Idea Help Needed

[PeeWeePinson]

This year I am planning on a haunted trail that is surrounded on both sides by woods, the trail comes out in a large field also surrounded by woods. I have found out a skirmish was found on our land during the Civil War and I am planning on having a theme from that period of time. My husband is retired Green Beret, so we are not meaning to disrespect what occured in the Civil War or what it was over (loss of life, etc.) I just think it would be awesome to have period costumes, etc. with a story a set around that time. Any ideas on how to make this theme scary?

[heresjohnny]

Personally speaking, I think some of the best ways to set the mood are sound and light (if you can get power out there). There are some great threads in the Atmosphere forum. Some quick ideas are fog on the trail, LED lights in the woods along the trail, ropes tied to bushes and tree limbs that someone can shake at the appropriate time, indirect lighting for the field with LED spots on the period props/areas of intrest. Sounds of unseen things walking through the woods with an occasional howl or roar, sounds of civil war battles and ghosts in the fields....etc, etc.

Hope this helps!

[PeeWeePinson]

Thanks Johnny, I checked out your site with the LED ideas and it has my mind cranking for something in my woods.

[Vlad]

I don't think it would be in bad taste or disrespectful. It sounds like a neat idea. Of course we northerners did win, lol. I think some fog cannons would be awesome scares as people walked by.

[HibLaGrande]

maybe make a cd with a bunch of blank tracks and a few tracks with a general "yelling commands" put the cd in a battery powered boom box that has random-repeat functions and hide it out in the woods somewhere. so every 15 minutes or so a "Tally-ho!" comes from the woods :D can always have someone firing off blanks or firecrackers in a steel 50 gallon drum out in the woods too.

[Hella]

I think this a cool idea, I think the eerie-ness of the whole idea is that civil war soldiers are haunting the area. You could do some battle scenes and have corpses in soldier clothing, along with the sounds.

Hella

[TipoDeemin]

I agree; awesome idea! Most of the things I would've recommended have already been said--the sound effects, lighting, actors, etc. Depending on how much time and resources you've got, you could work in some really intricate stuff... Maybe some skeletal cavalry or a whole brigade of dead soldiers marching along the road. Could even go as simple as a period cemetery with some Bluckies half-buried like they're coming out of the graves.

[Great White]

I think you'd have a lot of material for your scene. Maybe do some two dimensional plywood fronts of forts, stage coaches etc. Canons could be done relatively easy. I would go to home depot and get some ideas. Utilize the trees along the path. Maybe easier said than done? Just some ideas.