> INTRODUCTION a fascination with imagination   > THEME PARK MAGIC inspirational rides and attractions   > A PHANTOM PLOT UNFOLDS a 2003 test from Disneyland ideas   > THE HAUNTING BEGINS five years of Halloween, 2004-2008 > BACK FROM THE GRAVE 2010-2011 with new technology   > A 2013 RESURRECTION a mix of new and age-old effects   > DAWN OF THE UNDEAD 2014 show, part one   > THE ZOMBIES EMERGE 2014 show, part two   > A CHANGING CONCEPT 2015 show, part one   > BUILDING PNEUMATIC FIGURES 2015 show, part two   > ROLL UP, ROLL UP! 2015 show, part three   > INTO THE TUNNEL... 2016 show, part one   > MAKING MONSTERS MOVE 2016 show, part two   > TO HELL AND BACK 2016 show, part three   > SHARPENING THE SENSES 2017 show, part one   > A MAGNETIC ATTRACTION 2017 show, part two   > THE BIG EXECUTION 2017 show, part three   Traitors! Your time has come!       The Dungeon of the Doomed opened on October 31st 2017 at 5.30pm. Incredibly, around 400 people visited us across the evening. At one point, there was a steady line of visitors walking through it for about five minutes! It was certainly the scariest show yet, with some needing more than a little encouragement to venture inside... and that was just the adults!     This way for the chop...           The entrance was lit in green and featured new jigsaw-cut lettering across the top. Choosing a longer name for the walkthrough and reproducing it in a curvier font made the cutting process a lot longer than last year! I only had myself to blame for that one...but it did look impressive when lit at night. I added the two flame pots either side of the entrance to make it look more imposing.     > Surrounding the entrance were several signs themed as old wooden boards, designed to entice curious visitors to step forth into the darkness. These were my usual pun-laden work(!), with references to the axeman who awaited his victims! Visitors were urged to "look sharp", "keep your head", and to avoid keeping him waiting..."chop chop!" I wanted these signs to help fire up people's imaginations and allow them to anticipate what sort of things they might encounter. This in turn would hopefully create a bit of trepidation before they went inside!         The signs and the entrance effects were the first step to creating the right atmosphere. For me, there were a number of things that might not be noticed by many, but would certainly be noticed if they weren't there! For example, the background music, with oppressive drums and sinister violins, drifting out of the entrance, gave visitors another clue that something ominous awaited them. It then served as a bed on which all the other sounds from each scene were layered, unifying the encounters with each character. Holes were cut into the walls so that the speakers could be mounted behind them, making them less obtrusive.         The lighting design is, for me, one of the most magical elements. Even completely static or uninspiring scenes can be totally transformed with lighting, including using it to create shadows and silhouettes. I chose green as the main colour for this year, to match the dungeon theme, so all of the gels on the internal lighting were changed to this. From there, I could use some great differing colours to light each scene. I really liked using vivid red and blue washes (provided by LED par cans) to contrast against the green tunnel light. Fast or startling movements and sounds leant themselves to sudden and harsh white illumination or brief bursts of strobe lighting.       The lighting was made up mainly of PAR 16s for the internal space and about half of the scenes. Many of these ran from DMX controlled dimmer channels to provide flickering 'flame-like' effects, or timed cues for animated elements. For additional lighting of some of the figures I used PAR 36 spots with coloured gels. LED PAR 56s were used to create colour washes, and also colour changing effects for the guillotine. Strobe lighting was used in the first and last scenes to provide flashes of lightning.       The first scene was one of my favourites. Through a window, the axeman could be seen, staring menacingly and holding a big axe. There was a loud clap of thunder and some flashes of lightning, before he spoke, warning them that their "fate awaits", and to "try not to lose your head...!". Another burst of thunder and lighting, only this time...his own head had vanished, leaving a gruesome severed neck! His sinister laughter continued as he faded into the darkness.                         This was the first effect I came up with for this year's show. The secret to the transformation was a big piece of perspex (1.5m x 1.0m) coated with one-way film, and two separate but very similar figures - one with head, and one headless! Behind the perspex was the full axeman figure, with head. He had a 50mm cylinder in his arm to enable him to raise and lower the axe as he spoke. This figure was normally lit, with a single red PAR 16 directly above. Opposite the perspex, hidden from view, was the headless figure. This also had a PAR 16 overhead (as shown above), but was normally in darkness.               When only the figure behind the perspex was lit, visitors saw a figure with a head. When it was time for the change, the PAR 16 above the headless figure was switched on, and the other figure was put in darkness. The one-way film on the perspex made it behave like a mirror; now visitors were looking at a reflection, instead of directly through it. Careful alignment of the two figures, in terms of both distance away from the perspex, and the angle that each was positioned at, made it appear that the same figure had suddenly transformed and become headless! The position of the observer was fairly critical here, so I made the window that the visitors looked through about 30cm narrower than it was in 2016, to reduce the viewing angle, and also hide the headless figure from view. This figure had to be surrounded with black fabric to avoid walls and other parts of the structure reflecting in the perspex too.     I also put black gauze across the window, which did a good job of disguising the edges of the perspex. There was a long piece of black wood directly to the right of the window that shielded the headless figure from the observer (so it could only be seen as a reflection opposite, and not visible directly!). Barn doors on the PAR 16s above helped to keep the light on the figures only, and avoid unwanted areas being lit. One interesting point is that since the headless figure was to be viewed as a reflection, it had to be built as a mirror image of the other, with the axe in the opposite hand! I was really pleased with how this all looked in the dark, and I thought the voice effects matched the final look of the character really nicely. The thunder and strobe lighting flashes gave a more startling edge to the transformation, and were also key to jangling the nerves of visitors as soon as they entered! I wanted them to be hit with a shock as soon as they stepped inside!     Watch your step with the axeman! (.mp4, 10.8mb)   Read my notes and diagrams on the design of the transformation effect (.pdf, 1.0mb)                                                             Moving further into the gloom, visitors were startled by a gnarled figure falling down in front of them! He warned them not to "...hang around 'ere! The axeman'll cut yer head off!" The idea for this came from me being a little bit sadistic!... I'd noticed how many people had jumped at the figure in this space in 2016, and was surprised since it was permanently there, even in semi-darkness. It didn't move into view, it was simply lit up, then it began moving. So I thought - how about something that isn't there at all when you first approach, and instead comes crashing down against the window, for maximum scare! This certainly had the desired effect! The figure was mounted on a frame above the window, and used a 200mm cylinder to move; twice as long as most of the others, to account for both the weight of the figure, and the angle it needed to be moved through (about 100 degrees, so as to be normally hidden from view). This, combined with a 4-way air valve, helped the figure to move both upwards and downwards, quickly and energetically!               Don't hang around 'ere! (.mp4, 9.5mb)                                                                           Rounding the corner, visitors encountered the first big prop; the guillotine! < In the space opposite, a wizened old man heaved on a rope, asking "who'll be the first to stick their neck out?!". > The guillotine lit up red...a victim locked into its base was pleading for help. Suddenly, amid maniacal laughter and flashes of light, the blade came plummeting down, decapitating the victim with a loud thud! The sounds for this scene were created in stereo, with a speaker either side of the walkway, such that the voice of the old man came from his side, and the wailing sounds of the victim and the sound effects of the guillotine came from the other. This scene used DMX-controlled LED lighting, run from a VenueMagic timeline. This allowed the old man figure to be initially lit in white, then fade to a deep red. The opposite was true for the guillotine - first lit in red, but to accompany the sudden drop of the blade, the same light then produced some bright white flashes to enhance the surprise!       Watch the guillotine in action! (.mp4, 17.6mb)             Read the build notes - my initial drawings on assembly of the guillotine (.pdf, 1.0mb)                                                             Beyond the guillotine, the torture rack came into view! A shadowy figure turned a big handle, stretching his victim bound in rope on the rack, as he shrieked and shouted! This was an interesting prop to build because I initially didn't know what it should look like! In the end, I used two pieces of 150mm diameter pipe as the 'rollers' for the rope, and held them with box-like mounts at either end, giving it a medieval-type look.                             One funny part of this was that I somewhat overlooked the fact that if the 1.5m-length figure to go on the rack was to be stretched, the length of the rack would need to be enormous! Far longer than the space that it needed to fit in. So I did a couple of sneaky alterations... I shortened the figure by removing his legs and covering him with rags to disguise this! I then tilted the whole rack at about 45 degrees, so it could be made longer but not take up as much floor space.     There was another important reason for the tilt - it provided a way of allowing the stretching figure to 'reset'! To create the 'stretching' effect, it was pulled about 30cm uphill by the motor assembly, and then simply slid back down under gravity once it had been released! The big handle of the rack was connected to the top 'roller' via a 50cm threaded rod. Thus when the roller was turned as the figure was stretched, the handle moved, and so did the hands of the standing torturer figure who appeared to be doing all the work!     See the stretching rack operating! (.mp4, 7.8mb)                                                                                               The final scene in the dungeon was the gallows! In a gloomy alcove with bars across the window, a figure stood over trapdoors, with a noose around his neck. A hooded executioner, with his hand on a lever, was opposite. His deep voice taunted visitors... "let me...show you the ropes!". Suddenly the trapdoors opened, and the figure fell through, amid booming laughter, smoke and flashes of strobe lighting!           This was one of the more complex scenes to animate, as it involved lots of outputs being switched in the right order. The controller in charge of the scene had to first control the motor and magnet assembly attached to the hanging figure, in order to lift it clear of the trapdoors. It then switched on the air valve for these doors, so that they closed, ready for the next trigger. When a visitor approached, it triggered an audio track, fired a smoke machine under the floor for a few seconds, switched off the air valve so that the trapdoors fell open, released the magnet holding the figure so that it fell downwards, and finally turned on a strobe light for a couple of seconds...phew! I was really pleased with how this effect turned out, and it behaved itself impeccably, operating over 100 cycles throughout testing and show night. The figure in the noose wasn't the only one who fell foul of those trapdoors! The air pressure made them quite violent and I at one point found myself wedged in them when I reached through the hole to attach black drapes and they suddenly closed on me!                                           'Drop in' on the hangman... (.mp4, 12.1mb)                                                                 < Escaping towards the exit, visitors passed this skeleton, a reminder, if needed, not to hang around too long! After this, their dungeon ordeal was over, and they were out in the open air once more, heading towards the front door...                 But wait! There was one more surprise ahead... On the wall in the porch was another skeleton, hanging in chains. A sign urged visitors not to disturb him. Then suddenly, he lurched towards them, with an anguished scream! This operated using another 100mm air cylinder and a 4-way valve mounted behind the wall. The skeleton was attached to the wall with a hinge so his top half could pivot outwards. An IR sensor was positioned on the floor of the porch, and triggered the sound and movement when a person came near. I was originally struggling to come up with something to replace the mirror in the porch from 2016...eventually this idea came to me; simple, and it got a reaction every time! This was possibly my favourite bit of lighting in the whole show! Steel blue light from below and a red wash from above were combined to produce a psychedelic effect on the skeleton's bones! And in the great tradition of me being assaulted by my own effects, I can confirm that this skeleton also managed to headbutt me when I accidentally triggered it while tidying up!                                     He's all chained up and no-where to go...! (.mp4, 4.3mb)       A final fundraising figure     It's been discussed many times over the years about whether we could use the evening to help raise money for a charity. I'd always been of the opinion that it was nice to leave it as something that doesn't make people feel obliged to give money - just leave it as something free and fun to visit. Also - how would we go about actually collecting the money? What would it be collected in? Where would people put their donations? This year, however, I decided to do something. The key thing for me was to have some sort of extra reward; a secret bonus feature that would only activate if you donated. I thought there should be another moving figure on the path, and a secure container where people could drop donations. If they were kind enough to do this, the figure would move and speak to them - literally thank them personally!       So I came up with the idea of the rat-catcher. This was a friendly figure who was seemingly overrun with rats from the dungeon - visitors would pass him on their way out. Five different voice tracks were recorded for this figure, and each time money was dropped through the slot in the container next to him, he would move and speak! Under the slot in the container was a narrow plastic chute, and at the bottom of this was a row of infra-red sensors whose beams were interrupted by falling coins or notes, thus producing a trigger for the animation. The figure itself was quite heavy, and used the frame and motor from the 'wasps' man in the first scene of the 2016 tunnel! He was mounted onto a post that had to be very firmly hammered into the ground to prevent him from falling over! This extra bit of characterisation worked really well, and it encouraged lots of very kind people to donate. We raised £70 in total for the local charity Wave 105 Cash for Kids.                                                               Watch the rat-catcher in action! (.mp4, 9.3mb)                                                                                               Danger, dastardly deeds and a dice with death await!...       With the 2016 show going down so well with visitors, I felt a pressure to produce something in 2017 that would be as good. Each year the mischievous side of me wants to push the spectacle and the scariness slightly further, and it was tricky at first to know what I could get away with! With axes, blades and headless figures everywhere - was it all too gory? It was discussed at one point whether there should be a fine blast of water over the visitors as the guillotine blade came down, to simulate a spurting of blood! But I saw sense (for once) and drew the line at that! Hopefully everything else wouldn't be too scary... However, just after 5.30pm on the evening, having opened the walkthrough for the first time, I was sat in the house when suddenly I heard the thunder effects in the entrance...followed by wailing and crying...I went outside to find the very first visitors; a lady with her two very young children, who had merrily wandered in on their own and found it all a bit too much! They were soon calmed down and I apologetically handed them some sweets for their brave efforts. Hmm...I thought. Have I gone too far this time?!... Thankfully, this was the only exception! Across the evening a huge number of people came to face the horrors inside the dungeon. I was so pleased to see people of all ages enjoying it, from children aged two upwards, mums, dads, grandparents...everyone! We gave away 380 bags of sweets to children who tapped on the door, and of course many of those also came with adults...so that would have been well over 400 people, perhaps nearer 500! Who knows! All I remember is that I'd never ever seen so many people come to visit! I am so lucky to live in an area where lots of people enjoy dressing up for Halloween night - some of the costumes I saw across the evening were of Hollywood standard! There'd be no point to the show without our 'punters', so I am very grateful that so many want to come and see it and engage with it. A few people told me that they had travelled from three or four miles away to visit, having been told about it by friends!                                                               Full attraction walkthrough Set cautious foot inside the dungeon with this great walkthrough video (.mp4, 44.9mb)   James's Dungeon tour Join me on a walk through the dungeon in this special eight-minute feature and I'll show you how it all works! (.mp4, 101.0mb)       Walkthrough with effect resets An alternative view - this video shows a full walkthrough including each effect resetting (.mp4, 39.6mb)                                                                                           The stickers that we gave out in 2016 were quite good fun, and turned out to be something of a collector's item (who am I kidding?!) Although, hilariously I did spot some of them still stuck on the buckets that people were carrying around this year! I felt that we needed some new ones for those who'd braved the dungeon, so I created a design for 2017 (shown right). This time, I thought I'd also make a Facebook page, and add the address to the stickers. There, it would be easier for people to write comments, or link it to their own page - perhaps we'd be able to see more about what people thought... Turns out, it worked! The page got some really nice messages, and we were also mentioned several times across other Facebook groups in the village! Here are some of the comments.         Was brilliant, thank you. The children I was with loved it. Claire Whittingham Absolutely amazing to have this on our door step! Hayley Smith Absolutely brilliant! Live just across the road and my lb loved it! Can’t wait for next year! Jo Scourfield Absolutely brilliant! Spot on every year. Well done boys Helen Gerrard Amazing. Scared kids and me. So good to have on our doorstep. Jade Smith My daughter was petrified of the special effects, lots of screams from the kids, it's so professional a proper chamber of horrors, really good work, hope they raise lots of money tonight Julia Joyce                                                           The kids get so excited every year just to visit this house, it's incredible, so much effort! Thankyou Jess Collacott Fantastic, I watched James putting it all together this week. He worked so very hard. Well done x Joyce Mason Law Fantastic effort! Thank you, and well done Zoe van Willigen       Reading and hearing great comments from people is always a rewarding feeling as they are the ultimate judge on whether or not I did a good job! And my own opinion? As it was visited by a record high number of people, and featured the most complex set of moving figures and effects that I've built, for my money... it was the best one yet!     Thankyou for reading this section, I hope you've enjoyed it! If you have any comments or questions then please get in touch: info@halloween-experience.co.uk