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I happened upon this photo of a sign:


It reminded me that it would be pretty cool to have a scene in a haunt where arrows are apparently being shot at people and sticking into trees. If it could be timed with a sound effect, so much the better - but the rig should provide plenty of sound ...

So! You've decided on your haunt's setting, characters, and situation. You've developed a story to guide you and provide some depth for your more astute patrons. Presumably, that story has a few key scenes that guests will be travelling through.

A lot goes into designing a scene. For now, I'd like to stick to what scenes there will be, the order to present them in and what the scares will be.

If you have spent a lot of time thinking about all the elements in the ...

About a year ago, I put together a blog on some things Stephen King has to say that I think are applicable to haunting.

If you have read either of my last two blog posts, you probably realize that I think telling a story is a major part of being effective.

In some ways a haunt is like a novel, and in others, it's like a movie. In many ways it's unique, of course, but I thought it might ...

WHAT'S YOUR STORY?


For my purposes today, I will assume you have read last week's blog about Place, Character, and Situation.

I see story as the nitty-gritty details of the larger Situation. Sure, a mad scientist has taken over the daycare and is turning the children into mutants. But, is that the whole story?


Why, for example, is this happening now? Did the doctor just arrive ...

I don't know about you, but I usually find when I am neck deep in one project, I tend to start thinking about the next iteration.

I know from talking to a lot of haunters that many folks feel the same way. Often even before this year's haunt is set up, haunters are planning the next one. Even those who make it through the season focused only on this year tend to look ahead when it's time to take stuff down in November.

I thought it would therefore be apropos to start ...