Lightning

Lighting and the applied use of it, or lack of it, is one of the most important aspects of setting a creepy scene.

No Fire - FIRE BAD

Please do not use live fire in a haunt.

Fake candles (groups of pillars or chandelier

Fake candles can be easily made with electric tealights and PVC pipe.

Lasers (vortex or swamp)

You can achieve an amazing effect with an inexpensive line laser or cone shaped laser and a fog machine. The laser cuts through the fog, lighting it up and making the patterns in the fog visible, but not allowing you to see past the line of fog - allowing you to hide things behind it.

LED Spot & Flood

In the past 10 years, LED lighting has made a huge impact upon the haunting world. LED light sources are inexpensive, low power, and low heat producing and can be changed to any color on the fly, as well as become integrated into a light show.

Flicker Cord

This is an old school method of getting an incandescent light to flicker by using an extension cord and fluorescent light starter. LED lighting effects are now the preferred method of doing this in a more controlled and safer manner.

Rope light

These make great low light level pathway markers to help guide people along a path so they don't get lost

Effects lights (Water ripples, Fire & Ice)

Often seen in seasonal aisles of the big box retailers, you will often see a bulb or light fixture with a black or white plastic body and a clear, round dome that houses a few LEDs and an effects wheel that disturbs the beams of light coming from the LEDs, creating a flickering or shimmering effect that mimics water or fire.

Projected Shadows

You can also use a projector to play a video of a light that has a shadow crossing in front of it. You can use this to great effect in conjunction with other normal lights and project shadows of people who are not there.

Strobes

These bright flashing lights can cause visual confusion, disrupt your night vision, cause moving objects to appear to be still, and can be effective as a lightning effect in short bursts.

Glow Sticks

While they do not produce much light, they are safe and small and can be used in places and effects where just a little light is needed - such as goblin lights.

Black Light

Ultraviolet light can appear purple to the eye, but will cause some pigments and minerals to glow brightly. These are available in fluorescent tubes or LED styles. Avoid the purple glass light bulb variety of the old days.

Individually Addressable LED lights

New to the scene in the past few years, these are becoming more common to the area of escape rooms, light shows, and the high tech haunters. A string or strip of LED lights can be controlled individually so as to produce a wide range of effects from a standard hollywood marquee, to candle flickering, to fire flames, to dripping, glowing liquids.

TV/Monitor

If you ever watched Poltergeist, you know the effect an old TV tuned to static can have in a haunt. There are also a number of digital effects that take great advantage of TV programming, Peppers ghost, or turning that flat screen into a living painting.