Lego Haunted House
My Own Creation using Monsters Minifigures
It’s kind of a fact that Haunted Houses are awesome, and one made out of Lego means there’s countless ways to keep building it up, moving things around and refining the look.
This is my custom build, obviously, it’s very heavily inspired by the Monster Fighters Haunted House, I wanted to have a really strong starting reference. I’ve also used a few of my favourite Minifigures from the recent Monsters release for October 2015, but the underlying idea was to merge a few different Horror themes together, so, hopefully you enjoy it, get a few different ideas and obviously, there’s a few loose ends and rough edges, so any feedback, hints and tips are totally appreciated too. Check the bottom of this article to see some images from this build.
So the first floor here is really modeled after the Monster Fighters Haunted House, substituting pieces and colours I had access too, notably, a lot more black, brown and grey. I quickly abandoned the original plans as I built up the second floor, adding a more functional balcony and a big door to peek into the house with.
Above that, I’ve incorporated a few pieces from the Harry Potter line with the sandgreen tiles and roof pieces and on top we also have the first theme, our Zombie pirate stranded with his essential Pirating supplies.
I like a set that throws in something a little unexpected, a Pirate on the roof felt weird but got you asking questions, like, how did he get up there? Does anyone else know he’s there? I like the idea this house is a bit of a safe haven for all the ghouls, ghosts and weirdo’s to hang out. A community of the fiendish.
I think, overall, I’m least happy with the roof but it’s displayed most of it is covered anyway. I also wanted to introduce some sand coloured bricks towards the back to tie in with the room below it, but we’ll get there soon enough.
One thing I’d like to work out a bit better for the front is some plants and creatures. We’ve got the Plant Guy over here, the idea is from the back, he appears as just another plant to anyone walking up to the house, I’d love to build out more of an overgrown area here from him to blend into. Maybe even, super long term, a kind of greenhouse that we saw in the Scooby Doo Mystery Mansion set, something that was probably inspired by Morticia’s Greenhouse in the Addam’s Family.
We also have a pretty cool Trick-or-Treat’er figure from the Monsters Minifigure line waiting at the front door, perhaps a little unaware of what horrors wait inside.
To open the Lego Haunted House up, you literally separate it from the middle, revealing two levels and what I consider to be 3 different sections inside. On the bottom we have the lab for the mad scientist working on his Frankenstein monster minifigure. Very fun to build all the different gadgets and it was an opportunity to introduce a lot of different colours in these bricks.
Going up the stairs, we have a more traditional living area with bookcases, a small shelf sitting above a record player with a speaker as well as a drinks table.. Kind of, a more old-fashioned apartment fit-out for the ex-working class single zombie.. This is obviously the more traditional area within my Lego Haunted House but what Haunted House is complete without an old Mummy?
So the bulk of the Mummy Room was built using the Scooby Doo Mummy playset. I really liked the look of it and I kind of wanted to have a few play-features built in here, like the opening coffin. I also took the chance to build it out with an Ancient Egyptian statue as well as a crate of things, like some spare records and a stack of old newspapers. Also, I figured why not add in the Scooby and Shaggy Minifigures in here, hunting a bit of treasure, blissfully unaware of the creeps all around them and honestly, the duo strike a bit of a retro nerve for me. I like them.
I even attempted to build-in some of my own play features. Heading back down to the lab, we have our Frankenstein Monster strapped to a movable table that can be adjusted, whether the good doctor needs him upright, or pulled out for better access.
The theme down here obviously has a lot more of a stone grey look, almost like a dungeon in this bottom corner of the house, while the other side retains that broken down wood look consistent with the front exterior.
One thing I was a little proud of was the way everything looks when it’s closed up. It’s cramped but peeking through the windows, especially in the mad scientists lab, everything gets laid out in a pretty functional way. The metal arm reaches the monster, strapped to a table and there’s access to the stairs as well as a path to the backdoor.
The upper level is a bit more spacious and I like the fact the Coffin Lid still raises fine with the set closed and that kind of was a priority for me, everything inside feels like it could be functional when everything gets closed up, the Lego minifigures in here still make sense in their spaces.
So, this is a custom build, and there’s certainly issues and plenty of things I’m not happy with. Building Lego feels like it’s all about compromises and I wanted to create something that looked cool from the front and was fun to open up and play with, but that meant I started to make compromises when it came to sections you couldn’t see. The back of the Lego Haunted House is a mix of different styles and there’s gaps where the two halves join. I’d like to attempt a fix later down the line, but it’s a really low-priority and really noticeable from the back.
Moving forward, I’d like to implement a better garden setup with overgrown vegetation for my plant guy, maybe a few more Halloween specific things, like Pumpkins and Jack o’ Lanterns, and above the staircase, I have plans for some more light features, like maybe a chandelier? Not to mention fixing up the roof and the back of the building. Plenty of things I want to do but still super happy with what I have here. Thanks for stopping by.