Thursday, February 16th, 2012
How we transformed a Haunted House in Dallas into a large scale music venue. Shortly after it was announced that Arlington, Texas would play host to the 2011 Super bowl we started receiving calls to host events at our venue. From pre-game parties, parking and shuttle buss service. It seemed that everyone had Super bowl fever and wanted to cash in. With a large venue, paved parking and just a few blocks away from Cowboy Stadium we found ourselves in the heart of the action. (more…)
Tags: events, Halloween, Haunted House, promotion, venue
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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 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
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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
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Saturday, December 24th, 2011
Haunted House staff and crew took the day off to do a little shopping for the Holidays. After watching a story on a local news station about how the economy was effecting toy donations, Boneyard staffers organized a shopping trip and proceeded to fill their carts with toys.
Tags: Halloween, Haunted House, toy drive, unwrapped toy
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Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
Tags: events, Halloween, halloween events, Haunted House, Pictures
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Sunday, October 16th, 2011
So, the wife stays quite during her husbands speech, and then tells me that it was great as she grabs her husbands arm and leads him to their car.
So, I make note of the time and after we close for the night I decide to review the video footage from our “Haunt-Cam” and guess who I find using his wife as a human shield? Yep! Mr. “It wasn’t that scary” This guy not only grabs his wife, Yanks her in front. he then hides his head behind her shoulder. The best part of the entire thing. His wife never threw him under the bus. She just stood there and let him tell his story.. {Or at least till they got in the car}
Tags: Halloween, Haunt cam, haunted, Haunted House, haunted houses, Screams
Posted in Haunt-cam, Haunted House Tech, Strange & Unusual | 4 Comments »
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
QR Codes have been around since 1994, originally used for tracking parts in the automotive industry, Quick Response Codes were slow to make their way into the consumer market. It wasn’t until the widespread use of smart phones that the codes began showing up in public.
We first started using Quick Response Codes for promotional tracking in 2009, a very basic code that directed users to our website www.theBoneyard.org.
Our plan was to place the code on print advertisement and business cards. Almost immediately we met with resistance, printers had not seen them before, they could not guaranty the codes would scan in their ads. Bottom line – people fear the unknown. On top of that very few smart phone users at the time were familiar with the codes and were reluctant to download the needed app. Read More
Tags: Halloween, haunted, haunted houses, house, QR Codes
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Thursday, August 25th, 2011
K2 Ghost Meter - Ghost hunting equipment
CBS 11. Joel Thomas explores the Boneyard Haunted Housein Arlington. Reporter: Dan Hall runs the haunted house in the abandoned sears building. We work hard all year to perfect our scares and technique for a short time in the Halloween season…
Upstairs is a massive, dark, unused floor. When we first acquired the building, and the mall maintenance guys and mall security handed the keys over us to, they jokingly told us don’t go upstairs. Reporter: soon, Mr. Hall began to think he was not the first person to haunt the building.
In the last year, there’s been two or three things I can’t explain. The rolls of receipts were stacked up on the table. And one of them came rolling across the floor at me one day. It just brushed my foot. Reporter: now, the floor is littered with the paper. Another event was downstairs. One of the trash cans just started moving toward us. Read More.
Tags: Ghost, Ghost Hunters, Halloween, haunted, haunting, house, Paranormal
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Thursday, August 11th, 2011
One question I get asked often as a Haunted House owner is ” What is your favorite prop or animatronics?” And it’s like asking a parent what kid is their favorite! However I have to admit the classic “Electric Chair” makes my top 10 list year after year.
In 1881, – Dr. Albert Southwick, a dentist and former steamboat engineer, sees elderly drunkard touch terminals of electrical generator in Buffalo, New York. He is amazed at how quickly and apparently painlessly the man is killed and describes episode to friend State Senator David McMillan.
Currently the Boneyard houses a total of five electric chairs. one of the chairs has been imported from Europe. Originally manufactured as a arcade style novelty, the chair has been restored and updated with modern electronics. And is currently available for customers. Read More.
Tags: Animatronics, Electric Chair, Halloween, Haunted House, Horror, Props
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