The Art of Jose Rafael Cruzapagan III

Concept Art for my mannequin themed haunted house.

Dancing Sparrow

Wolf Head

Arachnid

Arc Bound

Bipolar

Broken Seal

Elongated Princess

Embryo

Flesh Mane

Gatekeeper

Grasshopper

Macabre Lamp

Meat

Oozing

Scar

Slurpy Dangler

Sub Humane

Stone Swimmers

Shade

Legs

Sphynx

Dullahan

Chrysalis

Hecatoncheires

Bad Egg

Banshee

Jiangshi

Spider Lily

Mannequin Haunt Concept

Before you is a collection of raw concepts I've been collecting in preparation for a Haunted House Attraction I want to create someday in the near future. 

What I really want to create is a Crimson Dames themed haunted attraction with huge animatronic Shewolves all snarly and transforming right in front of your face! Buuuuut that concept will be exceedingly expensive to render right out the gate.

Eventually the concept of mannequins clicked into my head and wouldn't let go! I started doing some research and quickly realized that besides Silent Hill, that there just aren't a whole lot of places doing spooky mannequin horror media.

Distressed second hand mannequins are, relatively, cheap to come buy if not outright free (if your not above doing some dumpster diving). That and any already sustained damage will just help to up the creep factor!

Thus I started to throw down concepts for Haunted mannequins whenever inspiration struck. Once I'm able to secure me a new living space and new vehicle I'll start collecting raw materials to begin experimenting with. 

I'll keep adding to the concept stack in the meanwhile and see which concepts rise to the top, while planning out methods to render my designs into physical form.

I want an attraction on par with the Disney Haunted Mansion in terms of technology. Some will be live costumed performers, some will be animatronics.

It will take a lot of time and resources to research technologies and finance the project, but I think it will be a really fun long term project to pursue!

Looking for references and inspiration it really surprised me just how few artists and studios utilize mannequins in atmospheric horror.

I suspect its partially due to how successful Silent Hill was with utilizing the concept, that few others even dare try to compete.

As I started to build up my collection of haunted mannequin designs I noticed distinct themes forming over time that I was able to start molding into the basis for an over arching story line to connect everything together.

The Haunt would follow 4 primary phases where in the nature/strength of the manifestations will ramp up in terms of animation and scare factor.

Phase 1:
The mannequins from phase 1 will be fairly benign in nature. Clothed to varying degrees, distressed but nothing outright horrific to behold. I'd want this to be a very atmospheric start, dozens if not hundreds of mannequins lined up giving the audience a creepy vibe that they are being watched.

Animation from this stage should be vague and amount to people saying "did that just move??" but never quite being able to tell. These would be the older more "natural" mannequins created by the lead character in the narrative.

Phase 2:
At this stage the mad artist began to destroy his works infuriated at how they remind him of the intense loss of his muse, or some such. The mannequins in this stage should be hacked up and broken down, having a tortured appearance. Animation for this stage would involve more crazed twitching and shambling about.

Phase 3:
At this stage the process of creating mannequins would have become more twisted in nature. Involving trapping live humans to turn into mannequin constructs. This is were a more arcane processes is introduced leading to a more twisted variety of haunts. Some should have visible human skeletons within their broken shells, while others would have more animalistic features.

Mannequins from this phase should move about in a pained manner with some aggressively pursuing patrons.

Phase 4:
Is where all hell breaks loose, so to speak. Entities from another dimension have crossed over into our realm tempted by the carnage loosed by the mad artist, possessing what bodies they can latch onto to achieve a corporeal form.

Mannequins possessed with no organic components will behave more like ghosts or wraiths. Were as ones that utilized human components will be vastly more corrupted bursting open from within in an explosion of meaty flesh and tendrils.

Mannequins from this stage should range from ethereal and haunting, to highly aggressive pursuers. A select few would be gigantic in nature seen from afar or partially as their exaggerated features break through the walls or ceiling of the haunt.

Phase 5:
This would be the last thing the audience sees before leaving. A mannequin that in the eyes of the mad artist was the "perfected" idealized take on the female form. His goddess / lover. A twisted glowing abomination, and at its feat the desiccated remains of what became of the creator who could not become a mannequin to join her.

Along the way I'd like to work in the idea that a new breed of werewolf was loosed into the world as a side effect of the experiments that were conducted. this would lead directly into the Werewolf Haunted Attraction that I will eventually build up once the Mannequin Haunt finds success.

I really want to make something that embodies the spirit of games like Super Castlevania VI or Bloodborne. Elaborate decaying gothic settings, dancing specters, twisted dungeon denizens, and horrifying creatures that pursue the audience in a thrilling fashion!

In the event that I fail completely to render a physical attraction with all of these ideas, at the very least I can use them in a digital space, perhaps as a video game. ^_ ^