Thread: Dead End Manor 2009

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Our haunt was a huge success this year (maybe too huge). We had over 200 people pass through the haunted house and more than 300 visit overall. We raised $75 for a local animal shelter in the process of scaring the heck out of kids and adults. We had three pneumatic props, four animated props and four actors (plus six other helpers).

Pictures of all the props are located in this thread...

Dead End Manor 2009

I'll be adding more prop pictures in the near future. Here are some action shots of our guests. I have video of everyone who entered the haunted house and I'll be uploading clips soon. All of these photos were taken by Cindy Bonish and she did an awesome job.



The sit-up patient gets a scare in the haunted house.



These guys chose fight instead of flight while being chased by the chainsaw... for a moment before they ran!



This bunch was smarter and just ran. Well, those that could!



Is that another dummy in that chair or...



Me in a costume coming to get them!



The crowd waiting to enter the haunted house:





This year was so much work that next year is now in jeopardy. My wife is pretty much done with the whole thing and will only help some. If I can find some plentiful and consistent help it may be the end. I sure hope not!

Mike

WOW!!! great turnout! love the fear in their faces!!! And the haunt looks wonderfully scary!!!

love seeing the looks on the faces of your guests! Maybe after a few days, your wife will be more rested and change her mind! very cool lab you have, good job, and a worthy cause to be raising money for, everything looks great!!

Great pics and it looks like everyone was having a ball. I agree with bethene. Give your wife some time to re-charge. This kind of undertaking is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. After things settle down she may have a change of heart. You have a year to line up reliable helpers. You might even scale back just a bit as a compromise. Really do try to keep it going though. Looks like a great haunt and with a good cause behind it.

Thanks for all the kind comments. I don't think time is going to help with my wife this time. She did more this year than she said she would (after 2008 burned her out) and her foot is down pretty firmly. I'll have to see what I can do with finding helpers but it's hard to find reliable volunteers.

Mike

your haunt was awsome ,i enjoyed seing the evolution in the prop section and the final display , the lab is a total sucess and all the cool props in it you made with such details too ....am glad you had a great halloween turn out , thanks for sharing the pictures

I love the pictures. In one it looks like a kid pulled up his bag of candy to hit somebody with it. We had that happen at our house this year.

Sorry to hear about the wife burnout. Maybe next year you post a sign on your fence saying something like "Dead End Manor closed this year" and take a trip over to Universal Studios or Knotts Berry Farm etc for Halloween. Maybe time for you guys to have some more relaxing fun. It would be a real shame if you gave up the yard haunt. I absolutely love the look on the girl's face with the glasses. Looks like everyone else had a lot of fun, but I know the set up can be tiring and stressful when problems happen and you want everything to be perfect. I'm sure your Dr. Shiver's mishap didn't help matters. But who knows, if you look early enough maybe a few of the kids who enjoyed your haunts in the past would love to help out to keep them going to scare the younger kids coming up. Maybe some recruits from your high school drama group would be interested (should be appealling to those interested in acting, lighting, costumes, makeup, scenery). Just don't hang up your hat yet.

BTW I remember you said that you lived in an area that didn't get a lot of traffic. Things were kind of dead this year for us (less than half of last year). How did you guys do where you are at?

Looks fun! thanks for sharing

Mike,
Thanks for sharing the pics and the compliment on my lab set-up. Don't give up the Haunt man! My wife and I go at it also, I've even said I was going to post on the forum that I'm selling everything! But she always relents! I understand the work involved, we didn't even get our sideshow set up this year, lots of crappy weather here in IL. And I still don't have everything stowed away yet! One more question on your beakers, did you soak more then 1 highlighter, what brand, and how long did you soak them? Also my wifes Grandma lives out your way, we've been thinking about relocating, I'm unemployed and she just has a part time job. How's the job situation out there? I was in printing and also have a strong handyman background and she has 20 years of warehouse experience. If we do end up out there I'd be more then happy to help! Thanks again for sharing and for donating to such a worthy cause! Take care, man.