[Just Whisper]

Daphne, The tent sounds like a great idea. I had mine at the end of the hallway of my inflatable haunted house one year. It looked great and also made it so the kids HAD to walk past it so it didn't get overlooked. I hope you can find a solution to the light problem.

Debbie, I don't know what a sonotube is, but I have never seen the design you described. Sounds like it may be a pretty unique approach.

 

[niblique71]

Debbie, I don't know what a sonotube is, but I have never seen the design you described. Sounds like it may be a pretty unique approach.

A sonotube is a stiff cardboard tube use to form deck and outdoor light pole footers (and other applications using concrete). Their sizes range from 6" up to 24" (or more). With some weatherproofing they could be easily adapted to a bottemless pit.

 

[Daphne]

I'd never heard of a sonotube either. Apparently it is a hollow cylindrical concrete form. Think giant piece of PVC that is made of a rigid cardboard type material if I understand it correctly. I tried something along those lines (chicken wire tunnel wrapped in black plastic the diameter of the pit and stuck on the end of it so the pit would be shielded on the sides). Didn't work in my situation unfortunately.

That would be wild looking down the "throat" of something and the pit is in there.

 

[Daphne]

A sonotube is a stiff cardboard tube use to form deck and outdoor light pole footers (and other applications using concrete). Their sizes range from 6" up to 24" (or more). With some weatherproofing they could be easily adapted to a bottemless pit.

Sorry, should have refreshed before I replied.

 

[debbie5]

"Still looking for a solution unfortunately. "

Sling shot and a marble should take care of that pesky street light.

 

[Haunted Spider]

Debbie5,

I didn't use a sonotube for mine but I used PVC pipe instead, not the kind you find at lowes, but 30" inside diameter underground pipe for culverts.

Mine has a single pane of mirror on the bottom and a two way mirror on top, actual glass. The mirror sits down about 3 inches in the tube on the first ring and I topped it with stretched steel to keep hands off of it.

I had not thought about doing a throat idea. I actually made mine look like a mine shaft. 2 bulbs, one on each side light it up and I built a ladder that relects to look like it goes all the way down evenly.

I will have to see if I have a pic that is anything decent.

Sonotube could work but you would need to protect it well to ensure it doesn't get messed up to moisture. You may want to varnish it like stolloweens creations.

 

[austenandrews]

We used sonotubes for the structure of a monster mud tree last year. The tree has sat in our backyard ever since, under the eaves but not much shielded from the weather. The tubes appear to be holding up fine. They've got some kind of waxy coating over the cardboard. I'd seal them with something stronger before I left them in the direct weather, though.

 

[Daphne]

"Still looking for a solution unfortunately. "

Sling shot and a marble should take care of that pesky street light.

I'm not saying that maybe my neighbor attempted to have a black, plastic bag accidentally cover one of them but couldn't get high enough to accidentally put it on. Nor that my husband wanted to accidentally have a box land on ours but again, we needed a bucket truck.

 

[austenandrews]

I thought about putting a rectangular bottomless pit under my boardwalk bridge last year, so it looks like you're crossing a chasm. But I didn't think it would survive contact with the real world. In ten seconds or less, someone would try to spit down the chasm. Though if you had a sturdy enough surface for a "glass floor," the effect could be very disconcerting.

 

[Haunted Spider]

This is where stretched steel comes in. You can see through it but you can't touch it. We used stretched steel in a haunt I helped with over one of the spinning vortex tunnels. You can look down through the steel it is sturdy enough to support anyones weight. Just a thought

 

[austenandrews]

Interesting idea. It's not cheap, but it would absolutely be secure.

 

[Daphne]

This is where stretched steel comes in. You can see through it but you can't touch it. We used stretched steel in a haunt I helped with over one of the spinning vortex tunnels. You can look down through the steel it is sturdy enough to support anyones weight. Just a thought

This made me think of another application since I have to do something major anyway... In the bottom of mine, I have a mask and a hand reaching towards you. A strobe lights that up when Vincent Price laughs. What if you had it where the pit was on the side or end of the hallway (or in some enclosure) but instead of just the pit, you had multiple hands reaching out and a strobe stayed on lighting them. You could have the arms rigged up with a motor where they appeared to retract/extend towards you?

And I wonder why I am always in the dog house....

 

[divinedragon7]

wonderful, always wanted to try my hand at this, think i'll use your how to

 

[BobbyA]

Just whisper, Thanks for posting the bottomless pit.
FYI they are called 2 way mirrors because depending on which side the light is on you can see through either side. Normal (1 way) mirrors will not do this, either the mirror metal coating is too thick, and or they paint one side to protect the coating and keep light from passing through from the other direction. Trivia for the day.