# Interactive Yard Theme



## Chris Harris (Aug 19, 2013)

Hello all! 

I have come to seek wisdom from all the halloween experts on here for this year!

I do my yard up each year, but I also do a theme in which I dress up in character and play some sort of role, interacting with the public.

The first year I was a zombie (surprise!) and had full make up, and featured a corpse that had the stomach ripped open. I filled it with a meat sauce and hot dog links and would eat out of it much to the horror of the trick or treaters. It was a big hit... I would occassionaly look up from my feats or stalk people around the neighbourhood...

Last year I made a corn field and was a scarecrow. I would stay up on my stand, occassionally moving down and interacting with the public. Again... it went over great.

Now, it's that time of year again and im struggling for a theme. The beauty of the previous years is that I could interact if I chose, or do my own "performance" part that isolated me from the public. I stayed in character the whole time.

So i turn to you... the Halloween experts! 

My ideas so far are: (but each has logistical problems)

1: Evil/Abandoned Circus with Me as a killer clown... still looking for the right music.. but the problem is im unsure what my gimmick would be and how I would decorate the yard to make it circus-y... 

2: Butcher: Would have a Dexter-like table set up in the front yard and I would be dressed as a psychotic butcher. I would be chopping up body parts and my gimmick would be I would walk to the garage and disappear and re-emerge with a new bag of body parts, slam them down on the table and resume chopping and possibly eating. The problem with this one is what do i use for the body parts?

3: Old West Mortician: I'd be the mortician and would walk around measuring people for coffins.. and I could go back and work on coffins... occasionally stopping to measure people. Not my favorite idea.. but just one that crept into my head...

Any who... I'm including a few pics so you can see what I'm talking about... but any help would be greatly appreciated as we keep getting more and more kids each year!!


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## Dark lord (Jan 8, 2007)

Welcome Chris, I love your zombie & what you do with your haunt & your interaction with ToTer's. I think with this year, with the Killer klown idea you have a few options fort your gimmick. Changing it around, you could juggle body parts like feet,hands,bloody knife or hatchet, etc ( if you know or learn to juggle that is..... ). 

Even if you can't juggle, you could pretend to try & one of the items being a bloody (plastic) hatchet / knife & start to juggle, let the other items fall to the ground & chase them with the knife / hatched......

You could also have a small hand held air horn,......sneak up behind ToTer's & WHAMMMMMMMM 'em   ( did that one year & it sends them flying !!! LoL

Creep up behind them & just stare & follow........make some "cotton candy" using pillow fabric sprayed with florescent pink hair spray & wrapped around a plastic foot & a hand for props.........just a few ideas & thoughts  

They are several of us that done the twisted circus theme that you can draw off of with ideas  This is one of my favorite theme's myself !!

As for audio, PM-ing you, think it will help


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## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

Mad Lab scientist guy? Look like a demented Einstein. Have jars of dollar store filled with creatures. Have some body parts, guy in a electric chair. Have people try out the electric chair.....uhoh...sizzle sizzle


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## Chris Harris (Aug 19, 2013)

I'm thinking the Carnival is the front runner right now... Clowns you can really make terrifying.... Any ideas others may have done or would like to have done, please let me know.. looking for everything from gimmicks to sets to props... thanks Dark Lord for the music!!


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## Dark lord (Jan 8, 2007)

Klownz & spiders are 2 of the top phobia's for Halloween scares ! Do a search here for carnival / circus - CarnEvil - twisted / haunted carnival / circus, you'll have a graveyard full of ideas, info & pic's other members posted from they're s


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## Pumpkinhead625 (Oct 12, 2009)

Well, first, welcome to the forum. As far as music goes, for a circus/clown theme I'd recommend starting with "Carnival Arcane" by Midnight Syndicate and "Carnival Of Lost Souls" by Nox Arcana. Also, one of my favorite tunes that would fit the bill is "Carnival of Souls" by the late, great Verne Langdon. This is the only youtube video I could find of it. The visual images should offer some inspiration, but unfortunately the song abruptly ends at about 2:04.






For your costume and schtick, start by making a "happy" (albeit creepy) clown mask and costume similar to this:









But underneath, you wear "evil and psychotic" clown face makeup similar to this:









Make the "happy" clown mask oversized and roomy, and design it so you can slip it off easily without messing up your face makeup.

Make some other static clowns with the same style of masks on, and stand motionless among them, with the outer mask on. After the ToTs have gone past you to the door to get their candy, take off the outer mask and continue to stand motionless until they come past on their way out, then get 'em. 

Building on that same idea, you could arrange the static clowns in a semicircle next to the sidewalk, so that the one on end A will be facing the street and the one on end B is facing the door. Rig up the static clown on end A (facing the street, and the approaching ToTs) with a reindeer motor to make it's head move, and some sort of timer or remote switch to trigger it (maybe a small pedal switch by your foot). Position yourself at end B ( facing towards the door). As the the ToTs approach, activate the static clown head to make a small, subtle movement This will draw their attention, thinking that _that_ clown is a 'real person'. At this point, they'll have their backs turned to you. and you simply slip off the outer mask and get ready to scare the *#@% out of them.

You could change things up once in a while by just walking around with the outer mask on, waving to the ToTs and making like a friendly clown, then pull the switcheroo when they aren't looking.

Another idea I have is a large jack-in-the-box (perhaps 3 feet x 3 feet x 4 feet) with a hand crank on the side, and a sign encouraging the ToTs to try it. Design it so that cranking the handle will just play music (preferably some sort of off-speed, creepy nursery-rhyme), and the top is just a hinged trapdoor. This prop will serve up a double scare.

Scare #1) Position yourself where the ToTs will have their backs to you as they crank the j-i-t-b handle, and stand motionless. They'll be expecting a scare from the box, but the scare will actually come from you sneaking up behind them.

Scare #2) After scare #1, they go to the door and get their candy, relieved that the scare is done and out of the way. On their way out, they pass the j-i-t-b, and THAT'S when the actor dressed as a clown (or a clown dummy) pops up out of the box, with some sort of loud, maniacal laughter. Two scares for the price of one.


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## Pumpkinhead625 (Oct 12, 2009)

Of course, if you REALLY want to traumatize some kids, all you need is an old cardboard box, a black magic marker, and some red paint. Put on your clown costume, splash on some fake blood, and make this accessory:









Sit in a chair, with the box on the ground in front of you, and as the ToTs approach where you're sitting, snap at them "NO MORE KITTENS!! KITTENS ARE ALL....." (look down at the empty box with an intense, wide-eyed look of rage, then look up, and with a faint smile say calmly) "......kittens went *BYE-BYE*!!" 

Add to the trauma by cutting up some small pieces of fake fur, dipping the base cloth in red paint, and scattering them on the ground around your chair.

Yes, I truly _AM_ twisted.


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## Defenestrator (Jul 27, 2009)

I get the sense I'm going to be in the extreme minority here, but I think that the 'old west mortician' idea has the most potential for broad range appeal and fun.

Having a couple of coffins ready to go, maybe a 'two fer one sale' sign? Another coffin with a closed lid, and 'monster in a box' type effect or Haunted Mansion style 'Lemme outta here!' audio track. In other words, grim gallows-humor without as much shock.

The visual of marching up and down with a weatherbeaten top hat, handlebar mustached, and maybe a cloth tape measure really worked for me. It would also be the one I think my girls would be most interested in....I'm pretty sure they'd go the opposite direction from the others.


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