"Mission Control" Sound System
"Victoria" our FCG: We are extremely lucky to have a guy in the neighborhood who has the perfect shop in his garage, knows how to do almost everything. Ray Nerhood basically took the Doug Ferguson (Thanks Doug!) FCG design and simplified the armature and designed a freestanding stand. We aim a small black light in it and boo! COSTS: Dayton Motor 6rpm $45.00 Hardware $23.00 Styrofoam head $ 4.00 Sheets/Shawls Confiscated from daughter/wife
Pipe organ: for less than $60.00 Cut (Hacksaw) one length of PVC in half. (Or how you want it) Using this one as a starting point (middle pipe) Lay it on the floor, and start cutting pairs of PVC at reducing lengths. Remember to cut two,one for each side. Cut a "V" shape out of the top of the pipes. (Your gonna need one or two for practice). Once all the pipes are cut, lay them on something elevated (A few 2x4's). Start gluing the pipes together side by side. Let them dry overnight. For the frame, I used an old rock crate that I cut diagonally. You can easily build your own out of 1x4's. Use the pictures as a guide. I cut a curve out of the bottom slats (1x4's spaced 3 inches apart). These are your non-functional pedals. Take the wood you just cut the curve out of and nail it to the back of the organ frame. Looks like a music stand. This is what your pipes will fasten onto so make sure it's sturdy. Have someone hold the pipes up to the organ where they will sit. Drill two holes through the pipes and wood. Put bolts through and fasten. Your Organ IS TOP HEAVY so this MUST LEAN against something. Place a small amplifier or BoomBox playing pipe organ music underneath it and BOO!!! I use the Disney HM CD, Bachs Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. COSTS: 5ea. 10ft.lengths of white PVC $25.00 2 old broken keyboards $ 2.00 PVC Cement $ 4.00 2ea. 6" bolts/nuts/washers $ 4.00 Old Crate or 1x4's $15.00 1 can of blue fluorescent paint 1 can of flat black $ 8.00
Jacobs Ladder: Again, another original by Ray Nerhood, Our "Phantasmechanic". He encased my old neon sign transformer in a box he built, added 2 switches and Christmas lights. Installed two female RCA connectors so the "mad scientist" could hook up "Fake" cords to whomever. Check out Doug Fergusons site for basic instructions. www.phantasmechanics.com
Pirate steering Ship: (Thunder and lightning illuminates) Relatively easy effect. We had Ray Nerhood (Aren't we lucky?) take a rotisserie motor and build a pedestal around it. (Ray is a true artist. He built everything you see from scratch.) He geared it to make the wheel move back and forth. We use a 4th class BUCKY skeleton, available from Anatomical Chart Company. His hands are fastened with rubber bands to the wheel. Turn the wheel on and BOO!!! We used a Thunder and Lightning box from Terror By Design which comes with a great CD of different storm and sound FX. We attached basic floodlamps per the included instructions, and placed a speaker on the roof. We added a black light and old jolly roger to provide an eerie effect when the Lightning isn't flashing. www.btprod.com The T & L box is well within most of us yard haunter budgets. Worth every cent and it's extremely easy to work with!!
Spider Webs: What can I say? Terror By Design's (TBD) Web Shooter is the best! We can't live without it. www.btprod.com is the source for it and fluid, You'll never buy those pulling web bags again!! Ask for Denny!!
STUFF WE'VE LEARNED:
1) Take a blacklight on a tour through your home and especially the kids toybox. We find a lot of our props for our haunt here.
2) Green bicycle (SLIME) tire repair is great for bottles under blacklight. We found out a lot of "yellow" clear dishwashing detergents glow under black light.
3) Garage Sales and Flea Markets are a great source for props.
4) If you want to keep it for next year....Keep it more than an arms length from the public.
5) Try to use your imagination to scare the public vs. "Jumping out". This requires more thought but you get a lot more enjoyment out of it!
6) Never use Black Light Lightbulbs. They burn extremely hot and do not provide a good effect. We use 12,18 and 48" blacklight tubes. These put out virtually no heat.
7) We put a TV up to an eyehole cut into plywood. We played clips from Horror Movies (No Rated R's!!) and were surprised as to how popular it was? Abbot and Costelloe meet Frankenstein is a great crowd pleaser. (You got the boys, Bela as Dracula, Lon Chaney JR. as Wolfman,Frankensteins monster and a quick cameo by Vincent Price as the invisible man!
