Limitations

[Hellrazor]

Hey all, heres a question for ya! I was looking through many websites and taking in everyones different point of view when it comes to decorating for the haunting season. A couple of times I went ugh...not becasue of lack of skill but because it would be something I couldnt do. Im talking about limitations.
Everyone has their drawing point for what is acceptable then what is over the top... Tell me, what are your limitations, Im just interested. This thread in no way is an attempt to shame, or eye open or anything, just wondering what peoples limitations are... and it could go either way....


My limitations are... cutsy stuff... Im not a fan of it. I also have decided I dont want gallows and my hubby put his foot down that there will not be babies...

[hidehoman]

We will not do blood or ocult of any kind incuding Witches. We do dark macabra and the undead. I just don't see the kneed to push much past that. I think gore is a cheap way out, not scary and just for shock value.

[Moon Dog]

We won't do mutilations - no bodies torn apart, organs or entrails - no need for it at our house.

[Da Weiner]

One limitation is of course, money - there just simply isn't enough of it to do what I want to do. I am also challenged when it comes to building props - I have the imagination but I am not really mechanically inclined when it comes to building sometimes. My hubby does help out a lot when it comes to details and making things happen. I also do not use cutesy stuff anymore for the inside or outside decorations. I don't put up occult signs because it would promote that Halloween is evil or a pagan holiday which a lot of people already have in their minds. I don't want to give into that and make them feel they're correct. Even though my hubby knows I love Halloween and supports me, I still limit myself so I don't get on his nerves too much.

[jdubbya]

Good thread.
Also not into "cutesy". No Satanic or devil related. (Bought a great devil mask one year for a prop and Mrs. dubs said no to that.
Got away from gore a couple years back and don't miss it. I do have the latex head on a hook that I place inconspicuously in a tree, but that's it. Also won't do a gallows/hanging or anything to do with executions. Never saw what that has to do with Halloween.
Clowns are also out. Again, how did clowns become a Halloween scare and in the event some little kids come by and aren't afraid of them, I don't want to be a contributing factor.

[HibLaGrande]

I don't have gore, or devils.as I do not want to contribute to the cause of the people that say Halloween is a Satanic Holiday. I don't care for the cute stuff either. I like the vintage creatures, Dracula, Wolfman, Mummy,Mad Scientist Witch, Ghosts, Frankensiens Monster, Skeletons, Bats, Spiders, Zombies I also like Space Aliens. I like to depict somthing creepy or spooky not violent or murderous, there is enough of that in the world already.

Absolutly no clowns!!!!! they give me the creeps :D

[grapegrl]

I like to keep things spooky yet classy. I'm not into gore at all and I'll admit, some of the stuff I put out (especially inside) would be considered "cutesy" by most folks' standards around here. I love vintage/Victorian Hallowe'en decor and have been told more than once by guests that the inside of my house looks like something out of Southern Living magazine's October issue. Besides gore, I also do not have anything that perpetuates or promotes the stereotypical "witch as an evil and ugly hag" idea. I'm a practicing witch and while I'm not necessarily offended by it (unless something is just plain over-the-top and offensive for the sake of being ignorant and offensive), I simply don't care for it personally.

Edited to add: No inflatables, either!

[MansionHaunter]

Definitely no cutesy here.

Also, no chainsaws or pop-out scares. There are lots of little kids in our neighborhood, including my own two-year-old, who'd be soiling their diapers if I had anything sudden jump out and scare them.

Plus... the above mentioned two-year-old makes it difficult to work on props without him getting involved and either hurting himself on something I'm working on, nor without him making off with some important piece (last night it was an ABS pipe intended to go on the fog chiller I'm working on).

[Long_Tom]

My first limitation is storage space. I have to keep Halloween confined to a corner of the attic, so I'm not likely to do any really large props. That means no mannequins, no pillars, etc. Maybe cemetery fence one day, since it's flat. It's my personal challenge to make an impressive display that can still be packed away into a reasonable space the rest of the year.

Second, no gore. That isn't particularly Halloweenish to me. If I want blood and guts, I'll turn on the evening news. Also, I don't care to give the little kids Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. My own kids tell me it makes them unhappy to look at that sort of thing (the older one no longer will set foot in the Spirit Halloween store for that reason). Since my goal is to entertain, not to upset, that sort of stuff has no place in my display.

As others have mentioned, no Satanism. We have enough problems with the rhetoric from the fundamentalists without giving them grist for the mill.

I have nothing against cutesy, though I don't currently use any. That is good for the younger set, a lot of whom currently won't come up to my front door because it is too scary for them (though tame by many standards). To me that's a problem that I need to correct. If I've scared them off completely, they missed the show. I might just as well save all the money I spend on props and candy, and stand at the door yelling obscenities to keep them off my property. My bank account would appreciate it, but it's not why I do Halloween. So, I'm slowly working towards having two displays: friendly stuff on the path to the front door for the timid; scary stuff on the path down the side yard for the older or more adventurous.

Final limitation is skill and time. No electronics knowledge, limited woodworking, somewhat clunky artistic execution.

[trishaanne]

We don't do cutesy, there's enough people around here who do that and they expect scary from us. I won't do anything with anyone hanging because it hits too close to home. I've had a few friends whose kids chose to hang themselves and just recently, my ex-son in law did the same thing, so no hanging here. I also won't do possessed or evil clowns. Since kids like the circus and clowns, I would never want them to be scared by clowns and have the circus ruined for them. We don't do alot of gore either.

[slimy]

Wow, after reading this, I figured out what an amoral person I am.

I have some "cutesy" things on the side of the house for the little ones.

Though I never thought of what I do is 'satanic' I did build a flying demon.

I never thought what I did was inspired by the 'occult' but I have witches.

I never thought of what I did was 'gory', but I do use body parts.

I couldn't get the motor to work this year, or I would have had a hanging man.

I put a skull on a doll, does that make me a bad person?

This year, I guess I am doing the ultimate evil, I'm including clowns.

I guess I'm the bottom of the barrel. How will you guys ever talk to me again?

[ScareFX]

Wow, after reading this, I figured out what an amoral person I am.

I have some "cutesy" things on the side of the house for the little ones.

Though I never thought of what I do is 'satanic' I did build a flying demon.

I never thought what I did was inspired by the 'occult' but I have witches.

I never thought of what I did was 'gory', but I do use body parts.

I couldn't get the motor to work this year, or I would have had a hanging man.

I put a skull on a doll, does that make me a bad person?

This year, I guess I am doing the ultimate evil, I'm including clowns.

I guess I'm the bottom of the barrel. How will you guys ever talk to me again?



LOL - I'm guess I'm right down at the amoral bottom with you slimy! :D

Something "cutesy" - Check
Demon - Check
Witches - Check
Body parts - Check
Hanging man - Not this year but a skeleton two years ago - Check
Clowns - ....nope...not yet ;)

[Da Weiner]

Wow, after reading this, I figured out what an amoral person I am.

I have some "cutesy" things on the side of the house for the little ones.

Though I never thought of what I do is 'satanic' I did build a flying demon.

I never thought what I did was inspired by the 'occult' but I have witches.

I never thought of what I did was 'gory', but I do use body parts.

I couldn't get the motor to work this year, or I would have had a hanging man.

I put a skull on a doll, does that make me a bad person?

This year, I guess I am doing the ultimate evil, I'm including clowns.

I guess I'm the bottom of the barrel. How will you guys ever talk to me again?


I would never think of you as an amoral person and you are not the bottom of the barrel. What you do with your decorations or haunt is really your business. I think when you put your haunt and/or decorations up, it's up to you are far as the limitations you put on yourself. :)

[Eyes_in_the_dark]

ROFL, I guess I'm with Slimy and FX, nothing much is off limits for me, the scarier the better. The only thing I didn't do this year that I thought about doing was hanging an inverted cross over my front door...thought that might get my house bruned down or something. :eek:

[gypsichic]

one of the things i won't do is hang a dummy in the tree

can't remember if it was here i read something or somewhere else about someone commiting suicide and the police thought it was a halloween prop but in fact it was a real person

[Long_Tom]

By all means, haunt your own haunt. I'm not saying you are wrong for what you choose to put on display, just what works and doesn't work for me.

[edwood saucer]

I'm speaking up for cutsey!

While I don't call my ideas cutsey - my idea of a haunt is the Haunted Mansion . I dig that - and it's sort of the underlying foundation of everything I'm doing.

When I think of cutsey - I think of Walmart Inflatable stuff...

I do love the scary stuff, I just have my own ideas about it.

Signed,
Cutsey : ^)

[edwood saucer]

But I do have a real hard time with the auto-association of a demon with the occult.

That is sort of fruit and small minded.

For an art project I put a demons head in a priests frock with baby dolls scattered at his hooves... To me it was a statement regarding the church and molestations.

By the way - I still have the demon head - I'd send it to whomever wants it. It's really bitchin. Needs paint - but freaky all the same.

[Beepem]

nothing cute, no inflatables.

im a graveyard type. graves, skeletons ghosts. no blood and gore. it really is a cheap way out.....i do my best to model after skull and bone

[WickedWitch]

Is someone lurking in my bushes because I was just crucified today by a bible thumper who approached my door. (Mind you I don't have a neighbor in sight and live on a 1/2 mile long private road.) Point is this: no matter what is the limit for this "evil" holiday, there will ALWAYS be someone there to slap you across the face and flame you.
Myself, I am mild to alot of displays I've seen on this forum, not for lack of desire but I'm an educated idiot who lacks the technical skill required to do the cool stuff. Outide I've got cemetaries and a crematorium (a red strobe inside of an old milk house) A few dummies with masks and pitchforks and of course your everyday household skeleton.. Inside it's all witches and dungeons with yet more dummies with store bought masks.....whoopdie doo Bazzle
As far as this "limit" issue, I reckon it depends on the age of kids in/around the house. You could always post one of those Warnings Due to graphic content our property is rated PG13. Sadly, it only takes 1 little bird who is having a bad day to start a lynch mob.
In my own defense, I am not a practicing witch. I have been crazy over witches since I saw the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz as a child. And I'm a desendant of Susannah North Martin, accused and hung in Salem for Witchcraft....my hubby says that explains alot...lol.,

[scareme]

Slimy, you are amoral, but that's why I love you. You're so much fun. I can't do witches and devils because of the neighbors, but I was looking pretty hard at a devil at the Spirt store today. Someday I might just get brave enough to get one and tell the neighbors to go to the devil. My husbands a pretty big guy to back me up in case I get to scrapping.

[Dreadnight]

No cutesy. Any gore is very limited (couple of chopped off pirate heads, but not all bloody by any means). I will not do small skeletons because to me that looks like a child and I don't think people want to think of that. Nothing blatantly satanic although I would use a devil figure if he ever fit in my theme... just never has.

[Dreadnight]

Oh, and we try REALLY hard not to scare the real little ones. We accidentally did that last year to a toddler being carried by his mom, and I have still not recovered from my guilty feelings.

[jdubbya]

Oh, and we try REALLY hard not to scare the real little ones. We accidentally did that last year to a toddler being carried by his mom, and I have still not recovered from my guilty feelings.


Absolutely agree on that! Our walk through is divided into two sections. The front yard is pretty user friendly with a graveyard, and the traditional stuff. The driveway is blocked off to hide the view of the scarier walk through. We openly advise parents with little ones that it is scarier than some children can tolerate and offer them candy at the front of the house. It's appaling how many parents drag/push their kids through the walk through and tell them "oh stop crying, it's all make believe", as the kid is having a freakin seizure because he's so scared; and the parents are laughing about it:rolleyes: what better way to turn a kid off on Halloween!
Two years ago I literally scolded a parent and told them to take their child out of the walk through as the kid (maybe 5-6 yrs. old) was hysterical. They looked at me like I was nuts but they complied. I want little kids to like to come to my house and see them as repeat customers year to year Scaring the crap out of toddlers is not fun, in my book. It's not even horrifying cares as much as atmosphere and mood created, although there are a couple scare actors that do jump out. We have a code system to alert them in the event little ones are being brought through.

[KryptKittie69]

I'm curious about some people not wanting to use the devil/Satan in their displays. I never used him in mine, but I can't say it was a deliberate effort not to.

Is it because it is in bad taste or because something more sinister...like tempting evil to pay a little visit?

:devil:

[NickG]

I don't have any gore... never really thought to have any in the haunt, but also I think it's a little too much for the little tots. The witch/demon stuff isn't really an issue where I'm at, though our foster kids have come home with little pamphlets in their tot bag that says they're going to hell if they don't change their evil ways. I was thinking of doing a haunted grill, with some baby dolls on it... wife said it was out of the question... seems like a little much to me too, I wouldn't want our 19 month old foster son to be confused by it. He loves all the zombies and stuff, grins at the grave grabber and ground breakers. I wouldn't mind a hanging skelly, but I havn't a tree for it.

last year we had a system for turning it down for the little kids... I was walking up and down the driveway and the street and when little kids were approaching the yard or going up the driveway I'd yell "fresh meat! they're real short!" to indicate that the actors shouldn't jump out and try to scare the crap out of them.... if they were older, It would be "they're pretty tall" or "get 'em good!" and I'd carry the stereo remote in my pocket and mute the soundtrack if I had to... sometimes escorted them up to the porch. Also, my sister hung out at the end of the driveway for those who couldn't summon the courage to approach the house.

[BadOleRoss]

The only things I stay away from is anything along the satanic line or anything that even get close to having religious overtones. I live about 2 miles from Jerry Fallwells Liberty college. I also stay away from the cutesy stuff. I wil do gore but that is all kept in a seperate area and there wil be a warning sign of sometype to keep the little ones at bay. My front yard is pretty much the traditional cemetery. I do have a handful of pop ups but again those are triggered only of the people we feel can handle it. Wealso encourage youngster to touch things so they understand that it's all fake and just for fun. It great to scare and entertain peope but there is some responsibiity that goes along with it.

[Hellrazor]

Wow, what a great thread. Its amazing everyones difference of opinions sometimes eh. I would like to say no one here is immoral for thier take on Halloween and Halloween decortions. I like all the different spins.... makes the world go round eh.

Speaking of scaring the crap out of a little one. MY father in law came over a couple of years back later in the evening. He laid in the grass... in wait. He isnt all that versed in WHO should be scared.. we tried to give him signals but he would scare anyone... needless to say, he jumped out at a 5 year old who peddled backwards and knocked into a baby carriage...

We have in a round about way, not invited my father in law back on Halloween and havnt seen the 5 year old since. :( THat was like 4 years ago) Guilt feelings or what....

[Sinister]

I'm curious about some people not wanting to use the devil/Satan in their displays. I never used him in mine, but I can't say it was a deliberate effort not to.

Is it because it is in bad taste or because something more sinister...like tempting evil to pay a little visit?

:devil:

I have been watching this thread since Courtney posted it and KryptKittie's response sums up exactly what I've been thinking. The next thing I post here will probably have some people come down on me hard for this, but I am not trying to start anything. I must ask in all honesty: why do some of you even celebrate the holiday if you are not going to go all out on your haunts for the one time of the year when Horror is King? Over the course of the year, this question pops into my head quite frequently when some of you don't even know of Horror films in the games that are bascially common knowledge amongst Horror film buffs.

One of the chief complaints I hear from people when it comes to Haunts/Haunted Houses is them not being scary enough or downright cheesy. People need to get over their skittishness about the deranged church groups whining and complaining about how evil Halloween is (IMHO child molestation that is seemingly looked over by these cretins is far more evil than a bloody skeleton or cackling demon) and make something that is going to kick some ass in the Haunt community. No home haunter should want to have anything less than something people would be telling their friends about in whispers of awe and having folks not being able to keep away but turning out in droves.

Just wait. When I am able to finally piece a haunt together, it's going to be something that would get the stamp of approval from Stephen King and Clive Barker. Down with cutesy and safe, unleash the monstrous! :xbones:

[gypsichic]

Go Sin!!! will you be selling tickets to this future haunt of yours???

[Hellrazor]

Ill take 2!

[trishaanne]

I try to have a child friendly area of my yard so that the little ones will enjoy the set up and want to keep coming back. The back yard, where we have the maze, is where we scare the crap out of folks who come through. We have signs up warning that it may be too intense for certain people and I'm also amazed at how many people force their kids to go through with them. We had one teenager, maybe 13 or 14 who didn't want to go through but his friends talked him into it, since they had just come out. He got to the first room and froze, too scared to go forward or backwards. The only ones we don't scare are the little ones and some of the neighborhood seniors who may be checking things out with their grandchildren. I'd hate to be known as the house that killed grandma!

[HibLaGrande]

If I had an actual haunt for adults and teens to go through I would not hold back anything, I like demons and gore as much as anyone, but as it stands all I have is humble front yard decor for TOT's which in my area seem to be mostly in the 2-5 year old range. So I tend to stay in the realm of Disney spooky rather than Clive Barker Horror. I do this for the kids more that I do it for myself.

[Johnny Thunder]

I have to agree with Sin here - although my front yard and dressing up antics no where reach the coolness and awesome work of a lot of people here - i've found that kids (even those who are scared) seem to react more to the insane/intense stuff. i mean, i say go for it - i try to make my costumes and decorations off kilter and i've never had any parent complain (ok a few kids cry and won't come on my side of the street but...)

[pyro]

wow i might have went a little over board(na) i was outside adding a little more, (alittle more than half way done) and some neighborhood tots was walking by with there mommy then all of a sudden one started to bawl ing it's head off saying "mommy ,mommy monsters " then the other says i dont want to go there for trick or treat, LOL I FELT BAD BUT YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK I GOT FROM THE MOTHER LOL

[JohnnyL]

I go for the classic Haunted Mansion feel.

[kevin242]

No clowns, pirates, cutesy stuff, gore ok but not like Alarming Products ripped open torsos. We have an autopsy patient with a cow heart, sausage casing and liver (the kids love it/hate it).
No politics or real peoples' names on tombstones (as that's in extremely poor taste). No satanic references or anything overtly religious. No real fire or dry ice. No running. no touching. no pushing. And last but not least: no uncostumed people hanging around on Halloween, UCPs suck!

[Hellrazor]

Hib said it best. If it was a Haunted walk for teens and older, I too, would make it more horrific. However, its halloween night , for children so It cant be terrifying... a pretty witch is sometimes terrifying enough :0

[wilbret]

No gore for us. Spooky is okay, scary is okay, but disgusting is out. We have to be kid-friendly.

I mean, we have bleeding skulls and the bloody toilet clings...but no dismembered corpses and such.

[incubus0]

...People need to get over their skittishness about the deranged church groups whining and complaining about how evil Halloween is (IMHO child molestation that is seemingly looked over by these cretins is far more evil than a bloody skeleton or cackling demon) and make something that is going to kick some ass in the Haunt community...100% agree!

I view the modern day Halloween as a type of rite of passage for children. It is an important part of growing up to be able to face fears, and not let them stop you. Halloween offers a safe place for children to do that, and be rewarded at the end.

Make it as frightening as possible, the scarier the better.

My goal is to frighten, and hopefully the entertainment value is taken from that.

If at least one parent doesn't think there's something wrong with me, then I haven't done my job.

I can't stand cutesy.

Having said that, I'm all for atmosphere and anticipation. Loud noises and pop-ups aren't really scary to me. I like them, and think it's fun to watch people jump, but it's not my style. I want people to actually think something bad may happen.

As far as limitations go, I wouldn't set up any pedophile or pederast type things, like an old guy or priest with a kid bent over, unless I could make it look like they're next. (kidding, I still wouldn't do that)

Gore - Fine
I use it for atmosphere, not gross out.

Demonic - Fine
Next year will be a hell gate theme.

Religious - Fine
I'm toying around with the idea of making a Jesus oozing blood with evil Romans around with spears and whips. Mel Gibson would love it.

Witches - Fine
Although I don't really find them scary.

Another theme I have in mind is Christmas gone wrong. A Santa slay on it's side on the roof, with Santa hanging off the edge wrapped up and choking in Christmas lights, with mangled reindeer around. Then I'll answer the door in a costume of a traditional Christmas sweater and slacks with blood splattered over me.

[Long_Tom]

I view the modern day Halloween as a type of rite of passage for children. It is an important part of growing up to be able to face fears, and not let them stop you. Halloween offers a safe place for children to do that, and be rewarded at the end.

Make it as frightening as possible, the scarier the better.

My goal is to frighten, and hopefully the entertainment value is taken from that.

I don't know, there just isn't a whole lot of sport in making a toddler cry.

Making the toddler's mom wet herself, on the other hand... :eek:

Kidding aside, I'm there with you, mostly. Halloween is about being scared. But there's a reason that rites of passage wait until certain ages. If you scare the living crap out of them when they are too young to "get it", mostly what you succeed in doing is ruining their evening, and probably the evening of the parents who then have to console them. Once they are ready for the thrill ride, though, go for it.

That's not to say that I won't still adhere to certain things in the way of "tastefulness" for my Halloween themes. Some things say Halloween to me, and others don't. A regular old Weber grill with body parts apparently roasting on it falls into the latter category. Jeffrey Dahmer is not a Halloween character. (If you really want to do a cannibalism riff, go ahead, but decorating your grill is the cannibalism equivalent of white Hefty bag ghosts.)

I have to admit, by refusing some of the more obvious shock tactics, I probably don't make my haunt as scary as it could have been. I try to compensate for that by making what is there as good eye candy as I can manage. Good tombstones, good blacklight ghosts, et cetera. I'm satisfied if people come away from my display saying "wow, that was cool" even if I haven't managed to scare the pants off them.

Last thing I want, though, is for them to think my display is cheesy.

[incubus0]

...Halloween is about being scared. But there's a reason that rites of passage wait until certain ages. If you scare the living crap out of them when they are too young to "get it", mostly what you succeed in doing is ruining their evening, and probably the evening of the parents who then have to console them. Once they are ready for the thrill ride, though, go for it.Mostly agree. We will have a set up that allows us to tone down the last step for the very little ones. The problem right now is deciding on where the cut off age is. I think if they're old enough to walk to the door on their own power, they're old enough to be scared, the little women is thinking 12 years old. Much negotiating is still ahead . . .

[ghostie]

Our haunt is heading more toward a spiritual setup. The graveyard is there, but the unseen souls are there too. I love poultergiest (sp?) props. Moving books, chandeliers, rocking chairs, etc. I have no idea how it's going to affect the kids. I'm hoping they'll like it...I can see how a haunt could go in a million different directions, depending on the personality of the haunter. Witches don't offend me. They're a classic Halloween staple, I think. And I've been on this forum long enough to know that most everyone is super nice even though they have different takes on things. That's what makes this forum special...and unique.

[scareme]

Living in other sections of the country, you might not know hard hard it can be to haunt in the heart of the bible belt. Even without witches or devils in my haunt I've had someone write out on my sidewalk about santan worshiping
I've had someone light a ghost on fire, and neighbors who won't let their kids come over. I've got co-workers praying for my soul and giving me those pamlets. One of my neighbors was buying her kid a halloween costume and another customer got on to her about satan getting her kids. I live about three blocks from a really big Baptist church ad the Pizza Hut down the block was told if they kept serving beer they would be boycoted. Now if we want beer with our pizza we have to take it home. If a corp the size of pizza hut can't stand up to them, I'm not going out of my way to pick fights. I know you'll say tell the neighbors to kiss off, but these are the same people that called the cops when our house was getting broken into. We gota live with these people. So I try to play nice, but still scare a little. A fine line to walk.

[incubus0]

Living in other sections of the country, you might not know hard hard it can be to haunt in the heart of the bible belt. Even without witches or devils in my haunt I've had someone write out on my sidewalk about santan worshiping...Ironically, they're probably a lot scarier then any display we could come up with.

Have you thought about a bunch of animated wide-eyed bible thumpers yelling at would-be trick-or-treaters about burning in hell? You could have one pop out of a barrel yelling, "Satan has your soul! Satan has your soul!"

Just a thought...

[gypsichic]

Ironically, they're probably a lot scarier then any display we could come up with.

Have you thought about a bunch of animated wide-eyed bible thumpers yelling at would-be trick-or-treaters about burning in hell? You could have one pop out of a barrel yelling, "Satan has your soul! Satan has your soul!"

Just a thought...

lmao..........oh myyyyyyyyy
i'm thinkin that would definitely get some attn

i had a trio of baptists come by the other evening and handed me a pamplet
all we had going at that point was the graveyard fence and 2 headless witches standing by the cauldron
actually the gal was very nice and just asked if i had a home church......told her not really but we were baptist - which we are officially.........lol

none of them said a word about halloween or the props
convo lasted all of 30 secs

[Sinister]

There's some things in the Bible, that if utilized in a yard haunt, could scare the living bejeezuz out of somebody. Just a thought there as well. One imagines what type of a haunt Boesch would have had by bringing some of his paintings to life based on these very principles. :xbones: If anything, bible thumpers should be laughing at yard haunts, haunted houses, Halloween. The damnations we face by not following God's (The church) dictates are far more scarier than Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees. :voorhees: :jol: :devil:

[grapegrl]

...One imagines what type of a haunt Boesch would have had by bringing some of his paintings to life based on these very principles...

While reading this thread last week I thought to myself that a haunt inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's artwork would be mind-bogglingly awesome.

Hmmm...great minds think alike! :p

[scareme]

The type of haunt you describe IncubsO does sound pretty funny. I'd love to be able to tell these people that the little voice in their head telling them to comit these acts of vandalism probably isn't Jesus. And they should be very careful when listening to that voice. But I bet they don't read this website.

[Spike_Mangler]

100% agree!

I view the modern day Halloween as a type of rite of passage for children. It is an important part of growing up to be able to face fears, and not let them stop you. Halloween offers a safe place for children to do that, and be rewarded at the end.

Make it as frightening as possible, the scarier the better.

My goal is to frighten, and hopefully the entertainment value is taken from that.

If at least one parent doesn't think there's something wrong with me, then I haven't done my job.

I can't stand cutesy.

x2.
I am right along with you on this line of thinking


Religious - Fine
I'm toying around with the idea of making a Jesus oozing blood with evil Romans around with spears and whips. Mel Gibson would love it.



Another theme I have in mind is Christmas gone wrong. A Santa slay on it's side on the roof, with Santa hanging off the edge wrapped up and choking in Christmas lights, with mangled reindeer around. Then I'll answer the door in a costume of a traditional Christmas sweater and slacks with blood splattered over me.


Those are great!

Dont forget the dead elves :xbones: :xbones: :xbones:

[gypsichic]

lol.........that would be original!

[incubus0]

...Dont forget the dead elves :xbones: :xbones: :xbones:What color would you use for elf blood, and would it benefit from a black light?

I'm thinking one of the little guys gets thrown clear from the slay crash, hits a tree (elf blood splatter) falls to the ground, then walks up towards the walkway (elf bloody footprints), and then is collapsed over some cutesy lawn ornament (preferably a light-up one).