Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Who is the Boogeyman? What does he do for a living? and why do parents feel the need to scare young children into submission with horrifying tales of this night dwellers exploits? Growing up in a older Fort Worth neighborhood we had this one elderly lady that lived a few doors down in the corner house. “Mrs. Mullins” was her name. We couldn’t go by her place without her yelling out “The Boogeyman’s gonna get you kids… He’ll getCha!” Now when your a six year-old riding your Big Wheel down to play with your friend something like that will scare the crap out of you. I remember my little brother wakening up in the middle of the of the night screaming “The Boogeyman…. the BOOooGeyMaN” Sure it’s funny now! But that kind of thing sticks with a kid. (more…)
Tags: Ghost Stories, haunted houses, urban legands
Posted in Urban Legands | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 20th, 2012
One of my most vivid memories of Halloween as a kid was what we called the Haunted House record. Each year as the season changed to fall and the days on the calendar passed. My brother and I would dig thru the stack of albums next to the Curtis Mathis TV, turn the lights out and play Disney’s “Sounds of the Haunted House” And we would scare ourselves crazy! Keep in mind this was before video games and high speed internet – for us it was 100% pure Imagination. Last week we were working at the Boneyard upgrading some digital sound cards and I was asked how we make the sound effects that are used in the Boneyard? Almost immediately I flashed back to the artwork on the old “Haunted House” record,, The next question that came to mind… What ever became of the album…? (more…)
Tags: Animatronics, Audio, Halloween, Haunted House, Imagination, Sound effects
Posted in Animatronics, Haunted House Tech | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 13th, 2012
So it’s Friday the 13th and the evil spirits and bad luck peddlers and knocking at your door. Stay inside? Skip Work? Grab your lucky Rabbit’s foot? Are you among the reported 8% of the population that suffers from “Triskaidekaphobia”? #SayWhat: the Fear of Friday the 13th. Well here are several ways you can protect yourself and ward off that negative energy as you navigate the abundance of superstitions that lie in wait. Some of these preventive measures you may be familiar with others may sound a bit odd.
Stay away from that black cat down the street! (more…)
Tags: 13, friday 13th, investigation, Paranormal, Superstitions, urban legands
Posted in Strange & Unusual, Urban Legands | 4 Comments »
Monday, January 9th, 2012
This coming Friday marks the first superstitious holiday of the new year, Friday, 13 January Two thousand and twelve is the first of three Friday the 13th’ s this season. January, April and July all have Fridays that fall on the 13th of the month! A bad year for the superstitious “if you are a true believer”2012 A great year if you’re in the Haunted House business! #SayWhat? Yes.. believe it or not there are a few of us that not only embrace the date but look forward to it’s arrival with great eagerness and anticipation. Why do some people fear the number 13? A recent survey estimates that … (more…)
Tags: 13, events, friday 13th, Paranormal, unluckey, urban legands
Posted in Strange & Unusual | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 6th, 2012
What started out as a routine traffic stop for speeding turned into a national news story. Back on December the 20th 2011 a patrol officer pulls over a car for speeding a making a unsafe lane change. The incident took place in Washington State on interstate-5 & 272nd Street according to a media release by the State Patrols office.
Tags: Animatronics, Halloween, haunted houses, Props, skeletons
Posted in Strange & Unusual | No Comments »
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
The year was 2002, we had installed a inexpensive wireless camera inside the Haunted House, just for fun.. to laugh the people getting scared. (Yes we do make fun of you when you get scared) it was a very low tech camera, poor image, no recording or playback, black and white picture. Within the first couple of hours of seeing our guests reactions we found ourselves trying different things. Changing actors, scare tactics, lighting and just about anything else we could think of. No longer did we have to wait for you to exit the Haunt to judge how well we did, we could now see results in real time. after that first night we knew one thing.. We needed more cameras.
Tags: Animatronics, Halloween, Haunt-Cam, haunted houses, tech
Posted in Haunt-cam, Haunted House Tech | No Comments »
Monday, January 2nd, 2012
What would you do with a few rubber bands, tooth picks, dental floss and a handful of rice? The staff and crew at the Boneyard Haunted House in Dallas Texas would declare war! A Make-up war to be precise. As most people celebrate the end of the year with a traditional glass of Champaign, noise makers and a countdown to the new year. Actors and crew members at this North Texas Haunted House have a different twist – Part of their annual new years celebration include “Make-up Wars” a creative showdown of special F/X make-up prowess.
If you only had 30 minutes a box of safety pins, rice and a rubber band…
Posted in Haunted House Tech, Strange & Unusual | No Comments »