Terra's Lair

Part of series: Seven Layers of Scare: http://www.halloweenforum.com/blogs/terra/528-seven-layers-scare.html



Detailed look at layer three of Seven Layers of Scare....

Main Scare

Ah, fear. It's what makes us haunters different from the rest. Most try to avoid fearful situations. We create them. But why do we do that? Because we have experienced the joy that fear can bring. Muh ha ha haaaa...Wha-huh?!

OK, science lesson time: When we are scared or startled our instinctive survival motors kicks in. The heart races, blood pumps into our large muscles, eyes widen....you know the drill. The body is getting ready to do the 'ole FIGHT or FLIGHT. I mean literally. The body is now primed to fight out the attack or flee from it. It's all instinct baby and there's nothing your sweet little ToT victims can do about it. So, you've got the fear thing understood but what about the joy part? Well, once their rational brain realizes that it's safe and the terrifying experience was only a maze in your garage, all that adrenaline is still pumping around in their bodies. That's the joy. It's a high (AKA: Adrenaline Rush) that many people get hooked on. In that rush, endorphins are released to give them a long-lasting, blissful high. Once someone has experienced it, they come back for more. Ever wonder why kids will no sooner exit your haunt and jump right back into line? DANGER MAKES YOU HAPPY That's why you hear the famous 'ScreamLaugh' in your haunt. That sound means you hit the jackpot, you aced the test.

So, how do you create the sweet, sweet sound of a ScreamLaugh? With your main scare! But to achieve the ScreamLaugh you have to carefully design an effective scare. There's a couple of things that already help you in your design. When a person is scared their body's reaction is no different between a real or imagined threat. YEAH! That makes it easier for us. Reality & imagination are the same. That's why dreams seem so real. They don't actually have to be at risk to feel at risk.

Another thing that helps bring out the panic response in your victim is to use their peripheral vision monitoring to your advantage. If you come behind them at around 135 degrees from their front vision (90 degrees is beside them, 180 degrees is behind them) you will bring on the panic response easily. Again, it's their instinct, they can't help it. Automatically, a human being is constantly monitoring things in front and at the sides of them. Especially in your haunt. So, if you can come at them at just the right angle - not too far behind and not too forward to be seen easily, you are in the sweet spot. This is especially great advice for your live actors to understand:

Another consideration when designing your scare: Time your scare to last about 5 seconds. Shorter than that they won't have enough time to process the scare and will think to themselves, "What was that!?" Longer and they have enough time to see that it's just fake and the atmosphere has been ruined.

There are two main ways to scare: Cheap Scare and Set-up then Sudden Scare

Cheap Scare brings up the pure panic response in your victim. Example: air cannon blast. This can be used alone for pure freak-outs. Great fun but they shouldn't be used exclusively in your haunt. They get aggravating and are a cheap shot ...darn. Plus, you want to entertain them with your haunt which is why you also have the other version of a scare. The...

Set-up then Sudden Scare puts the body on high alert, draws out the fear and then WHAM! get 'em with a Sudden Scare. Example: horrifying autopsy and suddenly the head springs forward from the body. In a way, think of the Set-up as the first act and the Sudden Scare as the climax. There are many ways to Set-up your victims: Very spooky set, disorientation, distractions, decoys, delays... This is always a fun one: Set off a lame prop and a few seconds later, blast 'em with the real scary prop. Distractions are very effective Set-ups and should be a go-to for you. Example: Have one live actor come right up to the ToTs and have a second hidden actor come at them from almost behind. Now for seasoned ToTs, you can do another neat Set-up called The Delay: Wait until they think that it's safe, there's no scare to be found in the room and then fire it off!

The Menu

Now we can talk Props! I have noticed that you can somewhat categorize props. So, here are my categories for props broken out into Set-ups and Sudden Scares. Use this list to help you choose the best scare that fits your haunt room. Note: In each category you can easily tweak it to fit the theme of your room.

Set-ups:

Disorientating: Mirror maze, Dot room, Vortex laser tunnel, Strobing room, Ghillie suit, ChromaDepth 3D...
Horrifying Display: (Any scene that's gory) Man roasted, Electric chair, Torture...
Lame Prop: (Used as decoy) Puking pirate, Talking skeleton, Swinging clown, Singing busts...
Live Actor: Used as a distraction
Mirror Illusion: Man-in-half, Endless hallway, Endless pit...
Moving Floor: Sliding floor tiles, Springy rope bridge...
Spooky Display: (Any scene that is especially spooky) Graveyard, Possessed library, Attic, Basement, Boiler room...
Tunnel: Moving hallway, Spinning tunnel
Whispering Sound: Voices next to ears

Sudden Scares:

Air Blow: Cannon, Whips, Guns, Air Nozzle, Fog Blow...
Banging: Picture frame, Door, Shutters...
Crazy Furniture: (Animated furniture) Drawers opening, table bolting, Rocker rocking...
Drop Panel: In a wall, in a box...
Hopping: Barrel, Box, Bug, Coffin...
Jumper: (anything that jumps up or grows in height) Skelerector, growing tree monster...
Knock: Wall-knocker, Pneumatic air hammer...
Live Actor: The Preferred Scare IMHO
Living Wall: Axe-blade door, Barrel basher, hands or face moving in wall...
Loud Noise: Air horn, Train horn, Buzzer, Pneumatic ratchet...
Lunging/Attacking Prop: (anything that propels forward with or without a hiding cover) Werewolf, Rat from box, Car, Train, Zombie behind shutters, Dinosaur from cave, Spider from lair, Ring girl from TV...
MIB (Monster in Box): Crate, Coffin...
Overhead Conveyor: Body Bags, Spider...
Overhead Drop: Monster, Bats, Spider, Heads...
Oversize: (Huge animated anything) King Kong, Dinosaur, Minotaur...
Pepper's Illusion: Ghost, Crusher, Two-way illusion...
Prop or Real?: Actor disguised as prop alone or with matching props
Shaking/Moving: (anything that moves in place) Zombie, Dead body, Scarecrow on pole, Tortured person, Kicker, Hanging, Peeper tombstone, Undertaker swinging shovel...
Slammer: Slammed against plexiglass, Trapped person, Slamming against fence...
Spitting: Snake, Spider, Toxic, Exploding Toilet...
Strolling: (actor-activated spring scare) Barrel pop-up, Baby carriage pop-up, Shopping cart pop-up, Wheelchair pop-up...
Swinging Overhead:(anything that swings out from a hidden space) Demon on rope, Clown...
TCT (Trash Can Trauma): (Anything that pops out of a container) Zombie from barrel, Clown from Jack-in-the-box, Aliens from storage boxes, Skeleton from tombstone, Demons from piano...
Tilting: Stack of barrels, Falling tree, Broken telephone pole, Leaning zombie high on wall...
Touching: Hanging fishing wire, Claustrophobic walls, Dripping water, Dropping insects, Shock mats...
Walker: Old person violently shakes holding walker

I hope this was helpful in terrorizing your ToTs. Remember, they'll love you for it