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You will NOT believe this but it happens again... Shooting

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  • You will NOT believe this but it happens again... Shooting

    This time in St. Louis my hometown, one of the local haunted houses here that really builds themselves up as the scariest in town, the best, blah, blah, shot one of their customers on Halloween with a 45 caliber gun loaded with blanks and injured a customer and a co-worker.

    The custmer had to go to the hospital. Today I read the sherrif office will probably file charges against the people who fired the gun, and I'm sure without a doubt the haunted house will be sued for un-real amounts of money.

    A few weeks ago I talked about how 90% of haunted houses suck are not good... and again I meant those new haunts that open, now this haunt is not new they opened last year, and I think three years prior to that under different names, but again in my opinion all fly by night. They have access to the net, they could have joined HHA, or looked at the hundreds of websites that offer information but they didn't or didn't listen to any of it. Bottom line this haunt falls into my group of 90% of new haunts because they are still what I consider fly by night.

    This haunt has changed locations and its name several times, they buy lots of ads, but they don't offer a good haunted house at least not in my opinion and well now we learn they are not even safe.

    Who in their RIGHT MIND would do this... oh yeah I remember another fly by night opened a few years ago and shoot a customer and killed them with a loaded gun thinking that would be scary. YEAH IT WAS SCARY!

    When you see things like this or read these things, you KNOW it is our responsibility to make things like HHA important to our industry. This person at this haunt could have died this could have been bigger news, and whether we like it or not we get LUMPED IN WITH IDIOTS LIKE haunts who shoot guns at people, or run an unsafe haunt, or say they are the best in the world but offer nothing.

    Me personally I'm tired of these fly by night haunts who give the rest of us a bad name, or ruin all the hard work we've built up with television shows, national PR, good will with customers nationwide.

    Anyway we have to do more to help these people avoid shooting their customers with guns, doing dangerous things, or to realize the risks involved in opening a haunt so they won't do it. At this point I wonder if this haunt has insurance maybe they do maybe they don't I don't know but they are going to need it for sure... and sadly this could have been avoided!

    ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD USE A GUN TO TRY TO SCARE PEOPLE... oh well another example of why we need to work together to educate people hopefully through HHA.

    http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/new...7?OpenDocument

    Larry
    Larry Kirchner
    President
    www.HalloweenProductions.com
    www.BlacklightAttractions.com
    www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
    www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

  • #2
    Larry I agree with you, and doing something like having a gun, even loaded with blanks, is just insane. That's about as insane as having a real chainsaw with a real blade and instructing actors to just stay away from the guests. I wonder if anyone's ever done that before. I get where you're coming from, it is frustrating to be lumped in with these people. I get irritated when people think all haunts are just black walls with strobe lights and actors running around in cheap masks. The true haunts these days are more like theme parks that are only open for a month. And I'm not just talking about the big budget haunts, there are plenty of smaller haunts or home haunts that take pride in their work and strive for a safe and quality attraction.

    The problem though is that these other people simply don't care. Why would they join HHA, or any other association if they just want to have some fun and make some money? These aren't people that go to the tradeshows, pride themselves on their work, and have discussions with their industry peers. I've seen this a lot when I've been working on concerts. There are a lot of promoters who only care about the dollar signs. They don't care about having a quality show or safety. I've had to actually tell off promoters who were too busy to even show up for their own show, or those who insisted on unsafe things like padlocking the emergency exits. I imagine the haunt industry has the same problems. But unfortunetly at the end of the day, there are those who care and those who don't. I guess the one thing you can take comfort in is those people won't be in business for too long. But still, they do give everyone a bad name.
    -Rob

    Audio Guru
    Lighting Designer

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    • #3
      I think the real issue here is for the customer/worker to make a speedy/healthy recovery. Don't take an accident and spin it for your own agenda! It does sound like rational judgement was used, but it is no reason for you bash them for not joining your 'haunted house club'. Right now the focus should be on the injured and being thankful neither one was seriously injured. Get off your high horse Larry!

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      • #4
        Maybe if they had been a member of an association someone could have let them know beforehand that pointing a gun at a customer and pulling the trigger was a very, very bad idea.

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        • #5
          I'm sorry to say but, at my haunt we shoot a 410 with blanks into the air. The haunted hayride across town from us used to fire a 12 gauge and a haunted trail down in Springville, NY used to shoot a 10 gauge.
          Last edited by badlander2000; 11-02-2009, 08:57 PM.
          Mike Cirrincione
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          • #6
            The article posted doesn't sound NEARLY as bad as this post makes it out to be...just my opinion

            ...however, this article surely makes me accidentally hitting a customer over the head this past Saturday and having to issue a refund look VERY minuscule...hahaha!
            O'Shawn McClendon
            Creative Chair -- Operator: Cayce-West Columbia Hall of Horrors

            One mans junk is another mans kick-ass new prop...

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            • #7
              Couple of things...

              One as far as the article not sounding bad WOW... that is amazing! Second to that there is another article that is much worse but I didn't post that link but I'll find it and post it. The other article says Lincoln County is considering filing criminal charges, and it talks about how two people got injured not one and how the gun was pointed right in the persons arm.

              I could care less what anyone thinks using a handgun and pointing anywhere near a customer, or for that matter using a gun period is just plain stupid and it couldn't be worse idea to scare people. Again my opinion...

              Robbo one or whatever your name is... its not about being on a HIGH horse, and its not about joining a haunt club. In case you are NOT aware go to www.hauntedhouseassociation.org and read the blog there is a list of safety suggestions and one is DO NOT USE GUNS in your haunted house. Even if they never joined who cares, how does anyone think this is a good idea or is safe?

              Its not safe its DUMB!

              Lastly, I don't think the point is join HHA or bash on someone the point is and the only point is ... ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF SOMEONE USING A FIREARM in a haunted house shooting someone and causing serious injury! A couple years ago someone was KILLED by the same exact situation and today I found out there might have been a second person shot by a gun at a haunt same situation.

              All haunts even fly by nights who only care about money need advice especially when it comes to safety and this is just another example.

              Larry
              Larry Kirchner
              President
              www.HalloweenProductions.com
              www.BlacklightAttractions.com
              www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
              www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

              Comment


              • #8
                Many years ago my grandfather killed his best friend while handing him what both thought was an unloaded gun.

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                • #9
                  Jon Hextrum?

                  A handsome young actor on a hit TV show , killed by a blank that crushed his ribs, stopped his heart.
                  I think that was his name.
                  I think anyone stupid enough to use a real gun is also stupid enough not to take anyone 's advice, or at least this has seemed to be the pattern I have noticed in this life.
                  hauntedravensgrin.com

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    This reminds me of an idea I had for an area of the haunt I worked at this year. They have an outside woods area so I was going to recommend for next year to dress up one of our older actors as Dick Cheney in his hunting gear with a shotgun walking around outside. That should get people running.

                    But on a serious note... I think anytime you mix real handguns and blanks with haunted houses, sometimes it's Murphy's Law waiting to happen. If you want to use guns as set pieces or props, then I would recommend going with replicas made from rigid foam or plastic. If you use real guns, even with blanks, it's a ticking time bomb of disaster waiting to happen. And when your doing your insurance policy for the season, as your agent what he thinks. After he/she is raising your rate sky-high or outright denying to insure your haunt, you may have your answer if it's a good idea.
                    News and event coverage from directly inside the Haunt Industry - http://www.hauntersdigest.com
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                    • #11
                      I won't claim to have enough knowledge of haunting to get fully into this discussion, but I don't think that absolutely not using something due to a few accidents by careless people is the answer. I think making absolutely certain that the person using ANY prop, be it a gun or otherwise, is competent with it's use and maintenance solves MANY issues.

                      My late grandfather was an ex-Marine, and an avid hunter who took my dad with him from the time he was a young boy. One of the things that I have always been taught in regards to guns is to NEVER point them at someone, even when you're sure it's unloaded. Firing a blank in the air? Perfectly safe. Firing safely in a stage show type situation? Fairly safe as well, so long as the training is there. Firing a blank AT someone, especially at close range? INCREDIBLY stupid. As would be firing that gun without cleaning it prior to it's use AND making sure the proper blanks were being used in it.

                      My personal opinion? In the right context, blank firing guns can add to the overall show, be it as part of an integrated stage show or in a position where it poses no real threat to the well being of guests, and when used safely and sanely. Should they be used willy nilly? ABSOLUTELY NOT, as that news story shows.

                      'If you can't do something safely, don't do it at all' is the short version of what I'm saying, I suppose.

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                      • #12
                        People don't think, that's the problem. And i'll say it again if you can't figure out how to scare someone without grabbing them ,pulling their hair, running a fake knife across their neck or body or the big one pointing any kind of fake, blank or real gun at a person GIVE UP you suck and no nothing about scaring people or haunted houses.

                        Robert Dudzieck
                        Fright Factory
                        Philadelphia PA

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                        • #13
                          Here is the link to the other story
                          http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/...3201257101449/
                          __________________
                          Neil C

                          "Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue."

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                          • #14
                            Anyone Remember...

                            A few years ago when two young girl haunt customers were shot while on the hayrack at a haunt?
                            One killed, the other paralyzed.
                            The shooter might have been drunk, sitting by the campfire in a scene. His claims of "Didn't know" rang hollow when it was found to have been his gun.
                            So imagine yourself as the haunted attraction owner. You hire a guy to be in a scene, he seems OK, then that night he gets drunk and kills and maims two people.
                            Just an example of "Unpredictable" and "Not Thinking".
                            hauntedravensgrin.com

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                            • #15
                              I hope those injured heal well. I really wished people would stop and think about things like this. First rule of firearm safety don't point a gun at anyone!!! Contray to popular thought blanks are dangerous they do use powder which can propel the wad of the blank or any debry that might have fallen into the barrel at someone with deadly force. If you ever watch the videos of how movies were made almost all professional stunt coordinators treat guns even with blanks like they had live rounds in them. stunt people now days are usually wearing more protection under their costumes just to be on the safe side especially after the Brandon Lee incident in the crow filming. things like this incident make the haunt industry and gun owners look bad
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