The Use of Blacklight in Haunts

Blacklight can be a lot of fun to play with. It can provide atmosphere, give a supernatural or sciencey (I know that's not a real word, but I think it should be) look to ordinary materials, or just be an interesting distraction. On this page I will give you some tips on using blacklight and UV reactive materials in your haunt.

A blacklight is nearly identical to a standard incandescent or flourescent light bulb. In the case of a flourescent blacklight bulb, a different phosphor than the type used in standard flourescent bulbs is used. This type of phosphor filters out the harmful UV-B and UV-C rays and emits UV-A light. The special "black" glass used in the bulb filters out most of the visible light. In an incandescent blacklight bulb, the bulb's coating filters out almost all light waves other than UV-A. For more information on the science behind how blacklight works, see the "How Stuff Works" article on it here.

In haunting, blacklight can play a wonderful role. Unfortunately, it is often overused. You should normally not aim the blacklight directly at your visitors. The greatest reason for this is that UV light is not necessarily good for the eyes and can seriously damage them (this is why most sunglasses have a label saying they block UV rays). As mentioned above, aiming the blacklight at your audience can be used as a distraction tactic, but I would even refrain from using it in this fashion. Isn't it much more fun to distract your audience with well timed visual or sound effects? I would like to think so. Therefore, I will limit my discussion of blacklight use to areas I have used it in.

I use blacklight sparingly in my haunt in order to maximize the impact of the areas where I do use it. I personally do not point it at the crowd at all and.instead use it to highlight certain props. I personally have used it in my lab display and on several ghosts. The blacklight gives ghosts a glowing, ethereal look especially when combined with light flowing fabrics and a bit of wind. In the lab display, the blacklight effect makes normal, mundane substances look like mysterious and unknown chemicals.

Most people know that objects of a pure white color will glow under blacklight, as well as most flourescent paints. You may not feel overly comfortable leaving beakers of flourescent paint open on your lab table as your guests walk by. Some lesser known everyday substances that also glow under blacklight include tonic water, laundry detergent, and your standard flourescent highlighters. Tonic water glows a very pretty light blue and you can buy a liter of the stuff for less than a dollar. As an added plus, tonic water is non-staining and kid safe. Laundry detergent also glows blue and has the added bonus of probably already being in your house. Globs of laundry detergent can also be used to make glowing footprints or alien blood trails. Like the tonic water, Laundry detergent is non-staining but care must be taken around children to prevent them from ingesting it. The highlighters can have the spongy portion removed from the outside shell and put into a jar or bottle of water. The highlighter's coloring will then leech into the surrounding water, giving you a glowing liquid that matches the color of the highlighter. By using highlighters that are non-toxic, you can make the area kid-safe although this liquid would undoubtedly stain. Highlighters can also be used to make glowing signage.

If using blacklight in your haunt, I recommend the following. First and foremost, be safe. Don't leave electrical cords powering your lights in a place people can trip on them. Make sure the bulbs are not in a position where they can be easily broken. Don't aim the blacklight at your guests. Next, try to use blacklight in new and interesting ways, we have all seen a white ghost illuminated by blacklight, perhaps hollowing out the ghosts eyesockets and painting the sockets a flourescent red may give it the added punch you need. Also, I recommend using the flourescent version of blacklight over the incandescent version as the flourescent bulbs are brighter and give you more "pure" UV rays. Finally, don't be afraid to experiment. Blacklight is fun to play with and the possibilities are endless.