# The Hallway Of Choice



## tzankoff (Nov 23, 2008)

I call this place "The Hallway of Choice". You come into a hallway with dim flicker lights to show that you have a choice of two otherwise dark hallways to travel through. One hallway is empty and takes you to the next room. The other has a ghoul hiding around the corner that scares you before forcing you to go back and take the other hallway to freedom.

The barrier at the end is just a simple portable wall so that a dead end can be created at either hallway in a matter of just a few seconds. It is long enough to cover the end of the ghoul-infested hallway and the access door so visitors who travel down the empty hallway don't backtrack or enter the access room by accident.

On top of the barrier is a small strobe light that is triggered when the victim rounds the corner. I visualize the ghoul actor using a hand held push button remote for this purpose. Of course, you are free to do whatever you want.

The curtain at the end of the hallway is to help block light from beyond this room bleeding into the empty hallway.

I added drop portraits down both hallways in case you don't want to use a ghoul in the hallway or if you want to use a ghoul in one hallway and the drop portrait in the other.

The way I vision this, my only major recommendation at this point is that the outside walls be built sturdier due to fleeing victims more likely to run into the outside walls than the inside ones.

This is my first project that I am explaining in detail. My brains process information faster than my hands can type them which means I probably left out a detail or two. With that said...what do you think? Please be gentle.


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## [email protected] (Oct 9, 2008)

I would put some kind of Dim light down the ghoul hallway, being that most people are like moths and will head to a light of some sort which in turn they get the scare and have to return and then go down a darkened hallway not knowing if there is more down there!


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## tzankoff (Nov 23, 2008)

I see your point, but "you don't know what's down there" is the very reason I do not have lights in the second half of the hallways.


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## Runwolf (Aug 16, 2008)

Interesting idea. I like the concept, but I'd do whatever I could to make the choice ALWAYS the wrong one. 

If you put sliding walls at the end of each hallway, so that your actor could pull them in seconds, you could put a light beam at the front of each hallway. Small LED's over the access door could tell your actor which hallway the victims... I mean guests, are coming down. Slide the correct wall, scare them back around. Then if they talk about it after the fact, it won't help later victims. Or if they return for a second try, it still won't help.


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## Dr. Z (Nov 22, 2007)

It sounds very _Dungeons and Dragons_ like but I find the idea very good!


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## tzankoff (Nov 23, 2008)

Hi, Runwolf. It's funny you mention the sliding doors because there actually was one (sort of) in my original design (as shown below).










The doorway at the end of the hall could pivot both ways so you could create a dead end in one hallway and change it on the fly in a matter of just a few seconds. When I was convinced by somebody that I should add the drop portraits so you could conjure up a scare (one way or another) in either hallway or both at the same time, I changed the layout to what it is now.

However, now that I have given it some additional thought, I think another slight redesign is in the works.


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## tzankoff (Nov 23, 2008)

Dr. Z said:


> It sounds very _Dungeons and Dragons_ like...


You make it sound like a bad thing!




Dr. Z said:


> ...but I find the idea very good!


Yay!


I do have a second hallway idea that involves sliding/swinging doors and a little slight of hand. I will show that one off a little bit later on.


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## tzankoff (Nov 23, 2008)

Well, I have given it some additional thought and think that this should be my design plan if and when I get a chance to build this thing.










The doorway at the end off the hall swings both ways to create a dead end in either hallway on the fly and does not interfere with the use of the access door by whoever populates the drop panels...and yes, my MS Paint skills ROCK! LOL!!!


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## Glass 'eye' (Jul 22, 2007)

I love your last concept drawing, the fun you could have blocking the victims off no matter what hall they choose. You could really mess with some unsuspecting guests.


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## tzankoff (Nov 23, 2008)

Hi, Glass! Glad you like it...but only one hallway is blocked off at any given time. The other one takes you to the next room. The only question is will you encounter a ghoul behind the drop portrait in the process?


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## darkpenguincowboy (Sep 28, 2008)

This concept is sooo cool and versatile. All i can think about is decorating one half as a butcher's sink (Bloody tile, standard butcher theming), and the other half as a dungeon wall with hanging prisoner and bones, etc. (think Monty Python Knights of the Round Table scene). These both would not only look cool, but they would also help the guests understand that they could not go any further because of the obvious dead ends. If you keep it completely dark, the actor or prop will certainly scare them, but they are still in the mind set that, "Ok, we need to keep going forwards no matter what". You can still keep the passages completely dark until they are right there too, just put a red or whatever spotlight angled so it shines on the wall and trigger it remotely. You dont even have to worry about them not seeing eveything now too because both scenes will be viewed, just one before the other. 

Countless applications though, good idea! i think i heard of this being used in a maze before, but on a larger scale, so no matter when you went through, every trip was different, and the maze was literally changing around you.


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## Zombie Machairodont (Feb 2, 2009)

I'm really liking this concept. The idea of choosing your path is something I personally have not encountered and the fact that you 'seem' to give guests some sort of control over the situation but in fact you still hold all the cards is fantastic. 
One thing I'd like to suggest is add something in the scene that directs panicked guests leaving the dead-end hall forward down the open hall and not back into the previous room. I've seen people freak out in rooms that are obviously one-way and run in the opposite direction that you would expect, on one occasion even colliding with other oncoming patrons! Not sure how you would want to do it (and maybe it really wouldn't be a problem), but you could maybe place a curtain with "do not enter" or a two-way arrow painted on it to give people a hint that it is not the way to escape. Maybe arrows (somewhat a la Wonderland's Tulgey Woods) pointing down the two halls. Just my two-cents.


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