Code 6060 (301) 227-2742 lewisw@oasys.dt.navy.mil From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 05:05:27 1997 From: ALT4%mimi@magic.itg.ti.com Date: Thu, 23 Jan 97 07:00:16 CST To: halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Subject: Trade show Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com From: EDDIE LINDSEY ALT4@msg.itg.ti.com Subj: Trade show Would someone please post more information on the trade show in Chicago. Thanks!! -******* ORIGINAL MSG # 02867801 RECEIVED ON 01/22 AT 23:00 FOLLOWS *******- To: DOKK ALT4 From: John Dolan owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Subject: Trade show ********** Via: MIMI 2.2 Gateway at Magic (TID DA909739 dated Wed, 22 Jan 1997 22:44:23 -0600) From: John Dolan To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Trade show Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com I'm also skipping the seminar this year but will be attend- ing the Chicago trade show sat.,sun., and possibly fri. From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 08:04:44 1997 Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 10:54:19 -0500 From: ROGER ALEXANDER To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Underwater Monster -Reply Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com >>> Cliff Martin 1/22/97 12:27 pm >>> Hi All, Going through past messages in the archive, I had an idea that may go along with the pop-up skulls (pop-up via water sprinkler head) - an "underwater monster". =20 It goes something like this: *snip* <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Beautiful idea!!! And I have a perfect place to do just this at our haunt! Let me know how it goes. Want to know more. This will be a scream if it works right! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roger Alexander Phone: 812-854-4748 Naval Surface Warfare Center Fax: 812-854-3508 Bldg 64 Code 111RA Crane, IN 47522 INTERNET: rda413@smtp.nwscc.sea06.navy.mil Supporting the Fleet through Supply! From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 08:06:07 1997 Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 10:56:16 -0500 From: ROGER ALEXANDER To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Chicago Trade Show? -Reply Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com >>> Spook 1/22/97 7:56 pm >>> Anyone out there going to the Chicago trade show in March? Any chance of getting together for some drinks? Mark <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< I'm game but depends on date, time, and money, of course! ;) Keep me informed... p.s. Mr. Scary - you in? Maybe carpool? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roger Alexander Phone: 812-854-4748 Naval Surface Warfare Center Fax: 812-854-3508 Bldg 64 Code 111RA Crane, IN 47522 INTERNET: rda413@smtp.nwscc.sea06.navy.mil Supporting the Fleet through Supply! From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 09:44:15 1997 Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 04:05:33 -0800 From: Michael Marcrum To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Phantasmechanics Online Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Doug, great job! Well done and easy to follow around. Like all the insturctions and everything that is on there. The graphics are clear and simple! I like it a lot, put me on the list for buying your book!! Kathy the new kid on the crypt mmarcrum@ix.netcom.com From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 11:55:40 1997 To: Bob Andrews From: William E Rompala Date: 23 Jan 97 14:42:58 EDT Subject: Re: Coffin banter Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com >John P. Jeffries wrote: >> OUCH! >> I do hope that was $1,800.00 not $18,000.00. >No, that's $18,000.00, *wholesale*. Troy told me he wanted to sell one >of those in his life before he retires. I saw it on the 'net- BRONZE! Nice.... -W bandrews @ inreach.com (Bob Andrews) 01/22/97 01:33 PM To: halloween-l @ netcom.com @ SMTP cc: Subject: Re: Coffin banter John P. Jeffries wrote: > OUCH! > > I do hope that was $1,800.00 not $18,000.00. No, that's $18,000.00, *wholesale*. Troy told me he wanted to sell one of those in his life before he retires. -- Bob Andrews bandrews@inreach.com http://www.anaserve.com/~BoBandrews From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 12:01:52 1997 From: Davis_Karen To: "'halloween-l'" Subject: FW: How-to, Part 4 -Reply Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 14:50:43 -0500 Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com >Hey, you want cheap, just use your teeth! ;-D >...i've always used a paring or table knife...karend > From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 12:04:01 1997 From: Davis_Karen To: "'halloween-l'" Subject: FW: Coffin banter Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 14:56:23 -0500 Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com >John P. Jeffries wrote: >> OUCH! >> >> I do hope that was $1,800.00 not $18,000.00. > >No, that's $18,000.00, *wholesale*. Troy told me he wanted to sell one >of those in his life before he retires. >...to 'the donald' no doubt...karend > From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 12:05:34 1997 From: Davis_Karen To: "'halloween-l'" Subject: FW: Coffin banter Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 14:54:58 -0500 Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com >>>Batesville's "Promethian" >>>http://www.batesville.com/products/bproducts_promethean.html . $18000! >> ...one of my former sisters-in-law used to work for batesville casket co...and, while i realize that that price is retail, they sure didn't pay their employees a heck of a lot for sewing the linings of these >super-expensive jobies...karend > From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 14:00:37 1997 To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: stripping From: rodney3@juno.com (Rodney G Grantham) Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 16:52:38 EST Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Well, a teenager taught me to strip wires by holding over a lit match at the point you want to strip from. Plastic melts and you can blow out and pull off the end section easily. Not sure it is good for the wire, though. Rodney rodney3@juno.com http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/2049 From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 14:43:23 1997 Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 16:35:19 -0600 From: David Kiihne To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: stripping -Reply Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com >>> Rodney G Grantham 01/23/97 03:52pm >>> >Well, a teenager taught me to strip wires by holding over a lit match at >the point you want to strip >from. Plastic melts and you can blow out and pull off the end section >easily. >Not sure it is good for the wire, though. I don't know about the wire, but I do know that the fumes from the burning insulation aren't good for the brain cells. ...And in my case those are already an endangered species. :) Dave - daveki@nebfef.com From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 14:45:43 1997 Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 14:38:47 -0800 From: bobpony@ix.netcom.com (Bob Poniatowski) Subject: Skeleton Hands for Cheap! To: halloween-l@netcom.com Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Hi All, The KB Toys near me (Milpitas, CA "Great Mall") is clearing out their leftover stock of "Skeleton Arms". These are plastic articulated skeleton forearms (with "snap-on skull with striking fangs"!). Slip your hands in, wiggle the levers, and watch the fingers move. Old price: $6.99. Clearance price: $2.97! Had to grab a pair! Check the KB near you! Bob Pony ps - One small bummer. They're all right-handed. Oh well, you can't have everything... From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 18:31:57 1997 Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:27:27 -0600 (CST) From: John Dolan To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: details Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com As promised here is a description of the first 3 rooms in our haunt.The overall size of our haunted house is approx. 3000 sq. feet and contains 11 "rooms".This year our we experimented with having much larger rooms than you typically see in your average haunt and had some mixed results.The house is located in a large auditorium of an old Jr. High school which presents some unique obstacles since we have a slightly sloped floor (where the seating used to be) and dealing with safely getting our customers onto and off of the stage area. Rm1:The Cemetary-this is our largest and most detailed room of the haunt measuring about 24x24.The patrons walk down the center of the room and are for the most part separated from the displays by a faux wrought iron fence.The fence consisited of foam covered pedastals carved to look like brick and rebar welded together to form the fence. On both sides we have some faom tombstones, trees, a crypt,and several corpses rising from the grave.On the right is a masoleum with a door that a ghoul eventually emerges.Originally we were going to have a corpse spr- ing to life from a coffin at the end of the room but the device proved to be unreliable. Sound:winds blowing,crickets chirping,and distant wolves howling Lighting:blue and purple accents Rm2:Sewage tunnel:this was more of a long wide turning hallway than an actual "room".It consisted of brick panels arched into a tunnel that led to three other "tunnels".Two of the tunnels were blocked by bodies of decaying corpses and the other led to the way out.The tunnel contained several rubber rats and just as you thought you had escaped one of the corpses came to life. Sound:water dripping,rats squealing Lighting:blacklight illuminating some flourescent "graffitti" on the walls Rm3:Swamp-this was our second largest rm. at about 12x20 in size.In this room the patrons tavelled through the center over a metal grated bridge that led to the stage area.The entire room was covered in plastic plants.Beneath the bridge covering the ground was a low lying fog.On the right was a bloodied "victim" screaming for dear life that momentar- illy diverted your attention from the swamp dragon that came crashing in from the left.As the you leave the room you enter the mouth of a 15 foot tall skull into......(more to come) Sound:insects,distant drums beating Lighting:green flood lights beneath the bridge,red lights accenting the skull JD jdolan@titan.iwu.edu From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 20:00:45 1997 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 03:50:00 -0500 To: halloween-l@netcom.com From: Nathan Kahn Subject: Chicago Halloween Show Info Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com The 13th National Halloween, Costume and Party Show will be held March 21-25 at the Rosemont Convention Center (formerly O'Hare Expo Center) in Chicago, IL. (OK, its actually in Rosement, outside the Chicago city limits, next to O'Hare International Airport.) The hours are (probably): Friday-Monday 10:00-5:00 Tuesday 10:00-2:00 Admission is free but only "trade professionals" may enter (more below). Manufacturers and distributors of costumes, makeup, masks, hairgoods, paper goods, balloons, special effects, etc. will have their products on display. The purpose of the show is for these exhibitors to take orders for the coming Halloween season. So if they have a new product, they can show it (even in prototype form), and gauge interest and take orders so they know how many to make. In order to encourage buyers to place orders right there at the show, various "show specials" are offered. So it is a win-win situation for both the exhibitors and buyers. In addition to the exhibits, various seminars are given. Most of these are free, but the one on Thursday (before the show opens) entitled "Haunted Attractions Owner/Operator Seminar" is $255 (9:00-6:00). I know very little about this seminar, and so can't comment on whether it is a good value. Admission for "trade professionals" only - in the past, just about anybody could get in with only a business card. This year, due to increasing complaints from exhibitors of "consumers" being allowed in, the following admission rule has been initiated . . . In order to register, you must: A. If you are a retailer - submit a copy of your resale tax certificate in company name AND and any one of the following (photocopies accepted): company ad, company catalog, company check, company credit card, invoice from supplier for more than $200 net, lease in company name, payroll check stub, purchase order, utility invoice in company name, white pages or yellow pages directory listing, picture of store front or business, written invitation from an exhibitor. B. If you are a manufacturer or wholesaler - submit any two of the following: photocopy of an invoice to a retailer, order form, catalog. I can supply any of you with a "written invitation from exhibitor" if needed. All of the hotels within walking distance of the convention center are very expensive and are probably booked solid by now. You can reach the company taking care of show rate hotel reservations at 1-800-322-7032. But it would probably be cheapest if you would rent a car and stay at a cheap hotel a few miles from the convention center, like Days Inn or Red Roof. (Even with the car rental, and the $6/day parking fee at the convention center, you would probably still be ahead.) If anybody has any questions that I haven't covered, feel free to ask. Thanks to Mark (Spook ) for volunteering to collect names pursuant to arranging a halloween-l meet. I'm getting ready to send him my email now. Look forward to meeting you all there. :Nathan Nathan Kahn / Theatre Effects Home: kahnn@pa.net Work: nathan@theatrefx.com Work Web: www.theatrefx.com From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 21:49:01 1997 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 00:37:50 -0500 From: Nightmare To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Phantasmechanics Online Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com DWFWW@jazz.ucc.uno.edu wrote: > > Well, groovy ghouls, adfter 10+ hours of angst and labor, the > Phantasmechanics web-site is up and running: > > http://members.aol.com/phanmech/index.html > >I really enjoyed your site! Can't wait to get more info on the pepper's ghost display! Great job! Allan From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Thu Jan 23 23:22:50 1997 Date: 24 Jan 1997 04:44:43 -0000 From: "kreig denniston" To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: coffins-r-us Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com To whom it may concern, I just found a really good coffin site. Just point your browser to: http://www.shops.net/shops/Carlos_A_Howard_Funeral_Home/home.html . It has many good caskets with descriptions and pictures and all the works. I LIKE IT!!! BOO!!! kreig denniston cybervampyre@hotmail.com --------------------------------------------------------- Get Your *Web-Based* Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com --------------------------------------------------------- From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Fri Jan 24 02:37:34 1997 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 01:01:36 -0600 To: halloween-l@netcom.com From: Ysengrin Werewolf Subject: Re: Places for Haunt? Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Hmmm ... been lurking for a bit and just thought I'd jump in. At 02:45 PM 1/19/97 -0800, Keith wrote: >Don't know if this will help you or not. I have been looking into >putting up one of those all metal homes you see advertised in some of >the magazines, for a haunted house. I was talking with the folks at >Wolf Studios and he mentioned that if he ever put up another Haunted >house he would use one of those buildings. We here at Wolf Studios are also building permanent attractions, so we want something to last. Usually, you can't afford to do that when you're starting a new haunted house. There's a lot to be said for setting up as a portable building, esp. associated with a church as a charity. Here in Texas, that combination can result in being exempt from many of the building codes . . . we were also operating out of a rented old farmhouse for several years, until we could afford our own building. We've also operated haunted houses in malls, and dispite the traffic they're usually a real pain to set up and operate, and aren't as profitable because of the high rent. Basically, use what you have access to and can afford. Ysengrin Werewolf (aka Silvermane) Member Verdun Manor pack http://www.webcom.com/verdun/verdun.html From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Fri Jan 24 03:06:24 1997 From: SkinkSim@aol.com Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 05:41:33 -0500 (EST) To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Actors & Bodies (a wee bit long) Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Ok, enough lurking... let me offer my humble opinions in this area. There's a haunted house project in my area every year that features very impressive and imaginative set design, sound effects, and expensive audio-animatronic figures. It wouldn't surprise me if the chief designers haven't already started working up ideas for the 1997 season. But, having said all that ... this house always features some of the worst actors and volunteer staff I've ever seen. You can have the most realistic, fully rendered and atmospheric set ever built - but one 5 foot tall kid in K-mart mask can make the whole place seem cheesy. I think anyone who is working on some kind of a haunted project that will be open to the public for an extended period of time needs to spend as much time as possible casting, drafting, and directing the volunteer/actor staff. In the end, they are the ones who can really make or break your "haunt." As someone has already mentioned, you should probably start with local colleges. These students will be more responsible, and probably more intimidating than your average high school student. If you need help with set design or construction, you might be able to find some willing participants within the theater program. Also, you might be able to organize some kind of internship program with some of the students. Imagine getting college credit to work at a haunted house! If you must rely on the high schools for your man-power, you'll need to approach your casting with the same eye for detail that you extend to everything else. This always leads to tough decisions. Do you really want to put that short kid with the squeaky voice in the Grim Reaper costume? Probably not, but I'm sure he'd do a great job scaring people if he hid in that little cubby-hole underneath the stair-well. You can also choose to ... gulp ... PAY people to act in your house. This option is not available to all groups or all budgets, but it can save you a lot of grief. For starters, you now KNOW that you will have people there every night because you are paying them. Volunteers can come and go as they like. Also, since you are now paying these actors - you will have a better chance of finding a 6 foot tall, adult man with a booming voice to wear your Grim Reaper costume. Before you disregard the idea of payment, let me mention that most actors are very, very poor. They are acting because it's in their blood, not because they want to get rich quickly. If you offer them a fairly decent role, with some room for improv and interpertation, many actors will jump at the chance for a few nights of fun work. Depending on the size of your haunt, and your needs for manpower, you might be able to co-ordinate a staff of both paid and volunteer actors. I don't recommend this for most haunts, mostly because it can lead to jealousy and bad vibes between the two parties. But, I once supervised an event in which we needed a nightly staff of about 15 actors with speaking roles and 30-50 non-speaking actors. When you start working with casts that big, I think you need to start paying some people or else you'll have a nervous breakdown. My final piece of advice would be that once your have your actors in their positions, make sure you have something for them to do. Give them some sample lines, or simple guidelines. Make sure they have a place to hide or a specific piece of action. Don't put your actor in a room and let them figure it out on their own. Oh wait, I just thought of one more thing: refreshments. That may sound like common sense, but I once volunteered at a commercial haunt that refused to give the actors any kind of beverage, cough drop, or candy. After screaming and hollering for 90 minutes, I was told that we could buy some apple cider outside for a dollar. Needless to say, I never went back. Never try to cheat your actors and volunteers. Give them plenty to drink, lots of hard candy for their aching throats (cough drops smell too strong), and plenty of baby wipes to get rid of the make-up. Make them feel loved. Once you find a solid, reliable, and energetic cast of actors and volunteers -- do whatever it takes to keep them coming back every single night. From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Fri Jan 24 08:17:21 1997 Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 16:47:03 -0800 From: Michael Marcrum To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Places for Haunt? Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Ysengrin Werewolf, Welcome to the Halloween list, I am so glad that you found this list from my probably wrong directions! You are going to enjoy the people here and are going to be a great help to us! I do enjoy your homepage. Kathy the new kid on the crypt mmarcrum@ix.netcom.com From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Fri Jan 24 09:15:02 1997 From: Davis_Karen To: "'halloween-l'" Subject: FW: Actors & Bodies (a wee bit long) Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 12:08:31 -0500 Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com > Give them plenty to drink, lots of hard >candy for their aching throats (cough drops smell too strong), ...lemon-flavored hard candy seems to be the best for keeping the mouth and throat moistened, without an overwhelming sticky feeling...karend > From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Fri Jan 24 21:33:53 1997 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 23:33:02 -0600 (CST) From: John Dolan To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: details Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com JD's haunt details pt.ll After traveling through the mouth of the skull,you have now entered the "Death King's Lair".This consists of 4 chambers of horror and the throne room.The following is a description of the 4 chambers: Rm5:The holding pen-in this room you are forced to walk through the center of a cell where there are victims on either side of you awaiting to be taken to the following torture rooms.Some are shackled to the wall,one is a cage,one is cofined to a straight jacket,while others a mere skeletons.One victim near the end of the room has his arms raised above his head and shackled to the wall.He is moaning loadly,begging for help.Just as you are about to leave the room he suddenly bursts forwarded while his "arms" are left behind still shackled to the wall. Rm6:electric chair-you enter this room and see a silhoutte of a person sitting in a large chair (due to back lighting).Suddenly the a strobe light comes on and the victim is electrocuted. Rm7:The chop shop-this room contains dismembered body parts all over,a guillotine,a victim on a table and an executioner holding an axe.As you enter the room the the executioner chops off one of the legs of the victim.The victim then,in a blood curdling scream, raises their dismembered leg above their head. Rm8:Discard room:in this room is the remains of the previously tortured victims.There are skeletons,corpses,coffins,and bones everywhere.Suddenly one of the skeletons reaches out to grab you and as you move to avoid his grasp a ghoul bursts out of a coffin. Lighting rms5-8:red colored lights in 5&8,strobes in 6&7. Sound rms 5-8:all of these rooms were covered by the same sound effects which consisted of:screams,the sound of whips cracking, and volts of electicity (more to come..) JD jdolan@titan.iwu.edu From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sat Jan 25 02:14:55 1997 Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 06:47:34 -0800 From: Michael Marcrum To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: List Survey Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Hey Greg, I never received my list survey...what happened. Did I get lost behind a tombstone or something :) Kathy the new kid on the crypt mmarcrum@ix.netcom.com From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sat Jan 25 08:18:56 1997 Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 08:08:56 -0800 From: Bob Andrews To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: List Survey Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Michael Marcrum wrote: > > Hey Greg, > I never received my list survey...what happened. Did I get lost behind > a tombstone or something :) > Kathy > the new kid on the crypt > mmarcrum@ix.netcom.com Yeah, me too! -- Bob Andrews bandrews@inreach.com http://www.anaserve.com/~BoBandrews From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sat Jan 25 10:09:15 1997 To: halloween-l@netcom.com From: Jim Kadel Subject: Re: List Survey Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 10:58:37 -0700 Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Why could this be an example of a "ghostly appearance"? At 08:08 AM 1/25/97 -0800, you wrote: >Michael Marcrum wrote: >> >> Hey Greg, >> I never received my list survey...what happened. Did I get lost behind >> a tombstone or something :) >> Kathy >> the new kid on the crypt >> mmarcrum@ix.netcom.com > >Yeah, me too! > >-- > >Bob Andrews >bandrews@inreach.com >http://www.anaserve.com/~BoBandrews > From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sat Jan 25 16:08:26 1997 Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 16:03:27 -0800 From: Bob Andrews To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Scream of the Week Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Not that I'm blowing my own horn (but I'm blowing my own horn!), My web page just won the Night Gallery's "Scream of the Week" with 4 skulls! (out of a possible 5). There's a review at http://www.wbm.ca/users/kgreggai/html/scream.html . -- Bob Andrews bandrews@inreach.com http://www.anaserve.com/~BoBandrews From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sat Jan 25 17:19:50 1997 Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 20:30:32 -0500 To: halloween-l@netcom.com From: "John P. Jeffries" Subject: Re: Scream of the Week Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com At 04:03 PM 1/25/97 -0800, you wrote: >Not that I'm blowing my own horn (but I'm blowing my own horn!), My web >page just won the Night Gallery's "Scream of the Week" with 4 skulls! >(out of a possible 5). There's a review at >http://www.wbm.ca/users/kgreggai/html/scream.html . > WAY TO GO BOB! (Cheer!) :) :0 Congrats! That's a tough award to get! John ********************************* * Mr.Scary Productions * * http://www.mrscary.com * * E-mail: mrscary@kiva.net * * 1-812-824-8935 * * FAX: 1-812-824-9960 * ********************************* From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sat Jan 25 17:35:21 1997 Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 19:23:51 -0600 To: halloween-l@netcom.com From: Ysengrin Werewolf Subject: Re: Places for Haunt? Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com At 04:47 PM 1/18/97 -0800, Kathy wrote: >Ysengrin Werewolf, > Welcome to the Halloween list, I am so glad that you found this list Thanks for pointing us in the right direction! Ysengrin Werewolf (aka Silvermane) Member Verdun Manor pack http://www.webcom.com/verdun/verdun.html From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sat Jan 25 18:36:40 1997 Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 18:29:48 -0800 From: Bob Andrews To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Scream of the Week Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com John P. Jeffries wrote: > WAY TO GO BOB! (Cheer!) :) :0 > > Congrats! That's a tough award to get! > > John Thanks! There was no money involved. ;-D -- Bob Andrews bandrews@inreach.com http://www.anaserve.com/~BoBandrews From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sat Jan 25 22:20:27 1997 Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 00:15:21 -0600 (CST) From: John Dolan To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: details Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com JD's haunt prt.lll Throne Room:after leaving the 4 chambers you travel down a ramp that brings you back down to the auditorium floor.A dark hallway leads to the throne room.Half of this room is actually on top of the stage so that the throne and "death king" are actually looming above you.The room is filled with piles of skulls and snakes,lots and lots of snakes.Beneath the death king are two gaurds dressed in full armor.The walls are painted to look like flames.The thing that sets this room apart is that the death king wears a hidden self contained voice amplifier.As your enter the room he curses you for daring to enter his domain and orders his gaurds to take you prisoner. Lighting:red floods Sound:sound of snakes hissing Zombie Forest:somehow you've managed to escape the gaurds and find yourself in a forest that seems to go on forever.As you weave thr- ough the trees you notice zombies aproaching from all sides. lighting:strobe sound:wind,wolves howling Stobe hallway:this isn't really a room only a winding hallway painted in black and white checkerboard.This combined with our slanted floor is really disorienting but more importantly hav- ing two rooms with bright strobes helps set up our last room which is very dark. Jack-in-the-Box:our last room turned out to be nothing like what we had originally planned but is a good example of how sometimes the simplest things provide the best scare.The room is completely black except for flourescent dots everywhere,and a box on one side lit only by a black light.Of course your attention is focused on the box and a hideous clown in vibrant colors springs out but a split second later 2 actors dressed in all black/dots come out of the walls.We initially thought this room was too lame to end with but it never failed to send them screaming out of the house. JD jdolan@titan.iwu.edu From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 00:02:31 1997 From: htraver@dreamsys.com Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 23:03:24 -0700 Subject: details To: halloween-l@netcom.com Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com JD, the dot room is a classic in use in the SoCal area, or some variation on the theme. Sure, its simple and seems cheesy, but it works and it works well. A good standard to have. On another subject, a while back I had defined the 3 types of scares, gore, reflex, psychological. There is one type of scare which I thought cannot list under the 3, but it is a variation of psychological. It is the one scare you work with REAL CAREFULLY. If you do it wrong, it will be in VERY bad taste. The horror I call a horror by association. I get it here and there, but I got it today watching the ending to Kooyanisqatsi (a helluva movie, watch it if you can find it). The end scene is a rocket launch, possibly one of the Apollo missions. It appears to hit around 200 mile up then explodes, with the camera tracking the control pod in flames all the way back down and a very creepy soundtrack. The creepiness was far more from associating with the Challenger disaster. A TV shot of the Nimitz freeway also had the same effect on me way back many years ago when it collapsed in an earthquake. The sight of the double decker structure sandwiched into a single level was bad, but knowing that many motorists were crushed in there made it very creepy. This is one horror I am very hesitant to use, as it could be in bad taste, which I do not want. It is a subtle yet creepy horror. Harry [ Sent From: Dreamscape Systems - dreamsys.com ] [ Location: Van Nuys, CA - (818) 781-7529 ] From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 01:56:12 1997 Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 03:51:39 -0600 (CST) From: John Dolan To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: details Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Harry, That's a good point.Even though we're in the business of scaring people there is sometimes a fine line between a scene that maybe a fright to some,while others may find truly objectionable.In a "scare by association" it can be tricky. I like your 3 catagories of scares.When we first started out and were trying to decide what kind of haunt we were going to have,we tried to break down some of the other haunts we had all been to. In doing so we came up with 4 catagoies: 1)Startle-this is the type of house where every scene basically consits of an actor popping out of somewhere to make you jump 2)Psycological-this house heavily relies on set design,and only some very good acting will be very effective 3)Gore-slasher houses,stage blood by the gallons 4)Magical/illusional-pepper's ghost,Disney's Haunted Mansion is the definitive example of this type. -more thoughts on this on wed.- JD jdolan@titan.iwu.edu From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 02:40:15 1997 From: htraver@dreamsys.com Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 02:31:16 -0700 Subject: details To: halloween-l@netcom.com Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Interesting. I would not have defined magical as scary. My best friend is a magician, so I help build his illusions. But I never considered magic to be scary. The startle I would call a reflex scare since it works on the reflex. Gore is as it is usally. Psychological I would not class as set design, but rather playing with fears and emotions, tugging at them. The creepy things I described last time around would be psychological. Seeing people rotting away imprisoned or horribly tortured would bring an empathy response, an emotional sharing which brings the "it could happen to me" yearn. Playing with unease or feeding paranoia would be in this category. Good acting I consider paramount to any of the classes of scares. Tie your rooms together with a context or a reason for being. If you can build a storyline to work with, it would work out nicely.... Harry [ Sent From: Dreamscape Systems - dreamsys.com ] [ Location: Van Nuys, CA - (818) 781-7529 ] From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 04:19:49 1997 From: milwiron@btprod.com Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 05:53:24 -0600 To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Scream of the Week Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com At 04:03 PM 1/25/97 -0800, you wrote: >Not that I'm blowing my own horn... Good job Bob! Denny From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 06:52:45 1997 Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 06:44:46 -0800 From: Spook To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: details/magic Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Good morning, We've found magic/illusion to work really well in our house. Done correctly, it really throw people off balance. A couple of years ago, we did the talking head on the table gag (three legged table with mirrors) as a non-interactive walk-by. Our exit interviews told us that it really spooked people, because it was obviously not possible, but there it was. Now, we comb through magic books trying to incorporate at least one good magic trick in each house. But beware! (don't you just love saying that?) if you get too fancy, people will think its a hologram, projection, or some other high-tech gag. Then they are not spooked. It has to be obvious that what they are looking at is REAL and impossible. Mark From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 09:35:02 1997 Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 09:27:58 -0800 From: Bob Andrews To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Scream of the Week Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com milwiron@btprod.com wrote: > > At 04:03 PM 1/25/97 -0800, you wrote: > >Not that I'm blowing my own horn... > > Good job Bob! > Denny Thanks! It was a surprise. But don't worry, I won't let success spoil me. I'll never forget the little people I stepped on to get where I am today. ;-D -- Bob Andrews bandrews@inreach.com http://www.anaserve.com/~BoBandrews From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 10:07:46 1997 Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 12:55:32 -0500 From: Nightmare To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: details Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Hey JD! Your haunt sounds very interesting, I REALLY liked the flow of your torture rooms! I wanted to ask you some questions about a couple of your scenes/rooms! >the right was a bloodied "victim" screaming for dear life that momentar- >illy diverted your attention from the swamp dragon that came crashing >in from the left.As the you leave the room you enter the mouth of a >15 foot tall skull into..... What did you use for your swamp dragon and how did it operate?? What did you make the 15' skull out of? >The walls are painted to look like flames.The thing >that sets this room apart is that the death king wears a >hidden self contained voice amplifier.As your enter the room >he curses you for daring to enter his domain and orders his >gaurds to take you prisoner. What did you use for the voice amplifier? > Jack-in-the-Box:our last room turned out to be nothing like what Did you buy the box from Distortions or did you make one of your own? Also what kind of audio systems do you use for the different rooms and effects? Thanks, Allan From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 10:15:48 1997 Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 13:00:04 -0500 From: Nightmare To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: details/magic Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Spook wrote: > > Good morning, > > We've found magic/illusion to work really well in our house. Done correctly, it really throw > people off balance. A couple of years ago, we did the talking head on the table gag (three > legged table with mirrors) as a non-interactive walk-by. Our exit interviews told us that it > really spooked people, because it was obviously not possible, but there it was. Now, we comb > through magic books trying to incorporate at least one good magic trick in each house. > > But beware! (don't you just love saying that?) if you get too fancy, people will think its a > hologram, projection, or some other high-tech gag. Then they are not spooked. It has to be > obvious that what they are looking at is REAL and impossible. > > Mark I am wanting to do more of this type of effect at my haunts. What are the best sources to get info for the illusion effects. At other haunts I have seen a small person in a quart jar banging on the sides trying to get out, and I have seen the flying ghost in the mirror where a woman appears to be floating towards you with her hair and robe flowing. I have two outdoor and one indoor event I am working on this year so I need a lot of reference material. Thanks, Allan From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 11:17:36 1997 Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 11:08:27 -0800 From: Spook To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: details/magic/sources Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Good morning again, Best sources for illusions? Public Library. No kidding. There's nothing whiz-bang or high-tech about magic and illusions. The basic concepts haven't really changed in a couple of hundred years. The head-on-the-table illusion was done in the middle ages. If you want to spend some bucks, I'm sure you can find books that will give you plans for "canned" effects, or you can shell out really big bucks for ready-made stuff. Every magic trick has a basic concept with a whole bunch of showmanship built around it. Look at some old magic books, and keep an eye towards the basic concepts. Try to find some of the older books that describe large showpiece tricks (disappearing man, levitation, etc). The smaller slieght-of-hand stuff doesn't read well in a haunted house. Better yet, find some books that talk about the history of magic. They often describe elaborate set pieces that can be adapted to a house. Hope that helps. Be creative! Mark From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 11:20:35 1997 From: milwiron@btprod.com Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 13:04:52 -0600 To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: details/magic Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com At 01:00 PM 1/26/97 -0500, you wrote: >I am wanting to do more of this type of effect at my haunts. What are >the best sources to get info for the illusion effects. >Allan Hunt down a copy of Paul Osbornes new book- Haunted Illusions, it's a good starting place. Osborne has other book of illusions that will be available at most magic shops. You may want to find the books by Byron Wels on illusions. Denny B.T. Productions' Terror By Design Haunt Supplies & Scare Wares From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Sun Jan 26 14:17:02 1997 Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 16:04:26 -0800 From: DJ To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: details/magic Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Spook wrote: > > Good morning, > > We've found magic/illusion to work really well in our house. This is a real favorite for me, too. Each year we have at least one illusion along this line. It always makes us laugh to hear the adults standing around scratching their heads, saying, "I know that can't be real, but I also know what I'm looking at..." That sort of makes it all worthwhile. Some of the ones we've done are the living head on a table, the headless living woman, the girl without a middle, Spidora the spider girl, changing a man into Wolfman (pepper's ghost) and the gorilla girl (also pepper's ghost). I'm always ready to share ideas along this line. Well, okay. I'm frantic to *find* some new ideas like these. And, of course, I'm happy to fill you in on any that we already know. So... anybody interested in delving into this further? DJ, who's made several little old ladies *very* sick by feeding Spidora "flies" while they watched From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 03:12:11 1997 Date: Mon, 27 Jan 97 06:02:27 EST To: halloween-l@netcom.com From: Bill Lewis Subject: Re: details Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com At 11:03 PM 1/25/97 -0700, you wrote: >The horror I call a horror by association. I get it here and there, but >I got it today watching the ending to Kooyanisqatsi (a helluva movie, >watch it if you can find it). I saw the end of this about 8-10 years ago (time frame fuzzy) I had just gotten home from a night out, and I flipped on the TV. I thought it was so cool that I wanted to see it in its entirety. It was on PBS "Great Performances" series, so I figured they'd have a rebroadcast. Well in spite of what they told me when I called, I never found the rebroadcast. I committed the name, albeit phonetically, to memory just in case I ever run across it again. Where did you see it? Was it on video? I would really like to see it. Bill Lewis NSWC Carderock Division Code 6060 (301) 227-2742 lewisw@oasys.dt.navy.mil From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 04:10:00 1997 From: milwiron@btprod.com Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 05:51:43 -0600 To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: details/magic Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com At 04:04 PM 1/26/97 -0800, you wrote: >Spook wrote: >> Good morning, >> We've found magic/illusion to work really well in our house. > >This is a real favorite for me, too. Each year we have at least one >illusion along this line. It always makes us laugh to hear the adults >standing around scratching their heads, saying, "I know that can't be >real, but I also know what I'm looking at..." That sort of makes it all >worthwhile. > couldn't agree more... I love seeing an illusion or two being done in a haunted house. A haunted house isn't going to scare every person that walks through and should attempt to entertain the "unscareable" with a little comedy or an illusion. Denny B.T. Productions' Terror By Design Haunt Supplies & Scare Wares 630-830-9561 7:30 am. to 5:30 pm. CST fax 630-830-9577 24 hours From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 05:03:23 1997 Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 07:55:41 +0000 From: Cliff Martin To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Seen this book? Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com A while back, there was a post about a book: The Complete Haunted House Book by Tim Harkleroad Has anyone gotten a copy of this? I'm curious if it's worthwhile, (secondly, where I can get a copy/how much...) Thanks, Cliff cliff.martin@saralee.net From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 05:56:22 1997 Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 00:01:08 -0800 From: Michael Marcrum To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Scream of the Week Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Bob, I am glad that you got the credit you deserve!! good job!! Kathy the new kid on the crypt mmarcrum@ix.netcom.com From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 06:53:25 1997 From: milwiron@btprod.com Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 08:38:43 -0600 To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Seen this book? Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com At 07:55 AM 1/27/97 +0000, you wrote: >A while back, there was a post about a book: > >The Complete Haunted House Book >by Tim Harkleroad > >Has anyone gotten a copy of this? I'm curious if it's worthwhile, >(secondly, where I can get a copy/how much...) > >Thanks, >Cliff I talked to his wife a few weeks ago, it isn't being published yet. She said he hoped to have it in print by March. If it's any good, I'm sure John at Mr. Scary and myself will keep it in stock. Denny B.T. Productions' Terror By Design Haunt Supplies & Scare Wares 630-830-9561 7:30 am. to 5:30 pm. CST fax 630-830-9577 24 hours From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 07:01:00 1997 Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 10:12:22 -0500 To: halloween-l@netcom.com From: "John P. Jeffries" Subject: It's the little things that count Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Greetings all, With the new year upon us, and the talk of ideas I thought I would chuck up my 2 cents on something many people sometimes overlook....all the little things that count. In a brief summary, here are some things one should keep in mind on design. Soundscapes: Soundscapes you ask? Nothing more than mood setting music. Use it to get the people ready to see your display or attraction. One track we use is a heartbeat that starts strong and normal and works into a rapid pulse. Believe it or not, your own heart will begin to mimic the soundtrack. This sets off your bodies reaction for fear. There are many tapes and soundtracks that can be used. The best place to sample music is a music store that you can "listen before you buy". If you have a place like that close, you can get exactly the tape or CD you like best. Use your music to your advantage, not just to fill the air :) Lighting: Many of us spend hours and hours building and setting up a scene or display. But if the lighting is poor, it looks nothing like what you originally intended. Hardware stores sell those "clamp lights" that can be placed almost anywhere for about $5.00 each. The same store should sell dimmers that you can wire into the light. Now, for under $10.00, you have a light you can dim, and add color gels to! 8"x8" color gels in a wide range of colors are available from many stores (even local "band" stores) for about $5.00 for a pack of 6 or so. Use back lighting and odd colors to enhance an object or shape. Blue/green/yellow/purple & red are a standard and ther is a gel for whatever color you can think of. A movie that has awesome lighting is MORTAL KOMBAT. The scenes where they are in "Out world" is a very good example on simple but effective lighting techniques. Lighting can really spice up a set. Other options are Par cans and Pin spots with color gels. Pin spots are great for a tight beam (even over long distiances) to enhance a feature or prop. All the little things: Cob Webs, spiders, and the little touches. Even a scribbling on the wall will be noticed by someone. If you use a "web-thrower", or even pre-fab webs, look how real spiders work: in corners, up high, along the ground, in open areas. A neat effect is what I call "Munster webbing"; like they did on the Munster TV show. It's a bit overkill, but scale it back and you get the idea. If you get some LED's from Radio Shack, and set them up as "eyes" in all the dark corners, it will add a creepy effect. Spanish Moss is great for any woods or swamp scene. Want to make it really look like a swamp? Drop in a ARMY/NAVY store and pick up some CAMO NETTING and attach to the ceiling. (Look under Yahoo:CAMOUFLAGE NETTING for the Chicago Army/Navy store on-line. They sell over the 'Net for a good price.) This is only a summary of some things. If you can do some interesting lighting, you may not need to add "tons of other stuff" to make a set look cool. Play with Gels, mix some light and play! And by the time "The big day" arrives, you will poses the knowledge on what you want to do:) Lighting is something many people think you have to spend big bux for, but nope! There are even gels for regular florescent fixtures. And it you do have a high quality prop, you want it to look the best it can. Well, hope this gives you some ideas :) John ********************************* * Mr.Scary Productions * * http://www.mrscary.com * * E-mail: mrscary@kiva.net * * 1-812-824-8935 * * FAX: 1-812-824-9960 * ********************************* From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 07:04:50 1997 From: htraver@dreamsys.com Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 06:56:00 -0700 Subject: Re: details To: halloween-l@netcom.com Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com I found Kooyanisqatsi in a video store, cult section (one of my two best friends works that store). There are two similar movies which Ron Fricke did after learning the technique, both sequels being more subtle. Kooyanisqatsi is a rather brutal movie to watch. Baraka is a very religious movie with some truly awe inspiring sights, while Chronos is a study of time. Ron has a fun trick to disrupt internal body clocking which may prove useful in a haunted house situation. Basically, he uses the music soundtrack and the pacing of the scenes on the film to set a sort of rhythmn. He brings it to the present faster and faster, culminating in a scene which may sound innocuous (an escalator at Union Station) which turns into a thing of utter horror as he compresses about 4 hours of film into about 60 seconds or so. Then suddenly, BAMMO!!!! He then suddenly hits the slow speed past after a couple of high speed sights which I will not describe put into about 1 second or so. Since Chronos is an Imax film, the audience is rather profoundly shocked by the sudden change. Women faint and children flip out. I know it hit me kinda hard from a 19 inch screen! At the end, you can tell he is rather playful with a section nicknamed "the ride". Also, none of the movies use actors or dialougue of any sort. All story telling is done through visual imagery. The movies stand as an interesting case study in telling a story without using the traditional techniques of speech. The story speaks to the heart. Wierd, but true. Harry [ Sent From: Dreamscape Systems - dreamsys.com ] [ Location: Van Nuys, CA - (818) 781-7529 ] From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 07:06:10 1997 From: htraver@dreamsys.com Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 06:58:00 -0700 Subject: Re: details/magic To: halloween-l@netcom.com Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com Methinks in doing magic for haunted houses, my best friend who is partner to our haunted house project is a magician :) Harry [ Sent From: Dreamscape Systems - dreamsys.com ] [ Location: Van Nuys, CA - (818) 781-7529 ] From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 07:44:56 1997 From: htraver@dreamsys.com Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 07:36:10 -0700 Subject: It's the little things that count To: halloween-l@netcom.com Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com John, for the music soundtracking I have this habit of using curious music for certain places, for mood enhancing. I try and study songs used all around. Here are some faves in adittion to the usual Tocatta & Fugue... Passacaglia in c minor by Bach (very rare piece, much quieter but still unsettling) Black Hole soundtrack-"Durant Is Dead". Great for outside usage in line, it conjures up a feeling of a Moloch type machine swallowing up the waiting guests Peter Gabriel-"the feeling begins", from his cd Passion-knotts uses this fantastic song in their Nightmares haunted house for the forest section. A true classic. And for the break, 2 songs which are required: Oingo Boingo: Dead Man's Party (OB and Halloween go hand in hand. Period.) Fishbone: Bonin' In The Boneyard... [ Sent From: Dreamscape Systems - dreamsys.com ] [ Location: Van Nuys, CA - (818) 781-7529 ] From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 08:04:01 1997 Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 02:08:46 -0800 From: Michael Marcrum To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: It's the little things that count Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com John, these are great ideas! You are so right about the sounds..we have our usual graveyard scene but we added a custom made sound tape. With sounds of digging, and dogs howling, and a church bell, a few red light bulbs in reflectors pointed from a low angle up at the tombstones and instant new graveyard!! Angles with lights that create interesting if not scary shadows is something easy to do and gives great results. Don't just point it at the object try different angles for shadow effects!! It is great to see the effects!! Kathy the new kid on the crypt mmarcrum@ix.netcom.com From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Mon Jan 27 08:48:00 1997 From: dallan@dow.com To: Subject: Kooyanisqatsi (was Re: details) Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 11:38:02 -0500 Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com I don't know who directed it, but Powaqatsi (sp?) is another sequel to Kooyanisqatsi that deals more with the human element. It is powerful, but I preferred Kooyanisqatsi. I believe that Powaqatsi is scored by Philip Glass, as I know Kooyanisqatsi was. I was fortunate to attend a live performance of the soundtrack by the Philip Glass Ensemble at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor a few years ago. The sync to the movie was perfect, and the performance was great. (For those who are wondering, Kooyanisqatsi is a Hopi Indian word meaning "life out of balance." The film is a collection of images of nature and humanity made using special photography, like time-lapse and speeded up. It's best seen on the big screen. I don't know how it would play on a TV.) David >---------- >From: htraver@dreamsys.com[SMTP:htraver@dreamsys.com] >Sent: Monday, January 27, 1997 8:56 AM >To: halloween-l@netcom.com >Subject: Re: details > >I found Kooyanisqatsi in a video store, cult section (one of my two best >friends works that store). There are two similar movies which Ron Fricke >did after learning the technique, both sequels being more subtle. >Kooyanisqatsi is a rather brutal movie to watch. Baraka is a very >religious movie with some truly awe inspiring sights, while Chronos is a >study of time. Ron has a fun trick to disrupt internal body clocking >which may prove useful in a haunted house situation. Basically, he uses >the music soundtrack and the pacing of the scenes on the film to set a >sort of rhythmn. He brings it to the present faster and faster, >culminating in a scene which may sound innocuous (an escalator at Union >Station) which turns into a thing of utter horror as he compresses about >4 hours of film into about 60 seconds or so. Then suddenly, BAMMO!!!! He >then suddenly hits the slow speed past after a couple of high speed >sights which I will not describe put into about 1 second or so. Since >Chronos is an Imax film, the audience is rather profoundly shocked by >the sudden change. Women faint and children flip out. I know it hit me >kinda hard from a 19 inch screen! At the end, you can tell he is rather >playful with a section nicknamed "the ride". > >Also, none of the movies use actors or dialougue of any sort. All story >telling is done through visual imagery. The movies stand as an >interesting case study in telling a story without using the traditional >techniques of speech. The story speaks to the heart. Wierd, but true. > >Harry > >[ Sent From: Dreamscape Systems - dreamsys.com ] >[ Location: Van Nuys, CA - (818) 781-7529 ] > From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Tue Jan 28 05:23:55 1997 Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 08:06:45 -0500 From: ROGER ALEXANDER To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Spider room idea Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com I was laying in bed the other night, and suddenly an idea came to mind for the haunt this year. It may be an old idea that's been used before or already suggested, but here goes... In the room that my wife and I do, victims come in the room from the left and pass diagonally across the room to the exit on the opposite wall right side (see diagram below). As they come in, they see a person totally encased in cob webs and cob webs covering the walls, ceiling, etc (Denny's web shooter here!). They are so interested in this person predicament that they don't notice behind them in the opposite corner. The person acts "half alive" as as they get closer, he/she whispers to look out behind them. They turn around to see one of the 6 ft tarantulas (Denny or John has them) feasting on another victim also encased in webbing! Various spiders can be about in the webbing (the kids??). Then, just before they leave the room, the lights go out and string, feather boas, or whatever drop from the ceiling making the person think spiders are dropping down to get them!! I can just here the screaming now! >:) Plays on people's basic fear of spiders (arachnaphobia). |----------------------------------- ^^^ --| | encased exit | | victim | | | | giant taran| | with | | victim | |-- ^^^ ------------------------------------| enter Like I said, this may be an old idea, but I think it would work great, especially for how the room is laid out. More ideas to follow... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roger Alexander Phone: 812-854-4748 Naval Surface Warfare Center Fax: 812-854-3508 Bldg 64 Code 111RA Crane, IN 47522 INTERNET: rda413@smtp.nwscc.sea06.navy.mil Supporting the Fleet through Supply! From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Tue Jan 28 05:35:30 1997 From: Peepley@aol.com Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 08:27:01 -0500 (EST) To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Spider room idea Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com we used a spider room, in our past two halloweens. We were able to get a giant, white nylon, air freight cargo net. With the proper lighting it is perfect, sturdy, and safe. We had people (spider people) crawling all over it eating other people wrapped-up in Saran Wrap in the webbing. It is an excellent prop and lends itself well to building an effective efect around it. JAS The Web Fluid Bandit From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Tue Jan 28 07:19:12 1997 From: milwiron@btprod.com Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 09:03:40 -0600 To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Spider room idea/banter Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com At 08:06 AM 1/28/97 -0500, Roger wrote in part: >I was laying in bed the other night, and suddenly an idea came to mind for the haunt >this year. It may be an old idea that's been used before or already suggested, but here goes... > >....they see a person totally encased in cob webs and cob webs covering the walls, >ceiling, etc. > (Denny's web shooter here!). Bless your heart. > They turn around to see one of the 6 ft tarantulas (Denny or John has them) >feasting on another victim also encased in webbing! I'm sorry to say I had to get rid of our 6 ft. tarantula, Billy Bob, after he ate two of my Bull Terriers. Denny B.T. Productions' Terror By Design Haunt Supplies & Scare Wares From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Tue Jan 28 09:19:58 1997 Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 09:07:58 -0700 From: Lauren Jones To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Spider room idea -Reply Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com A friend of a friend built us a giant 3-D spider that we called "Spot" (all major props have nicknames: easier than yelling, "Can you bring me the skull with the horns with the red tips that doesn't have the light-sensor thingy--the medium-sized one...). We built a spider web from floor to ceiling in a blacked out room lit with blacklight. Spot was constructed with a hollow head so that an actor in black with fluorescent makeup could sit under him with their head inside his. It looked like the spider was alive and could talk. From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Tue Jan 28 09:44:47 1997 Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 12:34:41 -0500 From: ROGER ALEXANDER To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Spider room idea/banter -Reply Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com >>> 1/28/97 10:03 am >>> > They turn around to see one of the 6 ft tarantulas (Denny or John has them) >feasting on another victim also encased in webbing! I'm sorry to say I had to get rid of our 6 ft. tarantula, Billy Bob, after he ate two of my Bull Terriers. Denny <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<, ROTFL!!!!!! Did you keep their remains (if any!) for your haunt?? ;-D --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roger Alexander Phone: 812-854-4748 Naval Surface Warfare Center Fax: 812-854-3508 Bldg 64 Code 111RA Crane, IN 47522 INTERNET: rda413@smtp.nwscc.sea06.navy.mil Supporting the Fleet through Supply! From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Tue Jan 28 10:04:00 1997 From: SkinkSim@aol.com Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 12:57:26 -0500 (EST) To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Spider room idea -Reply Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com I saw an interesting, albeit risky, variation on the Spider Web room a few years ago. There was a big web on the opposite wall, with the shadow of a moving spider projected onto the web. There was an opening hidden in the ceiling above our heads, and someone prompty dropped a soft - but life-sized - dummy on one of the guests in the group. From owner-halloween-l@majordomo.netcom.com Tue Jan 28 10:35:30 1997 Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 12:28:23 -0600 From: David Kiihne To: halloween-l@netcom.com Subject: Re: Spider room idea -Reply -Reply Reply-To: halloween-l@netcom.com >>> 01/28/97 11:57am >>>