Are Chainsaws Stupid?

[Joshua]

I posted this question online for the very reason that I have recently discovered that this is indeed a controversy among those who haunt!

There seems to be two camps on the subject. Haunters who go for the visceral quick shock and scare of a mad man wielding a bloody chainsaw and the Haunters who just as quickly coil and run just as fast away from the the thought of using one. What do you think out there Yard Haunters. Do you use one in your setups or do you oppose the use of one?

[Anthony LaVista]

I'm new to yardhaunting but I've never been a fan of the chainsaw. I'm more into the classic halloween themes. I think the chainsaw represents gore. Not my cup of tea. So there will be no Chainsaw in my haunt.

[Pumpkinshellz]

I personally prefer the ghostly to gory, however in haunt mazes there is a lot to fill and different people are freaked out by different things. So we have had a mixture of everything from clowns to acrylic floors with monsters underneath ...and yes..the chainsaw. One year, we set up a Bayou scene with camo-netting, trees, snakes, a house front and swamp sounds and then created a visual distraction. We also used a light that made it impossible to see the corner where our chainsaw creeper would sit. Once they were in the room one creeper (maybe a laughing southern girl- it varied) blocked the entry and the chainsaw would start up near the exit to the hallway. The ladies & teens were most vulnerable to this. Whereas most guys hated the clowns...LOL Our haunts have always been mazes. If I were doing a house-front haunt, I would not use it, because you are less likley to get people to approach... I guess I'm saying they have to be captive victims ...I mean audience. ;-)

[Joshua]

Thats a really good point pumpkinsellz.. I can see where in a maze that might work but not for front yards. People would probably call the cops. However, with a surplus of gore movies and amusement haunts out there ..do you think that the Chainsaw is over played sometimes? For instance Im in Southern California and I know that when I go to Knotts Berry Haunt Farm.. there is going to be a chainsaw... an operation room where something went bad and gore galore. Perhaps as I get older I want a more mental spook then a physical shock...something that makes me think about the experience long after I have paid my $40

[Darth Reay]

i think that a chainsaws are a last resort for those with no creativity those who cant set up a scare or needs ti distract from there crapy props. thanks for the rant.

[Screaming Scarecrow]

I too also prefer to set up haunted scenes which rely more on creep factor than matter splatter but that being said we've used them in the past for a particular scene which was a lot of fun - people enjoyed it because it was worked into our Body Part Toss Game. I have pictures if you want to see...

[The Blob]

Yeah!! we would love to see some pics if you have them!

[Screaming Scarecrow]

One year we just had our BPTG for our Halloween guest and TOTs with a static character prop and then we put it away for a year and then we brought it back out last year with an actor interacting with the TOTs. So far this is as graphic as we get - the rest is all good old creep factor!

[The Blob]

thanks for the photos! Did you have an actor in the prop or did you use it for people to take photos when they visited the haunt?

[Screaming Scarecrow]

Well the first year we just had the static character and people would toss the parts through the respective holes - and there was a net behind the game which would catch the body parts and roll them off to the side where the person tossing would have to go and retrieve them. Last year the BPTG was set up against a wall of the haunt. The actor would wait till a TOT came through the opening in the haunt and then he'd pretend he was cutting off parts which he'd then give to the TOTs to toss through the holes. People really seem to have fun with it.

[The Blob]

thats pretty ingenious.. I like it!

[susan from creepy hollow]

i think for teh most part chainsaws are overdone-or not done well.
if you see a chainsaw guy who is GREAT at what he does it makes all the difference in the world, IMO

[Ethan Black]

I think that chainsaws are the easy way to scare your victoms... uh guests. I like to be more creative, but to each his own.