Buzzing Bench

As guests enter the porch, they come to a dimly lit waiting place and are asked to be seated. After a brief moment, a ghoulish voice begins to explain a few rules. These include rules about not running, pushing, and etc. (All pre-recorded with spooky effects.) As the guests remain seated, sounds of the howling night and the breeze of the midnight air can be felt. When all is finally quite, the guest's seats come alive. Loud vibrating sounds send each guest upward with fright! Since the guests are now standing, the hooded guide motions for them to enter the house.

 

The bench: We used 2 x 6's and 3/4" plywood for heavy support. Drywall screws are preferred over using nails due to their strength. Remember, this bench will be taking a lot of abuse from your audience so construct it with the biggest person in mind.

The buzzers: We used 6 (12 volt) household buzzers. These buzzers came from Home Depot and should be bought with the appropriate transformer. (The transformer is a small device that converts large current into small current.) The instructions are VERY easy to follow. The buzzers were equally spaced and mounted underneath the bench. Mounting them loosely will give a bigger vibrating effect, as well as more noise.

The switch: We mounted a doorbell button out of view of the audience, and ran the buzzer power through it. When the button was pushed (by the offstage worker), the buzzers would activate. We also used a five-strip outlet and plugged everything into it. This way you can activate other lights and noises just by activating one main switch.