Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Animatronics and Automated Show control is nothing new to the Haunted House industry. In fact it has been around since the early days of theater. How we use it has changed a great deal, especially over the last decade. The once high-end and expensive devices that were limited to large Stage Shows and Theme Parks are now abundantly available and very affordable. Multi-channel devices can control anything from large animatronics to the subtle flicker of a candle. Audio processors monitor the screams of our guest and adjust the ambient volume and lighting of the room in milliseconds. Literally changing the mood of a scene based on your reaction. Gone are the old fashion infrared motion detectors and pressure pads that would trigger the action. Replaced by active sonar, thermal imaging and scanning lasers. (more…)
Tags: Animatronics, Electric Chair, Haunted House Tech, haunted houses, tech, tranning
Posted in Animatronics, Haunted House Tech | No Comments »
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 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 »
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
Posted in Haunted House Tech | No Comments »
Thursday, August 4th, 2011
A Haunted House may not be your first choice when it comes to a wedding venue. However each year this Haunted Haunted House in Dallas Texas holds several wedding ceremonies. Complete with Zombie Ushers and Monster Groomsman the Boneyard Haunted House has become a Hot Spot for Halloween theme weddings.
Dan Hall – Owner of the Boneyard said that he did not know how to respond the first time he had a request for a wedding. “I had to make sure that the couple knew that this was a Haunted House” Hall said.
That was in 2005, Since then the number of weddings has only increased. Read More
Tags: Halloween, haunted houses, themed weddings, weddings
Posted in Strange & Unusual | No Comments »