Build you own Haunted House

Building your own haunted house huh? Make Igor proud by following these easy tips! First thing you have to have when building a haunted house is, well, money. If cash is low, (like mine was a year ago) then make the best of what you have. Buy things wisely that are going to make your haunted house better. Patience is something that you want to make sure you have also. Patience and money are probably the two major factors that will help you to accomplish a built haunted house. One thing that you must remember though, you MUST be willing to dedicate LOADS OF TIME into building a killer haunted house. For me, making my double car garage into a haunted house took me nearly two months! First thing you want to remeber is who your target audience is. As was said in the movie SCREAM, "If it gets too complicated, you lose your target audience." You have to ask yourself the question, "Who do I want to attract to my haunted house? Who do I want to come and see this thing?" Then when you've decided who your audience is you can start to plan your haunted house. One very important thing is while you are planning your haunted house you MUST be able to visualize it before you build it. After you've decided what you are going to put within you're haunted house, walk through it in your mind. Is it satisfactory? Is it appropriate for your audience? Are you pleased with what it will look like? If you're answering yes to all of these questions then good, you're ready for the next step. If you're answering no then go back and step-by-step walkthrough your plans for your haunted house.

The next step is to closely look at what is going to be placed in your haunted house. Carefully examine all of the props. Then ask yourself "Are these props actually buildable? How much material will I need to make this prop? How much will this cost me?" After considering this, take your prop ideas and draw blueprints for them and make a list of materials that you will need to construct this prop. (Trust the Master on this one... a list will save you alot of time being that you won't have to run back and forth to the store a million times) Well, now you're ready to build. When building, please make your prop as close to perfect as possible. Unique prop ideas are a good thing to start a killer haunted house on. Sit down and think of some original ideas. Just think about all of those Haunted Hayrides that you've been on...they all seem to be the same after a while don't they? Being as original as possible will help you to acheive a better haunted house.

After constructing your props you might want to consider what is going to be placed around them. (Some walls, maybe, would work!) Mazes are a good idea for smaller haunted houses. Although, if you have a larger space to work with, you might want to consider making separated rooms. Either way, though large rolls of thick black plastic for the dividing walls do a fine job. I used these for the dividing walls of the maze at the first Igor's Fright Shack. If you use black plastic for walls, try stretching some cobwebs over these walls, attaching them with safety pins. This gives a nice effect.

When you are about finished with your haunted house, you need to add a lot of lighting and sound effects. After all, that is one of the major contributors that make a haunted house scary. (Try watching the scariest horror movie on MUTE - not too scary eh?) Black lighting always adds a nice effect to graveyard scenes. If you have a butcher scene, red lighting will do the job. Green lighting goes well with a torture chamber type atmosphere. And blue lighting will make almost any scene seem creepy. Choose the music/sound effects wisely for your haunted house. Match them carefully with each scene. You have to remember that the music you choose is going to set the atmosphere (or if you're really good, the atmosfear) for the haunted house. Well, that's about it for building your haunted house, all there is left to do is get some friends and put them in creepy costumes and place them strategically throughout the house.

Here are some key points for actors in your haunted house

1. You must remember to play the part that best suits the costume that you are in. EXAMPLE: Corpses do not go JUMPING out at everyone....come on now folks...they've been dead for how long? They move VERY slowly...
2. DO NOT TOUCH ANYONE. This rule is better just to follow and not explain.
3. No laughing at anytime, NO MATTER WHAT! Even if your best friend is walks through, notices who you are, and comments... don't go and have a conversation with him! You've got a job to do! You've got to scare someone! And last but not least-
4. If problems occur, stay calm and handle the situation in a calm manner.

Well, that about does it for the little run through...so now you're ready to go out and build your own haunted house. Have fun and make Igor proud!

Please visit the Prop Builders Page for more help.

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