EXCAVATION ROOM
Digging Up Past Haunts...
GHOSTS OF HALLOWEEN LONG PAST...
"This haunt stuff really is like malaria. Once you catch the bug, it never goes away. It began almost five decades ago when I was cast as Squeeky the Ghost in my second grade play. By the time I was ten my family's home was subjected to experimental Halloween decoration. Then in high school I volunteered for every community-run Halloween haunted house. Working my way through college, I participated in Knott's Halloween Haunt, the first and still best cooperate created spook festival."
"Of course, my house has been site of many a home haunt, the theme of which used to change every year. Spider Lair, Toxic Terror, Resurrection Cemetery and Dead Man's Chest, just to recall a few. Curse of the Forbidden Jungle is my reoccuring theme these days because it's different than what most home haunters do."
"Browse thorugh the photos below and you'll visit previous haunts long dead and buried (at least I think they're buried). Enjoy the show!"
- Hilber Graf, a home haunt freak
Reach out and touch somebody...any body...
I ain't got no body, 'cause no body cares for me. Animations are typical fixtures in Hilber's home haunts, although he doesn't rely solely upon them. Live actors participate, as well, usually as costumed tour guides.
Madam Leota's Seance was a hit with haunt visitors. The fortune teller wasn't really there, only represented by this crystal ball. It glowed and flickered to her disembodied voice. Floating cards and other stuff circled over the audience's head. Way cool!
Hilber is fond of undead pirates, having done a number of buccaneer themes in the past.
This dungeon scene was inspired by Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean.
A portion of an outdoor set piece for a witch's lair. No, that's not a real cat.
Sets can be elaborate, like this entryway art gallery for Grimly's Phantom Manor a few years ago. Details quickly set the visitor's mood.
This was Grimly's portrait. If you were paying attention, you saw his eyes follow you.
A creepy exterior set piece for The Lost Delta Expedition, a haunt done some years back.
This charming fellow appeared in a haunt room called the "Dead People Mover." It contained a conveyor belt loaded with coffins on way to the cemetery.
Blacklight chambers have appeared in several of Hilber's haunts. A simple but effective method of making visitors feel uneasy. It also makes it easy to hide "live" spooks in the room's dark corners.
