Thread: Mistakes

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Most of us on here have been working on props and projects for our haunts/parties since the day after Halloween LAST YEAR... Yes. Some of us take short breaks (Nov-Dec), and get right back into the planning and creating in January. We actually started our projects in February, and are already behind by about 2 weeks. We are working on enlisting the help of friends and unloved ones to help us pick up some of the slack we have now created.

Lesson to be learned... start 2 weeks earlier than you actually want to. Even if you finish 1 project, its 1 less you have to worry about...

Our BIGGEST problem is WIND. Every single year we try to plan for it, and somehow we never plan correctly. Last year for instance we had a "rabbit hole" of PVC pipe and Black tarping down the side of the house to the backyard. 2 days before the Party the Santa Ana's Hit. And BOY did they hit. They literally ripped my entire Rabbit hole down. It was like some sort of tornado hit it by the time I got home that day. I then spent the next 2 days trying to rig up the PVC and Tarping so it wouldn't keep being ripped down by the wind! We managed to rig up like 5 pieces of string to the house to hold the PVC in place, and then cut holes in the tarp to let wind through it.... Fortunately the night of the Party the wind died down and we have a fantastic entrance (even though no one REALLY knew what we went through to get it all secured!)

So this year is going to be a FOREST instead, and we are going to leave it all open to the elements. I am praying to the gods above and below for mild weather and lots of sunshine this year!! We are setting everything up 2 weeks earlier, and so I can only pray that we get good weather...

Mine was crowd control. We had one large group of teens who would go through the haunt then cut back in line to go through again (we didn't know this until the end - everyone who had helped build the haunt was working IN it). So we had people in line for over 2 hours who hadn't gotten a chance to go through once - the line simply didn't move. The kids (ahem...hoodlums) who went through multiple times did so to learn what was going on and then destroy props and attack our actors on their last run through. Sad thing is, this was a haunt that we do for our HOA - and these were neighborhood kids. This year we're doing hand stamps and charging admission (one can of food for the local food bank). And having a big burly guy in costume bring up the rear of each group that comes through. We won't hesitate to have the cops haul someone off for assault this year.

Stacy

My tip is kinda obvious looking back at it. My mistake 3 years running was not remembering that my "helpers" would have items of their own to set down. I set up and tear down all on H'nite.
My gather room was my candy room. Needless to say random bottles of soda, stereo speakers, morotcycle helmetsand jackets, and my own extra decoration supplies all crammed up the place.
I learned to have a space just for their stuff to be set down on the back outside under cover.

Where i live there is a 50/50 chance of snow on the big night. Covered my entire haunt one year, so now i prepare with a shovel and blower. On the plus side fog lingers on the ground a long long time.

My biggest mistake was not having security for the largest haunt I ever did. End result was a gang fight and getting shut down by the sheriff.

My biggest mistake was not putting brakes on my rolling 'tarantula' costume I made several years back. Basically, it was a derby car I modified into having big legs (the front two I could move to grab with. The seat was a big spider abdomen made from see through mask material so people couldn't see me, but I could see them while steering the car.

As the hill I never meant to go down got steeper I knew I was in trouble. Crash, ouch, ambulance.

Awesome costume, bad planning. I have since learned brakes are your friend.

- Start Early, Start Early, Start Early! Every year I end up rushing until literally the first TOT's start coming by. I'm still putting props out, connecting
stuff, turnig music, fog, lights on. And each year I tell myself to start a little earlier. Well this year I plan on starting A LOT earlier to the point where I'm
just going to leave the expensive stuff to be put out the last day and thats it. The rest of the day will be for me to relax and enjoy my creation without
stressing over getting everything outside and looking over my shoulder to see if TOT"s are coming yet.

- When you are building your props or setting up, DON'T sweat the small stuff. I'm a perfectionist by nature so I'm always trying to make all my props look
professionaly done and worrying about the TOT's noticing this little mess up or or that lil imperfection. But when it comes down to it, on the big night with
all the fog, sounds, music, screams, darkness... they can't see , nor do they really care about, any of the "mess-ups" or" imperfections" you have made.
Everyone is going to enjoy it regardless.

- I second what MAXIMPACT said about having security. Once your haunt gets big enough, you WILL need some sort of security for crowd control, keep
people moving along, and keeping the older TOT's (hoodlums) from spoiling all the fun and scares for the rest of the people. Try to get your biggest,
scariest looking friends or family to do this for you. Somebody who isnt afraid to speak up and stand their ground if they have to. It helps if they are off duty cops too
like a couple of mine I also recommend that your security be in "street clothes" ie; not dressed up. I actually have my "security" wear the infamous
black "SECURITY" T-shirts and have flashlights. Some may think thats funny or cheesy but this way there is no question as to who they are and what they are there
for. This also puts them out in plain view, seperate from the actual haunt. This has helped with deterring the "hoodlum" TOT's from ruining the haunt in any way.

Sorry for the lengthy post but these are some of the major things I have learned in my past couple years putting on my Yard Haunt. Hope they help you too!

I would even take this a step further, if your haunt grows to where you are dealing with a couple thousand people in a night, have some off duty police officers around for security.

Originally Posted by Kenpilot

- Start Early, Start Early, Start Early! Every year I end up rushing until literally the first TOT's start coming by. I'm still putting props out, connecting
stuff, turnig music, fog, lights on. And each year I tell myself to start a little earlier. Well this year I plan on starting A LOT earlier to the point where I'm
just going to leave the expensive stuff to be put out the last day and thats it. The rest of the day will be for me to relax and enjoy my creation without
stressing over getting everything outside and looking over my shoulder to see if TOT"s are coming yet.

- When you are building your props or setting up, DON'T sweat the small stuff. I'm a perfectionist by nature so I'm always trying to make all my props look
professionaly done and worrying about the TOT's noticing this little mess up or or that lil imperfection. But when it comes down to it, on the big night with
all the fog, sounds, music, screams, darkness... they can't see , nor do they really care about, any of the "mess-ups" or" imperfections" you have made.
Everyone is going to enjoy it regardless.

- I second what MAXIMPACT said about having security. Once your haunt gets big enough, you WILL need some sort of security for crowd control, keep
people moving along, and keeping the older TOT's (hoodlums) from spoiling all the fun and scares for the rest of the people. Try to get your biggest,
scariest looking friends or family to do this for you. Somebody who isnt afraid to speak up and stand their ground if they have to. It helps if they are off duty cops too
like a couple of mine I also recommend that your security be in "street clothes" ie; not dressed up. I actually have my "security" wear the infamous
black "SECURITY" T-shirts and have flashlights. Some may think thats funny or cheesy but this way there is no question as to who they are and what they are there
for. This also puts them out in plain view, seperate from the actual haunt. This has helped with deterring the "hoodlum" TOT's from ruining the haunt in any way.

Sorry for the lengthy post but these are some of the major things I have learned in my past couple years putting on my Yard Haunt. Hope they help you too!

Just don't let people intimidate you and make you feel that celebrating Halloween is wrong. That's all I have to say as the voice of experience...(won't go into boring details.) If you love Halloween - then celebrate!

THREE big mistakes here-

#1- Crashed UFO with Alien - a crashing bore. The alien exited the ship via a hatch at the top. He couldn't get down. Not Scary.
#2- The "Lord of the Flies" Room - Live flies. 2,500 live flies. In a sealed room, 8'x12'. The gross factor was too much. People coughing up flies, not a pretty site. In fact, three different TV crews from three different stations refused to go through.
#3- Using a High School Football team for Security- Oh, NOBODY touched a prop all night long. The boys were done up as Zombies, and they looked awesome. But they showed up with their girlfriends, and, of course, the girls had to get involved. To top it off, they were drinking while shambling around the Graveyard. Now that's TOO scary.