The basic look of the Haunted Parlor is simple. All of the furniture is covered in sheets. The lights flicker spookily (Here is an entire page of ways to do it, but we like their described method of using a fluorescent light starter- cheap and easy).
This is our homage to the film Young Frankenstein. We found several items to represent key moments in the movie. The discovery of Frau Blücher’s (Cloris Leachman) cigar when they follow the music. The unlit candelabra which Frau Blücher carries when she says “Stay close to the candles… The staircase can be treacherous.” The sheet music for the pivotal song “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life.”
An entire bookcase of books on magic and witchcraft let us know that this parlor might have some strange goings on.
The maid has not been in for quite awhile.
There are strange pictures on the walls.
This year we did candles with a terrific set of candle holders Kris found at a garage sale. Some years we do flowers in vases. The flowers are fake flowers that have been sprayed with black paint to make them look dead and dying. The painting Kris literally found by the side of the road as is. From a short distance the vase part reveals a skull.
There were a couple of stand-out effects we purchased. Spirit Halloween has a Haunted Lamp that is very cleverly designed. Motion triggered, what appears to be an ordinary table lamp flickers, then a projected ghostly face appears on the lampshade and talks. Here is a video. We also got a Haunted Telephone. It rings as you walk by, and the guy on the other end seems a little disturbed.
Really incredible effects are being done with video projectors and flat screen televisions, and there are lots of premade videos you can project. What did not seem to exist, though, was a naked ghost. So, we made one. A flat screen t.v. was mounted sideways in a window frame. We thought we would need to mask the edges with black, but at night the t.v. could not be seen at all. Hanging in front of the t.v. was a set of old tattered white sheers. The ghost is seen through the sheers and it is quite dramatic. She appears to rise up, look around, and then move towards the window with her arms forward, then she disappears. You can find the video on Youtube. You can stream it on repeat, and the ghost will pop up every five minutes.
The Naked Ghost
I also had a lot of fun with Grandfather’s Mirror. I showed people the mirror hanging on the wall that I inherited from my grandfather and explained that he had been staring into it at the exact moment he died.
There is a flash of light and a skeleton can then be seen in the mirror. “Oh, there is Grandpa now!” As you can see in the picture on the right, we have an arch in the wall. We made a mirror with glass covered with reflective window film. It looks old, and the broken glass in the lower left corner showing the cardboard backing is intentional. The cardboard is just a tiny piece. The rest of glass you can see through when it is lit up from the back side. Look closely into the black part of the reflected curtain in the picture on the left and you can see the skeleton. Under regular lighting, you only see him when I step on the foot switch that triggers the strobe light, which you can see center bottom on the right picture. We just hung heavy black material around the skeleton to make sure that it was very dark behind the mirror.