That wont scare the children. Put a crying witch in your yard and even the grownups, the men at least, wont go anywhere near your lawn. I wouldn’t.

Posted at 8:16 am on Sep 26th, 2009 by nope

Put a crying child in your yard… creepy crying child. I don’t know why it is so effective, but ghost/zombie kids scare everyone.

Posted at 8:27 am on Sep 26th, 2009 by Caleb Kraft

Crying witch – everyone will turn off their flashlights and try to sneak by. Unless they don’t have cr0wned yet.

Posted at 9:40 am on Sep 26th, 2009 by Random

Does anyone know where to buy pneumatic cylinders like the ones he used?

Posted at 10:13 am on Sep 26th, 2009 by steve

@Random

nice l4d reference lol

Posted at 10:45 am on Sep 26th, 2009 by aaron

Children symbolize the epitome of innocence, so taking these symbols of innocence and using them to represent something corrupt or evil multiplies the overall effect and freaks people out even more, giving them the sensation that ’something is deeply wrong’.

Oh, and try not to let people into your exhibit carrying flashlights … or auto-shotties.

Posted at 11:21 am on Sep 26th, 2009 by c-noTe

It moves so much it slid downhill? Instant land shark.

Posted at 11:50 am on Sep 26th, 2009 by BigD145

Wow that’s cool…now how much did that cost to assemble?

Posted at 12:44 pm on Sep 26th, 2009 by Mr Costumes

This guy could do everyone a favor and be a little more detailed in what he is using and not use a horrible font to list the parts. He lists washers and bolts but then just lists “prop controller”. We know he is using 2 pneumatic cylinders but he doesnt mention that they are double acting, so if you purchased parts you would end up with the wrong stuff. Also a source for these parts would be nice.

To me it looks like 2 double acting pneumatic cylinders which you would need a 4 way solenoid. This way each will be able to be controlled both up and down, pressurized and depressurized. Then of course a control mechanism, at the very least some 2 3-way toggles to control them, or get fancy and use some form of motion or infrared break sensor to set off a randomized actuation.

Posted at 12:49 pm on Sep 26th, 2009 by EvilNCarnate

that was a 4 way solenoid for each cylinder.

Posted at 12:50 pm on Sep 26th, 2009 by EvilNCarnate

I think this site might shed a little light on the control schemes. Lots of stuff out there on advanced haunted house design.

http://www.phantasmechanics.com/air/index.html

Hope that helps a bit.

K.

Posted at 1:39 pm on Sep 26th, 2009 by Khordas

The prop controller is the PROP-1 by EFXTEK
http://www.efx-tek.com/topics/prop-1.html
It was built as a group build for the Rocky Mountain Haunters Group
http://groups.google.com/group/rocky-mt-gathering

Posted at 10:37 pm on Sep 26th, 2009 by id0

Casa Fear is a member of our local haunters group and we built these at one of our gatherings, so I hope I can help…

He is using a PicaBoo controller. However the Prop-1 Controller available from http://www.efx-tek.com can also be used (it is on mine). Search their forums and you will find source code. I am using a VMusic2 to deal with the audio…The PicaBoo controller has built in sound support.

The cylinders can be found on eBay (if you are lucky), http://www.monsterguts.com or http://www.frightprops.com. They are 2″ double acting cylinders. The solenoids we used are actually 5 way…1 in, 2 out, 2 exhaust. If using with a controller, these need to be 12VDC.

The total cost of the prop came it at about $200…depends on final cost of cylinders. We found a killer deal on eBay for ours. Your mileage may vary.

GREAT prop…you really need to see it in person to appreciate it.

Hope this helps…I’ll monitor the thread and answer what I can….good luck!

Posted at 11:46 pm on Sep 26th, 2009 by HauntedWolf

I forgot to mention most of us will be using a pressure switch to trigger it…but any motion sensor should also work. EFX-Tek has a PIR (passive infra red) sensor that interfaces directly to the Prop-1 controller.

Posted at 11:51 pm on Sep 26th, 2009 by HauntedWolf

That should have been pressure mat, not switch.

Posted at 11:51 pm on Sep 26th, 2009 by HauntedWolf

I’ve used those exact pneumatics pieces in high school. He should have closed the vents a little to slow down the cylinders so it wasn’t quite a “jerky”.

Posted at 4:38 am on Sep 27th, 2009 by DarwinSurvivor

what a fag, i mean a flaming homosexual. that thing sucks major cock.

Posted at 10:47 pm on Sep 27th, 2009 by trollinator

looks pretty cool. wish there was more video of the finished product.

what’s with all the haters?

Posted at 8:23 am on Sep 28th, 2009 by walt

I’m not sure where to get small pneumatic cylinders like that on the cheep (try ebay?) but if you want a larger one, you can make it from a $6 pneumatic cylinder from a screen door closer. just take out the screw that you turn to make it close faster or slower, drill out the hole, tap it, and connect it to an air source. it will automatically return to a closed position when you release that air too…

Posted at 8:39 am on Sep 28th, 2009 by Matthew

How about a special link on Halloween hacks like the cellphone hacks link? Make it easier to find them.

Posted at 12:01 pm on Sep 28th, 2009 by dbear

I mean a permanent link.

Posted at 12:03 pm on Sep 28th, 2009 by dbear

HauntedWolf,

Can you say where you buy your solenoids from? They seem to be the most expensive part.

Posted at 12:56 pm on Sep 29th, 2009 by Steve

There is a local supply house that we got a bulk price on…even so, they were still $22ish each. You can buy them from FrightProps or MonsterGuts…both are good vendors.

Please don’t use door closers…they weren’t meant for this kind of thing. Better to buy the real thing especially since they are that much more. Better than accidentally hurting someone.

The cylinders on the zombie were only 2″ throw…door closers are closer to 5″, not sure how well they would work.

Posted at 9:14 pm on Oct 1st, 2009 by HauntedWolf

Oops…I meant to say real cylinders are NOT much more than door closers.

Posted at 9:15 pm on Oct 1st, 2009 by HauntedWolf