# Building a haunted house - where to start?



## devilsfan (Aug 17, 2004)

Here's the deal - we moved to a new neighborhood last year and found out they have an annual fall festival! We were thrilled and donated our stash (which constituted about half the haunted house). They run the house every year tho and it's getting stale - same setup, props, etc. They're looking for something new, and we inherited it for this fall.

The setup is amazing - huge old metal barn that's built out inside, and we've been given the green light to make any changes we want. This includes interior or exterior. It has to be appropriate for many ages and limited to the barn area. We have a handful of volunteers for setup and to actually take part in the house.

So....I have a ton of ideas, but have never done a haunted house before (just yard props). I would LOVE to hear any tips and tricks from the "experts" on what makes a successful haunted house, how I should go about planning (where do I even start???) and what pitfalls to avoid. I'm starting my planning now, hopefully that will give me enough time to see it completed by October.

Thanks!!

Stacy


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## Haunty (May 31, 2006)

Where to start?

Make a list of the haunt concepts & really think about each one. What are the pros & cons? Will they be something fresh or the same old musty thing?

Draw out a diagram of your haunt space area included both inside & outside around the area.

If you want a typical single twisting path that cattle corals patrons through- think how you will scare forward your guests. Or possibly a haunted maze, with has endless configurations.

Safety is very important. Make sure that there is a plan for emergencies. Keep at least one if not a minimum of 2 fire extinguishers oh hand. On your diagram mark where the electrical outlets are. If you have to use extension cords, use heavy outdoor industrial rated cords. They will be more weather proof then the typical household cords.

Will you be using the Triangular grid system, for wall placement?

Make a list of effects & props- blacklights, stobelights, low level flicker lighting, fogger, etc.

If you can make some of the props, it will stretch your haunt funds.

Come up with a budget for this project, & try to stick to it.


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## rockplayson (Jun 7, 2008)

Well the few Ideas that are in my head when I here nice big barn area and fall festival would to do like a haunted hay ride attraction. Like for example, create a story line and act it out. You could even use something like Sleepy Hallow or whatever. Anyway, you could start out telling your story while you have someone drive the people on a truck towards the barn, then you can take them right to the barn where they exprince the fright.

don't really know how to put it sorry, it seem's so good in my head lol. 

as far as props, decide what you want to go with first. they will all depend on how it turns out.

Safty exits and plans are a must if it's something open to the public. I'm sure that won't be a problem at all.

As Haunty said, how does wall spacing go? You may be able to make makeshift walls to divide the barn in to severl diffren't rooms by using PVC Pipe and black fabric. 

If you can get measurments and photo's of the entire space you'll be using thay may also help out quite a bit. Try making some scale drawings and out line plots.


Wish you the best of luck can't wait to see what you come up with!


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

A haunt for "Familys" is good , unless some of them are drunken familys.
Staggering, screaming, obscene drunks are a big "No-No".
You will have to think along a dual design, one design for running your show if you have enough helpers show up and another design for when fewer helpers show up, yet still make plans to have it be effective with fewer active bodies working.
You can actually make very eficient use of the helpers by creating a scare station in a central location and route the patrons back toward them for the second and sometimes third scare opportunity.
I have never agreed with the "SCare Forward" idea, people begin to run then and may knock one another down. No matter how soft you could make the floor or doorways , bodies falling on bodies can still cause very serious harm, elbows in eye-sockets, teeth in foreheads sort of things.
And just like rebounding when playing basketball, the little person always gets the majority of the physical abuse when bodies collide.
Design the inside of the barn with a 4 foot wide hallway all around the maze and have a door hidden or marked "Exit" at least every 50 running feet, then from there they can make it to exits that actually exit the barn to the out doors. This also gives the scary actors a place to move around to keep ahead of the customers.
You need dual lighting, spooky and "House" to fully illuminate everything incase of emergencys large or small(I lost my contacts! Lost my wallet, cell phone, car keys...someone just slugged me!
There is really a lot to this fun thing we call "Haunting", I have just nibbled the surface of it here.


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