Haunts: 2000 Walkthrough Entire 2000 Walkthrough Open Floor Plan in New Window Projected Light Ghosts Countless numbers of illuminated ghosts continuously swoop across the walls. This effect was one of the most effective in our haunted garage, and it could be seen easily from the outside to attract trick-or-treaters. Unfortunately, because of the constant motion and dim lighting of this effect, I was unable to get any good pictures of it. The effect was created using a slide projector and motorized mirror ball. Projected Light Ghost instructions can be found here. Return to Top Walking Through Cobwebs By hanging several pieces of black thread from the ceiling, it gives the effect of walking through cobwebs when a person walks through them. The end result was extremely effective - much better than I had expected - and we got lots of response from trick-or-treaters. Walking Through Cobwebs instructions can be found here. Return to Top Pepper's Ghost (Viewing area) Here, we had a viewing area for guests to see Pepper's Ghost (A transparent ghost). The fence was made of a "flat" - a slat board designed for forklifts - nailed to another board for support. As a finishing touch, we nailed a fake skull on the top of the fence and hung a grousome picture from a post that we had nailed on. Special care was taken to make sure that the curtains around this area completely hid the space that the Pepper's Ghost actor would occupy. Return to Top Pepper's Ghost (Effect) On the floor plan, the blue star is where the Pepper's Ghost actress (the real person) is actually standing. The green dotted line visually shows the path that the light takes. A large piece of plate glass (the one I used was 2 feet, 2 inches wide by 5 feet, 3 inches tall, but the larger the glass, the better) was placed in the house's hallway, angled so that it would face the actress. The actress had a spotlight on her, casting a reflection in the glass. The green star represents where the reflected person appears to be. Inside, there is dim lighting so that guests can see Pepper's Ghost (the reflection), as well as the objects behind her. We added some candles in a circle where the ghost's feet would be to add to the atmosphere. Pepper's Ghost instructions can be found here. Return to Top Hanging Strips of Fabric & Prop Placement At the end of this hallway, we hung a peice of shredded black fabric that guests would need to push through in order to continue into the next area. This helped keep the Pepper's Ghost viewing area dark, and it added to the surprise of the black light room. We used hanging strips of fabric several times throughout the haunted house. One of the problems we ran into was that the cement brick from the corner post stuck out into the hallway. Since this was a dark, narrow area, we were afraid that someone would trip or hurt himself on the cement block. To avoid this, we placed a light-up prop on the corner of the brick. The prop looked great, and we didn't need to worry about people tripping anymore. Return to Top Black Light Room The walls of this room are made of various black and white striped and checkered sheets. When under a black light, the white of the sheets glow, and the black remains dark, giving a very cool and disorienting effect. We even went as far as to put a sheet on the ground, covered by slightly reflective plastic, where the guests would be walking. On the ceiling, we stuck several small wads of toilet paper, which also glows under a black light. One flourescent-style black light was mounted horizontally high on the wall; another was mounted vertically on the wooden post we had made to hold the wall. Return to Top Hangman As soon as guests pushed through the strips of fabric into the black light room, they would be almost face to face with a hanging man. A strobe light was place directly above the hangman, greatly improving the effect. A fog machine was positioned just behind the fence (made the same way as the fence for the Pepper's Ghost viewing area). Just after fogging, the black light room would fill with fog, making it even more dissorienting. The pictures do this prop no justice, since lighting is a crucial element which could not be captured in a photograph. Return to Top Magic Candy Production Box At the end of the haunted house, I handed out candy from this magic production box that I made specifically to use for that purpose. It worked very well, although the effect was diminished with larger groups where all the guests did not see the box shown empty, and very young children sometimes missed the effect all together. However, I got much response from pre-teen/teenagers who were the most impressed with the trick. Animated GIF of Magic Candy Production Box (4.4 Mb File will take approximately 14 minutes to download on a 56K modem) Magic Box instructions can be found here. Return to Top Back		Haunts Halloween 2003: - Walkthrough - Planning/Setup - Halloween Night Halloween 2001: - Walkthrough - Video - Planning/Setup - Halloween Night Halloween 2000: - Walkthrough > Floor Plan > Entire Tour Sections: 1. Light Ghosts 2. Cobwebs 3. Pep. Ghost 1 4. Pep. Ghost 2 5. Fabric Strips 6. Blk Light Rm 7. Hangman 8. Candy - Planning/Setup Halloween 1999: - Pictures

All original content copyright 2004 Raymond Fero

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