.B. Radio Shack guy lied to me! Now I feel like a FOOL having worn that thing to Church! (No wonder the sermon had little effect.)