Acres of Terror: Expert Advice on Creating Home Haunts

Go behind the scenes for the secrets of some of the region's most successful scarers.

Take a look at this picture. Creepily convincing, right?

Can you believe under the layers of dirt, grime, gore, decay and rotting flesh is….a simple dollar store skeleton? (It’s dressed up with some simple ingredients you probably have on hand.)

It’s true. And it’s just one of the many fascinating techniques behind the creation of one of the region’s longest-running and most lurid haunted attractions, Leonard, ND-based Acres of Terror.

For almost twenty years, the team of scarers at Acres of Terror has been traumatizing Red River Valley Halloween fans with a frightening bus ride, a creepy corn maze and a disturbing abandoned school tour.

It takes 30 to 35 cast members and a full-time engineer to bring the vision to life, some of whom work on the attraction year-round.

But this year, they decided to do something special.

The professional scarers took the Morning Show’s Emily Welker and photojournalist Chris Howard on a tour of their attraction and shared their tips on how you can create some of the special effects at home.

Whether it’s a gory display for your front yard or a hellish spectacle for your house party, their ideas are adaptable and incredibly creative.

Check it out… and watch out for the clown.