Designing Your Facade

DESIGINING YOUR HAUNTED HOUSE / ATTRACTION

From decorating your home, to a haunted house to raise funds, toa haunted house for profit certain things pertain to all and canhelp whatever you do be more successfull. In a series ofarticles I will attempt to help you design and build whateveryou desire for halloween and make it more successfull, and moreexciting. Remember you do not have to spend alot of money, butit will take time, imagination, and hard work. Everyone who has a home haunt always works on the outside themost, as the outside is what most people see. However a hauntedhouse as a fundraiser or for profit haunted attraction oftenspends more time on the inside then they do on the part of theattraction people will see first. We are always told that firstimpressions mean the most, and that applies in a big way tohaunted attractions. You need to set the stage for yourvisitors, and you need to prepare them for what is inside.. The facade is so important as they are what people see first,and it is what sets the stage and starts the frightning of theguest. Part of scaring people is the anticipation that somethingis going to happen. So your facade and queline should give yourvisitors the feeling that something dangerous and ominous isgoing to happen. Visitors will be prepared for your first scarebefore they ever enter your attraction. For home haunts most visitors will not enter your house. Theywill simply walk up to get there treats so the outside of ourhome and the areas leading up to the door is so very importantso that trick or treaters get the feeling that this is the housethey want to visit time and time again. First you should pick a theme for this halloween year. Betweenhaunted houses if I am going to be home for halloween I alwayspick a theme. And of course if I am designing and building ahaunted house the theme is so very important. In a home hauntyou are decorating for the season, in a haunted house to raisemoney or for profit you are telling a story. Without the storyyour visitors will be more confused then scared as to what isgoing on in your attraction. WALKING UP TO THE HOME HAUNT OR HAUNTED ATTRACTION. Your planning and decorating should go from the road up to yourhome or attraction. Everyone should be in costume and thecostume should fit the theme in one way or another. The first thing to remember in planing the walk from the road tothe entrance / door of your house or attraction is lighting.While our tendency is to make things dark and scary the walk tothe entrance should be well lighted for safety sake. Dependingon your theme you can use pumpkins, tiki torches, luminares, oralternative forms of lighting so that visitors to your home orattraction can get to the door without tripping or falling. Makesure walkways are at least 40 inches wide to accomodatewheelchairs or small children clinging to a parent. Refrain from using strobe lights on the outside of your home orhaunted attraction close to the walkway or where the lights willhit those walking towards your home / haunted attraction. Strobelights can trigger seizures, migraines, or other physicalproblems in some individuals. If strobes are used at all theyshould be used in a way that they do not directly point to, orin the view of visitors. Also ensure the walkway is clear of debris or props that maytrip someone or cause them to fall. And I will make the pointnow and later. Never let an actor touch someone ! Touching aguest is a liability especially if the person falls. Also I wantto mention that some people coming to your home / hauntedattraction may suffer from panic attacks, and / or anxietyattacks so we want to make sure they get to the door withouthaving to call an ambulance. In the case of haunted attractionswarnings usually are posted only at the entrance, and waiversare signed until a person gets ready to enter. So if a person "freaks out " and has a medical emergency, or falls, you will beliable for any injury. FACADEThe facade is the outside of your home or haunted attraction andin the case of the haunted attraction most likely will includeyour ticketbooth and your warnings for visitors who should notenter the attraction. The first thing to consider is our windows. A cheap simplyapproach is to use the plastic window clings you can buy in moststores. A more expensive but better approach is to set up aPeppers Ghost Illussion in your windows so it appears there areghost awaiting the guests walking up. You can check out mywebsite www.pendragonscastle.com/hauntmasters for more on thisillussion and how best to use it. Next are the walls which you won't want to mess up with nails oradhesive. Scene setters which are available from my party storeis a good alternative for this. Scene Setters can be held upwith tape so you won't damage your home or building. Scenesetters come in many wall designs and also include decorationsthat attach to the scene setter to complete the affect. If you want to build a frame you can use styrofoam to make afake brick look to the outside with a little trimming and paint.Add a few old boards and you have a great look. Be sure that allthe items you use on the outside of your home or building arefirmly attached so they won't fall on someone. Many times overthe years a scared visitor made their own exit which includedtearing down part of the facade that I forgot to firmly attach. Once you have the walkway lighted, you have covered windows,walls. You can add smoke, specialty lighting ( caution on thestrobes ) and spread a few bones, chains, skulls and whateveryou can get to add to the effect. Halloween has evolved to the point that many stores sell motionactivated props that you can use outside your home or hauntedattraction. Use these when you can but remember. Most motionactivated props work on the principal that when a person walksin front the light level changes setting off the prop. If thearea where you use this prop is to dark then it won't work. Someof the props are sound activated. This solves the light problembut one prop can set off another prop atc. so you loose theeffect you want. Make sure you test all of your props andeffects prior to the opening of your attraction, or in the caseof the home haunt halloween night so you get the maximuim scarevalue you

For more information see our Hauntmasters website at www.pendragonscastle.com/hauntmasters