Thread: Big yard...big problem?

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We have a large, open front yard, with a house that stands about 150 feet from the road. In years past our cemetery tends to get lost, so I have resorted to a few large items like an airblown hearse, or life-size Peanuts Halloween figures. Storage is an issue for large props. I think more dramatic lighting of the house will help.
Does anyone else have this problem and how have you addressed it?

Use what interior designers do all the time with open spaces, create sections to define individual spaces. Except instead of furniture, use your props -- eg. Cemetary Scene, Pumpkin section, hearse display, etc. If you arrange your lighting from brighter (front) to darker (rear) you can build depth, reverse that to make everything feel more closed in. Nothing wrong with having things spread out either, it will let people explore/walk through your haunt. I live on a corner lot so I take advantage of that by giving people interesting things to look at as they round the corner. At the end of the day, you'll need to experiment to get the best results. Feel free to post some pictures of your place so we can give you some ideas.

http://www.halloweenforum.com/attach...s-hpim1637.jpg

This image is a little misleading,taken directly in front of the cemetery. There is another 75 feet or so to the road.
Thanks for the insight!

That's a nice lot, and that tree is definitely your biggest asset IMO. I'd put an orange, blue, or green spot at the base of the tree pointing upward and toward the trunk and to the left. You should get some seriously awesome shadows casted against your house out of it. You could also go with two spots (1 orange and 1 blue) to give some additional highlights if you like that effect. Hang one of your blucky's from one of the branches with a noose around his neck. I'd move your graveyard UP to your front sidewalk. I'd move your hearse closer to your driveway. I'd move your other inflatable and your bench up to the path leading to your front door. This will leave more of a 'void' in the middle of your yard but it really won't be noticed. This will also give the ToTs more of an upfront look at everything. Close = Scary.

This is only my second year of being able to yard haunt so not sure how good my advice will be but I'll try. Honestly I wish I had too much space. I have a quarter acre lot where most of the space is in the back yard so my issue is trying to section off areas for my different scenes but prevent it from looking too cramped.
I think if you could create a designated path for TOTers to walk down, with your scenes spread along the way it would be nice. As to having too much space, I think dark open spaces can be creepy. Imagine being out in a field in the middle of the night. Now imagine it with a single figure that stands out in the distance and seems to be glaring at you from afar. It doesn't need tons of scenery around it just a single creepy figure leering at the poor children. That might give you a method to spread out your scenes and still have a creep factor for the open spaces in between. Maybe even find a way to add some sound effects to the walkway near some of the open spaces so that people have the anticipation of something but never actually see it. Sometimes that, what could it be- creep factor can be just as scary as the omg look at that thing kinda scare.

Heh. Would that I had such problems. My front yard is a mere 15' x 15'.

I might use big colored spots in loud, unusual colors on the house itself...and get hold of a sufficiently loud stereo system to blast a sound effects track of your favorite horrors! Mp3 players are good for that sort of thing, just load up a playlist for however many hours you will be haunting. Or put a favorite CD on repeat.

Maybe lit jack-o-lanterns lining the path up to the door. Like Ravenfell mentioned, pools of darkness or voids can be used effectively, especially if enhanced with sound effects...I like to use the sound, it can generate an active sense of presence before the person even gets close enough to see the haunted area.

our yard isn't that big, but it is LONG and NARROW (we are a duplex, and the other people have all driveway/garage, but we have a long front yard, then a long driveway. It seems to work, but we really have to kind of make a "story" for the eyes to follow with our yard, and draw people to the house, maybe you could try to do the same?

Cool ideas, like the shadows and contrasting colors on the house. Usually ToTers walk straight up the driveway which is to the left of the photo. It might be interesting creating "pools" of interest with darkness between...and drawing the toTers up is an issue sometimes. I hate to say it, but I think some just aren't motivated enough to hike up the driveway. The garage to the left is always tricked out with music, lightning, strobes, etc.

(Flash pic really kills the mood...)
The yard is kind of an afterthought. It would be neat to tie them together.

Layout the cemetery along the driveway. This makes a long narrow graveyard, but it sort of gives them a path of props to follow up to the tricked out garage. I would leave the inflatables out on the main lawn. To tie the cemetery and the laboratory together, think about having grave robbers getting 'spare parts' .