I always have a spooky treasure hunt during my camp. Halloween doesn't come soon enough for me, I have to creep them out at least twice a year! After reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn I knew this was the perfect theme for Spooky Night. Have you read these books lately? CREEPY! So here goes my take on these two classic books.
Spooky Night
 |
| Aunt Polly |
The kids were meet at the front gate by Aunt Polly. She was carrying a lantern and she handed out flameless candles. She said:
"Did you come to help look for those two rascals? I don’t know what I’m going to do with that Tom. He’s taken to flights of fancy from readin’ them Dime Novels with their stories of high falutin' romantic adventure. And now he’s sneakin’ out at night with that worthless Huck Finn whose daddy is a no account, mean drunk. Last I heard them two, they were whisperin’ and plottin’ about some lost gold map, Murrel’s treasure. If we find them I’m sure we’ll find that so called treasure too! We might as well start lookin’!
We hold the treasure hunt on two acres of overgrown family property. It conveniently has a creaky front gate, a long winding path and a spooky "Haunted House" and an even spookier granary.
After Aunt Polly gave us our candles, she gave us the first clue.
Going to the graveyard entrance
1) The howling wind makes the dead grass bend. Go to the place where the dead always end!
(Graveyard sign with lantern & shovel, graves , webs, fog,
howling wind (clue on graveyard sign)
(The red words indicate sound effects.)
The Graveyard Sign
The next clue read:
2) Tom and Huck went at midnight, spirits to find. Instead they found grave robbers of the murdering kind.
(Open grave, coffin, headstones, shovel, lantern, fog, rat, web,
scary night sounds) Clue on coffin.
They didn't know were the clue was so they had to search
among the headstones and bones to locate it.
Oh, and did I mention that it was pitch black outside, their were creepy sounds wafting on the breeze (I have four stereos with soundtracks) and there are several roving creeps that appear suddenly then vanish?!!
All these things are very conducive to closeness in the family!
They searched for a while amongst the death and decay before noticing the coffin hidden among the trees to the left.
The clue on the coffin said:
3) Doc Robinson (that grave robbin’ so and so) got stabbed in the gut by Old Injun Joe!
(
Moaning, dead Doc with knife in body,(clue under knife)
Our very convincing and oh, so dead Doc Robinson.
The clue on Doc said:
4) In their headlong flight, the boys dropped their wart cure. That dead cat inside reeks somethin’ awful fer dang sure!
(Look for burlap bag with Gallon Ziploc with flour, fake fur and stinky scents in a bag, clue in bag, fog)
The burlap bag with a very real feeling dead cat was hung in a tree. The bag had a slit in it that they had to reach in to retrieve the clue. I filled a gallon Ziploc bag about half way with flour. I wrapped it in fake fur then drizzled on some
Fog Machine Scents that were extremely putrid smelling. It made the fur wet and slimy and very rotten cat like!
The clue with rotten cat juice on it said:
5) The haunted house up on the hill with spirits of floating blue. If you can brave it and you live through it, you‘ll probably find a clue.
(Blue lights moving in window,
spooky music, haunted house sign) (clue in house)
About this time Pace was ready to throw in the towel, but toughed it
out for bragging rights to all the cousins who didn't come!
Trying to work up courage!
Three out of the group finally "Volunteered" to go in.
As the group walked up to the house they could see blue "Spirits" floating past the windows on the right side of the house. What they didn't know was that a second "Spirit" was hiding in the bathroom on the left of the hallway. Just about the time they got brave enough to creep into the kitchen where the clue was resting in an old wood stove, the spirit on the left started pounding on the walls and Merrill ran over the top of the girls in his headlong flight to safety. Women and girls be danged!
The clue in the stove read:
6)The Spaniard guards his buried treasure sleeping round the clock. He keeps it in a dusty bag, buried neath a rock!
(Serape, sombrero, bag of treasure with clue, rocks.
Snoring)
They followed the sounds of snoring to this sleepy fellow. They had to search
in the bag clutched in his hands, trying all the while not to wake him!
That clue said:
7) The fog beneath the Bridge of Death, it has a putrid smell. It pulls you from your lofty perch, and takes you straight to Heck!
(Bridge, lava, fog with putrid smell,
moaning, arm with clue)
The swaying bridge from last year (which sat out in the weather all year) was really rickety by this point and made a very treacherous feeling climb possible. The lava and smoke from the fog machine looked eerie beneath the slats as they walked over. (The lava was orange rope lights embedded in "Great stuff" on a long narrow piece of plywood.)
That clue said:
8) They say that in these deadly swamps a voodoo queen reigns there. If it’s death you want to escape, avoid her ghostly stare!
(Queen, contacts, dry ice, pot, goo, body parts, frogs,
bubbling, coals,) (clue in goo)
Try avoiding this stare!
They had to reach into the pot of warm goo and gooey body parts and frogs to
search for the teeny tiny clue.
It gave them these instructions:
9) The Voodoo Queen, she’s conjured up the spirits from below. You’ll know them when they appear, by their greenish glow.
(Vortex, fog,
shrieks) (clue in the glow)
The clue from the vortex said:
10) Huck wanders through this world alone. His life is really crap. He avoids, at any cost, his worthless, drunken Pap.
Pap- Calling for Huck, "Where are ya boy? Come to yer dear old Pap." (Lantern, scraggly guy, gun)
(Clue in pocket)
They were accosted by Huck's Pap, who was convinced that one of them was his missing son.
"Get over here you worthless little skunk!"
The clue in his pocket said:
11) Huck’s running through the humid swamp dodgin’ rock and limb. He’s not alone, he’s found a friend in good old faithful Jim.
(Campfire, two blanketed bodies with hats,
snoring, clue in blanket.)
After searching among their blankets they found this clue:
12) The slavers are out in them woods, they hunt for running slaves. Their hounds will chase them to their death, and sleep beside their graves.
(
Barking, dog mask, red eyes, grave, sign on old board,)
As they looked around the grave and sign for the clue, suddenly hounds began baying and...
a big ugly demon dog appeared and scared the wig right off poor Aunt Polly!
This clue said:
13) Jim and Huck are running fast, headin’ fer the river. First they have to pass the spiders, their bodies all a quiver.
(Web, spiders, dropping & shaking spider, clue in web.)
I got this great swamp spider from
Grandin Road on clearance. It was a huge beauty that was motion activated. It's eyes lit up, it made creepy sounds and quivered. What more could you ask for!
The clue found in the web said:
14) They throw together logs and rope and make a right nice raft. Hop on too, but I must exclaim, "I think yer rather daft!"
(Fog,
Ships horn, water lapping, raft, pole, rope to pull it) (Clue at dock where they disembark)
When they reached the river dock (a platform left over from our Safari Adventure, years ago) they could see the rolling fog and hear the mournful call of a ships horn. Three at a time they boarded the raft (a pallet with wheels with a rope attached). They then poled their raft (with some assistance from unseen rope pullers) to the other side of the river. Sorry there are no pictures, I was too busy trying to amp up the fog!
This clue said:
15) They hear that there’s a place to hid, for all who remain friendless. There’s just one problem with that pit, it seems that it is endless!
(Bottomless pit, sign, )
My talented (and PATIENT) husband built me this bottomless pit ((along with a myriad of other things). When you looked down into it, it appeared bottomless. The flash picture didn't do it justice. We found the instructions
here.
This clue said:
16) Huck falls in with the Grangerford’s a feuding but genteel bunch. It sounds like the Shepherdson’s have shown up, well that is just a hunch!
( Shouting, gun shots, sign No Shepherdson’s allowed) (clue on sign)
At this stop the heard the sounds of shouting and loud shooting and were told a little of the bloody feud.
The clue on the sign read:
17) Sophia Grangerford slipped away with her Shepherdson beau. A war broke out, they’re all most dead upon the blood stained snow.
As the kids walked up they were met by the sounds of a woman wailing. This white bride with flowers in her hand popped up from the ground and flew across the sky. This was achieved by laying her on the ground, covered by black plastic. She was suspended by fishing line hung over the tall limb in a tree. When the kids reached her she was pulled into the air under the glow of a black light.
The clue clasped in her cold dead hand said:
18) Huck’s made it home , reunites with Tom and Jim’s no more a slave. To end it all they meet again at Injun Joe’s deep cave.
(Sign, black plastic sheeting, bats, webs, snakes, creepy sounds,) Clue at sign.
This would have been hard to take a picture of. My daughter strung twine between a stand of small, dense tree. On the twine she hung black plastic sheeting, creating a narrow, dark corridor (the cave). She sealed off the end were the treasure chest rested.
On the cave sign they found the last clue:
19) The boys hope you’ve enjoyed your trek. For them it’s been a pleasure. Now go inside and you will find Old Murrel’s long lost treasure.
(Chest, treasure, candy bars, soda, jewels)
On coming back out they were greeted by our friend from day one:
Special thanks to all my tireless haunters who work so hard
to bring to life the Luvlee "Visions" in my head.
