Frightening fancy dress, gruesome sound effects and a misty landscape all came together for a perfect ghost hunt last summer at ‘t Veld campsite in Rheeze. Our own staging specialist Merijn spontaneously decided to join the team and oversaw the special effects. With the next camping season on the horizon, we take much pleasure in looking back on that exciting evening in Overijssel.
To be honest, we had a feeling this might happen – Merijn hadn't even been on holiday for a week before he started to get restless. But in this case things happened of their own accord, after a sociable cup of coffee with his neighbours on the campsite. The neighbours had been part of the ghost hunt for years, and wanted their final summer at the camping site to be truly memorable. A short time later, a vehicle full of equipment left our warehouse in Wieringerwerf.
Mist effect
A route was marked out across the campsite designed to terrify the wits out of young and old alike. Participants were subjected to greatly reduced visibility using a Cumulus smoke machine, which was used together with Outdoor smoke fluid and a perforated smoke hose set in the bushes. Another two battery-operated Cirrus smoke machines were concealed, surprising participants on departure and return. The smoke remained in the air, creating a nice and spooky mist effect.
Gruesome noises filled the background, emitting from a FireWare fusion sound box, casting a scary atmosphere across a large part of the campsite. A FireWare Pandora’s Box sensory simulator was also employed to generate hair-raising noise effects. A crying baby could be heard as the team dropped a skeleton from a tree – that got the kids screaming!
The ghost hunt was a great success that saw at least 40 kids enjoying themselves. And once everybody had overcome their fear, the fun continued long into the evening. Sadly, things are going to be somewhat different this summer as a result of the coronavirus measures, but we certainly hope that we'll be able to induce some fun and terror once again next summer!
