Learn How to Create a Haunted House Facade for Halloween

Thu, September 17, 2020

Façades: Giving your Attraction a Face Lift

By Michael Krausert / Bad Boys Scenic Design

Photos courtesy of Kleer Photography & Justin Connaher

 

Judging a Book by its Cover

Take a moment to imagine yourself as a writer. You’ve just spent more than a year plotting, researching, developing, writing, and editing your first great thriller. You have been living this novel for so long and now the book is printed and ready to sell. You are going to be the next Stephen King. After all the creative blood, sweat and tears to get to this point would you ever consider selling this book without a cover? How could you successfully sell your book without an image and title to draw people to read your story? Consider the façade of your haunted attraction as the cover of your book.  Your goal is to get the customers to see your book on the shelf, pick it up, and read the first page. Once you entice them, they will buy your book and you can really show them what a great writer you are.

What is the theme of your attraction? Knowing what kind of an event you are delivering to your customers on the inside helps you deliver an exciting theme and vision for the outside. Every style of event could benefit from a well-thought out and interesting exterior. From the simplest decorations to more elaborate interactive exteriors, facades help to bring a level of suspense and excitement to your patrons.  The idea is to grab your customers’ attention from the start. The façade is  priming your audience to be caught off their guard, to suspend disbelief and generate anticipation (or perhaps anxiety) about what could be awaiting them on the inside….


 

Getting Started

Choosing a style for the  façade is the first step. The façade should reflect the contents of your attraction, giving them a taste of what is to come. It doesn’t really make sense to walk through the mouth of a giant clown only to discover a house filled with vampires, would it? With this in mind, have a clear idea about what you want to convey to your patrons from the moment they arrive at your event. Remain open to the possibilities your exterior may present as another exciting element to your attraction.
At Terror on the Fox in Green Bay, Wisconsin, our façade has been evolving for decades. We designed our façade as an exterior of an old, decrepit house. Nearly all of the rooms we created inside Terror on the Fox are rooms that would exist within an old house or abandoned mansion. What began as a small house façade with fixed lighting has grown into a monstrous mansion with computer controlled sound, lighting and video screens. The show that has developed around and in front of our façade has become a living breathing addition to our event.

We developed the design of the façade at Terror on the Fox around many things. Our property was easily seen from a main road and our façade became a curiosity for people driving by. This really helps to generate  word of mouth advertising and stir up interest.
We also found that a well-designed exterior became a priceless dramatic backdrop for many of our live TV remotes. We wanted the viewers to feel they were a part of our event even from the comfort of their own home.

            A key reason for many of our exterior design choices was to be able to support entertainment. We were to committed to our façade being a focal point which would captivate our patrons and entertain them right from the start.


 

Building Suspense

While patrons wait in line you want their imaginations to run wild. As haunt owners, we all aim to play with the perceptions and comfort level of our customers. Why not create that unpredictable environment before they even walk through the front door?

The façade at Terror on the Fox appears to be a two-story building. Many customers have told us they enjoyed going through the rooms and different floors in our attraction.  Actually, our property does not have a second floor but our exterior was designed to create the illusion that there is.
We wanted our façade to be interactive so we designed it as a multi-level “stage” for our actors to use for pre-show entertainment. Some actors lip-sync to a soundtrack in a center tower, others slither around the queue in the main courtyard. Doors open and slap shut while curtains blow in the wind. The use of actors, celebrity, games and rides are also great tools for enticing patrons before entering your event.

Obviously, budget is a main factor in designing and building any façade. Keep in mind that customers usually only see the front of an event and there is no need to keep a consistent theme on the side or rear of a building. You can build a dramatic exterior without incurring a heavy price tag. Pile up palettes and wooden boxes, add red lights for eyes on corpses, a few spider webs or maybe scenic lighting. Perhaps build towers or different levels. It doesn’t take much to create something to make your customers feel a little uneasy. The only limit is your imagination.
 

The Terror on the Fox Experience

Upon buying a ticket at Terror on the Fox, you board an old passenger train to take you to front of the event. The ½ mile train ride ends at an unloading platform along the banks of the Fox River. You walk through the woods on a long path bordering a graveyard. 

Upon reaching the front of our event you can now see our main video screen and beyond it is our façade. We use the giant outdoor screen to show footage of past house events and we offer the use of this screen as advertising incentive for sponsors.



Our façade is very large and quite commanding.  It has an upper level consisting of five separate towers which can support performers for entertainment. The main (center) tower houses a video screen used for rear-projecting images. This gives the effect of fire burning or other unique images behind the performers. These towers and the wraparound porch on ground level are outfitted with fog machines and full scenic lighting.

We landscaped the front courtyard with mulch and trees and ran a network of PVC pipe underground. We use the pipe network to fog our courtyard. By running the fog underground, it automatically cools in the earth which helps it to emit low to the ground. Brick pillars hold torches and we built an outdoor fountain with skeletons who appear to be spitting fire into the pool below. We have  30’ flagpoles along the customer line with hanging skeletons at the top.  On certain nights, you may see small pyrotechnic shows. The aim of our façade is to keep our customers engrossed with the show while waiting in line and to keep them wondering what will happen next.


 
            All haunt owners want to create a memorable experience for their customers but many forget to deliver the whole package. A well-designed façade helps transition the customers from the ticket booth to the “main event”.  It a simple but essential tool for building anticipation and generating excitement for what they are about to experience. When it comes to facades, you may not get a second chance to make a first impression.

 

Trending blog

Transworld Haunted Attraction and Christmas Light Show is about to happen in St Louis Missouri March 7-11, 2024.  Learn more about the show at www.HaaShow.com  Hauntworld will be document

Today Hauntworld goes behind the SCENES at one of the World's best haunted houses 13th Gate in Baton Rouge.  We take the tour with Dwayne Sanburn and explore the entire attraction and try

The Darkness announced a Haunted House tour during Transworld Haunted House Tradeshow in St Louis, Missouri.   Transworld is the World's Biggest Haunted House and Halloween Trades

Hauntworld on Youtube has started to visit Haunted Houses again this offseason.  We're setting out to learn about the best and most iconic haunted houses in America.   In 2024 we

Hauntworld takes you on a tour thru the IAAPA amusement park show.  Watch the video below and be sure to like and subscribe.  The IAAPA show is an amusement park show with arcades, amusement

Hauntworld teaches you how to build your own haunted house from SCRATCH!  Watch the video and be sure to like and subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more haunted house content. 

Hauntworld created a video series many years ago called 'Hauntworld The Movie' and now all the movies which document the haunted house industry from the 1990's are finally uploaded. 

Hauntworld Interviews the World's Largest Silicone Mask Company Immortal Masks of Los Angles California.  Additionally we take a tour and showcase their entire new lineup of Monster Masks for

Hauntworld recently visited Monsterpalozza a convention dedicated to make up artists.  We take you on a tour to see some of the most amazing monsters, Hollywood special fx artists and so much mor

Hauntworld visited the Midwest Haunters Convention in Chicago.  We walk around the show to see what the show was like.  Watch the video below to see haunted house props, costumes, masks and

Trending Articles

Top Ten Icon Haunted Attractions in America Ranked - Best and Scariest
Article Logo

Icons of The Haunted Attraction Industry - Hauntworld Names the Top 10 Icons of the Haunted House Industry.  See which haunted attractions currently in operation are named the ten biggest ICON haunted attractions.  

America's Top Rated Scariest Haunted Houses 2022 - Top 13 Rated Haunted Attractions
Article Logo

Hauntworld ranks the top scary places in America to get SCARED and Scream 2022.  The best and top rated haunted houses, and Halloween Attractions in America.  Did we rank a haunted house near you find out by clicking on this article.  

The Darkness Haunted House - Review 2022
Article Logo

Are you ready to experience the best haunted house in America? How deep into the depths of The Darkness can you plunge before your next breath is your last? The all new Darkness Haunted House, located in Soulard, off South Broadway in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, has been rated as America's BEST haunted house.

America's Top Rated Scariest Haunted Houses 2021 - Top 13 Rated Haunted Attractions
Article Logo

Hauntworld ranks the top scary places in America to get SCARED and Scream 2021.  The best and top rated haunted houses, and Halloween Attractions in America.  Did we rank a haunted house near you find out by clicking on this article.  

America's Scariest Haunted Houses 2020 - Top 13 Rated Haunts
Article Logo

Hauntworld rates the top 13 best and scariest haunted houses in America.  Hauntworld rates and reviews the scariest, best, longest, haunted houses and Halloween Attractions in America 2020.

America's Best Haunted Houses 2018 - Top 13 Scariest Haunts
Article Logo

Hauntworld rates the top 13 best and scariest haunted houses in America.  Hauntworld rates and reviews the scariest, best, longest, haunted houses and Halloween Attractions in America 2018.

Headless Horseman Haunted Hayride New York - Rating and Review
Article Logo

Read Review and Ratings of Headless Horseman Haunted Hayride located in New York.  Headless Horseman features hayrides, haunted houses and much more. 

Creepyworld Haunted Screampark - St Louis Missouri Haunted House Review Rating
Article Logo

Creepyworld Haunted Screampark is America's biggest haunted attraction with over 13 attractions including a haunted hayride.  Learn more and read the review click here. 

Escape From Blood Prison - Mansfield Ohio Scariest Haunted House
Article Logo

Escape From Blood Prison in Mansfield Ohio site of one of the single most famous Prisons in Hollywood History ( Ohio State Reformatory) famous of the film "The Shawshank Redemption".  Now its one of the biggest scariest haunted houses in America.  Read about Escape from Blood Prison! 

The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor California Best Scariest Haunted House
Article Logo

Haunted House Review The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor is Los Angles California's biggest, scariest and most haunted real haunted house.  Read the full review of this haunted attraction click here. 

Find a haunted house near you by state, city, zip code, rate, review and share all types of haunted houses, hayrides and everything Halloween.  Hauntworld rates and reviews more haunted houses than any other website on the web now featuring over 200 haunted house reviews and over 5000 haunted attractions.  Find a haunted house to hayride near you.
All images, content and information contained on this website is © 2019 Halloween Productions/Blacklight Attractions. Developed and Maintained by iSummation Technologies. All Rights Reserved  Condition of Use | Privacy Notice