# Creep Acres 2013



## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

Hey guys! I figured that it was about time to start posting about this year's progress for Creep Acres! If you're wondering who I am or where I came from with almost 500 posts, check out my reintroduction to the forums here (I've been off the forum for 2 years): http://www.halloweenforum.com/member-introduction/126717-its-been-while.html

Creep Acres this year will be located in part of our 2400 square foot workshop and will follow no particular theme (it will, however, have a flow that connects scenes together). As this fall will kick off my senior year of high school, this will be my last Halloween running Creep Acres, at least for a few years so I can focus on college! So with that in mind, I'm going all-out; I started construction at the beginning of January! So these first few posts should have a lot of good photos for you guys to see!

As this is the final year for my haunt, at least as it stands now, I really want to pay homage to what Creep Acres has been as a haunt over the years and really perfect the tone of the haunt in the most cohesive way I can. Another goal for this year is to improve all of our sets and scenic design; I want the best sets of years passed to be similar to this year's least-developed sets. So with that in mind, I present you with Creep Acres 2013!

I'll divide up these first few posts by scene, so photos will not all be chronological and will show the progression of each scene rather than the whole haunt. This is just because I have so many pictures to post!

For starters, here is a picture of the back room shop before any building. Keep in mind this is less than half the total area that the haunt covers.










The first 2 projects I started were both with foam. This is eventually going to become a giant blown-up version of our logo.










The next 2 photos show the progression of a fake brick wall carved into white Styrofoam and coated in Hot Wire Foam Factory's hard coating.



















More photos coming below!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

*The coffin hallway*

The first scene I built this year was this awesome coffin hallway, with toe-pincer style coffins poking into the walls, an awesome actor scare spot, and a super claustrophobic walk-through toe-pincer to get out! (On a side note, PLEASE don't give me the 3' wide hallways talk. My narrow paths work for me, and your argument to me will sound no less closed-minded to me than the "Satan's birthday shouldn't be celebrated or you're going to hell" speech. Small hallways work well for my audience and I.)

Framing shots:



















After sheet-wood and paint, looking down the hallway in the direction guests will travel:










A spot for a creepy prop in the ceiling:










Looking back at the entrance before and after adding fabric flaps:


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

*The tool shed*

I started this set shortly after starting the coffin hallway, and it quickly became the most detailed set I'd ever built!

The first few days of building:



















The back wall looks as if it was broken through by some monster! This is the hole guests exit through:










The back wall also houses a hidden actor scare door:



















More toolshed photos below!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

*More toolshed photos!*

Various details:





































I took a jigsaw to the roof peak to make it look more aged!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

*The Swamp!*

As a transition from the Coffin Hallway to a Witch's Voodoo Shack, I decided to go with a small swamp scene! So far, it's just framing, but I'm going to do a ton of cool details on the facade itself with some cedar slats and bring in some dead trees and possibly even some running water! Next step is a base layer of black paint though!





































Today I started work on the framing of the platform for the voodoo shack itself, but I don't have any pictures yet!

Also, here's a shot of the new chainsaw I got this year! This will be my first year having an actor running a chainsaw, so I'm SUPER excited!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

*The mineshaft!*

From the busted-out wall in the toolshed, guests will enter this awesome mineshaft hallway!

Progress shot (it's super dark):










The hallway 80% finished after just a few days! That hole on the right will house a flat-black drop panel.



















What do you think? This quickly became one of my favorite scenes!


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Photos don't appear to be working. Quoting a post tells me you're trying to link to a hauntforum album. 

I'm not sure if it's their software or ours from blocking it, but this is known as hotlinking, and is sometimes frowned upon by some sites. If I had to guess those will only work ON hauntforum. Best to use either your own site or one of the dedicated picture hosting sites if you want to share pics across multiple sites. I personally use Google's service.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Welcome back to Halloweenforum. You can put those pics in a profile album here and post the pics that way.


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

*A few more...*

The scene between the mine and the coffin hallway had its dimensions defined by the scenes around it and a wall of the shop, so I went ahead and put up walls even though I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with it yet! If any of you have ideas, I'm open to suggestions!



















All the scenes I've posted about so far are located in a back area of the shop, so they will all be somewhere in the middle of the haunt itself. The order of the scenes I've built so far is:
1) Tool shed
2) Mine shaft
3) ??? Yet to be determined scene
4) Coffin Hallway
5) Swamp
6) Voodoo shack

In addition to building, I'm trying to work out all our marketing items for this year! Step one is deciding upon a sub-header for this year's haunt! I started off with 6 options and narrowed it to 3:










As of right now, I'm leaning towards options 1 and 2, but I would LOVE your advice/ thoughts! The name will help decide the back story and the theming of the queue line (did I mention I'm building a fully-themed indoor queue line?).

I think that's all for now guys! I would love to hear your feedback on this!! I'm super excited to be back among this amazing community of haunters that helped shaped my love of Halloween!

Thanks for following along!

-Collin


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

Give me a few to repost photos! I'll add here then put them up!! Sorry!

EDIT: Did that solve it? I could see the original photos too since I added them so I'm not sure! Did I get all of them or did I miss any? Sorry about that!


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## Blarghity (Sep 2, 2012)

Very nice. And thank you for the idea of building a knockdown haunted shack I can add to my fundraiser haunted trail in 2014.


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## CDW (Jul 3, 2012)

Pumpkin King said:


> Give me a few to repost photos! I'll add here then put them up!! Sorry!
> 
> EDIT: Did that solve it? I could see the original photos too since I added them so I'm not sure! Did I get all of them or did I miss any? Sorry about that!


Looks awesome! Nice work on the framing and distressing. The pictures have all been working for me since you first started posting them, but it's better to avoid hotlinking when possible anyway. As to the subheading, I'd go with 2 - "Unhallowed". "Shadowland" doesn't seem to fit as well with this kind of imagery, and "Curse of the Undead" is kind of wordy. I'm intrigued to see where you take things with "Unhallowed" story-wise, though!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

CDW said:


> As to the subheading, I'd go with 2 - "Unhallowed".


That's the one I'm leaning towards! Simple, but sweet, and I think it really captures the essence of what I want from this haunt being our last year.

Thanks for the comments guys!


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## Eerie Effects (May 16, 2013)

I like option #2 as well.

As for the sets, well done! I used to work at HHN and these are HHN quality.

You have also given me inspiration to get off my rear and start putting putting my home haunt plans together.


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## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

I like the "unhallowed". Sounds ominious. I love the green mold walls...sponged on ? airbrushed?? How did you get that effect? I 'm trying to do something similar.


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

matrixmom said:


> I love the green mold walls...sponged on ? airbrushed?? How did you get that effect? I 'm trying to do something similar.


Thank you!!

Basically, it's spray paint hit with water to cause the drips. I made a tutorial video to show some of my basic wall aging techniques and that can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_rMHv1iUdk

In essence there's 3 steps to that paint wash:
1) Get the wall WET before ever hitting it with paint.
2) Shoot spray paint of the chosen color liberally along the top of the wall.
3) Shoot the spray paint with a spray bottle of water to cause drips, and continue to shoot the drips. (This step should preferably take place at the same time as step two, with paint can in one hand and the spray bottle in the other to minimize the time for the paint to start clinging to the walls)


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## doto (Nov 20, 2009)

I checked out your YouTube tutorial on your wash technique.....fantastic stuff and so easy...subbed you and looking forward to more.


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## Kev730 (Feb 25, 2012)

Pumpkin King said:


> Give me a few to repost photos! I'll add here then put them up!! Sorry!
> 
> EDIT: Did that solve it? I could see the original photos too since I added them so I'm not sure! Did I get all of them or did I miss any? Sorry about that!


Post some pictures of the dummies you have. And for the title I like Creep Acres Curse of the Dead


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## Kev730 (Feb 25, 2012)

"The scene between the mine and the coffin hallway had its dimensions defined by the scenes around it and a wall of the shop, so I went ahead and put up walls even though I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with it yet! If any of you have ideas, I'm open to suggestions!"



Here's an idea based off the tool shed/ mine shaft. I think it would be really cool and fit well into that space unless its a small hallway. 

























Or a pyscho layer 






In the layer maybe have a shelf with these


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## HalloweenDan (Sep 6, 2007)

Love it so far! Keep the pictures coming.


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## xPUMPKiNxKiNGx (Jul 5, 2012)

I like option #2, here are some other ones: 

"The Awakening"

"Apocalypse"

"Darkness Rising"

"Oblivion" 

"Inferno"

"Rage"

Nice job on your haunt so far love looking through your pictures!


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## Grannie (Jul 20, 2012)

This all amazing ..you are a very talented haunt builder! Best of luck on your creep acres and college!


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## creeperguardian (Aug 22, 2011)

What did you use to create the logo?


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

creeperguardian said:


> What did you use to create the logo?


The base logo itself was created by Rick Whitlow: http://rickwhitlow.com/

And then I just manipulated the subheadings in power point and took screenshots of the slides for the three ideas for this year's theme.


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## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

Thanks for sharing the moldy wall technique. You are very talented. I hope you can keep up your craft after high school.....


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## TheDarkening (Aug 23, 2011)

Your haunt has always been one of my favorites and your work is amazing! Where do you get all your materials and supplies. I'm a senior next year too but I have a hard time getting enough wood and such. Advice would be great, thanks!


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## creeperguardian (Aug 22, 2011)

I'm a senior next year too


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## Stinamew (May 30, 2013)

Creep Acres is the place to be! Graaaaaaaaave diggin' is the life for me! Body parts spread out so far and wide. Gimme them corpses I'm living on the dark side.


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

*Haunt backstory!*

The theme for this year has been decided!










"Lost somewhere beyond the mist on the Colorado plains sits the long forsaken Creep Acres! Once a peaceful cluster of family farms and businesses, this land turned evil with the arrival of The 4th Reich, a cult of neo-pagan witches led by the wretched Lord Dǎrku! These practitioners of dark magick cursed the land, feeding upon the dark energy released at the death of the innocent! The evil soon spread throughout the surrounding homes, turning their once peaceful residents to bloodthirsty huntsmen, forever watchful for innocent souls run astray! Now it’s up to YOU to venture into this barren wasteland and stop Lord Dǎrku before his horrid Reich can spread any farther! Do you have what it takes to triumph over this unhallowed land? Find out this October at Creep Acres!

NEW for 2013: Evil has taken root at Creep Acres! YOU must face- The witches’ swamp house! The catacombs buried deep below ground! Lord Dǎrku’s underground church of the damned! All the businesses of Creep Acres past will be revamped with the full wretched spirit of the 4th Reich! You’ll trek through- Charlie’s Auto Repair, where killer mechanics lurk in the shadows! The cannibal slaughterhouse, home to the infamous Uncle Bubba’s BBQ! The all new taxidermist shop! The barn! The tool shed! Chainsaw alley and Hell’s Gauntlet! And lots more!"​
What do you think?? I'm super excited about it!

Here's a nice shot of the layout as of a few days ago! The area marked with question marks will be Lord Dǎrku's church, I just haven't designed it yet!










Also, here's the basic concept for the Repair Shop facade at the beginning of the haunt:










What do you think of the theming? I'm excited to see what you guys have to say!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

*Slaughterhouse facade*

I also built a nice facade for the slaughterhouse portion of the haunt. Guests will have to walk 9" up a ramp to enter this scene, so that should give this piece a good intimidating affect!




























I still have to go over some of the bricks with more hard-coating (they are carved out of foam), but I really like the look of it! I think once I paint it all up it should look really nice!

That's it for now! Thanks for following along!

-Collin


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## wednesdayaddams (Aug 22, 2012)

wow pumpkin king you have accomplished so much at a young age...i am impressed!


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## thanosstar (Aug 5, 2012)

very cool man. impressed. would love to see it in person


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## obcessedwithit (Jul 13, 2009)

WOW! looks great, and lot of great ideas and your foam works and walls are the bomb!!!


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## MissMandy (Apr 18, 2011)

What a fantastic job so far! You have a great eye for attention to detail. How did you manage the use of the warehouse? You've accomplished so much at your age. Rock the haunt!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

*Lots of progress!!!*

Hey guys! It's been a while since I posted but I've been working like crazy so I do have a lot to show you!

First off, I painted and started detailing the swamp scene. What I was calling the witch shack is now going to act as an entrance room to the witch church. (Essentially, I want to convey the feeling of a church of Satan without doing anything to actually stir up evil spirits I know little to nothing about, so I'll use pagan and Wicca symbolism to achieve that.) The interior has yet to be finished, but the swamp scene before it is looking fantastic!



















Then I started work in the big front room of our shop! Here's a few shots of the mass chaos before I get into the details of each scene.




























More photos coming shortly!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

The first scene in the haunt will actually be an awesome interactive queue line that's themed out as a little ******* village with several facades and loads of detail! Then guests enter the haunt proper via Charlie's Auto Repair!





































After the repair shop comes a small scene with a 5' high roof that guests must wind through in near total darkness. We're going to call it the "Boy Scout Shack" just because of how creepy it would be to think that there might just be a naughty scoutmaster in there with you! The roof also serves as an actor platform for scaring from above.










More photos on the way!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

Then the next scene is going to be themed as a taxidermy shop! Here's a few shots of it as it stands now (before detailing of course).



















Last but not least, I finally came up with a solution for the empty scene between the mineshaft and coffin hallway. I just added a quick and cheap prop made from a chair, a nasty old scarecrow, and some loose twine I had laying around. It's not meant to look realistic, just depressing; I really like it! 




























That's all for now guys! Let me know what you think!

-Collin


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## ezekiel (Nov 4, 2007)

Super awesome man! Just seeing this thread has really rekindled my desire to actually setup a haunted house again this year!

I do like the scarecrow in the chair. In the darkness it will be very difficult to tell if it an actor or simply a prop and will keep people on their toes, plus you repurposed an old prop and used my favorite, sisal twine! It is great for adding texture to nearly anything.

I do have a couple questions about your haunt. In your pictures for the mineshaft hallway it looks like those are real wood boards running down the walls, did you sand them down? The reason why I ask is I have a similar setup and made sure to have very smooth side walls in the area of the drop panel because I was afraid of people jumping/climbing up the wall when the drop panel falls and getting them getting splinters. Just curious if you have run that setup before and if that has ever been a problem/concern of yours?

Also how many people do you let in at a time? My haunt is not nearly as large as yours but last year I tried varying sized groups and it seemed that 3 was the best amount. Any more and the scare factor came down a bit or in the case of teenagers they were much more likely to SPRINT after the first scare. Just curious what your take was on number of people per party.

Thanks again for sharing your haunt build and keep the pictures coming, great inspiration for all of us!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

ezekiel said:


> I do have a couple questions about your haunt. In your pictures for the mineshaft hallway it looks like those are real wood boards running down the walls, did you sand them down? The reason why I ask is I have a similar setup and made sure to have very smooth side walls in the area of the drop panel because I was afraid of people jumping/climbing up the wall when the drop panel falls and getting them getting splinters. Just curious if you have run that setup before and if that has ever been a problem/concern of yours?
> 
> Also how many people do you let in at a time? My haunt is not nearly as large as yours but last year I tried varying sized groups and it seemed that 3 was the best amount. Any more and the scare factor came down a bit or in the case of teenagers they were much more likely to SPRINT after the first scare. Just curious what your take was on number of people per party.


Thank you s much!! As far as the drop panel is concerned, I don't really ever sand my lumber. Usually, unless there's a big piece jabbing out into the path of patrons, I've found that rough lumber really won't do much to hurt somebody, especially considering that by the time we open it's cold enough for jeans and hoodies.

I really love 3 people per group too!! I usually try to get them to 3-4 per group but I've found the smaller, the better with patrons!


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## Pumpkin King (Jul 14, 2008)

Quick update guys!! As we get more and more into the season it's getting harder and harder to keep updating this thread with pictures just given the time it takes to upload, BUT I do have several places that I'm keeping updated if you guys are interested! I will keep answering questions on this thread and posting some photos but just not to the extent that I was earlier in the build season.

Here are 2 places you can still find updated build photos and videos!

1) Our Facebook page has tons and tons of progress photos from this year: https://www.facebook.com/CreepAcres

2) I put up daily build vlogs on my YouTube page if you want a more in-depth look at the construction process: http://www.youtube.com/minimoose1750

Thanks guys!!

-Collin


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