# Need Ideas for Hayride Scenes



## zach1031 (Oct 16, 2003)

I was needing some ideas for a Freddy Krueger Boiler room scenes for a haunted hayride. I am planning on having a furnace and some pipes. Any other props or a scare idea would be good.

Thanks alot,
Zach


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## putrid (Aug 18, 2002)

Hi Zach and Welcome to the BEST Halloween forum on the net. Hayrides are BIG this year. If you go to the general forum you can find 3 or 4 VERY good threads on this subject. You might have to go back a few weeks in the archives but it's well worth the time. We have some really sick and twisted people here with more ideas than you can shake a stick at. LOL Please don't think me rude because I didn't post any of the ideas here. There's way too many for this old fart to remember. I think we've had one thread a week on this subject. I like your Freddy Krueger Boiler room scene idea. Please post your decisions and questions so we might be able to help. Hope to see pictures soon. 
A few questions so we might be able to give more help,
What props do you have now and what displays are planned with them?
Do you make or purchace your props?
Need how-to's for making props?
What type of display ideas do you have planned?



'What’s all this flack about my bitter end. None of the rest of me tastes any better.'


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## zach1031 (Oct 16, 2003)

I am planning on getting a big refrigerator box and making a furnace out it. I have two of those fake fires in pots that I thought about putting inside the furnace. If anyone knows any other ideas on how to make a furnace that would be great. How would I make the front part where you can see in?

I try to make all the props I use.

I want to use the furnace along with some cardboard carpet tubes for pipes and put them everywhere. I was also thinking about putting up like a big piece of wire for a partition somewhere. I just need some ideas to spice up the scene a little. 

Any help with lighting would be good. I planned on using red lights and fog along with the orange lighting in the furnace. An idea I had was to run some fog thru one of the pipes and let it come out like steam maybe.

I need an idea on how Freddy can scare the wagon.

Go here for a idea of the scene setup I have in mind now: http://www.freewebs.com/zstutts and click on 2003 Plans.

Also check out the Props section.

Thanks alot,
Zach


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## zach1031 (Oct 16, 2003)

If anyone has any ideas for hayride scares, I really need some. I am looking for startle scares and things that can keep the riders uneasy betweeen scenes and other small areas. I need scares that are esay to setup and do not require much building. If anyone can give me somewhere to find these or would post some here , I would really appreciate it.

Thanks alot,
Zach
www.freewebs.com/zstutts


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## Misfit (Sep 25, 2003)

zack in ur layouts it looks as if your red lights are facing torward the wagon? If so I recomend them shining on the props from the waggons point of view.

All is done


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## Atomic Mystery Monster (Jul 29, 2003)

zach,

If you really want to surprise your patrons, you can set up a Freddy dummy off to the side of the scene, as if it's an actor waiting to leap out at them and then have a massive section of the furnace leap out at them with pipe-claws and a flame filled mouth (This is based on an indea I saw at a message board. I think it was by Jim Warfield). Alternately, you can make a large "control panel" out of a large cardboard box, plastic bottle caps, and gray spraypaint and make it so the top can lift up like a lid. Next, buy one of those cheap fiber-optic wands and rip the fibers out. Make some holes in the "lid" and slide the fibers through. When a flashlight is pressed to the bottom of the fibers, the tips other end will light up. When done quickly, this can look like sparks. Have your Freddy actor hide in the control panel and make the "sparks" until the tractor passes a certain point (you might want to make a peep-hole in the control panel for this) and then Freddy can throw up the lid and leap out (This is based on an idea I saw at the Hauntworld message board).

As for ideas, you should check the forum's archives by searching for "haunted hayride" and "haunted trail". You'll find tons of ideas.

Also, do you have a body of water on the path of the hayride? I've got a neat idea you could use if you do.


You can make large boilers from large cardboard boxes covered in black paint and then sprayed with uneven blotches of silver spray paint. You can use cardboard gift wrapping tubes or tubes that carpeting come on (check your local carpeting store to see if they have old ones they're willing to part with). PVC tubing also works well. If you're running low on time and can't paint the PVC, just light it with red lights and nobody will know the difference. The book "How to Operate a Financially Successful Haunted Hosue" even recommends using old metal pipes from junkyards. Sounds of loud rumbling and/or fire being played from a furnace will add to the effect.

I like your fog machine idea. However, I wonder if the fog will eventually weaken the cardboard tube with its moisture. Does anyone have any input on this? Should zach line the inside with plastic or something?

In regard to your website:

-Your scare involving misdirection in your scarecrow scene idea rocks. 

-To add onto Misfit's point, you should have the lights facing the props set low to the ground, with the light aimed up at the props. Oh, and always test your colored lights at night way before the big night to see how well the illuminate the props.

-You don't have to sacrifice your werewolf prop to make the rabid dog prop. Just put a pair of red LEDs in a doghouse with a tape recorder of a growling dog (Check the archives for sound resources). Some bones lying aorund the doghouse will work wonders for the scene.

-Speaking of your werewolf prop, you can make an easy victim by buying or making a fake severed leg for the werewolf to hold. You can even dribble a trail of fake blood leading the bushes to add to the effect.

-Using a motion sensor to trigger lights and sounds will greatly add to the effects.

-Aiming a strobe light with a red filter up at a scary mask or dummy makes a great effect.

-For your cannibal scene, you can have a fake fire (use a silk flame or orange cellophane and blinking orange lights) roasting a severed limb. Severed limbs and butchered bodies can be hung from trees. You might even want to make a lean-to (you can find directions online) to represent the cannibals' home. While your patrons are taking in all the grusome sights, have your armed cannibals sneak up on the wagon from the opposite side.


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## barefootcountrygirl (Oct 1, 2003)

Here are a few of the things we've done on our hayride. You didn't say whether you have manpower to run these things or if you just want something that will work without anyone there. 

We've strung a clothesline across the path and tied long strips of black cloth hanging down just low enough to brush across the people's heads as they go under it. They can't see it in the dark, but they sure feel it.


Hooked a long dog run (you know, a wire with a pulley that's lets dogs run across the yard hooked to the pulley by a leash)....we hooked the wire from a tree at the top of the hill to a tree at the bottom of the hill and hooked a ghost to the pulley. Gravity does the rest, just tie some fishline hanging down from the ghost so you can reach it. Hook it around a nail in the tree to hold it at the top of the hill. When the wagon is coming up the hill, have someone release the ghost and gravity will fly it down the hill right over the wagon. Once the wagon is gone, use the fishline to pull it back up the hill for the next load. 

An easy skit is to have someone slumped in a lawn chair dressed as a dummy with a string tied to one wrist and up over tree branch. Our tractor driver stopped the wagon and got out and pulled the string to make the "dummy" wave. After he got back on the tractor and started to pull away, everyone freaked when the dummy got up and chased the wagon. 

Another skit along the same lines was that we had someone dressed as a skeleton with strings tied to both arms, the strings up over a tree branch. We sat him behind a board nailed between two trees with burlap draped over it to the ground so all you could see was the top half of the dummy. We played organ music and pulled the strings to move his hands up and down, so to the audience it looked as by pulling the strings we were making the dummy play an organ. Same thing, as the wagon pulled away, the dummy jumped out from behind the organ.

We've had a couple aliens as followers, following behind the wagon, never saying anything, sometimes following close, sometimes further away, but always there. This kind of freaked people out because they were always looking over their shoulders expecting the aliens to do something, but they never did, just quietly stalked the wagon.

It's always cool to get several of the same mask and have different people jumping out everywhere with the same mask. It makes people think, man, how'd he get over there? He was just over here!

Or get them focused on something moving in the bushes on one side of the wagon, and while everyone is concentrating on trying to see what it is, have someone jump up from behind them.

Loud noises are huge startlers. Something as simple as having a car parked in the woods close to the trail but all covered in black or with branches gets a good scare. Wait till the wagon is right in front of it and turn on the high beams and blare the horn. It gives the illusion that the car is about to hit the wagon. 

We've used the huge blade of the buzz saw as a gong, it is so loud when you hit it with something metal, very startling when it's right next to you and the last sound you expect to hear out there.

We've used my brothers preditor call, it plays very loud recordings of different animals, and it's so loud it echoes all through the forest. We've used coyotes howling (and surprise, when we turned it off there were real coyotes howling, yikes! THAT was scary!) and another tape that sounds like a million crows, which we used in our graveyard, and one with screech owls that is really creepy.


These are just a few of the things we've done that basically didn't cost any money or else used stuff we had laying around and were easy to put together. Just use your imagination, some of the scariest things aren't props, just loud noises or something sudden and unexpected. 







Yagottawanna!


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## Atomic Mystery Monster (Jul 29, 2003)

I have some more ideas, some of which I've altered from an old post of mine dealing with a haunted trail: 

-Sentries: Construct two hooded figures, either out of burlap and "monster mud" (See the  The Monster Page of Halloween Project Links) or from PVC and fabric. No matter what, the end result should be two tall, hooded figures positioned on each side of the entrance. For added detail, you could have them holding glowing lanterns (using battery-powered lanterns or ones with tiny glow sticks in them) to draw people to them. Having to walk past two mysterious, realistic figures will definitely make people entering the trail nervous. A low budget alternative to this is having two lit "tiki torches" on the entrance to the hayride. Just be sure to follow all safety precautions regarding fire and have people nearby to watch the torches. 

-Graveyard: One classic scene for a haunted hayride is a graveyard. Tombstones can be constructed out of a variety of materials. Fences made out of PVC piping provide atmosphere and a means of separating the scene from the patrons. You might want to feature some "static" zombies, like the one at http://www.angelfire.com/realm/riverman/props/props1.html , and live actors or you might just want to only use live actors. I recommend digging one rectangular hole for each actor in the ground and lining it with black plastic. Then, have the actors get in the holes and cover them with leaves. That way, the zombies can suddenly rise out of the ground and surprise the patrons.

-The Pumpkin Carver: A masked character sits in a chair and holds a large knife. Beside him is a large pile of Jack-O-Lanterns and a sign saying "Pumpkins For Sale". But instead of the character leaping up at them, one of the pumpkins turns into a monster and gives them one heck of a surprise! An assistant wearing a Jack-O-Lantern mask was crouching motionless behind the pile so that their head appeared to be just another pumpkin while the character in the chair was merely a stuffed dummy. If the haunted trail will be running too long for you to use the real deal, you can make some pumpkins out of paper mache or buy a bunch of fake ones. They tend to cost about $4.99 each at Walgreens, even less if you have a friend working there. 

-Scarecrows: Set up some corn shocks on either side of a section of the trail. Place scarecrows against all but one of the corn shocks. A costumed assistant in a costume identical to the other scarecrows will occupy the last shock and stand perfectly still until the moment when they will "spring to life" to scare the passers-by. You can make this effect even more effective by making a small, similar scene earlier on in the trail using only dummies. That way, they patrons will expect the scarecrows to all be lifeless dummies when they see it the second time around.

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


-The "Swamp Thang" from http://www.scaryguys.com/index.html would be a great unnerving prop. Just replace the spotlights with heavy-duty flashlights and colored plastic if you don't have access to electrical power.

-Hidden plastic bags in trees make strange sounds when the wind blows.

-Blair Witch: Make lots of stick men and piles of rocks to put on part of the trail. Eventually, they'll stop in front of a scene of an empty campsite. Beams from flashlights can be seen deep in the woods while people cry out looking for Josh. After the trailer leaves the scene, it gets attacked from the rear by a shaggy witch. I got this from a website that I've sadly forgotten the URL of.

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

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

-Here's my idea for something that'll take everyone by surprise: Start out the hayride with some cheap, cheesy scenes and lots of people in monster masks leaping out at the trailer. Then, the trailer is forced to come to a stop when it appears that something (a large fallen tree or a crashed haywagon/trailer) is blocking the path. The driver acts surprised and disappointed and drives down another trail, apologizing for the quick ending and vows to get a refund since they didn't get to see a lot of scary stuff. After going down a dark trail for awhile (to get them lulled into a false sense of security), start hitting 'em with realistic scare scenes and detailed costumes while the driver acts scared and says things like "This wasn't part of the show!"


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## zach1031 (Oct 16, 2003)

Hey Atomic Mystery Monster,

Thanks for all the ideas. They all sound great. I have a tentative list for this year plus a few I wanna do but not sure how to do them.

I want to build some kind of platform and put something on it. I think it could be intimidating because what ever is up there will be over the patrons heads. I'm just not sure what to put there.

I also have several other things I will post later.

Zach


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## crazymjb (Oct 27, 2003)

For a great effect you need to use the rumble effect it will go great in a boiler room. Go out to bestbuy and by an amp and some big badass woofers, car woofers are really cheap. Look online and finde the "rumble effect" downloadable sound. It creates an eerie rumble that is used in many haunted houses.

Michael Ball


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## Scary Barry (Oct 6, 2004)

I was looking back at old posts and found this one. Some great ideas here. I love the Pumkin Carver and using duplicate mask for different actors along the trail.


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## Demonic Dante (Feb 5, 2005)

zach i would like like your freddy idea but the masks look so cheesy u need a living face fredyy or something and for the boiler room you need some special sound make it one two fredyys coming for you song make some stable ghost i strongly beveive that fcg's are a wast of cash id get a cool skull attatch it where a blucky head would be cover with cheese cloth it costs like 10 bucks at the most


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## peeweepinson (Aug 18, 2003)

check search as I did a post in the past month on a bunch of sites we had at our haunted hay ride this past year. It was a great success! Very scary at times


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