Halloween Haunted House Design and Equipment

This web spun corpse dangles from your tree or rafter. It looks as if it is only a great decoration but then suddenly the torso struggles as it jumps and swings at the waist.

This unit is powered by a shop air compressor. As with all our products air compressors are not included.

Please indicate if you would like the diseased or mummified version. Depending on which is more popular one of these versions will be discontinued.

Manually operated unit with an electric switch. This switch is connected to the unit with a 50 ft low profile cable.

A Electro-field motion detector activates the controller. The controller activates a custom-made mono sound effect which is played to your boom box or stereo system for that BIG sound. This is NOT a loop tape. It is a digital sound chip system with a cassette player adapter. This sound system is a Spooky F/X innovated design and exclusive at this time. This model Includes the built in preset event controller.

Subj: Pop-up animatronic
Date: 12/7/2000 7:50:00 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: MIKEYMARS

To: Spookyfx

Hi, just wanted to let you know I received the pop up zombie. You guys did an excellent job at designing and constructing this, and the value is great!

Thanks again, Michael

This unit is controlled by a Electro-field motion detector and a preset event controller. This version includes a demonic blood curtailing scream on a voice chip that plays out of an internal projection speaker when the animatronic is activated.

The Controller has a 30 to 50 foot range. This version includes a demonic blood curtailing scream on a voice chip that plays out of an internal projection speaker when the animatronic is activated.

Manually operated unit with an electric switch. This switch is connected to the unit with a 50 ft low profile cable. This version includes a demonic blood curtailing scream on a voice chip that plays out of an internal projection speaker when the animatronic is activated.

... for those who don't know about Spooky F/X --- it's great quality
stuff...

Greg Miller
DJ Dude Mobile Disc Jockey djdude@attbi.com

Most patrons will walk right up to what appears to be a tilted back and half buried (in the ground) coffin thinking it is merely a great ground decoration. The corpse can be seen inside the coffin through the broken hole in the lid.

The illusion created is that this is a full size coffin because it appears that the other half of the coffin is buried in the ground. The Zombie inside the coffin will lurch forward and slightly upward from the inside in it's attempt to get out!

The actual dimensions are about 30 inches tall and 24 inches wide as seen from the front. This Animatronic requires the use of a shop air compressor (not included).

Manually operated unit with an electric switch. This switch is connected to the unit with a 50 ft low profile cable. The controller activates a custom-made mono sound effect which is played to your boom box or stereo system for that BIG sound. This is NOT a loop tape. It is a digital sound chip system with a cassette player adapter. This sound system is a Spooky F/X innovated design and exclusive at this time. Includes a built in preset event controller.

An Electro-field motion detector activates the controller. The controller activates a custom-made mono sound effect which is played to your boom box or stereo system for that BIG sound. This is NOT a loop tape. It is a digital sound chip system with a cassette player adapter. This sound system is a Spooky F/X innovated design and exclusive at this time. Includes a built in preset event controller.

Suddenly the coffin lid bangs opens (the top swings out and away from the coffin about 3 inches) and closed several times in a natural series of slams. The manual version slams as you press the momentary button, the automated version slams in a pseudo random style and not in an obvious mechanical pattern.

The illusion created is that this is a full size coffin because it appears that the other half of the coffin is buried in the ground. The Zombie inside the coffin seems to push the lid from the inside in it's attempt to get out!

The actual dimensions are about 30 inches tall and 24 inches wide as seen from the front. This Animatronic requires the use of a shop air compressor (not included).

This model uses a Electro-field motion detector. This unit operates completely automatically using our show controller.

Manually operated unit with a hand held switch. This switch is connected to the unit with a 50 ft low profile cable.

Subj: COFFIN KNOCKER
Date: 3/181/05
From: timewarrior@hotmail.com

It arrived today. It looks great and works great!
Thanks!

Subject:   RE: Early Bird Sale of Coffin Lurcher
From:   "Chris McCarthy"
Date:   Fri, October 28, 2005

I have the Deluxe Coffin Knocker and like it enough to purchase another one.

The Red Nepsis and the Basement Monster look and work great - looking forward to using them in the front-yard assemblage this October!

Regards,
Richard Heilman

I bought a Trash can zombie 2 years ago, also the Tombstone zombie, and the Flailer, and the Pop out corpse! I plan to order a new prop soon! Last year the props scared the heck out of many patrons to my haunted graveyard

From: Kathy@cflrr.com

Hi!

My name is Kathleen and I ordered one of your pop-up zombies last year.
When I received the prop, it was packaged very well without any
problems.

When I hooked up the prop, it worked wonderfully and the zombie was gorgeous.

The overall quality of the prop was very nice.
It is really refreshing to have someone like Spooky F/X on our side who is
interested in making affordable pneumatic props available to the home
haunter.

I definitely plan on buying from Spooky F/X again in the
future.

Sincerely,
Kathleen M.

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 8:09 PM
Airhed44@msn.com
Subject: Spooky F/X product

It's the coolest thing in the whole wide world....we have our skeleton in there and the bottom chained shut and the hook mounted and the correct compressor which works and this sucker kicks and kicks.....we put it together at work and the girls were SCREAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank You Thank You Thank You for making this a very cool experience

This skinned corpse dangles from the feet at the end of a 1 foot rope tied to your tree or rafter. It looks as if it is only a great decoration. Suddenly the torso jumps and the body swings bending in a natural manner at the waist.

This unit is powered by a shop air compressor. As with all our products air compressors are not included.

Manually operated unit with an electric switch. This switch is connected to the unit with a 50 ft low profile cable.

Hi, just dropping you this note to let you know that I received my dangling corpse.
It looks and works fantastically. When I got it I did not even own an air
compressor, but I do now!!! I almost don't want to open my garage door for
fear that a passerby might see it. Fortunately, my neighborhood knows that I am a Halloween junkie. The other day my friend came over, saw it and asked how it was working. I told him I did not have it hooked up yet. He then walked over to get a
"closer look". That was when I hit the switch. I got a real nice jump out
of him, and we both had a good laugh. With the help of your wonderful
products, hopefully I will be able to get him with a new scare and new
laughs every year.

Again, thank you for your wonderful customer service.
I look forward to seeing new things in the future.

Jeff Thomas

This hangman corpse dangles from the neck at the end of a 2 foot rope tied to your tree or rafter. It looks as if it is only a great decoration. Suddenly the legs kick, and the body swings in its startling dance of death.

This image shows our ingenious design. The air hose is hidden inside of ONE rope unlike most of our competitors similar products. Our competitors just dangle the air hose along side the hangman's rope, thus destroying the illusion.

The simple gallows shown in the picture is not included. It would unnecessarily inflate the price of the product as most people can use their own tree or rafter or build their own gallows. However we can build it for you at an extra charge of $80 plus S&H if you really want us to.

This unit is powered by a shop air compressor. As with all our products air compressors are not included.

Manually operated unit with an electric switch. This switch is connected to the unit with a 50 ft low profile cable.

Some people like to use a manual switch to activate their Animatronics. They feel this gives them the thrill of the scare.

Some prefer to use automation such as a motion detector. Spooky F/X was the first to offer Electro-field motion detectors!

The Electro-field motion detector is ideally suited for automatic triggering of animatronics for the same reasons they are preferred to trigger multimedia exhibits for walking patrons in modern museums.

Because the Electro-field motion detector can see through common construction materials other than metal, it is often possible to place the Electro-field motion detector totally out of sight.

Our Electro-field motion detectors are designed to detect motion about 3 to 4 feet from the unit. An example of placement would be to mount the device overhead on a wood beam or behind a wood post for a fence. This allows a very tight area of activation to trigger the animatronic, thus operating the animatronic when your prey is in exactly the right spot. This provides the best combination of a floor mat, PIR and beam detector without the disadvantages.

Each Spooky F/X animatronic that comes with an Electro-field motion detector also comes with a built in preset event controller.

Please note: These units are especially made to work with Spooky F/X Animatronics. We do not sell these units as separate components.

To help keep our prices low, manually operated control products were never designed "redundantly" to be able to use the Electro-field motion detectors. We cannot upgrade the manually operated controlled products. Be sure you understand that before you decided on purchasing the less expensive units that utilize hand controllers only!

Because we have had a few of our professional haunt customers request it, we now offer some customized units that use both modes of operation. This way you can choose to either use the hand controller or the Electro-field motion detectors on the fly. This is only for the Electro-field motion detectors units and cost an additional $40 for the customization.

Subj: Electrofield motion detectors
Date: 2/26/03 8:29:54 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: robe.welch@iwon.com
To: Spookyfx

You were right about letting the Electro field motion detectors do the work, instead of using manual control. The freedom to work the crowd instead of the props provided a more consistent audience experience, and freedom to participate as an actor in the scene. The detectors were very accurate! I mounted one low on a wooden stake under the POP OUT CORPS. It would trigger as people closed in to look at it then WHAM! We could have had a contest to see how far people jumped back.

Spooky F/X started haunting in 1982. We started advertising on the internet in 1997 and now market our creations exclusively through the Internet.

Spooky F/X was the first to bring out animatronics with the cassette player sound interface, safe ultra low PSI designs, the first to offer compact affordable Electro-field motion detectors as well as many other design innovations.

The Spooky F/X products are designed to be High value for Medium duty applications at LOW prices!

Several of our monster concepts are original and were unique when we introduced them to the market such as The Red Nepsus. However many of the monster concepts for our new products come from contacts with commercial and home haunters at trade shows, Halloween enthusiasts gatherings, and the internet E-mail lists.

But the concept is just the beginning. The real work begins in the prototype lab.

All designs are first mechanically developed, analyzed and drafted on computers including all the armature motions, and the forces generated by the moving parts.

This drastically reduces the cost of physical prototyping and allows Spooky F/X to avoid over-engineering (using bigger and heaver parts than are actually required by the physics involved).

Then efficient and modularized designs are utilized for the electronic control systems. Spooky F/X developed our exclusive REFLEX control system for a low cost but reliable alternative to miniature computers.

Assembly is done with Quality Assurance check points for EACH AND EVERY SHOCK ABSORBING COMPONENT, MOVING PART, AND FASTENER through out the manufacturing process.

A good Animatronic is much, much more then just a cool concept, it is a lot of work!

-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Scott Ribbens
Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 2:28 AM

I've seen one of the Spooky F/X pneumatics in person, and I gotta say:
fast, quite, low pressure. If I could use pneumatics (can't for various reasons)

Some companies will spread out their prices over various components that each need to be purchased to have a complete product. This is a way to make their prices seem lower.

Our price includes everything. Our Animatronic products include all of the components needed except for the required pressured air, amplified speakers and the batteries.

This is the eyes, ears and whiskers of the monster. Some people like to use a manual switch to activate their Animatronics. Some prefer to use automation such as a motion detector. Spooky F/X was the first to offer Electro-field motion detectors! The Electro-field motion detector is ideally suited for automatic triggering of animatronics for the same reasons they are preferred to trigger multimedia exhibits for walking patrons in modern museums.

This is the brain and the heart of the monster. We use efficient and modularized electronic control systems. Spooky F/X developed our exclusive REFLEX control system for a low cost reliable alternative to expensive miniature computers.

This is one of the reasons we have the highest resolutions images on our web page in the industry. Our monsters will look as good if not better then the images you see here.

This is the mouth of the monster. The controller activates a custom-made mono sound effect which is played to your boom box or stereo system for that BIG sound. This is NOT a loop tape. It is a digital sound chip system with a cassette player adapter. This sound system is a Spooky F/X innovated design and exclusive. It was originally created 8 years ago so that customers with a bunch of tape players (common in Haunts back in those days) could use their existing equipment. However you may also use a simple 1/8 stereo patch cord to plug into your amplified speakers.

Our "Reflex" circuitry produces the same results without the overkill power (and expense) of miniature computers. However we DO NOT cut engineering corners such as eliminating bushings and shock absorbing components as you will find on many poor quality animatronics. The Spooky F/X design strategy produces professional style animatronics at a fraction of the cost you will find elsewhere.

Spooky F/X started out many years ago with the intention of producing low cycle animations only intended for the Home Haunter. However, because Spooky F/X uses good engineering practices such as stress testing individual parts and performing motion analyses on the articulating armatures, Spooky F/X products have been running in some professional Haunts and Home Haunts for over 10 years now. As long as you follow the instructions to the letter, Spooky F/X products may well outlast similar products that cost 3 times as much!

Do not be fooled by companies that claim they use superior raw materials. All the stress testing work done in the design phase is to eliminate the amateur practice of over engineering. Thus we can use materials such as aluminum instead of steel. Aluminum is more than twice as easy to machine (drill and cut) yet has more than 70 percent of the same tensile strength by weight.

Our competitors may tell you that you get what you pay for. YES, with the Spooky F/X products you DO NOT pay for swanky product catalogs, overpriced advertising and professional web designers, overkill hardware/overkill electronics or expensive cargo shipping that can cost almost as much as the product you are buying.

Because of our unique engineering strategy, our products have outlasted even our own expectations over the many years we have been in business.

You will receive the limited 3 year letter of warranty along with a registration card to be sent back to us. This will guarantee all workmanship and materials for the normal and intended use of our Animatronic products.

A majority of the of the product sites you will find on the internet are redistributers of products from the same small number manufactures. This is why their products all look the same. The only way they have of getting you to purchase from them rather than from their competition is to utilize advertising techniques and web traffic tricks.

We believe that if you have a good product that is different and in some ways better than the competitors, in this industry, on the internet, cutting prices is a more cost-effective means of driving sales than spending money on advertising.

Hello
I just wanted to let you know we have 3 of your items in my haunted house. The shock in the box, the leaper, and the basement monster. They all worked perfect with no problems at all. The leaper is on its 3rd year and still working fine. I am so happy with all your stuff. I am already trying to decide on this years order. I just wanted to let you know I am one happy haunter. Also I want to let you know I ran my haunt for 2 weeks 4 hours a day on the same batteries. Great job guys.
Thanks again,
Darren King

We bought 5 props from you 3 years ago..... the trash can zombie...the flailer....

the basement monster...the pop out zombie...the tomb stone pop up.
They all still work perfectly!

It is time to make our annual selection of an animatronics. This years selection is a Coffin Knocker. This will be the sixth animatronic we have purchased in six years. We started with Trash Can Zombie followed by the Flailer, Basement Monster, Spider Drop and Death Dancer. All are in great condition and operating perfectly. We have a Halloween extravaganza every year for our friends and neighbors. I assure you that your products are not only the center of many of our scenes, but the center of our guests fascination as they experience our scary presentation.

We thank you for producing such reliable animatronics that a Home Ghouler can afford and all can enjoy!

You will be emailed an order sheet to be physically mailed to us with your check or money order.

You will receive an acknowledgment of your payment via Email when we receive it.

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Many, many thanks!
From: "Amberina" <amberina@cfl.rr.com>
Date: Wed, July 12, 2006 11:36 am
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I want to thank you for such a superb shopping experience I have had with
your company. I ordered the spider drop and the pop up zombie for the
2006 season. However, before the actual ordering took place, I gave you
folks a pretty hard time (basically, wondering if you were going to take my

When I received my props 'earlier' than the quoted
delivery date I could not have been more thrilled! They both were
exceptional in quality and very easy to set up and use. The latter is
important to me since I am a novice in this industry. I could not have
been more pleased with your company's service and quality. Not to mention,
the low price for all of this value was outstanding. I highly recommend
you to any and all that I know interested in your "scareware" and will of
course purchase from you for the Halloween seasons to come. Again, thank
you for an excellent experience.

Sincerely,
Amber Fraccastoro

We will accept checks but they will delay your order until the check has cleared our bank.

For example:

PayPal business account costs 2.9% of the total charge including the tax, shipping and handling of the product you are buying.

Billpoint business account costs 3% of the total charge including the tax, shipping and handling of the product you are buying.

CC Now business account costs 9% of the total charge including the tax, shipping and handling of the product you are buying.

THATS JUST TO START, then there are startup costs and basic monthly account fees.

Also fees for "additional" but necessary account related services, such as customer transaction information services, fees for payments to be sent via mail, monthly statements, network access fees, and minimum activity fees.

AND most payment services will still charge us their fees even if a customer defaults on the payment TO THEM for any reason.

A higher rate may be charged on individual transactions if the transaction doesn't conform to certain qualifications, as described by the bank or merchant provider. For instance, accepting a "Visa Business Card" credit card may cost 1% MORE than regular transactions.

In order to provide alternate payment options for the few people that would prefer it, we would have to raise ALL our prices about 10 percent.

Other companies simple include these costs in the price of their products because it is proven that credit card acceptance will encourage you to impetuously make the purchase.

However we feel that adding the $100 EXTRA cost to your $1000 Animatronics purchase merely to avoid the $1 cost of a US POSTAL money order is simply not acceptable.

If you disagree and still want to pay by credit card, We will accept Papal but a convenience fee of 10 percent of the total cost including the shipping costs will apply.

We don't use expensive cargo shipping companies, so our shipping costs are very low compared to similar products from other companies! Please take shipping cost into consideration when pricing our competitors products.

Please note: because quality products require either a lot of time or a lot of money, rather than increase our prices this year, we are increasing the time required for delivery. ALL ORDERS EXCEPT FOR THE LIGHTNING CONTROLLERS NOW REQUIRE 3 MONTHS TO COMPLETE!

It is best that you place your order as early as possible in order to have it in your hands well before October 31!

Note: This is an estimate of shipment and travel time; it is not intended to be a guarantee or promise of actual performance. Shipments may be delivered a little sooner then estimated or delayed during periods of peak demand.

CLAIMS: Upon acceptance by the carrier from Spooky F/X, the material becomes the property of the customer. All claims for damage by the carrier (hidden or obvious) must be made by the customer to the carrier. All shipment received by the customer should by carefully examined for any signs of damage before acceptance from the carrier.

ACCEPTANCE: All orders are subject to acceptance by Spooky F/X. Because of our great prices and excellent reputation, sometimes we get more people that want our products than we can accept.

Spooky F/X makes every reasonable effort to keep our web site information accurate,
however Spooky F/X is not responsible for any inadvertent errors.
We make no guarantees of the availability or prices of the merchandise shown on our web site.

Typographical Errors:
In the event that a Spooky F/X product is mistakenly listed at an incorrect price, Spooky F/X reserves the right to refuse or cancel any orders placed for product listed at the incorrect price.

Every year we hear complaints about OTHER Halloween business not keeping in touch with their customers to keep them updated on their products estimated delivery time.

Spooky F/X makes it our number TWO priority to stay in communication with our customers. We put a lot of effort into doing this.

Our number ONE priority is to get you good quality products ON TIME. In all the years we have been in business we have not missed a deadline yet.

We correspond with you to finalize the sale.
We correspond with you to tell you we received your payment.
Again over any long holidays to tell you that you have not been forgotten.
Again when your product ships out!

Each of our orders must be confirmed and entered into our payment system by a real person only after it is placed into our estimated delivery schedule by a real person.

This is a lot of labor and we have been told it is a unwise business choice as automation is suppose to be a key component to making money.

The reason we do this is exactly because so many (if not all) of our competitors do not do it!
It is another way we try to make Spooky F/X different from others in this industry.

All inquires concerning the 4 listed items as shown above will simply be deleted and ignored.

Because of spam, we flag orders and product support questions for prompt responses. All other incoming E-mail may be stored and unattended to for weeks, or deleted altogether without response.

We have also discovered that some of our patrons using free E-mail accounts have had problems not receiving our responses (for various reasons, but usually because free accounts are not well maintained by their hosts). WE will resend E-mail TWICE but upon the third E-mail delivery error we will not resend after that.

Please read the above paragraph before you

Email Spooky F/X

Cosmetic variations in our products are a normal manufacturing process. Minor differences in the costumes and facial characteristics of each of these Animatronics are not flaws, but a result of hand crafting these products. These are not mass produced toys, each Spooky F/X "Monster" is an original work of art.

Units using an air compressor will come provided with an industrial male air hose connector for it's intake port; however you will still need to provide air hose and air hose connectors to feed air from your compressor main tank to a reservoir tank near the animatronic, then to a pressure regulator and then to the animatronic. All of these things can be bought from your local hardware store.

All units DO NOT INCLUDE batteries, air compressor, extra air hose connectors reservoir tanks, feed air hose, or regulators.

We design our products to run as low as 20 to 25 PSI! If you are running 3 to 5 Spooky F/X Pneumatic Animatronics on a periodic basses, you will need a � or 3/4 horsepower compressor with a 2 gallon main tank. These small Hobby compressors sell NEW for as little as $70.

If you are operating a larger Haunted House with 500 to 2000 people a night and 5 or more Spooky F/X Pneumatic Animatronics you will need at least a 1 horsepower compressor with a 10 gallon main tank and there is a small possibility you will need reservoir tanks for each Animatronic unit.

Remember our air consumption information will not apply to units that are made by other companies. Our products are the lowest PSI and the most air efficient in the industry!

Because of the many hours of design time, cost of evaluating new materials, building prototypes and testing these preliminary units, redesign time and then final construction of the new product, custom made orders typically cost 2 or 3 times as much as a similar "off the shelf" items.

However, sometimes it is possible to make slight inexpensive changes such as to the gender of the corpse or the costume they wear. But please remember that this is not a typical service, most of the time our products can only be offered as is.

Be careful when purchasing a pressure regulator for use with our equipment! YOU MUST REGULATE THE AIR PRESSURE THAT YOU FEED INTO OUR EQUIPMENT!

Some merchants such as Harbor Freight Tools sell a FLOW regulator that is packaged in a way that you may (in our opinion ) mistaken for a pressure regulator. It even has the title �air pressure regulator� on the package. However it is only a FLOW VALVE with a pressure gauge on it. It controls how FAST the airflows. If the air goes through it slowly then it will take a little time for the pressure to build up, so this has lead to the erroneous concept with some people that it regulates pressure. A true pressure regulator controls how HARD the air flows.

This is NOT a pressure regulator, it is a flow regulator. If you try to use this to regulate the pressure into any pneumatic device the pressure can build up and may exceed the maximum PSI rate of the pneumatic device and cause an explosion.

This flow regulator doesn't maintain pressure while the pneumatic device is idle. It can only be used if the supply pressure from your air compressor will never exceed the maximum PSI rate of the pneumatic device.

For example if you put this regulator on a paint spray gun with a maximum PSI rate of 150. And your compressor can only produce up to PSI 125. You want to paint at 50 psi so you set this flow regulator to 50 psi. Your pressure would remain constant at 50 psi while you were spraying. But when you let off the trigger, the tank on the gun would go up to 125 psi (or what ever you have set your compressor to produce) until the first initial next depression of the trigger. This type of "regulator" is of no use to pneumatic devices that require a constant regulation of pressure that use one or two second blasts of air followed by a few minutes of down time.

ONLY USE THIS or preferably any better brand name of diaphragm type air pressure regulator to regulate pressure into our equipment or any pneumatic device which has a maximum PSI rate that is less than the PSI your compressor is capable of producing.

Unfortunately these model numbers from Harbor Freight tools will often change because of the way they manipulate their prices in their various catalogs. So these model numbers may not match their recent products.

Here is one clue that may tell you if the regulator you have is a flow valve and not really a pressure regulator. Turn the knob to the most open state. Then look through the in port or the out port. If you can see light shining through the ports then it is a valve for flow NOT a pressure regulator.

Because we cannot anticipate all conditions under which our products may be used. We accept no responsibility for the safety and suitability of our products.

Buyers and users assume all responsibility and liability for loss or damage arising from the handling and use of these products

The following is an E-mail correspondence we had with one of our customers.

They sent us an E-mail asking why the hose clamp on the input of their air inlet popped off when they connected their compressor to it. We emailed them back with concerns about how much PSI they used.

Spooky F/X Pneumatic Animatronics use ultra low PSI levels. As low as 20 PSI depending on the model.

This is what we got back from our customer:

---SNIP of email---

I just ran it from the air compressor, it shuts off at about 125 PSI. Did I do something wrong?

---end of email---

This is the reply we sent back to him:

You MUST read ALL the directions for the equipment we send you before you use it.

You may only feed 25 PSI or less to this unit! You are very lucky you did not get hurt!

Please follow all the instructions that come with the Animatronics, for your safety, your guest's safety and to protect your investment in these great Animatronics.

When possible, all Spooky F/X products are designed to operate using low voltage batteries.

We were the VERY FIRST and still one of the few Pneumatic-Animatronics manufactures on the net to dedicate our design strategy to low volt DC power.

120 volt AC systems tend to create a lot of unnecessary heat. Excessive heat is associated with faulty AC wiring either in the Animatronics or a poorly design network of extension cords and/or splitters. Older house wiring that was not designed to carry such electrical loads can easily become dangerous. Heat from 120 volt AC is the number one cause of fires in Haunted Houses.

Obviously reducing the number of AC devices (even well made ones) in your Haunt directly reduces the chance of overloading your existing AC system and causing a catastrophe.

Even if the wiring is good, common household current can kill. Ground Fault Protection devices are sometimes found in wet locations in the home such as the bathroom. Currently building codes are being considered that would require a GFP on every plug in the home and office. It is not hard to understand the danger of rain or even only small puddles of water when accompanied by dozens of octopus plugs and extension cords covering the ground of your Yard Haunt. Similar dangers exist even on the inside of your Haunted House, but often this consideration is just overlooked or even ignored by our competitors. If you operate 120 volt AC systems in your Haunt, you should seriously consider using GFP on all your circuits even though the cost of the GFP is rather expensive.

The control systems of any electronic device can be easily affected by line interference from other appliances on the same circuit. This is why a "dedicated" 120 volt circuit is normally required by quality manufactures of electronic equipment such as Xerox copy machines. Line Filters can help a great deal but they are not 100 percent effective. Battery powered electronics are infinitely more resistant to such line interference because they are all inherently on "dedicated circuits".

Using individual power supplies for each of the Animatronics almost entirely eliminates the hassles of running extension cords and splitters all over your Haunted House or yard Haunt. Most home haunters will never need to change the batteries through out the duration of their Halloween run. But even the professional Haunted Houses that perform for weeks only change their batteries once or sometimes twice. This is an especially important consideration for Haunted Houses that are set up in remote locations such as a tent in a parking lot or for haunted trails.

Several consumer reporting agencies have conducted battery performance tests. Relays and solenoid devices (such as is used in air powered animatronics) work a little better with Duracell Ultras. Ultras were designed for camera flash products so they are more applicable to sudden/high drain usage.

Tests show that the Panasonic Oxyride can outlast regular alkaline batteries
in high-drain like the flash for cameras.

With low-drain devices, however, the Oxyride actually falls a bit short of
regular alkaline batteries. Panasonic says these new batteries are
specifically designed for electronics like digital cameras, which use a lot
of power for short periods.

Duracell Ultra batteries last longer than Sony Xtra Power or Kodak Max
batteries in tests.

Alkaline batteries whose names include "long-life", "Xtra power" or "high
performance" aren't shown to last any longer than the batteries which don't make
such claims.

The better batteries cost more, so in general all brands of batteries last the same amount of time per the price you pay. So price really only has an effect on how often you will change batteries.

We recommend that you use Panasonic Oxyride or Duracell Ultra Alkaline batteries in our products.

According to Haunt designer Jerry Chavez the 4 elements of a great Haunted House "SCARE" are:

In the light of day, the Basement Monster may seem to be unspectacular. But it actually is a text book example of a great Haunted House scare. This Animatronic was based on a concept by the renowned designer Leonard Pickel (used in many of his own Haunted Houses).

The trapdoor can easily fit into almost any Haunted House theme. It can be in a dungeon for a medieval castle, or a basement in a Victorian home or a cellar on a western farm. Most patrons will walk right up to this animatronic thinking it is merely a great floor decoration. Then suddenly the trap door jumps, bangs and slams several times against the locks and chains that trap what lies beneath the floor. Because of the chains, the monster is restricted from reaching the patrons. This gives a logical reason for the patrons to survive this attack. The patrons imagination explodes with images of what the monster might be trapped under the floor, each envisioning what scares them the most.

This unit is about 24 inches square and the base is only about 1.5 inches thick. This ultra thin design creates the illusion that something must be �under the floor� to make the trapdoor slam so violently.

Manually operated unit with an electric switch. This switch is connected to the unit with a 50 ft low profile cable.

This model uses a Electro-field motion detector. This unit operates completely automatically and Includes a built in preset event controller.

I am interested in ordering a Shock In The Box (modelSIB021606) for Halloween 2007 to qualify for your pre Halloween early bird discount. I previously ordered a Basement

Monster from Spooky FX in 2004 and it has been a favorite prop at our annual haunted woods.

I have three props set up and ready to go (Basement Monster, Red
Nepsis, and Flailer) - they've already given a few shrieks to passerbys,
kids, and the city utility Meter-Readers who've ventured a bit too close
during the initial trial runs. They look and work perfectly.
For delivery next year (2005), I'd like to order one "Leaping Corpse"
Please send an invoice to me at your convenience and happy haunting.
Best regards,
Richard H.

From: Garisandi0100
To: SpookyFX

I received the basement monster today... love it! It will be awesome. I will put in an order for a few more of your great creations! Thanks, Gary Harris

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Heilman" <trouts10@cox.net>
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006

Your props (Red Nepsis, Basement Monster, Flailer, and
Leaping Corpse) all worked great again this year and I
think the shrieks and screams from TOTS this year reached
an all-time record. Many visitors mentioned that they had
seen our yard haunt on the local news TV station or heard
about our home on a local radio station, and I'm happy to
report your items created a lot of hysteria!

Similar to the Basement Monster, most patrons will walk right up to this animatronic thinking it is merely a great wall decoration. Suddenly BOTH cabinet doors pop open (about a quarter open) and slam close several times independent from each other, and NOT in synchronization. This duel air cylinder arrangement produces a less robotic effect. This unit is about 30 inches square and 11 inches deep.

This model uses a Electro-field motion detector. This unit operates completely automatically using our show controller which includes a built in preset event controller.

Manually operated unit with a two button hand held switch. This switch is connected to the unit with a 50 ft low profile cable.

From: Robert L.
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2004

I was just on your site. You all have some of the coolest props and at
some of the best prices around.