"... all corpsified and gross."

I resisted last year, not wanting to ruin my skelly... but I think I will need to give in and try my hand at corpsing it.  That is the process where it turns from an obvious plastic skelly into something so nasty and decayed looking that you may wonder if some of the props in The Kerbey House are possibly real.  So I will show him here... his bones naked for only a few days longer.



Here is one of several pics I have created to promote on The Kerbey House page on FB. 

 

www.facebook.com/TheKerbeyHouse.EP

 

 

 

If you somehow found this blog before finding the FB page, please Like or Follow it, as I update that page more often.

"If you don't remove the teeth from the bodies, you can end up with a garden full of evil clowns"

 

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The following pictures are some of the inspiration for part of the walkthrough for 2014.  

Apologies to the original artist, as I don't know who to credit.

 

 

... with a bit of these added in...

 

Build Season 2014

Build Season began for pro haunts months ago since many are already open for business (in other cities), but home haunters like myself are just starting to build our bigger outdoor props and structures.  Lumber is being scavenged, foam sheets are being purchased and carved, and props are being corpsed.

There will be more frequent updates here as the build progresses, but I will try to limit most spoilers.  If you have stumbled across this blog while searching for a haunted house attraction in El Paso (and getting depressed due to how few exist), I hope you will find time on Halloween night to visit... or possibly the night before (Thursday) to catch the more casual pre-show.  You can find us on Kerbey Rd, El Paso TX 79902, not far from UTEP.

This year's show will be improved and expanded from last year, with a focus on the detail work and increasing the creepiness.  I am conducting a search for haunt actors to raise the quality of scares.  If you bring small children through the walkthrough, expect them to have nightmares during the following week.  If you want to see a display that is more "general audience", the front yard cemetery should still be worth the drive here.

The concept stage

The After Action Review

A few months have gone by and many new ideas have been scribbled out.  The 2013 theme was a partial success.  The end scene (murder clown room) was the highpoint, but the initial storyline going with an Evil Dead angle had a limited impact... as people seemed to want to set a speedwalking record as they moved down the dark side yard that was the story setup.  The mid-haunt ghost scene had mixed results (although mostly positive) as many people seemed to prefer looking directly into the projector light in the wrong direction rather than notice the life-size ghost projection that I thought would be obvious.  So while none of these issues were big for any of the guests (ZERO complaints and 200+/- guests), there is room for improvement.

Here are the ideas so far:
1). Reverse the flow.  Rather than starting at the side yard, ending in the detached garage, and dumping the guests into the access alley... have an entrance at the housefront part of the alley directing the guests to the first scene in the detached garage. 

2). No need to force an all encompassing storyline.  I like ghouls and I like demonic-looking murder clowns.  If a storyline means I need to keep one of those groups in storage, then it may be best to just have differing major scenes and accept that people don't care about story when they are running through a yardhaunt.

3). Tarps work, but pallets will be better.  2014 will be my first try at solid walls in the indoor part.  Too many haunter vids online show how effective solid walls and foreshadowing (by being able to partially see the mini-scene ahead) adds to the effect of being more than a middling yardhaunt.

4). The graveyard needs a big upgrade.  The family-friendly graveyard suffered from poor lighting, little cohesion, and few people bothering to read the gravestones.  For 2014, tombs will be built and the ghost projections and possibly cheap animatronics will be added so that a pre-haunt show is provided for the general public.  If a few young kids get scared, they will get over it. 

5). Audio definitely works on guests.  So an upgrade and customized audio will be featured in 2014

6). The haunt needs dedicate actors.  A recruitment drive will need to happen to avoid the actor-related deficiencies of 2013.

7). And this last idea will seem very dated.... but the haunt needs its own FB page.  This will coincide with my ads in HauntNation Magazine.  http://www.hauntnationmag.com/

- Stay scary....