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HOW TO BUILD A HOUSE HAUNT

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  • #31
    We had a guy or 2 who thought they were big and bad...last year was our first haunt maze app 200 ft total dark only see 2 ft in front of you. we have 3 actor station inside people walk right by not seeing the actors who would move or say something...I was outside at the end of the inclose maze stand still these guys wanted to be tough wanting to try me I would not move that made them mad then they go to punch me in the face and just be the hit I jump to them never seen them anymore but heard them screaming and run thought the rest of haunt. one of funnies prop was made with my 4wheeler after they go thought the dark maze then past me they go around another corner still looking at me to see if I'm real.and my 4wheeler fires up with the spot on them and plain to see no one on it.

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    • #32
      I believe actors are the key element. You can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on props, lighting, sound, hell even smells... But in the end it's the actors that are the key part in each haunted house.
      .
      Zach Wiechmann
      www.frontyardfright.com

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      • #33
        hey, im building a haunt, and so far all i have is this:
        some wood, a trail in my woods, 4 self made manikins, a black light, and four actors counting me. what should i do?
        PS: i dont want any animatronics in my haunt.

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        • #34
          Originally posted by Stephan (screamwalk View Post
          hey, im building a haunt, and so far all i have is this:
          some wood, a trail in my woods, 4 self made manikins, a black light, and four actors counting me. what should i do?
          PS: i dont want any animatronics in my haunt.
          Shoot me an e-mail at frontyardfright@msn.com
          Zach Wiechmann
          www.frontyardfright.com

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          • #35
            alright, i sent you an email.

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            • #36
              Actors!!!!!

              I'm with FYF. A haunt can be great or horrible- it all depends on the actors.
              *Sigh*I can't wait til' October

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              • #37
                Don't worry. Ideas will come to you.almost like being possessed. Your plans sound good so far. You really don't need much for home haunting. Actors are important. They don't have to be skilled or experienced, just into halloween like you. More people are willing than you might think. If you have kids, especially teenage ones, they will be a HUGE help guiding your haunt plans. They have no problem telling you what's 'lame' and what's 'cool' or better yet 'epic'. I've been doing a garage haunt for 5 years and in the beginning I made the mistake of relying on props too much. Most of the time they don't scare people, plus in home haunting people aren't standing around looking at stuff.
                Just remember once you get started, there's no turning back. Your haunt will keep growing, getting bigger and scarier each year like zombies coming out of the grave!
                Http://xtremegaragehaunting.blogspot.com

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by DrDoom71 View Post
                  ...Your haunt will keep growing, getting bigger and scarier each year like zombies coming out of the grave!
                  This is too true, I now have a 10x14 shed almost full of nothing but Halloween stuff.
                  I have enough costuming to run a pro haunt probably. hahahaha
                  www.walkthroughbedlam.com

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                  • #39
                    I have got 10 years under my belt as a home haunter. I must say that I have built a few things, but 90 precent of what I have, was baught at a retail store. This was also my first year that I baught something at a Hallween store, which was just a mask.

                    I have 30 tombstones that I purchased from, Menards, Walgreens, Target, and the Dollar Store that get me by each year. Yes it would be cool to build these myslelf, but right now my biggest thing to improve on is special effects.

                    My newest item this year that I baught, was 2 500watt shop lights that I used as lightning. I also purchased a thunder box so that the lights would flicker. I put the lights behind the house and pointed them up into the trees. Problem with all this, I don't thing anyone saw what I did.

                    The CD I got with the thunder box was LESS then sub-par. So I baught a rain and thunder CD from Target in their "Sound Scapes" section wich was very realistic. My issue with this was, I did not have a stereo that was loud enough, the speakers were crap, and about 7:30pm the stereo quit working all together.

                    I also had to replace 2 foggers, so this also kept me from doing more. This problem you will always have, things just don't last forever.

                    Mr. Haunt

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                    • #40
                      For the poll, all of the choices are necessary.For a home haunt, I believe the people like the scenery and settings. The majority of the comments were about the props and room settings, in relation to being realistic.

                      The majority of our haunt is indoors and last year a good scene was outside. It rained and we could not use that area. It had to be bypassed.
                      Scaring the yell out of them
                      Owner/operator of

                      http://www.terrorsofthenight.com haunted house

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                      • #41
                        Originally posted by Lostsheep View Post
                        How big did some of you guys get your home haunts before you moved them? I would love to have a stand alone yearly attraction, but I don't wanna get the cart before the horse.
                        Ours was about 15 min. involved garage, driveway,front yard and side of the house with around 13 to 16 actors and we ran the home haunt for 14 years we are now on our 21st year haunting. We are now a pro haunt and are half hour to 45 min and runs best with about 25 actors min. We are making a second one this year.
                        Last edited by Dreamreaper; 01-07-2013, 10:53 PM.
                        Ken L.

                        http://www.thedreamsofdarkness.com

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                        • #42
                          Hello, everyone! I want to build a haunted house, kind of. Actually, we own a spooky military bombshell. The bombshell is about 1200 square meters (0,3 acres), it is fireproof, clean and safe. Safety is our number one priority. I want to build a bunch of decorations in Silent Hill theme, Texas Chainsaw Massacre theme, etc (a lot of ideas, actually). And, of course, we plan to use the actors.

                          But, the main question is - have you ever been sued because of the reason like "they scared me SO MUCH that i peed myself, some other guests laughed at me and now i feel unconfident and uncomfortable"? Yes, i do realise that scary things supposed to scare people and guests pay to get scared, but... what if? Do you have problems with that issue? How do you solve it?

                          P.S. I'm sorry for my english, english language is not my native.

                          Best regards, Dmitry.

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                          • #43
                            Despite how low it ended up in the polls, do not underestimate the power of sound. When I was a kid, there was a house in our subdivision that used to play scary music out the windows on Halloween. There were other kids & parents who would actually avoid going to that house just because they had spooky sounds! That had no actors, props... Just scary sounds! Movies and TV have conditioned the public to enter a state of fear upon hearing certain types of music and sound effects. It's automatic. The best part is that it's cheaper than ever to get portable sound systems for your haunt. You can buy old MP3 players and computer speakers very cheaply on eBay. You also don't necessarily need to limit yourself to just one system either. Maybe you could have an MP3 player playing scary music, and another playing a scary sound effects album? We have a medium-sized yard/tent/garage haunt, but we still have SIX different sound systems (one at the entrance, one in each of three tents, one in the garage, and one for the outdoor sections between tents).

                            Also as a previous poster noted, they can close their eyes to avoid the visual scares, but most people won't block out the sounds! When people hear scary music and sounds, their own imaginations do half the work of scaring them.
                            Last edited by Dark Tiki Studios; 07-14-2015, 09:19 AM.
                            Haunt: DARK REALMS

                            Day job: Game Composer/Sound Designer

                            My "geek rock" band: Legendary nOObs

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                            • #44
                              I know there have been no new posts, but I will add some more advice.

                              All ideas considered in the poll are all good things to consider, and I think that they are all very important BUT they do not serve the purpose well if not used properly/correctly.

                              I think the more realistic you can make things look, feel, sound, smell....really sells a person on what they are observing or experiencing as truly being real and paints an image in their mind that they won't forget.

                              For me I am against the more theatrical elements that haunts have used or use today, but for them it works and there is a time or place for every thing.

                              If you're going to build or make something from scratch, take your time and make it as authentic as possible, and yes there are times when we have all used cheap props from retail stores because that is our only option at the time, this is ok too I have done it.

                              More pride comes from things made "by you" or friends, speaking of friends these people are important as it takes a lot of work planning and building everything from the ground up by yourself. Of course I have found it kind of hard to find those people that share the same passion as you do.

                              Everyone has their own ideas, and it helps to brain storm with everyone, my last piece of advice would be to not be afraid to keep things simple.

                              Best of luck to everybody and their new adventure in haunting rather it be at the home level or commercial.

                              Mr. Haunt

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                              • #45
                                Newbie here and putting together a small-ish haunt on a shoestring budget. I saw an awesome list of DIY somewhere on the hauntworld site but now I can't seem to locate it. Can anyone give me directions? Thanks

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