Special Notes:
Lighting - Tiki Torches & solar lights
1. Depot:
Decorations:
Nothing scary. This year I used Creepy Cloth and fake barbed wire.
We also used a large air powered Grim Reaper archway that the line could walk
through.
2. Hitchhiking
Ghouls:
Two hitchhiking ghouls. They stared out holding a sign that said
"Disneyland or Bust" but as it got darker they would ask for a ride and then
yell out comments about "That's the wrong way" or "there are scary things in the
woods"
3. Witches:
Three
witches. Best to wear some bright colors, not just black as they can be
difficult to see in the darkness.
Props included a large plastic
cauldron, large witch broom, latex cat, gargoyle, and larger rats.
4. Lone ghoul
& Picnicking ghoul couple:
Ghoul is a
volunteer that brings her own items. She basically stands in the darkness
and slowly walks out to the view of the train.
The picnicking ghoul couple needs a dress
nice, bright picnic blanket or bright plastic table cloth; ghoulish wine glasses
and bowl. Added a couple jack-o-lanterns for lighting.
5.
Jack-o-lantern patch:
Need lots of
jack-o-lanterns! We had more than 50. To mass produce them, saw off
the tops and use a key hole saw to cut out features. Don't use the tops in
the patch, they just get in the way and don't give off as much light. We
used 3 long burning votives per pumpkin that burn 4-5 hours. Signs
in the patch include "Pumpkin Carver." At the track split, there is
also a sign that reads "Mine - Do not Enter", just past the patch is the last
sign "Abandon Hope All who Enter." I tried to find someone to
volunteer as the Pumpkin Carver but didn't have any takers this year.
6. Skeleton
yard:
There is a
sign that reads "Miners Rest" and this starts out the skeleton yard. These
are the cheap plastic skeletons you can find at Big Lots around
August/September. (they are called Blucky's). We set the skeletons
in silly poses along the tracks so they can be seen, they each get their own
spot light.
7. Ghost
Crossing:
There is a sign that reads "Ghost Crossing" at the trail that crosses the
tracks. We had four ghosts this year. It is recommended that the
ghosts wear white clothes with black shoes, black does not show in the darkness.
We provided the ghosts with neon glow necklaces. These show up as moving
rings in the dark as the train approaches. The ghosts walk along the
tracks.
8. Cemetery:
This is our
most elaborate scene. We have many tombstones made of plywood of various
sizes. These were spray painted black and had white painted epitaphs on
them. Other tombstones were Styrofoam purchased at Big Lots. We
added plastic skeleton heads, arms, legs and hands around the ground. This
year we added an iron fence cut into sections so they were light and easy to
load on the train. A fake chain with skeleton heads was wired onto the
fence. We made an archway from PVC pipe and at the top added a gargoyle.
The gargoyle was made from a cheap plastic wall hanger. We filled it with
expanding foam in layers and allowed it to dry between layers. There was
also a coffin with a blucky skeleton and two rats inside all of these had light
up LED eyes powered with a 6 volt battery. Two grave digging ghouls
completed the scene.
9. Vampires:
A girl and
boy vampire were outfitted under a tree with a coffin. There was a large
latex bat hung above the coffin.
10. Mad
scientist
Table
covered with Creepy Cloth for lab props: Giant hand, latex crow & rat, and head.
The electric chair was made from
4x4's and plywood and orange lights that run around the edges. There is
another light strip that runs to an old aluminum light shield for the electric
skull cap. A bone switch is used on the side for looks. The lights
plug into a power strip attached to the back of the chair. This plugs into
a power converter that is hooked to a mobile auto booster pack.
Frankenstein's monster sits in the
chair. The monster is made from a dress form wearing coveralls with a
manikin head that is attached. Fake legs are old prosthetic
legs/feet; arms are made from aluminum dryer hose, large plastic monster hands
and feet are added and a Frankenstein mask is placed on the head.
Two people are used in this scene.
One is the mad scientist and the other his/her assistant. The
scientists wears a lab coat and can stand closer to the train track semi-behind
a tree. When the train approaches, step out and say loudly "welcome to my
lab, Igor, the switch!" The lab assistant than turns on the lights the
electric chair. As the train departs, someone can yell "OH NO, the
monster, he has escaped. BEWARE of the monster!"
11. Torture
room:
This is a static scene. We use two canvas flats painted to look like a
dungeon. These are angled together to form a corner. Added is a
manacled skeleton hanging on one and a giant spider on the other. Hanging
from the trees is a skeleton in a cage, this was made from PVC pipe and plywood.
A caged skull is hanging on the other side of the scene and a latex skeleton
hanging from the branches. Other props include a cauldron and axe. A
single torch is added in the front of the scene for lighting.
12.
Frankenstein's monster in the bushes:
This is a person willing to wear a Frankenstein mask who just pops up in the
bushes as the train goes by.
13. Spider and
web:
A
large electric air spider is used on the ground, power is run via extension cord
from the train facility. A huge spider web is strung between the trees.
We added a skeleton wrapped in plastic wrap and webbing to the web and several
large bendy spiders. A sign reading "Bio-Tech Research" was hanging on a
tree.
14. Mutants in
compound:
Two mutants are behind the fence to the train compound. They act as though
trying to escape.
15.
Bio-Tech Lab parking lot:
A
sign is posted at the parking lot that reads "Bio-Tech Lab Parking Only"
16. Lattails
Stand:
This was a static scene with a Lattails stand manned by a skeleton hung on a
pole that was stuck in the ground. A table with two chairs, a fake witch
and her companion sat there. The other props included a cauldron and a
large rat on the stand.
17. Trolls at
bridge:
Three trolls, each with trollish masks. We had a fire pit set up with a
footed cauldron, bones spread around but it is set back off the tracks and
harder to see in the dark. The trolls moved closer to the tracks and made
up their own routine that worked great.
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