Parts: Wall Panels Box of 1.5" screws Medical supplies Plastic for windows Brushes Lamps Hinges Spring hinges Plywood Paint Tools

Description:

The Scene- As the guest enter this room they see a huge infirmary with lots of machines and some blood splatters from patients past. Suddenly a loud crash is heard as a mad doctor races towards them on a wheelchair. The patrons try to escape through the room only to be startled by a creature leaping from a supply cabinet.

Layout- This room was built by making wall panels 4'x8' with 1x3 studs around the borders and one across the middle horizontally. Then we stacked them up so the lower half of the room was vertical, and the upper row of panels was horizontal; this gave the room an overall height of 12 feet. You may have to build some custom panels based on the layout of the room. We then filled the room with old medical supplies and hospital beds we either purchased from an institution that was going out of business, or were lucky enough to have it donated to us by offices that were closing down or just throwing out old equipment. We also received about 1000 plastic syringes with plastic needles. We painted them red to appear as if bloody and scattered them around the room to add a little danger.

The supply cabinet was made from plywood and 1x3's. We basically took 2 full sheets of plywood, ripped it in half length-wise; one set will be the walls of the cabinet, the other will be the doors. We then took another sheet and cut two 2x4' pieces for the top and bottom of the cabinet. We used 1x3's inside to hold the frame together, and then cut about an inch of the top of the cabinet doors so they could open inward so not to hit the guests as they walk through the haunt. Now just add hinges and a way to spring load the doors to stay closed. We used small pieces of carpet stapled to the inner walls of the cabinet to push against the doors to force them closed. Spring loaded hinges may work here too, though you will probably need a good amount of force if your doors are warped.

Actors- This room is a must for actors, doctors, nurses, patients, etc. Most costumes for this room can be found at your local costume shop, or even used old pajamas for patient's clothing. If your haunt is a modern living hospital themed one, you don't need much more than a little creative makeup to make your actors appear more menacing. However, if you went with the undead theme like we did, you may want to make them up as zombies or demonic in nature. Now supply them with syringes, bone saws, clamps, etc. and they are ready to scare.

Lighting- This room can benefit from various lighting styles. Lightning from a window, moonlight coming in from a window, Lights on machines, or simple ceiling lights like we had which would flicker. We found that placing small spot lights (with various colored bulbs) under various objects can have dramatic effects. Or pin spot any decorations you may have made such as a dead body or some other heavy detailed piece. We had a series of tubes connected to a pump that slowly cycled the water through them, and with a blue spot light underneath it all it made the look of an ethereal blue flame on the wall.

Sound- This room can vary in the sound dept based on what "feel" you are trying to give. Since ours was a haunted infirmary, we had echoing reminders of patients long passed; Baby cries, groaning, lunatic laughter, moans, screams, heartbeats, and a heart monitor beeping away. All these sounds were subtle and had a bit of an echo effect on them to give off that ghostly sound.