12 washers. And two trips to HD in one day.

But it's done!

Got the final two wall panels cut, painted, and bolted together this weekend.

After all the weeks of setup and planning, I was short 12 washers come Sunday evening as I was trying to secure the last two panels. I had already been to Home Depot earlier that day (for non haunt related items) and it was a zoo. Luckily what I needed this time would fit on the bike, and getting in and out on the motorcycle was much quicker. $5 for the washers and a few extra bolts and we were back in action.

Due to the access opening i was planning to make in one of the panels - where I plan to hang black weed-cloth (to hide the opening) I decided that the panels needed to be a little darker to blend in better. Some not-so-much watered down black paint on the new panels and some touch ups on the other panels gave me a much better blended passageway. I also took the opportunity to paint the drop-panel and surrounding area so the panel is much less visible - and should be completely invisible in the darkness of the mine shaft.

After securing the last two panels, I marked and cut out a hole about 3' by 3' at the bottom of one of the panels. This will be covered by black weed-cloth (which we have plenty of about) and will serve as both an access point for the actor(s) to get in and out of the hidden passage; as well as a below-the-waist level scare point for actors to shock passers-by. In addition - next year when we put the passage way INSIDE a haunted house, the below-the-waist opening will get disguised as a fireplace.

Some shots of the drop panel - now painted to blend in:

And some photos of the outside of the passage:

And from the inside:

And finally the new below-the-waist access passage: 

 Now... Time to tear it down and store it till I'm ready to put it up outside!!!

And onto the NEXT project!!!

But FIRST... Off to the National Haunters Convention this weekend!
 

Getting the DROP on the TOTs

Made some good progress over the weekend!

Most of the wall panels are attached to the PVC pipe frame... AND I built and installed (my first) drop panel window in one of the walls!

Overall I'm quite happy and impressed with the PVC frame; it's proving to be quite sturdy and easy to work with - and knowing it will never rust or warp is a big plus. Here's one side with most of the walls attached (all bolted for easy assembly/disassembly):

 Of course, since I'm assembling all this in my basement - as soon as I get it all put together I need to take it apart so I can get it outside into the back yard where it will be setup.

 I made the drop panel out of 2x3 on 3 sides with a 2x4 at the top. The actual panel is a piece of 3/4" plywood - the 1/4" panels I'm using for the walls just wouldn't hold up - nor would it be heavy enough to crash down with any kind of satisfying (and shocking) THUD. I used a couple 1x2s inside the 2x3s to form the guide that holds the drop panel in place against the wall - giving it just enough room for the panel to move freely up and down. A simple bolt lock allows me to secure the panel in its "up" position, and a handle on the back of the panel will make it easy for our actors to lift it into position after a good scare. I also painted all the inside edges and corners black. Here's a picture of the panel assembled before I mounted it:

 The panel itself measures 20" wide by 18" tall - and allowing for the panel to completely drop below the opening I made the overall frame 20" wide by 36" tall. One of the considerations in picking the size was that it had to be large enough for an actor to stick his/her head through - or at least a couple arms. Also, since next year I plan on flipping the drop panel to the OTHER side of the wall (where the WHITE side is on the outside when we use the passage in a haunted house next year) I needed to make the opening a fairly standard size - hoping that I can find an appropriate sized picture frame to cover the other side next year.

 Finally, here's the hole I cut in the panel. I cut the hole 1" smaller in each direction than the actual panel (so the hole was 17" x 19") to allow for a little overlap - which of course helps hold the panel inside the wall.

 And here are some shots of the panel mechanism from the inside after I screwed it to the wall;

And from the outside (still need to paint/age the drop panel):

 Boo!!!

A little tweak here...

I must be in the groove...

Stopped by HD (Haunter's Depot?) on the way home and picked up the last two 2" PVC Tees that I needed to complete the secret passageway frame. 

Came home and fitted the Tees, measured and cut the last couple pieces of pipe to fill out the frame, fitted it together and screwed everything together.

Took a stack of my washers outside and painted them; black on one side (so I can use them on the blackened-wood sides of the passageway) and white on the other side (so I can use them next year on the other side when the passageway becomes a hallway in a house!).

I still need to pick up two more 4x8 sheets of the 1/4" plywood for the last two pieces of the wall; that will wait till the weekend when I can take the truck over to HD.

Last thing I need to do with the passageway is to cut out the drop panels (one at face height which will hide behind a painting next year) and one from about waist level to the ground - which will simply have a cloth covering and double as an entrance to the passageway for our actors. Next year the lower entrance will be hidden by a fireplace.

The Haunted Mine Shaft - v2!

One of the biggest hits in the haunt last year was the Haunted Mine Shaft. It was a major build; a 10x20 foot conduit framed tarp covered passageway with blinking cave eyes, a derelict miner, various critters above and below, and a mine cart that came crashing out as TOTs passed by.

It was a great success but we wanted MORE. Among other major new projects for this year, we're turning the mine shaft into a mammoth 20x20 enclosed mine - complete with zig-zagging passageways and a secret passage that an actor will be hiding inside - with multiple hidden panels he can use to catch passing TOTs.

I created the mine shaft design several weeks ago so that we could make up our shopping list of supplies we'll need as well as to have detailed measurements for the components I need to build. The first component I'm working on is the hidden passageway. 

You can see the design drawing and most of the progress so far at the Haunted Mine Shaft v2 project page.

One of the truly unique aspects of this build is the materials we chose. Instead of the standard 2x4 framing we wanted something that was:

• Lightweight
• Wouldn't rust or warp
• Easy to assemble and disassemble
• Minimizes storage space

We chose 2" PVC pipe! Bolted to that frame are the 1/4" thick plywood panels. By standardizing the locations of the mounting holes and sizes of the pipe segments, the passageway will easily disassemble into a stack of pipes and a stack of plywood panels less than 2" thick!

Check out the project page to see how it's coming along. As of this past weekend I have almost the entire frame assembled and screwed together, all the panels painted, and the end panel bolted to the first two side panels - with two other panels dry fitted in place awaiting the rest of the bolts.

Tonight just before I wrote this I spent some time researching drop panels - which will be next weekend's project - along with hopefully finishing up the assembly of the passageway. Our first test of how easy it is to take apart will come shortly thereafter as I need to take it apart (I put it together in our basement) so I can make room for the other projects... Then I'll have helpers help put it back together later this summer in the back yard as we begin setting up for real!

-Creepy Chris

Welcome!

Welcome!

  Our new blog is where you can come to keep up with updates to our haunt - Creepy Nights on Calamo.
  The full haunt site is www.creepynights.org - where you can view the haunt history, photo and videos of past haunts, how-to sections, and sections on the various projects we've created in the past or are working on now. You won't typically see items in our haunt that you've seen in a store somewhere; everything we put out is either created from scratch (including electronic controls and pneumatic devices) or started with something store-bought which got turned into something much different!

  Typically we operate a computer controlled (Light-o-Rama) Halloween light show in our front yard that runs nightly throughout the month of October. The show currently contains about a dozen custom choreographed songs synchronized to the light effects. In addition we do a haunted yard walk-thru that runs around the entire property.

  We'll be updating this page as we work on the haunt or as we encounter or work on something Halloween related.

  We also try to attend at least one Halloween related trade show each year; usually it's the National Haunters Convention in PA, but we've also visited HauntCon and the Virginia Haunters. This year we're heading to the National Haunters Convention again and are looking forward to an exciting and fun time there - and already have a shopping list of accessories and prop components we'll be shopping for.

  If you're in the area (we're in Springfield Virginia) we're always looking for volunteer actors or traffic guides - as well as local haunters that might be interested in make 'n take or similar get togethers.

  hauntmaster@creepynights.org 
 -Creepy Chris