# Haunted Hayride Ideas



## BR1MSTON3 (Jul 31, 2010)

Is there an overall theme to the ride or will it be random scares?


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## Cpt Bart Roberts (Aug 23, 2012)

I changed the original post to include the answers to your questions.


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## BR1MSTON3 (Jul 31, 2010)

I don't know where you are located, but it has an old world sound to me with the stone walls, fields and trees. Some older ghost stories would be cool. A headless horseman is an easy thing to do. Some scarecrows that come to life out of the fields. Trees call for hanging things.


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## offmymeds (May 26, 2010)

You must have zombies from a graveyard and crazy scary clowns form the abandoned circus (or carnival)......

Samara coming from a well
Michael Myers just standing and looking
witches around a pot mixing up a nice brew
pirate scene

BTW, welcome Cpt Bart


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## Sleepersatty99 (Aug 16, 2010)

Tortured souls. Hanging bodies,chainsaw killers or even medievil killers I can go on for a while with this. If you need want more just ask I will be more then glad to help.


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## dariusobells (Sep 24, 2007)

A friend of mine (Spats) did a haunted trail years ago and one of the favorites I heard about was a Cannibal family picnic had a spit with body parts, picnic table with blood all over it etc and actors playing the gruesome Family. as the hay ride is actually past you could have the family finally notice the hay ride and give a half hearted chase


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Hay rides are a challenge to make scary. One of the big things about them that makes them not scary is the disconnect the riders have with the scares way down on the ground. If you aren't in their personal space many people will just laugh off a scare attempt.

A couple of things you can do: Have monsters with arm extensions so they can reach up higher (but without actually touching anyone). Stilts would be nice to balance out the characters and make them not look so small from above, which takes away from their scariness. For something safer, you can have a platform/rock/vehicle/etc. that the wagon driver pulls right up against that the characters can stand on. This puts them eye to eye with the riders and increases the fear factor.

Having actors in trees (hopefully on some kind of platform and with a safety harness) or on top of or behind the rock walls can also be effective. One of the basic rules of a haunted house is to try to scare people from above and below as well as at eye level, and this would help you do that.

You could also look into making some kind of cheap stalker costumes that would put the fake heads up closer to the riders.


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## Kev730 (Feb 25, 2012)

Evil Corn Mask







ScareCrow Mask







Evil Scarecrow Mask







Scarecrow Mask







Tree Witch Mask







Barry Hung Mask (hangman)







Headles Horseman Mask







Possesed Pumpkin Mask







Some Sort Of werewolf


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## Kev730 (Feb 25, 2012)

and some sort of chainsaw person


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## Kev730 (Feb 25, 2012)

Ive also seen ghillie suits used for haunted houses and hayrides. Its kinda scary.


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## Atomic Mystery Monster (Jul 29, 2003)

-Tree faces: Buy or make spooky faces to put on trees to make them seem like living beings.

-Scarecrows: Set up a bunch of scarecrows and corn shocks. Make sure to have one wearing a really good scarecrow mask. Everyone will assume that one will "come to life" to scare them. What they don't realize is that the real monster is hiding under all the hay scattered around the scarecrows. Gets'em every time.

-Pumpkin Carver: Have a dummy sitting in a chair holding a fake knife, with a big pile of Jack-O-Lanterns behind him. Make sure there's a sign reading "Pumpkins For Sale" somewhere. What the riders don't know is that the Jack-O-Lantern on the top is actually a mask worn by an assistant wearing green clothing covered in fake leaves and vines...

-Giant Ghost: See here. All you have to do is mount it on a tree or two instead of on a house.

-Captive Dragon: This now-defunct haunted hayride had a great captive dragon scene that could be adapted for use with any large creature or dinosaur.

-Using a Stalkaround (either bought cheaply off Ebay or built using these instructions) will unnerve everyone. If you can't build one (or afford one), try getting one of those giant Grim Reaper or giant Scream costumes.

-Captive Monster: Chain a "monster" to a tree or pole and have it roar at the patrons, struggle to get to the riders, and either have it stay stuck to the length of chain or have it break free and rush towards the hay wagon. You should also have some fake bones put nearby the monster.

-Make lots of Blair Witch stick figurines and hang them all along the hayride's path.

-Have a portion of the trail where the hay wagon is silently followed by monsters.


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## Cpt Bart Roberts (Aug 23, 2012)

These ideas are seriously awesome! Please keep them coming!


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## Rania (Oct 27, 2011)

If i did a hayride i would do an ALIEN theme. OF course my imagination sounds expensive, but i would have spaceships coming out of corn, and aliens all over the place. I would even drop off the patrons in a crop circle and let the aliens loose. I guess you don't have corn though, so don't listen to me.


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## Cpt Bart Roberts (Aug 23, 2012)

Well, the problem with that idea is the we are not dealing with corn fields. It's more like grassy meadowland. The more ideas I get, the better this will be.


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## Cpt Bart Roberts (Aug 23, 2012)

Again, this is the first year that we are attempting this, so whatever ideas you have would be greatly appreciated.


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## Screaming Demons (Sep 15, 2008)

Here's an idea: Go to youtube and do a search on Hayride or Haunted Hayride. Look at some of the scares people have taped on those videos. Another source is HauntWorld.com. They have a list of hayrides across the country, and many of them have photo galleries.


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## chinclub (Oct 6, 2011)

One of the things we are doing for our hayride is a spider cave. We are building a large tent by arching pvc pipe across the path and covering it with tarps. It will be large enough for the whole tractor and wagon to fit inside. As it drives in strobe lights will be flashing and showing the tons of spiders all over the walls. As soon as the wagon gets in it stops. The lights go out and we will have people outside with small water guns stuck through holes in the tarps. They will begin to squirt mists of water. Then the lights will come on so we can be sure everyone is safely seated and the ride can move on. The original plan was silly string but that can be messy.


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## Cpt Bart Roberts (Aug 23, 2012)

That is an awesome idea. Is it relatively cheap to do? I am working on a fairly tight budget.


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## chinclub (Oct 6, 2011)

The PVC pipe isn't too bad. We will probably use T- posts in the ground to hook the PVC pipe too. You can get those at any farm supply store (Tractor Supply, maybe home depot) They are used to hold up electric fence and are usually around $5 a piece. Call your local billboard company and ask about old billboard tarps they have taken down. Many will give them away for free, some charge just a bit. These are huge like 14 x 48 feet. Many are black on one side.


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