Transform Your Home Into a Virtual Halloween Haunted House
I’m going to make a radical statement: I think Halloween is going to be more fun for kids this year, just as much fun. For all that this year has taken away from us and our children, I feel a veritable rebellion against the idea that social distancing will also rob our children of joy on this holiday.
Instead of just dressing up the kids so they can walk around the neighborhood and fill a bag with candy, parents go on a scavenger hunt in the dark . They run Halloween movie marathons , fill Halloween-themed piñatas with candy, or eat inside where it’s frankly nice and warm. They even throw candy in the damn ground ( don’t do that ). And now – now – they are transforming their homes into a virtual haunted house.
Since 2020 is the year that everything can be virtual, Netflix and Snapchat have teamed up to create a Netflix Haunts Your Home event so families can study together at home. You don’t need to be a Netflix subscriber to participate, but you must download Snapchat on your mobile device. You will also need a color printer.
To get started, go here to download a kit that will contain the Snapcodes that you will need to print and hang in your home at certain recommended locations. (Snapcodes, in case you weren’t in the know, are images you can scan with your Snapchat camera to do different things – like, in this case, turn your house into a haunted house.) You can now print the Snapcodes. but most of the “creatures” inside them won’t be released until Halloween (except for Chrissy the Phantom if you want to practice beforehand).
You’ll need to keep the lights on to scan the shots, and Netflix describes this activity as “creepy-cute” than scary, ”so this should be okay for young children who don’t usually like haunted houses. …