Thread: woods haunt

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New idea that I have, need advice from you wonderful haunters.....

I have 7 acres of land way out in the country. For 6 yrs now, I have been putting on a haunted yard walk through for my friends for free.

Every year we support a neighboring fire dept who puts on a haunted trail.. Got me to thinking how do they do it.. How many extension cords are they using? Do they have electricity already in place? I am not hearing a generator, and wouldn't that be expensive.

I was thinking how could I take my 2 + acres of land that has a well established trail already in place and turn it into my own haunted trail this Halloween. I have maybe 10+ extension cords, no where near enough. I don't have access to actors, if I did then I would be using all my friends..

Any suggestions?

well i don't think this is what you are looking for but i have a friend that puts on a haunted trail every year. he uses firelight. i helped him last year. we created three different areas. the first was a mercenary encampment we had women being raped, babies roasting over fires, and young men tied up and tortured. we made a path of shadow through the camp and the guest "snuck" through camp in the shadows. the second section was a witches den in this section we took a different approach and had the guests trying to evad the witch and her mutant minions that were walking around pretending to look for them. we set up an old pecan grove that had a shack in it and set multiple small fires that the witch and her minion walked past so that you only really caught glimpses of them running around. the third section wouldnt really work for you because it was in a small mock town. but i hope you can use some of that.

The ReSiDeNT

We built this trail in mind for our 4 wheeler, and walking for exercise. A lot of up and down hills. I have sections of the trail where I could put a mock setup. The only problem is how to light it up, or run a fog machine, etc..

I had in mind the whole face your fears from another thread.. Maybe hang spiders from trees, clown masks on the trees. I have a bridge across a huge creek. (heights). I know I am afraid of the dark and we have a lot of deer moving in our woods. Any little bump would be that much more frightening. Maybe have them to carry flashlights for lighting.

Ideas running around in my head...

I like the firelight idea, myself. But then, I'm biased there.

But a bunch of torches lighting the path.

In the woods. At night...I say take the cemetery a new direction: INDIAN BURIAL GROUND. Works well with the firelight, no power needed.

I'ld also suggest fewer, but larger, fog machines to deal with your power issues.

And as long as we're on the Indian Burial Ground idea, run with it. Some really neat masks and things from various of the plains nations.

Or head a bit further south and look into some Aztec, Mayan, or Incan inspirations.

If you have a safe place to build a fire, you can purchase some stuff you can throw on to make it turn colors for a time. Could be used for great theatrical effect.

____

Or, one of the creepiest real life places I've been. There's a little gully right off the highway sorta near our house. It had bothered me for some time. Not to get too spiritual/supernatural on you folks, but I could just feel something calling me down there. So, one Friday, I'm off work. Wife's home, so I don't need to worry about getting the kids off to school, I decide to head out at pre-dawn and hike down in there.

Thickly wooded area, lots of undergrowth. Real pain to get going. The sides so steep I had to pack some of my climbing geer.

I get down in there, someone had cleared out all the undergrowth, smooth, cultivated grounds, built a little shack, complete with earth and grass roof, but in obvious disrepair, and had been abandoned for quite some time. they had LOADS of various skulls hanging from the trees everywhere. The place was just odd.

What about bloody handprints on tent with whole scene like someone has been camping... I could do the whole blair witch theme in one section, with little rock formations. Wood pieces all in the trees.

OHHH that gives me the idea for old abandon shack. Like a bum lives out in the woods... I have a ton of pallets I could throw/scatter around off the trail..

Chain saw guy coming from the woods midway through...

I also like the tiki torch's lighting the way.. skulls hanging in trees. Need some spanish moss hanging from tree's always thought that added a creepy feel...

I don't know about you guys, but I think that the raping women and roasting babies mentioned above in my mind aren't really in the spirit of Halloween. I just think it's a little over the line. Not that everyone has to think like me, but I keep my haunt more gothic and much less gross and violent. That's just me though, and I more importantly feel that people have the right to celebrate the holiday how they want. If I don't like the way a person chooses to haunt their place, I understand I don't have to go. (Sorry, those lines just sort of stuck out to me.)

Now that I think about it though, I wouldn't consider a guy with a chainsaw over the line. Maybe because the chainsaw is the fear of what could happen, but the re-enacting raping is about somthing that is actually happening. I don't know. It makes sense in my head anyway.

In any case, I do like the idea of using firepits or something of the kind to light the area rather than lights; however, that brings with it the challenge of not only keeping the fires contained, but keeping them going at the same time. I'm sure that would take quite a bit of maintenance and you'd likely have to dedicate a person strictly to maintaining the fires. I'm guessing the tiki torches are the best overall option and they'll add to that creepy Blair Witch atmosphere.

Good luck with your choices and I hope you post pictures when the time comes or even plans beforehand if you draw any up. I'd love to see how you plan it out.

I too was thinking about doing a haunted walk or hayride on our back 10 acres this year. I think it's going to be too much for me this year, but I had come up with a couple ideas as power and lighting would have been a concern for me too. If you have the woods thick enough to hide a vehicle, you could always use a power inverter on the car battery which would give you at least 1 or 2 outlets. Smudge pots could also be used for lighting. I like the camping gone wrong idea - maybe the campers have been mauled by a deranged deer (would go over well with any hunter friends). Maniac with chainsaw is always good in the woods IMHO; a well placed FCG would be nice; you could string up a line and hang dark material that just brushes the guests shoulders as they pass. If you do a search and use the word "hayride", I think you'll find a lot of great ideas on this forum. I can't remember under which forum part I searched (maybe party experiences?)

Well honda makes low noise generators now...so maybe thats what they use?

hey, i like the camper idea, maybe a big foot rampage, or some hunters gone mad like in deliverence. the tiki lights sound like a very spooky, creepy addition, or some lanterns hanging along the way. how about some boyscouts that are so lost for so long, and they are hungry.

Originally Posted by hallorenescene

how about some boyscouts that are so lost for so long, and they are hungry.

Boy Scouts is a great idea. Could be very creepy and I'd bet that the kids would love to play that role. You may even want to make them up like zombies. That would be pretty cool.