Help!

[sk716]

I'm planning a Haunted House for charity and I'm fast running out of ideas. We have to completely avoid gore, especially since many evacuees are still in the city and I really want to avoid the cliches as much as possible, i.e. Jason, Freddy, Micheal Myers, etc.
We've worked out about 6 acceptable rooms, but I still have room for 15 more.

We've got a coffin room where they have to open the coffins to find the room exit.

A two way mirror where the back light will snap on and a person behind the mirror will be pressed up against the glass snarling.

A bloodless guillotine with a live head in a basket.

A graveyard with a troll under a bridge. Heh, they're watching for someone to pop out of a grave and someone snatches at their ankles, *evil laughter*

A pitch black room with a glowing door 25 feet across the room. *even more evil laughter*

And a room with a very large, very realistic looking spider that shoots webbing.

I need ideas and quick. Anybody got any ideas we can use? Scary is great, bloody and gory is out of the question, as is anything that might scar a child for life...... they vetoed my "When Stuffed Animals Attack" using that excuse anyway.

[Adem]

Many people rule out aliens in a haunted house, but I think a smokey room with strobe lights and a alien jumping around at you could be scary. You could also set up a Frankenstein lab not to be scary just for something to look at or you could put it at the start of the house and have a doctor say my monsters are loose in the house.

[Kyuubi]

These are a few I've liked from various haunted houses.

- Loud banging on an empty metal drum in a dark room.

- A long, dark room that people walk through and a guy in a costume walks behind them so they get scared when they go back into the light and realize someones behind them.

- A dark room with someone in it that has a shovel or something similar and scrapes it across cement so that it creates sparks and a lot of noise.

[sk716]

- A dark room with someone in it that has a shovel or something similar and scrapes it across cement so that it creates sparks and a lot of noise.

ooooooooooohhhhhh... let me check my list of assets.

Shovel..... check.

Cement.... check.

Many people rule out aliens in a haunted house, but I think a smokey room with strobe lights and a alien jumping around at you could be scary. You could also set up a Frankenstein lab not to be scary just for something to look at or you could put it at the start of the house and have a doctor say my monsters are loose in the house.

I've been toying with a few alien ideas, but they always end up involving flashing lights, which sadly must also be avoided due to Epileptics (I have no idea if I spelled that right and I'm entirely too tired to look it up).

[Adem]

You could then just have a dark room with smoke and alien noises all around them.

[TCJohnson]

I don't know if this is gore but it is an old trick. Take some dark/red grapes and peel them and put them in a bowl or a box. As the kids walk past, have somebody dressed up as Igor in a mostly dark room offer them some treats from the bowl without letting them see. When the kids reach in tell them their eyeballs.

[Azrael52]

I don't know if this is gore but it is an old trick. Take some dark/red grapes and peel them and put them in a bowl or a box. As the kids walk past, have somebody dressed up as Igor in a mostly dark room offer them some treats from the bowl without letting them see. When the kids reach in tell them their eyeballs.

Yeah! A favorite of mine, too. What about a white sheet hanging in front of a doorway. In the dark, it might appear to be part of the wall. Then, behind the sheet, have people's hands and faces pressed up against it, writhing. You know, like on The Frighteners with Michael J Fox.

[Jeff Brady]

Yeah! A favorite of mine, too. What about a white sheet hanging in front of a doorway. In the dark, it might appear to be part of the wall. Then, behind the sheet, have people's hands and faces pressed up against it, writhing. You know, like on The Frighteners with Michael J Fox.

WAAAAAAAAAAAY back when I was a youngin' & went to church, they set up a hallway with curtains or blankets along the walls, and lots of people behind them. When we walked through the hall, the people would reach out to grab usas we passed, as if the walls had come alive. It was great, and VERY creepy.

[Papergirl]

Once upon a time, when Church Street Station was actually booming and teeming with tourists, there was a place called Terror On Church Street. It was a huge haunted house.

One of the best effects they had were there PEOPLE. They would interact (to a point) with the customers. For example, one would slip in with the group while it was dark and mess with them by using a small battery operated fan . Not only was the whirring noise creepy, but the sudden breezes across, say, the back of your neck was enough to make you practically come out of your skin.

Also, maybe a jail cell with a madman in it. Let the cell door suddenly open while the group is in that section and have the 'madman' pretend to start chasing after them.

Alright. That's it for now. Maybe I'll have more tomorrow. :)

~Bev

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

Get a guy with a head wound to lift up his scotch and say "Great party, isn't it?" Or, just break out the cold spaghetti and blindfolds. Whichever ya want.

[MacQuarrie]

This one is GOLD. And it's cheap, too.

If somebody has a large-format inkjet printer, it's really easy, but you can make do with poster paint.

1. Go buy a 2 lb. bag of small macaroni shells.

2. Spray paint them black. Just scatter handfuls of them on a newspaper and hit them quick with the paint. When dry, scoop them into a bag or bucket.

3. Find a stretch of sidewalk or hallway that you can force people to walk down, and that you can make fairly dark. Very dim light is best.

4. Scatter the black macaroni so as to cover the area. You'll need to replenish it several times throughout the evening.

5. Print or paint a large sign reading "COCKROACH XING" and if possible include a large silhouette of a nasty-looking bug.

6. Hang sign at entrance to hall or head of walkway. Put a light on it. Ideally, position the light to create a bit of glare and prevent people from looking down the hall.

7. Herd victims into walkway.

8. Watch and listen as grown men scream like little girls and leap four feet into the air with every crunch.

GOLD, I tell you.

[MacQuarrie]

Wanna take a peek into hell?

Make a box and line it with foil. Cover the foil with red mini christmas tree lights. Cover the lights with white plastic trash bags. Make sure the bags are rumpled so they look like terrain.

At the bottom of the box put a mirror pointing up.

On the top of the box, put a 2-way mirror pointing down. (reflective window tinting on plexiglas works pretty well.)

Put the box in a dark corner. Even better, bury it in the yard and put a plywood cover over the top.

Under the box put a speaker.

Play recording of people screaming and evil laughter, maybe the crackling sound of something burning.

Allow people to look into the box. The two mirrors create the infinity effect, and the glowing red lights make the plastic look like lava.

An endless tunnel into the depths, from which the wails of tormented souls are rising.

[Cam63]

A pub with no beer.

[TCJohnson]

Give out free copies of When Lightning Strikes!

[hellokittykat]

A psycho circus with scary cowns (like there are other kind anyway ;))

A kitchen table set up for dinner and when you lift the cover off of a plate there is a live head underneath.

A dark room where you hang fishing line from the ceiling at various heights so it feels like creatures are crawling on the people as they walk through.

Have a room were the walls are painted with polka dots or something distracting (it helps to have dim lighting) and then have someone painted the same way standing against the wall and when people walk past the painted person jumps out.

I might come up with some others later. It's a challenge to not be too terrifying and yet spooky.

[EdContradictory]

This one haunted house in Ocean City used to put little rubber sticks along the baseboards of dark hallways. You'd feel them "touch" your leg as you walked along.

Also, put someone in a scarecrow costume out on the front porch. Stick some leaves and stuff in him so he looks like he's only a dummy. Then have him move.

[titanfan]

The roach idea creeps me out just thinking about it. I think that's a good one!

- Other (somewhat generic) Halloween type scenes I see at kids' haunted houses:

- Mad Scientist room. The Mad Scientist looks like he's operating on a living (dead?)

- Jail with all sorts of generic costumed Halloween critters in it. The prisoners would make scary threats or "let me out!" screams to the kids when they walk through.

[MacQuarrie]

The roach idea creeps me out just thinking about it. I think that's a good one!
You haven't lived until you have seen it in action. People get really unnerved by it.

Another option: Jeckyll & Hyde.

Here's how it works: Your Dr. Jeckyll is made up in grotesque make-up done entirely in shades of blue. The set is lit with blue lights, making the make-up invisible. He drinks his potion and goes into spasms that involve losing the tie and coat and dishevelling the hair. While he is screaming, flailing and gasping, the lights are transitioning from blue to red. Under the red lights, teh make-up "magically" appears. The now-mad Mr. Hyde then menaces the audience.

[sk716]

This one is GOLD. And it's cheap, too.

If somebody has a large-format inkjet printer, it's really easy, but you can make do with poster paint.

1. Go buy a 2 lb. bag of small macaroni shells.

2. Spray paint them black. Just scatter handfuls of them on a newspaper and hit them quick with the paint. When dry, scoop them into a bag or bucket.

3. Find a stretch of sidewalk or hallway that you can force people to walk down, and that you can make fairly dark. Very dim light is best.

4. Scatter the black macaroni so as to cover the area. You'll need to replenish it several times throughout the evening.

5. Print or paint a large sign reading "COCKROACH XING" and if possible include a large silhouette of a nasty-looking bug.

6. Hang sign at entrance to hall or head of walkway. Put a light on it. Ideally, position the light to create a bit of glare and prevent people from looking down the hall.

7. Herd victims into walkway.

8. Watch and listen as grown men scream like little girls and leap four feet into the air with every crunch.

GOLD, I tell you.

That is Gold and I am absolutely using it!

[sk716]

I don't know if this is gore but it is an old trick. Take some dark/red grapes and peel them and put them in a bowl or a box. As the kids walk past, have somebody dressed up as Igor in a mostly dark room offer them some treats from the bowl without letting them see. When the kids reach in tell them their eyeballs.

We're actually doing this on a covered table the way my neighbors did it when we were kids.

A bowl of grapes as eyeballs, a bowl of cooked spaghetti as worms, a macaroni mold for a brain, etc. They reach in through slits cut in the black plastic, kids love it.

[sk716]

Yeah! A favorite of mine, too. What about a white sheet hanging in front of a doorway. In the dark, it might appear to be part of the wall. Then, behind the sheet, have people's hands and faces pressed up against it, writhing. You know, like on The Frighteners with Michael J Fox.

I have an even better idea involving a big piece of black spandex.

[TCJohnson]

We're actually doing this on a covered table the way my neighbors did it when we were kids.

A bowl of grapes as eyeballs, a bowl of cooked spaghetti as worms, a macaroni mold for a brain, etc. They reach in through slits cut in the black plastic, kids love it.

Any way to have a fourth bowl with a hole in the bottom and somebody underneath it? Have somebody put cold slime or something on their hand and when a kid reaches in, shake their hand. When they jump back have the hand come out, feeling around ala Thing from the Addams family.

[sk716]

Any way to have a fourth bowl with a hole in the bottom and somebody underneath it? Have somebody put cold slime or something on their hand and when a kid reaches in, shake their hand. When they jump back have the hand come out, feeling around ala Thing from the Addams family.

Heh, that's pretty good.

[TCJohnson]

Heh, that's pretty good.


What, and my idea of giving out J-Bolt comics wasn't? Ah, you wouldn't know scary if it came up and gave you flowers! Man eating flowers!

[sk716]

What, and my idea of giving out J-Bolt comics wasn't? Ah, you wouldn't know scary if it came up and gave you flowers! Man eating flowers!

I TOLD you I can't do anything that will traumatize them for life!

[MacQuarrie]

That is Gold and I am absolutely using it!
You have to film it. Infra-red if you have to. We need to see this.

[Cam63]

A psycho circus with scary cowns (like there are other kind anyway ;))

Cowns, you say ? I hate those buggers.

[sk716]

You have to film it. Infra-red if you have to. We need to see this.

I have every intention of doing so. I'm planning to follow a group in with my trusty Sony and tape the whole walkthrough.



Thanks everybody for your ideas and suggestions. I did use a few of them.

[Azrael52]

I have an even better idea involving a big piece of black spandex.
Cool, as long as it doesn't involve Eric.....[shudders]

[Azrael52]

I have every intention of doing so. I'm planning to follow a group in with my trusty Sony and tape the whole walkthrough.



Thanks everybody for your ideas and suggestions. I did use a few of them.

Do I smell an Eric and Ray Show exclusive? You know I've been working on BOOKOOS of ideas for the Halloween Special, right?

[sk716]

Well, I found out today the Haunted House is off. Somebody was shooting of their mouth and the wrong people found out about it and shut us down. The person who was shooting off their mouth is now on the poopie list of 500 associates. And that's a serious understatment.

So now I'm throwing the Halloween Party to end all Halloween Parties.

[MacQuarrie]

Well, I found out today the Haunted House is off. Somebody was shooting of their mouth and the wrong people found out about it and shut us down. The person who was shooting off their mouth is now on the poopie list of 500 associates. And that's a serious understatment.

So now I'm throwing the Halloween Party to end all Halloween Parties.
Crap.

Were you following the old "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission" policy?

[sk716]

Crap.

Were you following the old "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission" policy?

More of a pseudo-sanctioned go ahead.