Thread: No more Victims! Protect your Haunt!!

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Every year we hear 3-4 heartbreaking stories of abuse/theft and downright nasty behavior by people attacking our haunts.


I'm hoping people will join this thread and post their own security measures or ask others questions about how to protect their haunt.

I'm a firm believer in security cameras. My route however is one of the most expensive ways to go so lets explore other ideas. But please feel free to ask me any questions about security cameras if you decide to go that route!!!

Some quick points about cameras:

For your sanity's sake, do NOT buy wireless cameras. Its hit and miss at best. Go with wired.

Make sure they have 420 lines of resolution and have night vision to identify the criminals. Use youtube for your videos. It can help.

A much cheaper alternative is to use hunting cameras attached to trees that some hunters use to track migrations of animals called "trail cameras"

An assortment can be found here.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...ras&hasJS=true


Other methods for security of your hard work.

Chain up your items if at all possible to each other. This doesn't prevent vandalism but it could make a thief think twice when looking for a snatch and grab.

Use re-bar to stake your props to the ground firmly. If a thief thinks its going to be too hard to move, they might leave it alone.

Fences. They can be spooky but also make your yard less of an easy target.




Please post your own solutions! Lets all keep our props as safe as we can.

Will it prevent vandalism and theft outright? Of course not but any police officer will tell you criminals look for the easy target so a little prevention work can go a long way!

The problem is there is not a lot that will prevent vandalism. You might be able to stop people from walking away with large props by chaining or staking, and you might be able to catch them on camera but it is difficult to prevent it in the first place.
Personally I am afraid to buy/display anything especially nice or expensive because of thieves. I leave the 'nice' stuff inside the house or in my window display.

This is my only security measure currently:


She's usually inside the house though, or in the backyard, so it doesn't do anything to protect the front yard display. Sometimes I wish I could fence in the front yard too...

LOL yours is the best

Nice security HH!!

Originally Posted by HauntedHorror

The problem is there is not a lot that will prevent vandalism. You might be able to stop people from walking away with large props by chaining or staking, and you might be able to catch them on camera but it is difficult to prevent it in the first place.
Personally I am afraid to buy/display anything especially nice or expensive because of thieves. I leave the 'nice' stuff inside the house or in my window display.

This is my only security measure currently:


She's usually inside the house though, or in the backyard, so it doesn't do anything to protect the front yard display. Sometimes I wish I could fence in the front yard too...

Wow she is scary, but you know what sucks is when some idiot comes on your property to steal or do damage and you get sued for having an "attractive nuisance". Because they get hurt or bitten by a dog or a number of other things yes their is such a thing can you believe it?

Originally Posted by Arlita

Wow she is scary, but you know what sucks is when some idiot comes on your property to steal or do damage and you get sued for having an "attractive nuisance". Because they get hurt or bitten by a dog or a number of other things yes their is such a thing can you believe it?

Worse than getting sued they can have your dog put down

Originally Posted by Arlita

Wow she is scary, but you know what sucks is when some idiot comes on your property to steal or do damage and you get sued for having an "attractive nuisance". Because they get hurt or bitten by a dog or a number of other things yes their is such a thing can you believe it?

Yes unfortunately that is true, anyone can sue anyone. She is mostly for a visual deterrent however, when idiots who are generally are looking for an easy target see a big Shepherd barking and snarling at the fence/door they usually change their mind very quickly, assuming she is there.

Also works as an alarm, she will bark and jump at the windows if anyone comes on the property, so if she's in the house and someone is messing around in the front yard display she will definitely let us know. Unfortunately it doesn't stop people from messing with the decorations in the front yard since they know she can't get out there, or from going in the back yard if she's not outside (although they'd have to jump the fence and ignore the WARNING signs), but she does let us know something is going on at least.

She's actually a very nice dog, she's quite friendly as long as she is properly introduced to someone, but she's also protective and wary of anyone she doesn't know unless I tell her they are ok.

Originally Posted by HauntedHorror

Yes unfortunately that is true. She is mostly for a visual deterrent however, when idiots who are generally are looking for an easy target see a big Shepherd barking and snarling at the fence/door they usually change their mind very quickly.
Also works as an alarm, she will bark and jump at the windows if anyone comes on the property, so if she's in the house and someone is messing around in the front yard display she will definitely let us know. It doesn't stop people from messing with the decorations in the front yard since they know she can't get out there, but it does let us know something is going on at least. I'm hoping to put in a security camera soon too.

My two big yellow labs do that too but for some reason on Halloween night they figure out all the tots want to pet them and they cant get enough love.

My big scurity addition to my haunt is a 80' fake rod iron fence to go around yard in front of the house. I am also thinking about getting a motion sensor light but I only want it to come on after the display lights turn off. I don't want it to interfere when I have the display going and especially on Halloween night, are you able to turn them off?

Cameras don't stop nothing and unless you get a really clear shot of their face, the police wont do much either.

If you're that worried, don't put out what you can't live without or easily replace. I bring in all the electronics (Strobes, fog machines, props) every night. I expanded into my garage in order to stay out of the weather when I handed out candy..but that's worked out great as far as putting the "prized" props in a secure place. This year I expand to the back yard, this will give me a little more security for props, buy it has more to do with needing more soace as I add props and I can set up earlier.