This file is one of the Wolfstone archives of the Halloween mailing lists. You can find out more, and reach the entire collection here: http://www.pobox.com/~wolfstone/_r/HalloweenArchive.html This particular archive deals with "haunt themes" topics. This includes: o general ideas, like "do a haunted barn" o specific tips for existing themes It does NOT include related topics: o "parties", which are generally themed - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: Questions about the Ghosts of Halloweens Past From: "Karon E Knoth" Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 18:27:55 -0500 Overalls on your aliens. ----- Original Message ----- From: "E Ratliff" To: "Halloween List" Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 5:19 PM Subject: Re: Hall: Questions about the Ghosts of Halloweens Past > I've been celebrating Halloween as long as I can remember (I'm 33) My family > has an annual Halloween party ( www.barnparty.ratliff.com ) that is the talk > of our small town (about 500 people). My brother found the list about 4 > years ago as we were looking for new prop ideas and I finally got a = server > that can handle the load. > > Now here's where I need help, each year our party has a theme it = revolves > around I wanted to do a 2001 space/alien theme however last year's theme was > a hillbilly Halloween and was very popular so now they want me to = combine > the two, so the question is how does one combine Halloween, SciFi, and > Hillbillies?? My brother (our web designer) is billing it as what would = it > be like if rednecks wrote SciFi. > > The only prop idea I've had so far is putting my UFO up on blocks. - - - - - Subject: Subject: Re: Hall: Questions about the Ghosts of Halloweens Past From: "Barb" Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 00:25:45 -0400 Hey Ed.... Visited your Halloween Barn and the Hillbilly pics are GREAT! I don't really have a suggestion for ya yet on the Hillbilly/Alien theme = but I did wanna say that the first thing that came to mind was that scene in "Men In = Black" where the rube'ish guy sees an alien craft crash land on his front lawn. = That lady who plays his wife is hillarious! Have fun with the Alien = theme...you can get those little plastic blowup aliens real cheap at dollar stores, second = hand shops and joke shops. Do some work with your jack O's too carving alien = heads, and use christmas lights inside one to light the interior of the Jack as = well as add blinking lights to a carved out flying saucer. While it's still = summer you can find...what's it called...I forget the correct name of the material = but you find it in the camping gear section and you use it for emergency blankets = if you get caught outdoors in very cold temperatures. It works great for giving = things a shiny spacecraft look. You can also get that stuff that looks like drier = hose but instead of white it's shiny silver and more flexible. Dollar stores also = have lots of alien themed novelty items and if you live in the US, Oriental = Trading Company http://www.oriental.com/home.html - - - - - Subject: Re: Howl - I need help From: "Roy Taff" Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2001 23:03:48 +0000 OK, what if you have the same display, music, lights, etc.. Then have real skeletons underneath the ghost sheets with rotting flesh, etc. And as the evening progresses, and the crowd gets older, have the music warp and slow, the lights dim, a wind kick up and all the bones reveal in all their gory. "it's a dead world after all." Sorry, new jobs got me buggy. DarkMatter Dorothy Hall wrote: > > Hi > I have been on the list several years now and have received some great > ideas. Last year I did not go scary but instead did my yard up for all = the > little ones. I made a bunch of baby ghosts and put them on bikes, = chairs, > see-saws etc. I called it my Ghostie Day Scare. It was very brightly = lit > and I played "Its a small world. I gave out more than 450 treats and = won > first prize in a local contest for funniest house. My problem this = year is > that I can not think of anything to surpass last year. Please if = anyone > can help I would appreciate it. All the parents loved it that their = little > ones were not scared, so would like to embellish what I have somehow. > HELP!! - - - - - Subject: Re: Leprechaun Prop From: "Nez" Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 11:59:53 -0400 if at all possible, sharp pointy teeth. and claws... hmmm....let me brainstorm a bit... put some of the gold in the tops of some ASC bucky skulls...suitably = stained to look rotten...red led's in those eye sockets as well...some maniacal giggling track....did you ever see the movie Cat's Eye? It's with Drew Barrymore when she was little and has this little goblin looking guy that comes out of the wall to steal her breath? This is pretty much what I'm picturing...but not as wizened looking, also give them all nice, sharp looking little daggers... Hauntingly yours, ~Morganna~ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sue McDonald" To: "Halloween List" Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001 11:32 PM Subject: Hall: Leprechaun Prop > Of course, they are evil leprechauns. I am going to be putting leds in > the eyes and the battery packs in the heads after I rip them > off.....lol. You got any ideas? - - - - - Subject: Re: Howl - Re: Haunts for little ones- I need help From: "Joli Forth" Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2001 11:19:21 -0700 Here's a thought, If you have access to stuffed animals you could put masks on them and give them TOT bags using the bikes, chairs, etc from last year. Near the house you could have a line of them going toward the door and perhaps have one whose paw/arm (holding the bag) could move as if asking for treats - could even have a recording saving "TOT" in a stuffed animal voice. Fog machine, spooky music and plenty of cobwebs would add enough atmosphere to give the Halloween idea without scaring the very young. - - - - - Subject: Re: Howl - Re: Haunts for little ones- I need help From: "Wraith" Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2001 21:11:25 -0700 Toady, Have you thought about setting up a special display for photos to be = taken? You could set up a few of your popular ghosts from last year and put footprints to place people so that their picture turns out perfectly. Every once in a while, I'm hired to be a "talking head." Picture a = costumed or made up head sticking up among the chips and dips having a bright = cheery conversation with TOT's. To set up this classic gag, first cut a round hole (slightly larger than = head size) out of a large piece of cardboard. Place two tables of similar size = side by side, about 12 inches apart, and lay the cardboard across the gap. = Cover the tables and cardboard with a paper tablecloth. Cut a hole in the cloth = to match the hole in the cardboard, and have a parent or friend hide = underneath the table so that her head pokes out of the hole. To make a mock serving = tray, cut a platter size doughnut shape out of cardboard, making the hole just = the size of her neck. Cut the doughnut in half, cover each half with aluminum foil, and rejoin around the jokester's neck. Decorate the tray with = vegetable garnishes and set the meal around the platter. Place a silver warming = cover over the head and=97voil=E0!=97dinner is served! - Wraith Joli Forth wrote: > Here's a thought, > If you have access to stuffed animals you could put masks on them and = give > them TOT bags using the bikes, chairs, etc from last year. Near the = house > you could have a line of them going toward the door and perhaps have one > whose paw/arm (holding the bag) could move as if asking for treats - = could > even have a recording saving "TOT" in a stuffed animal voice. Fog = machine, > spooky music and plenty of cobwebs would add enough atmosphere to give = the > Halloween idea without scaring the very young. - - - - - Subject: Re: Howl - I need help From: "WebMistress" Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2001 08:29:39 -0700 (PDT) You played It's a Small World ... not that is the scariest thing I've EVER = seen said on the list :) Make a Halloween village ... kinda like the Nightmare before Xmas. Keep = it on the same lines that you are going, just add a little more. Since = you now have your base, you don't need to go ALL out every year. Maybe make a bunch FCG's that have ghosts going around a maypoll with = orange, purple and black streamers. Webby --- "Dorothy Hall" > wrote: > Hi > I have been on the list several years now and have received some great >ideas. Last year I did not go scary but instead did my yard up for all = the >little ones. I made a bunch of baby ghosts and put them on bikes, = chairs, >see-saws etc. I called it my Ghostie Day Scare. It was very brightly = lit >and I played "Its a small world. I gave out more than 450 treats and won >first prize in a local contest for funniest house. My problem this year = is >that I can not think of anything to surpass last year. Please if anyone >can help I would appreciate it. All the parents loved it that their = little >ones were not scared, so would like to embellish what I have somehow. - - - - - Subject: Re: more storyline info From: "Kathleen A. Klatte" Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 00:54:20 -0400 No prob...I just needed a little info to work with. :-) For woods how about the type of thing used for campfire stories. Off the top of my head... Narrator (in queueing area, or at the start of the trail): "Many, many years ago, this land belonged to a tribe of indians who had lived here for centuries. This was their sacred place where their chiefs and medicine men were buried. Then settlers came and tried to cheat them out of their land. The chief was too wise to allow that to happen and a great battle ensued. There were fearsome casualties on both sides and = many wounded, soldiers, warriors, and innocent women and children fled into the woods to die. With his dying breath, the medicine man called down a terrible curse on these woods." Heckler: "What kind of curse?" Narrator: "No one knows. From that day forward, no one who has ventured into these woods has come back alive." Now you're set up for ghosts, corpses, zombies, monsters, maybe a raving madman? You could have dead bodies or skeletons wearing clothing from different eras (people who went into the woods and didn't make it out alive). - - - - - Subject: Something for the haunted kitchen From: "Kathleen A. Klatte" Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 13:44:24 -0400 Yesterday I was in Frank's looking at fertilizer and they had some stuff called Bone Meal and Blood Meal. I thought that would be cool in a = haunted kitchen or maybe even a mad scientists' lab...in suitably gory boxes, of course. - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: Something for the haunted kitchen From: "dawn rice" Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 15:27:49 -0500 haunted kitchens are always fun because a lot of gross things can be found/made. one that looks effective and is cheep is take thick cooked spaghetti, oil and coffee grounds.....looks like worms in dirt and you can eat it if you want (still doesn't taste good but......) there are fun = brain molds for Jell-O, go to a meat market and pick up interesting parts most people won't eat..... we have even taken manikins heads and put them in water in a pot and made it like we were cooking heads--you can grab a wet head and the hair "throws" water at people a bit---this usually freaks = them out....many possibilities out there Dawn ----- Original Message ----- From: "WebMistress" To: "Halloween List" Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2001 2:06 PM Subject: Re: Hall: Something for the haunted kitchen > Great idea ... I'm doing a kitchen this year. And I need to add more details. Anything else any one can suggest? > > And I'm NOT going to put my kitchen appliances outside, I actually use them on a daily bases!! - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: Something for the haunted kitchen From: "Catie Andrews" Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 16:43:37 -0500 Shoot you guys I grew up with a haunted kitchen. My folks ate scrambled brains and blood pudding for breakfast. Always has tongue and kidneys in the 'fridge and heads for soup. Ahhh the joys of having non american parents. Do I have stories...... WifeWoman AKA Catie ----- Original Message ----- From: dawn rice To: Halloween List Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2001 15:27 Subject: Re: Hall: Something for the haunted kitchen > haunted kitchens are always fun because a lot of gross things can be > found/made. - - - - -