Beware The Burlington Bleeder Haunted House
Experience Design // Graphic & Branding Design
Project Description
Staying warm! I wrote a short story called The Burlington Bleeder, inspired by a trip I took to Vermont. As I was writing it, I thought “this would be a great haunted house,” so that’s what I worked on next.
I started planning the haunted house by picking out a few key scenes from the story that would be visually interesting and then mapping them out on a grid. I fit each scene together inside a fictional soundstage and then linked them with a winding path full of props, scareactors and surprises around every corner.
The story of the haunted house takes place in parallel with the events of the short story. You arrive in each scene as key story moments are happening or just after, following the same path as the main characters. The haunted house is about immersing you in the setting and fear, rather than a retelling of the story.
Once I finalized the house story and layout, I began rendering everything in 3D. So far, I have completed scene one as a preview of what the setting and scale could be. I will continue to model this out over the coming months with a nice cup of hot chocolate by my side.
Software Used:
SketchUp // Adobe Illustrator // Adobe Photoshop // Microsoft Word
Date:
January 2025
Setting the Atmos-fear
It’s the most beautiful time of year: October in Vermont. It’s peak leaf peeping weekend and you’re on a hike in search of the most perfect fall colors. You just need to get a few supplies before you head out on the trail. The shopkeeper keeps rambling on that the first snow is due any time and you need to take hot chocolate with you.
He explains that Winters in Vermont are bitterly cold and snowy and there is a local urban legend that the only way to survive the winter is to drink a cup of hot chocolate on the night of the first snowfall of the season. If you don’t, you’ll face the wrath of The Burlington Bleeder.
He describes The Bleeder as a gaunt, ghostly old man with dark, sunken eyes, wiry, black hair and an uncannily large smile full of yellow teeth. His skin is dry and peeling, it looks frostbitten, and he wears a small bowler hat at a jaunty angle.
The shopkeeper says it starts as a scratching on the windows and then a banging from below. Then a white fog starts to seep from under the basement door, eventually obscuring the room in blinding white. All you can see in the fog is the smiling face of The Bleeder slowly floating towards you until you feel the cold sting of a knife enter you’re abdomen and slowly cut up through your chest. You are then dragged out into the night, leaving nothing but a blood trail in the snow.
You awkwardly laugh and thank the crazy shopkeeper, hastily leaving the shop without any hot chocolate. After a day of hiking, it’s starting to get dark and you come to a point where the trail is closed. You don’t remember seeing that on the map. You start walking along the road and through a covered bridge as it starts to snow. The crazy shopkeeper’s story must be getting to you because you swear you keep seeing the face of The Bleeder out of the corner of your eye. You come to a cabin in the woods and you hope they’ll offer you shelter from the coming snowstorm.
As you approach, the cabin is completely boarded up, so you crawl in through the basement window. You emerge into the living room, seeing a catatonic man staring in fear at something you can’t see. The room starts to fill with white fog and then you see it: the face of The Bleeder floating towards you. Then the catatonic man gasps as a knife slices through his stomach and he is dragged through the front door. That crazy old shopkeeper was right!
You flee the cabin out into the Vermont Wilderness, as the snow comes down faster and faster. Hopefully you’ll find some hot chocolate before sunrise or you might find yourself on the receiving end of The Bleeder’s knife.
Scene #1: Covered Bridge
You enter through colorful white birch and maple trees, covered in bright leaves of red, yellow and orange. The area is lit to be sunset. To your left you see a trail entrance signboard with a map, warning sign, bumper stickers and a packet of hot chocolate pinned to the board.
Hidden among the leaves is a sinister face staring at you. The face is grotesque, with a giant smile full of crooked, rotten teeth. The skin is grey, cracked and peeling. The eyes are giant and the dark, sunken sockets make them appear even larger. A few wiry strands of hair dangle around the face and a tiny bowler hat sits on top at a jaunty angle. You only get a glimpse of it for a second before moving on.
Across the road ahead of you a sign reading “Trail Closed for Winter” blocks your path. You turn left and start walking down the road towards a covered bridge. You pass a bench on your right. There is a box of hot chocolate sitting next to a radio playing a news broadcast.
Radio Announcer: “Enjoy the fall colors now folks because the first snow of the season is on the way tonight. Be sure to drink your hot chocolate before the sun goes down, unless you want a visit from… The Bleeder.”
You see the same sinister face in the trees to your left. Next to it is a street sign warning that the bridge may be icy. As you pass by a boulder, a bloody tourist jumps out holding a camera and a broken steering wheel.
Leaf Peeper: “Beautiful day for leaf peeping. Have you seen the rest of my car?”
Just ahead of you is the entrance to the covered bridge. There is a sign above the entrance saying: “Frost Bridge: And life is too much like a pathless wood.” You continue forward into the bridge under a “Low Clearance” sign.
After entering the covered bridge, you hear the sound of rushing water below you and the calls of wildlife outside. On either side there are small windows in the bridge and you can see the trees through them. The inside of the bridge is very dark and the exit is obscured in darkness. You hear the sounds of wood creaking and threatening to break. Every few seconds sunlight shines through the windows, revealing blood red graffiti written on the rafters above. They form the phrase “Beware Burlington Bleeder.”
On your left there is a hole in the floor of the bridge with the bumper of a car sticking out. As you maneuver around the hole you see broken wooden pieces and tires blocking the path to your right. Just ahead is the exit to the bridge. You hear the roar of a car engine and spitting gravel. Suddenly a pair of headlights shines in your face from the end of the bridge and you hear a loud horn. You quickly turn right and exit the bridge through a hole behind the debris.
Graphic Design
