Thread: Ways to Scare

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Some friends and I went to Knott's Halloween Haunt last night. Had lots of fun. I couldnt help noticing that the majority of the monsters were using gloves with the fingers coated in metal. Dunno if anyone else has seen these but they use them by clicking them in your face as you walk by. doesn't seem very scary but it sure catches you off guard So anyway i thought i would get a post started where we can all post up our favorite haunted house scare tactics. My haunt needs some new scares and i think this is the best place to find them anything but saying "raaahhhrrr" counts lol

my personal fav is shaking beans in an empty tin can behind someone's back. usually gets a good scream

My favorite was what appeared to be several stationary creepy faces against a black background illuminated by a black light. It turned out that one of them was a mask on someone with a black suit on. This person jumped out at us. Needless to say, I jumped too.

the drop panels work best in my haunt.. they look like pictures but when you drop them down it makes a loud noise and someone jumps out at you.. very nice

Nothing in a home haunt caught my attention, but Halloween Horror Nights at Universal does some great simple/easy scares that work wonders. I think because there are so many guests walking around the park, that when you encounter a 'scaractor' it catches you off guard.

When I went they wore metal knee pads and carried knives. They'd run full speed down the street and slide on the metal pads right up behind people while scraping their knives on the ground. Such an odd sound coming up behind you and they you see someone on their knees flying towards you. Scary, but fun.

They also would jump out with small tin cans filled with rocks/metal and shake 'em. That one could easily work in a home haunt.

When I was out trick or treating (cmon, im 13 still!) there was a small house, and they put these 3 skeletons in the front, but 1 was real, and it jumped out at you as you waked by.

I went to the Halloween Happening at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds and there was a butcher scene. He was turned around and you could hear power tools. He would turn around and wave a saw in your face. It was really freaky and terrifying.

I've found that quiet works well for me...

Since I don't get a lot of ToTs, I just follow people around the cul-de-sac. When they stop, I stop, when they talk, I don't say a word....I just stare at them. This technique works great on female ToTs and especially their moms

Working a room in a haunt gives the "victim" the opportunity to get away once they go to the next room....but when you roam the neighborhood they can't get away as fast.

As more and more kids are being driven around on Halloween, I also like to sneak up on cars and start staring through the windows at the people inside. You know you're doing a good job when the kids won't get out of the car

I think the best scares are the ones that are more mental then visual. I can honestly say i have never really been to a haunted house (walk through) that actually frightened me. Sure i'll jump at the sound of a chain saw that was unexpected...but I enjoy the scares where you feel uncomfortable.

Case in point: There is a mental asylum in west virgina that me and my wife went to one October. The first 10 minutes or so was terrific. They pretty much left you in the dilapidated cell block, certain cells were open, some were not... the smell of the place, the intense quietness, and sense on impending dread that your mind begins to play, for me, is the best scares. The paint on the walls were chipped and dirty, you can hear the drip on nearby leaks, you can almost feel the misery of the place.

It all went downhill shortly after when the tour came upon the strobe lights, and fake skeletons, and the "normal haunts". In previous years, this particular asylum was just a plain old walk through with no special effects, but i didnt get a chance to attend then.

I remember as a teen (not senital yet!)this haunted house that you walked down a hallway and as you where walking you heard some like you are now entering the dead or something like that,then you noticed that it looked like you where floating in the air over a cematery.It was a werid kinda thing. and it gave you that fear of falling feeling.What it was is darkroom plexiglass floor and under this floor they made a model of a cemerty with I would guess HO or N scale model railroad props. Hummm maybe a new prop this year. now that I'm thinking about it a prop like that but instead of a cemerty a corpes bucky looking up at you......

What gets me is when you are looking at a scare actor and you think to yourself that you are safe in this room ('cause you see him) and another actor scares the heck out of you coming out from another part of the room. Guh!

I'm finally really understanding the power of distraction.