Episode 4: Easy and cheap home haunt walls

[@TheeCi.Ni.B]

I plan on creating a home haunt this year and your video was very informative. Thank you.

[@SterlingTate]

Been using one pop up and garage for our haunted garage. Dollar tree vinyl table covers. my ceiling is taller this year in our new home so this helps.

[@putnamgraber]

I do a big haunted house on my driveway every year with two 10'x20' popups. I've never done a maze and wanted to try my hand at it, plus it will allow me to grow the house and make it even bigger, so this is super informative for next year!

[@AotH]

Awesome! I'm glad you found it useful!!

[@thomasmagee-r9x]

Just saw your channel and this video and it’s crazy how to the “T” I build my haunts the same as you. From the materials and techniques and paracord and clips and tents and even the PVC pipe on the bottom rolled up and even the vertical pipe where there are sags. Crazy. Fun stuff.

[@AotH]

That is awesome! Great minds think alike!! 😀

[@gilliekins]

I've used tomato tunnels with black tarpaulins this year. Much easier to put up and take down and will be used year after year.

[@AotH]

I didn't even know what tomato tunnels were but I looked them up. Very interesting! I like the idea. Are they easy to store? Man, that would be way easier. I wish I would have know about those 10 years ago....lol.

[@gilliekins]

They are really easy to store. They break down into a nice slim box. The best part is they only take about 20 minutes to put up!

[@AotH]

@@gilliekins I might have to check those out!!

[@kensmith5694]

My brother did one many years ago where they have some sort of voice communications system. They had a code for the scare level. If a little kid was going through, some of the actors would just wave at the kid from a bit of a distance rather than do a jump scare. This allowed them to key more than just this is a 2nd time. For yours, you could split a big group into the little kids and one parent first and then the older kids and the other parent. Also I have seen cheap bed sheets died black as the dividers. Cotton doesn't stretch like plastic so when you pull it tight on a frame it holds it shape well.

[@AotH]

@@kensmith5694 We don’t do it but one strategy haunts use for the small kids or anyone that doesn’t want a scare is to give them a glow stick on a neck strap. Then the actors know not to scare them. I like the bed sheets idea….might have to try that!

[@kensmith5694]

@@AotH That sounds like a reasonable method but it would only give two levels.

[@CardiacCat]

Yeah, I tried the black plastic last year and just my luck, it was windy and gusty all day and kept ripping the plastic from the 2x4 posts. BTW, this was outdoor and no track. We had the guide do a group text to the actors and used 3 levels of scares based on the age group coming through. No scare (very small kids), Little Scare (5 to 8 year olds), Big Scare (all the rest). On the last time when multiples were going through again including the parents, we used "BIG BIG SCARE" I would say before you run the plastic along the paracord to run a strip of duct tape (black) along that edge because the wind made it tear at the point of the paper clamps. I spent a lot of time going back and taping those areas and then putting the paper clamps back over the taped area.

[@AotH]

Wow, lot's of good ideas. I like the use of a group text for the scare levels. As for the black plastic....yah, wind sucks. We've only had one year where it got bad and we just unclipped all the plastic and laid it on the ground and then when the wind passed we put it back up again. That's the beauty of using the binder clips is that it's easy to put up and take down, especially if you have it anchored well at the bottom. Great idea with the duct tape. Now that I'm doing the bulk of our haunt in my backyard and it's fenced, we still get some wind effect but it is dramatically minimized. Short of using wooden panels (a pain to store) I wish there was a better solution for wind resistant walls. 🙂

[@CardiacCat]

@@AotH Yeah, my wall was to hide the haunted trail from the neighbors yard. They did the big fall festival with food, games and a large trunk or treat of cars for the kiddos. I did the haunted trail for the end of the evening after dark. It was a lot of fun. Man I want to do the cart on tracks some day. Maybe when I retire I'll have enough time to do it.

[@AotH]

@@CardiacCat Sounds like a blast!! I literally started building the track and cart in December and used the whole year to do piece by piece on the weekends. It's definitely something you don't want to try and do at the last minute. Lot's of little bumps in the road and spreading it out over the year gives you time to make adjustments. I hope you can do a track some day....lot's of fun and a cool accomplishment!

[@c0pyimitati0n]

I was planning on using canopies for my haunt but the idea to run paracord and black plastic in between them to make it longer is genius

[@AotH]

Glad you found that helpful. Be careful only anchoring the Paracord to the pop up because they are pretty flimsy and can bend easy. I run the Paracord through the popup and out the other side and anchor to the ground with a tent stake. That way the tent stake is taking the bulk of the load.

[@AnnetteSpillane]

Thank you...great advice and tips. I live in Australia and our family does halloween in June so the kids get the night time scare factor. It's really difficult to find supplies so your ideas with regular easy accessible equipment is fantastic

[@AotH]

That is wonderful! I’m glad what I’m sharing can be useful and helpful to others, that’s why I do it!😊 Stay tuned…more to come. 😀

[@roxburyhauntedmanor8147]

Great video! I do a large display every year, but would like to do a walk through eventually. New subscriber here.

[@AotH]

Thank your for subscribing! I started doing home haunts when my kids were in middle school because they had done some haunts in school so we started doing them at home. They loved to be scare actors and I love the creative part of building the haunts. Now my kids are adults and I’m just doing it because my neighborhood loves it and I still enjoy the creative outlet! 😀

[@teslatradeup]

Hey there! Fantastic work, and thanks for sharing your knowledge. Do you know any cheaper ways to make a laser swamp? Or do you need to buy a super expensive hazer. Does fog work? Thanks so so much

[@AotH]

So here’s the deal…this is my first year to try a swamp theme so I don’t have my fog and laser strategy figured out yet. But, I promise I will share what works on this channel. I’m confident the effect can be accomplished with just basic foggers.

[@teslatradeup]

@@AotH great! Thank you so much! This will be my first year also, so I’m glad I’m not the only one trying to figure it out. I wish you luck

[@archidesignsco]

Thanks for the video! Super helpful! Do you have any suggestions for if you don’t have any pop up tents but want to use the paracord?

[@AotH]

So maybe after Halloween I can do a video on this (heads down building my haunt right now). Basically you can use 2x2 posts with a hole drilled through in two directions at the top. Then run paracord through it and stake it to the ground. Hard to explain but I'll provide a diagram or example in a future video.

[@AotH]

The idea is to build a grid with posts and the paracord. Sorry if this is confusing. This picture might give you the idea: photos.app.goo.gl/nT4WcdSuAbHodP5m9

[@fredmcgee496]

Need your help with setups