> INTRODUCTION a fascination with imagination   > THEME PARK MAGIC inspirational rides and attractions   > A PHANTOM PLOT UNFOLDS a 2003 test from Disneyland ideas   > THE HAUNTING BEGINS five years of Halloween, 2004-2008 > BACK FROM THE GRAVE 2010-2011 with new technology   > A 2013 RESURRECTION a mix of new and age-old effects   > DAWN OF THE UNDEAD 2014 show, part one   > THE ZOMBIES EMERGE 2014 show, part two   > A CHANGING CONCEPT 2015 show, part one   > BUILDING PNEUMATIC FIGURES 2015 show, part two   > ROLL UP, ROLL UP! 2015 show, part three   > INTO THE TUNNEL... 2016 show, part one   > MAKING MONSTERS MOVE 2016 show, part two   > TO HELL AND BACK 2016 show, part three   > SHARPENING THE SENSES 2017 show, part one   > A MAGNETIC ATTRACTION 2017 show, part two   > THE BIG EXECUTION 2017 show, part three   Unravelling the secrets of Phantom Manor...       The pathway up to the house, lined with decaying stone statues and vine-covered balusters, created an eerieness ahead of entering. And once I was finally inside, it was like nothing I’d ever seen before! From the entrance hall, we were all ushered into a big room that slowly stretched vertically, elongating some sinister portraits as it did so. Then suddenly the ceiling disappeared and we saw a mysterious figure in the rafters, hanging a man in a noose! Next we got into a ‘doom buggy’ to begin the journey through the house.     Image credit: Tom Bricker, Disney Tourist Blog     There were so many great illusions; a ghostly bride appeared from nowhere down a seemingly endless hallway; a piano in a music room was being played by an invisible pianist, with only his shadow bleeding across the floor; and most spectacularly, there was a ballroom filled with ghosts who waltzed around to the music of a spectral organist. After leaving the house, the doom buggies travelled out to the old ghost town of Thunder Mesa, the so-called Phantom Canyon - a cavernous realm inhabited by skeletons and ghouls. Beyond this, we returned to the house, and were released back into the daylight, through a dusty wine cellar.     The whole journey through the old manor and beyond was an exceptionally immersive experience. Even rooms and spaces that were in near total darkness had enormous attention to detail. It was impossible to take it all in on one single ride through; deliberately so, no doubt. Pepper’s Ghost, the reflection-in-glass effect, appeared several times here too, and on an enormous scale in one scene! The ballroom full of ghostly dancers was one of the largest examples of this illusion in the world. Some years later, I would come to incorporate this effect into my own Halloween projects. This attraction really sparked my imagination and gave me lots of ideas... I wanted to be able to make my own versions of the things I'd seen. But where? And more importantly, how?                         The Trick or Treat trial run...             A year later, an opportunity presented itself. In October 2002, I had noticed that in the road where my nan and uncle lived, a lot of people were out for trick or treat on Halloween night. Their house was just down the road from my old junior school, and many of the kids who went there lived very close by. As a result, lots of parents took their children out to knock on doors and collect treats from willing neighbours. There seemed to be a lot of enthusiasm for dressing up, and a lot of people knocked on the door that night. Maybe I was onto something...I certainly wanted to try and build some of the stuff I'd seen in Phantom Manor, so I decided that this was just the captive audience I needed for a few little tricks of my own, when Halloween came round again the next year, in 2003... One of the opening scenes of Phantom Manor involves visitors walking into an octagonal gallery, where four portraits of the young girl of the house, Melanie, and her soon-to-be husband hang on the walls. Slowly, the room begins to elongate vertically. The portraits stretch too, revealing Melanie to be in several horrific scenarios! The ceiling moves further and further away from the guests' heads, while the voice of the Phantom ominously declares that there is no way out of the room! Suddenly, the room goes dark. The ceiling, now about ten metres above the guests, becomes transparent (a fine use of a scrim!), and above this, guests see a sinister figure amid flashes of lightning. This is the Phantom, hanging Melanie's groom in the rafters from a noose! Crashes of thunder and the Phantom's evil laughter echo through the darkness, before the lights flicker back on a few seconds later.   Image credit: Disney   This was a great scene, and I thought it would be perfect as a way of surprising our Halloween trick or treaters when we opened the front door to them. But first, I had to consolidate my assets. Which of the required props did I have access to? A noose? No. A corpse? Nope. A room that could conveniently stretch vertically on cue? Sadly not. That just left flashes of lighting and thunder sounds. Now that I could do! The lightning wouldn't be a problem because my Dad, who by now was also a special constable, had just bought a huge heavy-duty MagLite torch that was capable of lighting up Wembley Stadium. A few flashes of that and we'd be in business. And the thunder would also be possible - I'd found an album of Halloween sound effects; they could easily be put onto a CD to be played in the hall when we opened the door. I found a great creaky door sound, and a satisfying clap of thunder, and strung them together onto a disc. These sounds have remained at every display since! The finished effect involved my uncle Richard on the decks (well, pressing play on the CD player) and me opening and then standing behind the front door, pulsing the torch on and off in time with the thunder sounds (automated control was still a wild fantasy at this point!). But our little show got us noticed, and we had lots of people come to the door, presumably on the grounds that it was a bit different, and a bit of fun. I considered the evening a success - there was clearly scope to enlarge this project for next year. I had built up a little collection of lights and speakers...maybe I could make some effects to go in the garden? My mind quickly filled with ideas. But I'd have to wait until the following year before I could unleash my next Halloween creation...