Thread: My yard haunt this year - Haunted Cornfield - brainstorming

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So I've done the zombie/graveyard thing twice now. And while I made some killer props last year, it's time to try something new. I love zombies, but, to me, they are becoming passe. Maybe next year, I'm sure I'll miss them

That being said, my theme this year is a haunted cornfield. I dont have a very large front yard (townhome, boo!), but my plan is to stake it out with corn stalks. My wife and I love jack o lanterns, so we're hoping to carve a lot of them. If we cant get real ones done in time we may use those foamy ones from the craft stores that we can store and use again next year. We HOPE to have a lot of them.

The centerpiece will be my scarecrow. Animated, lunging, moving head, flaming eyes, likely a scream as it lunges at you.

But, that just doesnt feel like thats enough.

Anyone have any good brainstorm ideas for other things to add? Theres not a lot you can do with a cornfield, especially when it's in the front yard of a townhouse. I was hoping to have a pathway through the corn that had some scares in it, but, truly, the yard is so small I'm not sure I COULD build a pathway. Here's a pic of my yard last year, you can see how small it is:





So, not a lot of room. The yard is long, its just not wide.

Scarecrow, pumpkins, maybe a raven on a post? Sounds from the cornfield... was thinking of something to make the corn rustle... make a few shake and a sound that is like a spooky child giggling, or a small devil thing laughing...

I would populate the area with a number of fake, creepy scarecrows, with one or two live actors thrown in for a good scare. I have done this with a Haunted Hayride and my yard haunt. I made posts for the live actors that had foot rests about 12" off the ground. That gave the appearance that the scarecrow was hanging and therefore "fake." It worked great, as most people never expected the "scarecrow" to step off and go after them.

Eric

Yeah but its a yard haunt, I'm not hiring actors

That coffin looks awesome!

Originally Posted by StonebridgeCemetery

That coffin looks awesome!

Thats nothing, check out the video. At night it glows green inside and fogs

I humbly put forward my own take on the idea as possible inspiration.

https://picasaweb.google.com/SirUlias/TheHarvest#

As for something you can add easily to flesh out the rest of the idea, the idea I shamelessly stole from Skull n Bone (who took down their website so I can't link) was a pumpkin creeper.

Bifurcate a pumpkin, and let the guts hang down as the 'head'.



I built the bodies out of EMT conduit staked to the ground, covered in corn stalks and added branches for arms. Unfortunately, I lack a real killer pic of them.





Unless you want to go bigger...but I would leave them smallish to keep your scarecrow as the centerpiece.

Wow, those look fantastic. Creepy too.

Those pics have just inspired this thought...

Since my yard is small and I cant really have a pathway through it (its narrow - I cant have a winding path) I was thinking maybe having a small, curved path through it... starts at the entrance to my yard and is a semicircle through the yard, coming back out to the walkway to the door right in front of the scarecrow... along that path, about halfway through, have 1-2 of those creatures...

And hidden in the cornstalks some mechanism that makes the stalks rattle or shake, IDEALLY one at a time... maybe I could make a stick that has teeth on it, like a 10' long comb, but the teeth are staggered, like:


I.I...I.....I.......I.........I
-------------------------------


So that when the stick is pulled or pushed by a motor at an even speed, it 'pings' one cornstalk at a time in a row to make it look like something rushed by them...

Combine that with some sound effects...

Could be pretty creepy walking through there and seeing the stalks rustle beside you without anything visible...

I would maybe build a caretaker beside that amazing coffin! Also, lots of pumkins too. Also, the upstairs windows could be use also!

Originally Posted by osenator

I would maybe build a caretaker beside that amazing coffin! Also, lots of pumkins too. Also, the upstairs windows could be use also!

No coffin this year... not doing the graveyard theme. That'll come back out next year

How about some really cool haunting whispers coming from different parts of the cornfield.
some cheap mp3 players and some speakers setup . Definitely have to do a creepy scarecrow.
I have seen some really great ones in this forum. last year I recall someone making one out of dead branches.