# Library Haunted House-- I Need Ideas!!



## CatMean (Jul 5, 2004)

Ooohhh, sounds like a challenge. Some ideas that are scary to kids but still can creep adults out are things like:

Clowns: these creep everyone out, maybe kids clown masks from the dollar store hanging from the fabric (those soulless eyes...), or a scareactor dressed as an evil clown, squeaking that "honk honk" horn behind the group

Ghosts: the typical white sheets or crepe paper ghosts, again with an actor, ghostly hands reaching from the walls, etc. 

Spiders: White fabric (webs?) with spiders painted or those cheap spider rings glued all over it, monofilament line or thread hanging from the ceiling to touch their faces and feel like cobwebs...

I'm sure I could come up with more but those are the ones that come to mind first. Hope it helps.


----------



## halloweenking777 (Aug 18, 2004)

try to find or make a very large spider and get some of the cheap dollar store costumes (like the ones that we use to use as kids) make a dummy out of one of the costumes and hang it from the spiders legs next lay a few of the masks and some cheap bones under the whole thing. it looks like the spider has captured some of the kids who went through already and eaten them. I did this and it freeked some of the adults more than the kids.[}]


----------



## Raven (Aug 17, 2004)

I am new to this site ... only my second time posting. I gave my 15 year old daughter a halloween/birthday party last year. She just happened to be born on Halloween. Our little 'trick-or-treater' we call her. Anyway, this was our first teenage party. I too, was on a tight budget. We cleaned out the garage and hung huge sheets of black


----------



## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

First thing I would do is check out the Monster List if you're not familiar with it:
http://markbutler.8m.com/monsterlist.htm
Lots of cheap ideas that will help with planning. I would go for the 4mil black plastic from Home Depot instead of the tablecloths- I think you'll get more for your money.

Raven, I'm sooooooooo jealous of your daughter's birthdate. My youngest was due on 10/12 and I swore it would be a Halloween b-day.

She came early - 9/26 - bummer......

http://halloweengallery.com/index.php?cat=10039

Check out my pics!!


----------



## Raven (Aug 17, 2004)

I am new to this site. Only my second time posting. I gave my daughter a halloween/birthday party last year. She just happened to be born on Halloween. Our little 'trick-or-treater' we call her. Anyway, I was on a budget, too, and thought you might like these ideas ... We cleaned-out the garage and hung sheets of black tarp along the white walls to darken the room. Then we used a lot of inexpensive decorations such as: cardboard skeletons, big black spiders, and bats, hung from the ceiling with fishing line, dangling just above their heads. Also, a lot of orange and black streamers taped to the ceiling, left dangling at face level gave a neat effect for the kids to walk through. I put cheap plug in jack-o-lanterns in every corner along with a few strobe lights and a fog machine. And don't forget those fake cobwebs ... a big bang for the buck. Since we didn't want it too scary, just a haunted house effect, I put a big scarecrow in the corner with a strobe light and dozens of cheap blackbirds everywhere: ala Alfred Hitchcocks 'The Birds'. The kids seemed to enjoy the little inexpensive touches such as the punch ladle in the shape of a boney fist and the old Edgar Allen Poe book beside the cauldron of chips. Also, a Walmart door bell that says something spooky when you push the button just beside the door. We also hung a large cardboard witch purchased at a party store with a full moon behind her taped to one wall as a focal point. Can't have Halloween without a witch. I put the rod iron patio furniture inside the garage and covered the chairs in cobwebs for the kids to set in. The girls really liked dressing up. So, I provided a few disposable cameras which ended up providing more entertainment than I anticipated. They all posed in their costumes and really enjoyed receiving pictures of themselves the following Monday at school. Sort of a delayed party favor, I guess ... Thanks for letting me post. I live for Halloween, Autumn, and haunted houses. If there are any others out there like me, please let me know. This is a great site. Would be even greater if the little Similies were pumpkins instead.


----------



## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

Well Raven, you're in good company. Everyone here is Halloween nuts (and that's a very good thing (a la Martha)). I tell everyone if I ever get married again or renew my vows with my husband - it'll be a Halloween wedding all the way with all the guests dressing up. So I'm sure your b-day parties are awesome, especially for the guests. Certainly not the "same old, same old b-day party".

http://halloweengallery.com/index.php?cat=10039

Check out my pics!!


----------



## Jon (Feb 16, 2004)

halloween king, that is a good idea about the spider. 

Tenshi, i made a big spider with very cheap supplies. I used chicken wire, great stuff foam, and papermache. I made 8 legs out of the chicken wire and made a body and head also. I used great stuff to keep the legs in place while i paper mached him. You can use duck tape or whatever but i had some great stuff left over that i wanted to finish. I used like 3 layers of paper mache. I got the newspapers from the local store. You know how they have those car guides and stuff. they were free so i took a bunch.lol. Just spray paint it black or if you want you can use fabric. I got this gray fur from jo ann for a good deal. It looks really good for a cheap prop. Good luck!


----------



## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

And if you go with the spider - definitely do the spider web victim. You can wrap a skelton (blowmold), or make a body form from paper mache or duct tape and then wrap the "body" in saran wrap and then in spider webs. Hang it upside down in range of the spider - always a good cheap thrill.

http://halloweengallery.com/index.php?cat=10039

Check out my pics!!


----------



## Ickabod (Aug 17, 2004)

Hi..

Im really surprised that nobody has stated the obvious theme! Haunted Library, where all the spooky characters from literature come back to haunt the library. The witches from Mcbeth."boil, boil toil and trouble" The headless horseman and Ickabod Craine. Characters from the Grimms Fairy Tales (the unrevised versions can be pretty dark. 

This way its spooky fun and educational. Plus you may get more donations if it teaches kids about literature.

Happy Haunting!

Ick with Blick!


----------



## headlesshorseman (Jun 29, 2004)

I'm pretty scared about what Ickabod just said, because I was thinking the same thing....lol! It may be a bit expensive to do full costumes and such for all the cool Halloweenish book characters, but you can always paint up plywood scenes of these books and get a few volunteers to dress up as some as well...

Paul

"Why do they do it, god damn kids, they'd do anything for Halloween"


----------



## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

Well - if you go with that idea you can still use the spider and victim ideas. They can be Aragog from Harry Potter. Wolf65 has lots of Harry Potter ideas. And someone also mentioned Edgar Allen Poe. You could have LOTS of ideas!!

http://halloweengallery.com/index.php?cat=10039

Check out my pics!!


----------



## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

Tenshi:
1- Make sure that you have reliable volunteers. 
2- Advertise.
3- Recruit your Father, Brother, Boyfriend High School Shop Instructor, whomever, to help with props.
4- Most important. Get some sort of credential printed off from the Library, showing that you are voluntary, non-profit, etc. Take the letter around to local vendors. I found that smaller retail outlets are more approachble than nation-wide chains. If your experience is anything like mine was, they'll all have a childhood Hallowe'en memory they'll want to share with you. In my experience, their generousity was amazing. You can get building supplies, fabrics, lighting, maybe even masks and make-up. I even got a 5,000 Volt Transformer from a Neon Sign company that I used as a Jacob's Ladder. Be sure to invite the vendors into the Haunt for a "VIP Tour", and, as a courtesy, print up a sign recognizing their contributions, and display it at the front entrance. Next year, they'll REALLY cough up, and you might need a bigger Library!

Wolfman


----------



## tenshi youma (Aug 18, 2004)

*grins, rubs hands, and chuckles*

these ideas rock!! thank you so much everyone for all the great suggestions! ah, my wicked mind already spins from all the possiblities!! bwahaha! []

anyway, the whole spider thing sounds devine. i had something similer in mind, but with a volunteer in the background bring a giant spider to "life". CatMean, halloweenking777, and Raven, thanks for a much better ideas, and Jon, for a way cool design. Pandora, the Monster List is already making me drool, thanks for the site. Ickabod, i love the whole book characters come to life, but the people who donate really don't care if it's educational. It's all about recognition and i-donated-THIS-MUCH-at-the-local-library-so-pat-me-on-the-back-ism. [xx(] sad, but true. but i'm more than willing to spend their money.

i'm planning on using some of our high school volunteers to help out, and i want to ask some of the regular mom's to come and help out to.

thanks again for all the ideas so far. i'll keep everyone updated on the program. and, if i ever figure out all this newfangeled technology, i try to post pictures from the haunted house!

the devil came to me last night and asked what i wanted in exchange for my soul.
i still can't believe i said pizza.


----------



## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

Just a word of advice- if you're using high school volunteers, try to get double the number of volunteers that you ACTUALLY need. Better too many than too few. And you know high schoolers, in general, that is.

http://halloweengallery.com/index.php?cat=10039

Check out my pics!!


----------



## CatMean (Jul 5, 2004)

Wolfman- what an excellent list for ANYONE, public or private who wants to do a walkthrough. It ought to be printed and posted wherever there are haunters... Send it to that fireman who's doing a haunt in the fire station.


----------



## tenshi youma (Aug 18, 2004)

ooooooooohhh...

wolfman, these are great pointers. i'll really have to start 'ho'ing myself out pretty soon. cause there's only...*looks up at screen*...72 days left! (DUM, DUM, DUM!!!!!)

the devil came to me last night and asked what i wanted in exchange for my soul.
i still can't believe i said pizza.


----------



## kidstock (Aug 23, 2004)

Hi...Kids seem to have alot of fun with themes relating to The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin book. Operation Respect has picked it up in our state (Connecticut)and it offers a lot of "nonscary" set options. They even did the stage play of it at the NY Botanical Gardens last year. You can do a "Walk thru" of the book with all shapes and sizes and colors of pumpkins. Spookley teaches diversity. check out www.Spookley.com


----------

