Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

Hope this is the right place for this but here goes :

So I have done a local haunt in whatever neighborhood i have lived in for years the last 3 with my wife. This year my company moved me to Gainesville florida for a promotion and we asked the apartment complex that we had to live in if they would mind us doing it. Not only do they not mind but they have 4 other communities near here and want us to put on a larger haunt at one of the communities as a communitiy function on halloween weekend. Now this is like a dream come true but they have given me a very very small budget all be it I have alot of props and costumes myself some nice ones too. I picked up a reacher costume for 50 bucks off of craigslist last Tuesday had to drive 3 hours to pick it up but gotta love the deal. Anyways the area that they have given me is a fenced in tennis slash basket ball court. Plus a little area of trees at the end. Now I have the end of trees at the end covered with a cemetary theme there and all the stuff to do it. But I don't really know how to cordon of the courts into rooms easily without alot of cost. Also its outdoors and I am worried about my props. Any Ideas on this would be greatly appreciated.

sounds interesting... as far as costs go... i don't know how heavy of traffic you get or how long it'll be up and running but seeing how its out doors, i've seen large black tarp (which you can get at any tractor supply store) used for walls.. which are framed by 2x4s i don't really know what you're going for but i've seen tarp work out pretty well for creating an outdoor wall without spending too much money on a ton of wood.

Well, the tennis court is fenced in.... so that helps. I like the tarp idea-- they also sell those at Home Depot or Lowes (Painter Tarp, I think). You can also use plastic table covers too-- they're usually 99-cents each and come in 8-foot lengths. I'd go with the tarp first, though because it's thicker and doesn't blow around as easily.

I wouldn't go buy a bunch of lumber... what really would determine what you buy is how you want to divide up the tennis courts. I'd do that first. Bear in mind, ADA standards require 36" (3-feet) clearance for walkways... so try to keep your walkways that wide at a minimum. You could buy 4x4's for posts and create some sort of weighted metal base and string wire or cable or attach PVC so you have something structural to attach "walls" and things to. I don't know... I've never done a haunt out in the open.

You might look for other sources-- other people who may have better experience in dealing with this sort of haunt design... and on a low budget too!

Best of luck.