I've been involved in creating haunted houses in garages for about five years now.  My friend, Stan, and I have worked together and come up with some really good cheap ideas to accomplish the task.

The following is a guide for anybody who would like to set up a haunted house, with minimal expense and difficulty.

location, location, location

This should be obvious, but you really do need a good clear space.  The bigger the better.   Garages work great, as long as they are well organized and uncluttered.  Also, having definitive entry and exit points would be a good idea.

(I was thinking this year how cool it would be to use an entire home, and might revisit that idea next year.)

props and supplies

Some non-prop objects to look out for that can be converted into props:

• trunks
• old jars
• beakers and test tubes
• rusty tools like handsaws
• clothing
• animal skulls and bones

Get on eBay or CraigsList and find items I've mentioned, or other ones you come up with yourself, snag them from family and friends, etc.   Spend only what you can afford!  (Learning that lesson the hard way myself.)

Also, if you are creative, build a coffin or other prop with material you might have in your garage already.   Put that clutter to good use.  (I built a "barbed wire" fence using unused fence slats and tie wire, and a crypt from extra pressed-board shelves from the garage.)

Some supplies you might want to have on hand (explanations to follow):

• hooks, nails, screws, and pulleys
• strong tape, velcro strips, double-sided tape
• pvc pipe
• plastic sheets
• bed sheets
• cardboard
• metal wire
• fishing line! (the essential haunted house supply)

planning and layout

infastructure

My personal opinion is that the more corners one has to turn, the better.  The more closed in and narrow the "halls", the more claustraphobia can be exploited.  The more maze-like the path, the more disorientation sets in.  So walls are a must.

But how does one erect a bunch of walls in one's garage easily?  Well the answer is, make them super lightweight. Here's our "floating wall" solution:

• Start with lengths of PVC pipe.  The lengths should correspond to the lengths of wall desired.
• Screw hooks into the pipe--like those used in cupboards for coffee cups--at the ends, and in between if needed.
• Now attach bed sheets, sheets of plastic like those used for painting, or other lightweight material.   We mainly used black plastic sheets--cut about 6 feet tall and as long as the PVC pipe--and taped them to the pipes using black guerilla tape.
• Screw hooks into the ceiling.  I recommend stronger eye hooks from the hardware store screwed well into studs so as to avoid them being ripped out of the sheet rock.
• Tie the hooks in the ceiling to the hooks in the PVC pipe.  Fishing line works well for this.

And there you go... cheap walls that are easy to hang and can be rolled up and stored afterwards.  There are other solutions you might like better, but this one works for us.

Also, where there are walls there are usually doors.  Recently, I took an old bedroom door and attached plywood to the bottom with 4" screws.  That kept the door upright.  Remember, it doesn't necessarily need to swing open.  Just leave it ajar.

lighting

• For black lights, the long tube types are the best for making props visible.  Use them for your bigger, showcase items.
• Strategically place lighting so it is not obvious, and can't be messed with; behind props, overhead, etc.
• Strobe lights are a great source of light and add a little disorientation, which is effective and even fun.  They are a great idea for larger "rooms" where there is a lot to see and a lot of space to light up, or where live actors may be about.
• Take everyday lighting sources, like lamps or lanterns, and replace the light source.  Use flickering psuedo-flame bulbs, or battery powered candle flames.  These make nice little islands of light for dark passageways
• Avoid flame at all costs! Seriously, no torches, lanterns, fireplaces, or even candles.  It's way too easy for a kid to bump into an open flame and set his/her costume on fire.  Just don't do it.
• Consider giving kids flashlights or glow sticks.  Or even designate a tour guide, and equip him/her with the flashlight.

sound

I personally like to have sound effects.  Depending on the amount of props you have that generate spooky sound effects, you may not need to add any auditory ambiance to the show at all.  We didn't.  But if you find that your haunted house seems too quiet, you can always play a halloween sounds CD in a boombox.  There are also sound effect devices, some even with motion sensors, that you can purchase.  But I found the good ones are too pricy.

If you are going to have live actors, have them moan from the other side of the walls.

other basic effects

• Fog machines really add flavor to the haunted house experience.  A little fog goes a long way.  Here's a tip: If you cool the fog as it comes out of the machine it will hug the ground.  You can do this by putting a tube, like dryer duct, through both ends of a styrofoam ice chest.  Fill the ice chest around the tube with ice, and direct the fog from the machine through the tube.
• The ever-popular dry ice works wonders in test tubes, beakers, caldrons, etc.
• Textures are very effective for freaking people out, or just adding a little sumthin' sumthin' to the whole experience.  Cotton spider webs, strands of fishing line hanging in the middle of the path, cardboard or plywood on the floor..  all nice little extractions of subliminal fears.  Bowls with wet noodles (innards), olives (eyeballs) and the like are good fun for the kids.
• Little details can complete the look for you.  Some electric candles here, some fake blood there.  Hair and rubber body parts, surgical tools, dead rodents, unidentifyable tools and objects from other eras... think old, odd, gross, magical, etc.

motion

Here are your alternatives as I see them:

• Live actors are obviously going to be the most realistic and effective source of motion, but they can be hard to come by, and are often unreliable.  After all, it isn't like you are actually going to pay them.   Enlist the help of your friends and family, bribe the older kids, and be sure they aren't something like a pro ball player or princess that year.  I like when the actor is completely still when the visitors walk into the room, as if they are just a dressed up prop, and then they make a sudden move, and maybe get up and walk the opposite direction.  I believe that's spookier than having them jump out.  Reaching out and touching people from behind something works wonders, too.
• The easiest source of motion is electronic props.  But they tend to not be limited: slow, short range, unrealistic in movement, and sometimes not very impactful at all.  They shake a little, crawl some, flash red eyes.... whatever.  Potential snorefest.  Also, most of these are motion sensitive, which sounds great until you realize that many sensors don't work in low lighting.  Lots of them do though, or they are sound-activated, which I actually prefer.  That said, they are relatively inexpensive, provide sound effects, and are readily available during the season.  (You can find them at Walgreen's.) And well, we used a lot of them in ours... so there ya go.  Don't rule them out, but don't put all your investment here either.
• Hydraulic and pneumatic props are awesome, but friggin' expensive.  However, if you can swing it, more power to ya.  I would like to try to invest in one next year.
• The manual prop.  Yes, for effective, creative, versatile, and cheap motion the winner is the manual prop.  Why?  Because you control the timing, you decide what moves and how.  For example, you can make items rise (like a rubber severed head), open (like a coffin door), or come at you (like a ghost or skeleton).   How is it accomplished?  For me, it's with fishing line and pulleys.  That way, you can set up props all over the place and control everything from one central location.  I just put a pulley on a hook near the prop, the same over my "command center", then run the fishing line and cap the end with a makeshift handle.  (To keep the prop from crashing all the way to the floor when the handle is released, I add another length of fishing line between the prop and a stationary anchor, like another hook.  Therefore the starting position can be controlled, and in midair if desired.) The possibliies are limited only by your imagination, and well, gravity and physics.

summary

You'll notice I didn't include diagrams for building specific props.  That is not the intent here.   This isn't for the hard-core "haunter" or craftsman.  The purpose of this little guide is to help the average person put together a fun and frightening haunted house on their own premises.  Hopefully, it will stimulate your imagination, and provide fodder for your own ideas.

So, get out there and scare.  Be creative, be thrifty, and above all, have fun.

Somebody actually bought one of my t-shirts from my Cafepress store.  They bought the one pictured here.

Alright, well I think it's time to create some more logos.

I'm this close to retirement...  (yeah, right).