Walking Through Cobwebs
 

The Effect:

As guests walk through a dim hallway, they feel cobwebs sticking to their faces.

 

How It Works:

Several black threads are hung from the ceiling low enough to brush against guests' faces as they walk by. These threads feel like cobwebs to guests passing underneath.

Materials:

  • Black thread

  • Tape

Approximate Cost: Negligible

 

Preparation:

This is an extremely simple effect that yeilds surprisingly good results. You can use any number of means to secure the threads to the ceiling. I have always taped them up, but I'm sure you could staple, glue, or even sew the threads in position. Use about 20 to 30 threads for a good effect. Make sure there is a black wall or dark area behind the threads so that the guests won't see them. You may need to comb through the threads with you hands every once in a while to straighten any of the threads that may have tangled.

This is an effect that you have to actually try in order to understand how effective it really is. I had read this idea in several places while looking for Holloween ideas and thought it sounded stupid and ineffective. It was not until I was going through another haunted house that had implemented this that I realized what a great effect it was that I had been ignoring.

One last note to haunt builders: You will probably want this to be one of the last effects you set up. I can tell you from experience that it is extremely annoying to have to walk through a whole mess of freaking strings every time you need to set something up on the other side of your haunt.