F.E.A.R

So it's around the time where I start  planning my haunted house in October, the question this year is: What scares you? What are you most afraid of?

Eye injuries, car accidents and hobo's involved in knife fights

dying in general but drowning most of all.

some cool ones would be.

largish spider puppets (huntsman size). severed hands/feet (make ballastic casts of them then use dye/props). Use plenty of fake blood, and freshen it up now and then....

Animal entrails sticking out of a shirt on a body laying on the floor . when people walk by one of the hands reaches for them , the body moans and blood drips out of it's mouth as they moan for help

What scares you? What are you most afraid of?

My mom trying to talk to me, explaining about what sex is. It didn't go over well when I was a kid, or when I was a teenager. As an adult, if she tries to do this, I will run & flee in panic.

Snakes. And Cthulhu. Cthulhu is a big problem. I wouldn't like a real Cthulhu, though he's fine in writing. Oh! And my dad's gas. That stuff is terrifying. I think he actually farts certain chemicals used in WW1.

I find a lot of people find clowns and dolls creepy.  Also hands grabbing your ankles freaks people out... unseen spider webs in the face, someone stalking them, and someone who is perfectly still suddenly moving.  Oh yeah, and zombies with glass in thier face.

In general, things you can't see, can't define, can't do anything about are just scary on a basic, instinctual level.  If you look at Steven Moffat's monsters from Doctor Who - the Weeping Angels (that only kill you when you don't look at them), the Silent (That you forget the moment you look away), the Vashta Nerada (shadows that literally eat you) - they're all things it's very hard to do anything about, but you still KNOW they're there to get you.

A knocking sound that follows the party through the house - they can hear it, but it's always on the other side of a wall.  A symbol or sign that looks creepy, but can't be defined, one in each room.  Footprints that stop suddenly, or otherwise vanish, half way through the tour... or ones that change.

Try not to use a lot of *jump scares*. I find a slow dread (maybe having a buildup of scary objects/settings and making them more and more eerie, followed by a jump scare is a good way of making people terrified.

Let me just say this, its easier to explain it face to face.

I'm scared of the dark. And the sound of people in pain makes me cringe and/or want to throw up.

I'm sure that all these posts about the fears of our players is great stuff for the Staff & Plot writers as the October event is coming up.  ;D.  Careful notes about profession, race, etc... will all be used, I'm sure.

That wasn't an intent, but thank you to all who responded. It really helped with getting research done and getting ideas down on paper.  This is the 9th year of the haunted house I help run. Each year we hope to be better than the last.
www.brookdalehauntedtheater.com/

I know it wasn't the intent, but you have to admit, it's a nice side-bonus effect from the outside perspective.  ;D  Plus, if I did see my mom show up at an event as an NPC, I'd run.

I wish my mom would play >_>

Meh, here in Australia our spiders are so big, they have health bars...