First impressions are powerful and very important in creating the atmosphere and setting. For a Haunted Attraction this includes the entry area and façade (fake front) of the attraction. With one glance the patrons should know what kind of structure they are about to enter, the approximate time period and what may be in store for them within. A dramatic, realistic looking façade can greatly enhance the overall haunt experience and will increase ticket sales! Learn the steps in designing a spooky facade for your attraction from 30 year industry veteran Leonard Pickel, known for his “spooktacular” Haunted Architecture, and pick up some tricks and tips about how you can make the facade on your attraction look more evil and foreboding.

1. By Leonard Pickel
Hauntrepreneurs®
Themed Attraction Design
and Consulting

3.  What Makes a Great Façade?

4.  What Makes a Great Façade?
 Visibility

5.  What Makes a Great Façade?
 Impact

6.  What Makes a Great Façade?
 Drama

7.  What Makes a Great Façade?
 Tells a Story

8.  What Makes a Great Façade?
“A house without a history
cannot be Haunted”
Stephen King
The House your
Parents Warned You
to Say Away From!

10.  Ghost Town
 Flat Façade
 Shed Porch
 Hitching Posts

11.  Industrial
 Brick
 Low Pitched Or
Flat Roofs
 Smoke Stacks
 Clear Story
Windows
 Dirty/Grimy
 Pipes

12.  Medieval
 Castle
 Battlements
 Ramparts
 Towers
 Archer Slits

13.  Medieval
 Manor House
 Castle Light
 Steep Tile Roofs

14.  Medieval
 Manor House
 Castle Light
 Steep Tile Roofs
 Stone Walls
 Chimneys

15.  Medieval
 Gothic Church
 Spires
 Gothic Arches and
Windows
 Heaven and Hell

16.  Medieval
 Gothic Church
 Gargoyles

17.  Medieval
 Gothic Church
 Gargoyles

18.  Medieval
 Gothic Church
 Gargoyles

19.  Medieval
 Gothic Church
 Grotesques

20.  Prisons
 Stone or Brick
 Bared Windows
 Castle Looking
 Typically Gothic
in Style

21.  Asylums and Hospitals
 Large Buildings with Wings
 Wide Compared to Height
 Brick or Stone
 Flat or Pitched Roofs

22.  Victorian Era 1837–1901
 Rein of Queen Victoria in Britain

23.  Victorian
 Greek Revival
 Low Slope Roofs
 Columns
 Pediments
 Balconies

24.  Victorian
 Italianate
 Cupola
 Large Over Hangs
 Decorative Brackets
 Shallow Pitch Roof
 Arched Windows
 Gingerbread Porch

25.  Victorian
 Gothic Revival
 Steep Roofs
 Gothic Arches
and Windows
 Sharp Points

26.  Victorian
 Second Empire
 Mansard or Bellcast
Mansard Roof
 Decorative Slate
Shingles
 Dormers
 Deep Bracketed Eves
 Corner Boards
 Tall Windows

27.  Victorian
 Queen Anne
 Gingerbread
 Towers
 Balconies
 Chimneys
 Mixed Styles

30.  Amityville Horror

31.  Amityville Horror
As it looks today

32.  Winchester Mystery House

33.  Vihisca Ax Murder House

34.  Borden Murder House

35.  Ed Gein House

36.  John Wayne Gacy

38.  Do you recognize this house?

39.  The Munsters

40.  How about this one?

41.  The Addams Family

42.  This one is a bit more obscure.

43.  Dark Shadows

45.  Do you recognize this house?

46.  Psycho

47.  Poltergeist

48.  Phantasm

49.  Amityville Horror

50.  Amityville Horror

51.  Amityville Horror

52.  Amityville Horror

53.  The Addams Family

54.  The Addams Family

55.  The Addams Family

57.  Haunted Mansion
 California

58.  Haunted Mansion
 California

59.  Haunted Mansion
 California

60.  Haunted Mansion
 Florida

61.  Haunted Mansion
 Florida

62.  Haunted Mansion
 Tokyo

63.  Phantom Manor
 France

64.  Tower of Terror
 Florida

65.  Tower of Terror
 California

66.  Tower of Terror
 Tokyo

67.  Tower of Terror
 Florida
 California
 Tokyo

68.  Early Haunted Mansion Design
Early Haunted Mansion

69.  Early Haunted Mansion Design
Early Haunted Mansion

71.  Faces

72.  Faces

73.  Faces

74.  Faces

75.  Faces

76.  Faces

77.  Faces
 Adding a face in the
Architecture is an
easy way to make a
façade look scarier!
 You can even add
expressions to the
face.

78.  Vertical Forced Perspective

79.  Classic Shrinking Hallway

80.  Classic Shrinking Hallway

81.  Fractional Perspective :
The first floor of a
building is built at a
reduced scale, seven-
eighths of reality. A second
floor is build at seven-
eighths of the main floor.
A third floor, if there is
one, would be seven-
eighths of the floor below
it, and so on.

82.  Fractional Perspective:
The first floor of a
building is built at a
reduced scale, seven-
eighths of reality. A second
floor is build at seven-
eighths of the main floor.
A third floor, if there is
one, would be seven-
eighths of the floor below
it, and so on.

83.  Dimension
 Tall and Thin is Scarier
Than Short and Wide

84.  Dimension
 Tall and Thin is Scarier

85.  Towers

86.  Towers

87.  Make It Crooked

88.  Make It Look Unsafe!

89.  Location
 Spooky Trees

90.  Location
 Cemetery

91.  Location
 On a Hill

92.  Distressing and Age

93.  Vines and Moss

94.  Atmosphere
 Lighting

95.  Lightning

96.  Realism
 Make it Look Real!

97.  Realism
 Make it Look Real!
Inspiration
Facade

98.  Realism
 Mansard Roof

99.  Realism
 Details

100.  Abandoned
 Boarded Up

101.  Abandoned
 Over Grown

102.  Abandoned
 Dilapidated

103.  Abandoned
 Dilapidated

104.  Boarded Up

105.  Pure Creativity

106.  Pure Creativity

107.  Pure Creativity

109.  Haunt Facades

110.  Castle Haunted Attraction Façades

111.  Halloween Horror Nights Façades

112.  Asylum Façade

113.  Asylum Façade

114.  Farm House Façade

115.  Farm House Façade

116.  Farm House Façade
Inspiration

117.  Farm House Façade
Inspiration
Design

118.  Farm House Façade
Inspiration

119.  Farm House Façade
Inspiration
Design

120.  Approximate Time Period
 Hints at What May Be In Store
 Enhances the Experience
 Increases Excitement
 Tells a Story
 and It Sells Tickets!

121. Leonard Pickel
Hauntrepreneurs®
Themed Attraction Design
and Consulting
972-951-5100
leonardpickel@gmail.com
www.hauntrepreneurs.com