Thread: Is this too intense???

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I want to set my front yard and walk in porch this year. I am going to have a graveyard with body parts and make it look like creatures are coming out of the ground with green lights and fog. Also in the tree out front i was going to make it look like someone hung themself from it. Then for the porch i am going to have police tape near the door and make it into a meat shop. Have body bags hanging and fake heads hanging too. Put platic bags on all the windows to block light from outside then have a black light go on and off showing some pycho path's writing show. I am going to spread fake blood on things. Is it too intense? i was going to have candy before the porch and more inside so if they want more they could walk in. Also i don't really know what type of music i should have outside and inside and if i should have fog inside. I might dress up and scare people in the porch. Any tips would be really nice. My mom says all this isn't worth it(17 yr old) cause we don't get enough people. I tell her that is i do it good one year more people will come next year. I might change my mind on things after coming back from HHN 18. Ok now i am going to stop here before i tell my life story. Any help/tips would be much appreciated.

Sounds like a fun set up!
The only thing I would give as food for thought: how will you handle small children?

The set-up does sound a bit intense, but it doesn't sound particularly offensive.
I will say, however, that parents taking their small children out for ToTing may be upset at the thought of subjecting their children to such a sight.

Perhaps you can have someone help you with handing out treats, so they can approach the small ones while outside your haunt, so they'll get candy but not have to have nightmares to have earned it.
(trust me - having your small child awake and crying all night because they're afraid of what might be in the dark is no fun whatsoever...it's one thing if it's a movie, quite another if it's real people)

Just something to mull over...

I think it all sounds great, but I would probably leave out the guy hanging from the tree.

Your display, your choice. That said, I agree with the other two posters. As a parent, I would not subject my young children to the gore and violent themes. You risk having some people bypass your house. Older kids and teens might be amused. Some adults might enjoy the effort but others won't. It's a judgement call. I'm not a big fan of hanging people props. It hits a nerve with some people and really has nothing to do with Halloween, IMO. Gore is a matter of taste. Too much can be a turnoff, and frankly, a lot of people are desensitized to it, making it boring. If you opt to go with your plan, I would seriously consider having a helper to hand out treats to the younger kids, away from the display.

i try to keep the gore down to a minimum in my haunt because the gore is not what scares them... its the people that jump out behind a table or have fishing line hanging from the ceilings to feel like spider webs.. for most people... they hate the gore.. if you ask me gore is not a big part of halloween.. and i would have to agree with jdubbya.. you need to have someone hand out treats outside the display

Originally Posted by bluedev1

I tell her that is i do it good one year more people will come next year.

"If you build it ... they will come."



lol! I always wanted to use that line.

yea i never really thought about the little kids and having nightmares. What i was thinking wouldn't bother me but it prob will bother most people. I just thought about changing the person hanging to a giant spider. And i wasn't going to make it so gory like there was a massacre of 100 people. I have alot of time before i start putting things out, i just need to figure out a way to get the blacklight writing on the walls. If little kids don't like it then they can suck it up, oops i mean have someone else hand out candy outside. If i were to scary people it would only be for older peoepl and my annoying neighbors...muahaha

Having a way for the little ones who don't _want_ to be scared is a big Bonus My wife dresses in a black Victorian dress and stays out side the cemetery with a basket of candy. Strangely enough though the small kids are usually the ones dragging their parents in to the fog it's the older TOTs that get creeped out by it. SHe also cautiond those going into the graveyard that it is bad luck to cross a fresh grave and other such ominous sounding things. I have a few charachter actors providing some good scares as well. volunteers for this duty are pretty easy to find!

im kind of sensitive to suicide...so i wouldnt use the hanging man. body parts are fine in my book though, go figure..lol

I had an animated hangman in my display last year and everyone loved it. I was a little worried that someone would complain, but no such luck. a few people even thought it was a real person hanging there. I say go for it.