A Dr. Who Halloween Haunted House in Fairfax

This weekend a strange blue box materialized in Revolution 9 filled with a mad man and a host of dangerous creatures. Whovians of all ages were given the opportunity to enter the Doctor's TARDIS and help to fight off weeping angels, the silence and a headless monk.

Every year at Revolution 9 we create a themed Haunted Backroom and put on a performance for anyone who dares enter. This year, with the seventh season of Dr. Who in full swing, and our store filled with Dr. Who memorabilia, we decided it was time to build a TARDIS. We started by building the wooden frame, complete with accurate windows, door handles, and a light wired on the top. Next was the layers and layers of paint - TARDIS blue is not an easy color to recreate! Then for the detailing! An old school telephone on the inside of the door, the classic instructions on the front, the police box sign painted around the frame, and then all that was left was to make it bigger on the inside. Our beautiful TARDIS had to be disassembled to fit it through the doors at Revolution 9, and the front and sides put back together, but of course not the back. Placed in front of our back room we could step through it into the interior of the TARDIS were we build a console, filling it with switches, dials, levers, pulleys and other blinking and flashy things, smoke machines were brought in, orange, green and blue lighting set up, the walls and floor were even transformed to emulate the tenth Doctor's TARDIS.

Next we had to create our monsters. The Doctor himself sported lace up boots, dress pants and shirt with suspenders, gelled hair, and a bow tie (bow ties are cool). The Silence was a bit more difficult, we had to make a mask and the giant four finger hands that are classic to the creatures, besides that he could wear a suit and tie as in the series. The angels were an even more involved costume, canvas dresses sown and painted, tied in the middle, a wig made of grey yarn and two sets of huge angel wings, complete with face and body paint the angels were quite menacing as they creeped up from behind whenever the audience looked away.

Thus the TARDIS was complete and guests were invited to enter to help the Doctor in a moment of peril in which time was collapsing and various creatures that he had encountered began to attack. And as a special treat for completing the adventure, true Whovians were offered fish fingers and custard, which, as it turns out, is really quite good. I guess the doctor was right, but that's hardly a surprise is it?

Thank you to everyone who helped put this whole adventure together and to everyone who came out to see it and have fun with us!