How to Make a Haunted House

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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Create the spookiest entertainment on the block, and terrify children and adults alike on Halloween night. If it turns out to be a success you will definitely be the talk of the town for quite some time. Just set a budget and determine if you're targeting young kids or adults and teenagers.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Spider Webbing
Wigs
Halloween Candles
Halloween Decorations
Halloween Light Sets
Black Lights
Cauldrons And Foggers
Fog Machines
Jack-o'-lanterns
Table Candelabras
Tombstones (prop)
Antibacterial Soaps
Hand Wipes
Masks
Halloween Sound Effects CD
Coffins
Masks

Step 1

Find a safe place large enough to accommodate all the things you plan to do. You can use your house, basement or yard--or if you really want to be extravagant, you can rent a large, vacant building.
Step 2

Draw up a plan. Using a diagram of the space available, figure out what you want to have in your haunted house and where it might go. Plan an entrance and an exit.
Step 3

Do the hard stuff first. Order or construct props, including such items as fake headstones, guillotines and coffins.
Step 4

Put the haunted house together. Make it dark using black plastic trash bags or blankets over windows, then add eerie lighting. Include lots of unexpected scary sounds and sensory experiences to startle visitors. Keep in mind the need for adequate ventilation.
Step 5

Use peeled grapes as eyeballs, placing them where people will touch them in the dark. Use Styrofoam heads from a beauty supply house and turn them into monsters.
Step 6

Spritz visitors, faces with cold water in the dark, or have visitors walk through spider webs made of stretched cotton or wet string.
Step 7

Create a bubbling-cauldron effect with the aid of dry ice. Fill a rubber glove with water colored with food coloring and freeze it, then remove the glove and float the 'frozen hand' in the cauldrons.
Step 8

Invite several adults to participate with you. They can dress in costume and be part of the haunted house, but can also keep an eye on things and help supervise participants.
Step 9

Advertise. Whether the haunted house is simply for trick-or-treaters in your neighborhood or a community affair, put up a sign telling kids where to find some haunted fun on Halloween.

Comments

gimelpunx said

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on 10/20/2009 Imagine this, you are walking down a long dark hallway towards your own reflection in a mirror. When you finally come up on the mirror, your reflection fades away and is replaced by a horrible shrieking ghoul! I just barely finished building this effect. First I build a wardrobe sized box with a window on the face and a door in back. I wired the box to have 2 lights on the inside, controlled by a dimmer switch. Then I covered the window with an extremely reflective window tint (I found it at an auto tint shop). As long as there is light on the front (outside) of the box and completely pitch dark on the inside, the glass will act like a mirror on the outside. Once the actor inside the box (masked or wearing horribly disfiguring make-up) turns up the dimmer switch, the glass becomes transparent revealing the person inside. It's kind of a "Bloody Mary" effect. I've tested it ou...