Wonderful school festival / cultural festival

[School Festival] Ideas for gimmicks to incorporate into a haunted house

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.
Deputy Editor of RAG MUSICsasashina
Deputy Editor of RAG MUSIC. JFC-certified fact-checker. I’m Sasashina, a mom currently raising an elementary schooler and a preschooler. During my student years at Kyoto College of Science and Technology, I studied a wide range of fields including sound, lighting, and video technology, building a foundation in comprehensive stage production and creative expression. After graduation, I joined a music production company, where I still work, consistently building experience in production and engaging in a variety of music-centered tasks. Currently, I mainly handle articles for children, drawing on what I’ve learned about parenting and what I feel and discover through daily interactions with my kids. I hope my work can be of help to you, even in a small way!

Have you ever seen that moment at a school culture festival haunted house when a friend looks confused and says, “Wait, who is this person?” In the dark, people swap places, the floor turns wobbly under your feet, and when you approach a creepy doll, its head suddenly spins…

Successful haunted houses hide lots of clever tricks that keep participants on edge.

From cardboard-made tombstones and talismans for spooky effects to floor pranks, with a bit of ingenuity the entire venue can be filled with screams and laughter.

Here, we introduce a variety of fun haunted house ideas.

Directing Techniques and Devices (11–20)

Have them listen to scary sounds through headphones.

[Service Ended: End of service] Tokyo Joypolis: Room of Living Dolls - Scarlet

Have them listen to scary sounds through headphones.

A haunted house where participants don’t have to walk around! Here’s an idea where they listen to scary sounds through headphones.

Usually, you need a classroom-sized space to build a haunted house, right? In those cases, we recommend a setup where participants wear headphones and listen to frightening audio.

Decorate the room densely with items like Japanese dolls.

It sets the mood and will definitely get their hearts pounding.

You can customize the audio with uneasy background music, voices, or scary stories related to Japanese dolls.

Adding a mechanism that makes the decorations start moving partway through would really amp up the excitement as well.

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Treasure Hunt in a Haunted House

Tried treasure hunting in a haunted house!! Find the diamond! 💎

Treasure Hunt in a Haunted House

Let’s create a homemade haunted house inside your home! Here are some ideas for a treasure hunt in your haunted house.

They’re wonderful for sparking kids’ sense of adventure and creativity! Try setting up a haunted house in a dark room or a quiet corner.

The process of making it is fun, too! Following a series of clues to search for treasure in your DIY haunted house sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Since it’s easy to do at home, it’s a perfect idea not only for Halloween or special events, but also for weekends.

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Haunted Mansion

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Cultural Festival Translation Like-backWe recreated the Haunted Mansion for our school festival. It’s a ride-style attraction exclusively for single riders.
♬ Haunted Mansion – Tokyo Disneyland

One attraction you can practically always find at amusement parks and theme parks is the haunted house.

It’s also a staple for school festivals.

With that in mind, here’s an idea I recommend: use Disneyland’s attraction “The Haunted Mansion” as your motif.

The hallmark of The Haunted Mansion is that it’s a haunted house that isn’t too scary and even includes humorous elements.

Keeping that in mind, try creating a fun, lighthearted haunted house.

It could also be interesting to incorporate touches that evoke the original attraction.

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jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire)

[Full-Power Cosplay Hill] Tried running as a Jiangshi #31

jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire)

School festivals are a great chance to wear outfits you don’t normally get to wear.

How about a jiangshi costume, which has been getting more popular for Halloween too? Jiangshi is a Chinese monster costume.

It looks like you can find cute skirt versions for women on online shopping sites.

It could be fun to customize the talisman on the hat by writing your class name and your own name on it.

If you use white face paint, you can create a spooky vibe, while women can also go with natural makeup for a cute look.

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to chase; to pursue

[Speechless] A Scaredy-Cat Single Woman in Her Late 20s Freaks Out at Japan’s Scariest Haunted House [Senritsu Meikyuu]

to chase; to pursue

As a haunted house performance, the simplest and most forceful tactic is the chase.

It’s very straightforward, but that’s exactly why it startles people.

You know, that feeling of, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve got to run!”—they’ll panic and scream as they try to escape.

It can be dangerous in tight spaces, so it’s best to do it in wider sections of the course.

As a variation, instead of running after them, slowly, steadily pursuing them can be scary too.

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Haunted House

Too retro: Japan's scariest haunted house, 'Kaidan Obake Yashiki' at Musashino Village

Haunted House

We tend to focus on the staging, but even in a pitch-black classroom, putting real effort into what you create can instantly make it much scarier.

Handcrafted items like realistic talismans also double the fear factor.

Don’t just think of it as something done at school—try putting care into making props as a practical way to enhance the spookiness within your means.

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Sound effects, audio, and visual effects (1–10)

TV with static

8 Hours of Sleep-Inducing TV Static White Noise – Calms Crying Babies, for Studying and Working

TV with static

These days, virtually no TV station ever goes off the air, but in the past—back in the era of old television—broadcasts would end late at night.

What you’d see then was the so-called “static” screen.

The hiss of white noise and the grainy black-and-white visuals can feel creepy, like something from a haunted house.

Perfect for setting a mood! You can find several clips on video sites.

Interestingly, that static screen has also been put to positive uses, like “improving concentration” or “helping babies fall asleep.” Maybe try watching static before a test? Could boost your score!

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