"How did You Find Out About..

[Jim Warfield]

..my house?"
"We were out here camping at Savanna and we drove to Mount Carroll to look for a place to eat breakfast, we turned the corner and there was your house, the two teenage boys in our car had their eyes about pop out of their heads, their mouths fell open."
They have been coming here for about three years. Today there were 11 in their group, Mom, Dad, and 9 14-15 yr. old girls.
Talk about screamers!! Only Mom, Dad and their Birthday girl had been here before.
I might put some of their screams on my answering machine...but this place isn't scary.....
Lots of fun today for Jim!

[Jim Warfield]

Then Last night...

A couple came here, she was a Ravens Grin "virgin", he had been here 4 times before.
She was borderline nervous to a bad degree but stuck it out, finished the tour.
Afterwards we were talking and he has been all around this country seeing haunted houses.
I told him how sad it is when I would ask a customer here to tell me what the neatest, scariest, or most memorable haunted display or house was that they had ever seen and so often I get a blank look, shrug of the shoulders??
"Not impressed, huh?"
He said one he goes to has a very high ticket ("Not worth the price", he said), it's the same stupid thing every year..but he seems to keep returning every year anyhow?
This brings me to wonder if he's returning just hoping it will get better or if he has just gotten comfortable with the same old, same old?
I know I get returning customers because they like what I have here and much of my stuff doesnot change very often. As long as I keep getting good, real responses I basically keep on keeping on with what I have. It's when I get bored is when I make it change, or when an inspiration hits me hard.

[Jim Warfield]

Then Tonight.

Two women showed up, they live only 15 miles away, their kids have been through the house before but they never had been, they wanted a shortened tour experience (scared?)
(Adults like to be in control, that's why younger customers frequent our places usually)
They were laughing and enjoying the tour and house we had to skip certain parts because they "Didn't want to." be actively immersed in the experiences here. (Nobody took off any clothes! No hot tubs! No baptisms either!)
My house is a tourist attraction and they just wanted to mostly be "tourists", it all pays the same ..
All kinds of customers come here for numerous, various reasons and that's fine with me.
Yes, they were also impressed by the house and all of my work here.
(The one woman's arm bent a long way before she complimented me, reminded me of a rubber chicken!)

[Kelly Anderson]

After our group went through your haunt last November, of course we talked so much about how cool a place you got and about the great time we had. But one thing else we talked about was how your haunt is so different from ours or lets say what someone would traditionally think a haunted house would be like.

We, and Im sure many other haunts have pride on the fact that they change it up every year just to offer a different show for the guests. Different routes with completly differents rooms and themes. And alot of work it is to do that, even with an army of help.

But the real question was how you can do such a great haunt year after year without completly changing everything from ground up. Sure rooms can get tweeked a bit. But what it boiled down to is how much of the "show" is props and how much of the "show" is the character. With all the different props and items throughout your haunt, and of course all your great stories......AND I KNOW YOU GOT A FEW!!....theres what seems could be a different show everytime a guest would go through.

No dought about it, Jim Warfield makes "Ravins Grin" what it is...... A WIERD DAMN Place thats for sure!! .....And I cant wait to get back!! Take care Jim

[Jim Warfield]

Thank You Kelly.

I have so much I can do and so much that I can tell customers, 23 years , open every night is ALOT of "things" happening, afterall.
Sometimes I will tell of the former tennents' ghostly happenings but I also have the early experiences myself and many others have had here over the years, then of course that busy, weird, exciting, sometimes scary supernatural year nine years ago usually comes to the forefront simply because that year was so incredible and potentually fatal for me. "Fatal" kind of gets everyone's attention when it almost happens to them!
Of course along the tour I also may relate some of the funny things that have happened in various parts of the house to customers, their reactions, ex cetra. I think everybody likes to hear about the way people express fear, at least when that fear is not ever really related to an event that is potentually lethal.
Then there are the tours or the nights it is ad-lib night! Remember all the objects in some of the rooms? I have fun using almost any of them to tell a story with or about or make up some funny lines concerning it.
I could see filming me giving the complete haunted history told straight, then told with attempted humor, then told for the adult audience, then going room by room doing everything, then discussing all the past events, people, objects, projects, then off to the editing room for a new 10 week TV mini-series! (In doing such, I know I would also be coming up with more new stuff too, make that a 15 week mini-series!)
I think the experience here could safely be classed as a sensory overload for most people, mental, physical and .......other.
hahahahah!

[Jim Warfield]

Wonderfull people!

I had some very fun, and extremely complimentary patrons last night! One young woman from New York (who has been here before )said, "You and your house should be in New York!"
then she read off a list of my wonderous talents and odd entertaining abilitys, glowing the whole time!
Then a late group showed up and there was a Ravens Grin Experience virgin who acted and reacted the same wonderfull way!
Then the extremely gulible Iowa girl (she said this about herself too) was very nice with what she had to say to critique the show here as she bought a shirt and a book from us.
The "New Yorker" had been anticipating her return to Ravens Grin for several months and I did not dissappoint her in the least!
What more can any man do?
hahahahaha!

[Jim Warfield]

Then this afternoon's tour..

Mom handed me the ticket money as Dad and the three girls went in. Mom wanted them out in 45 minutes!?
OK.
The girls were scared, later my Wife said:"What a set of lungs on that one girl!"
"SCREEAAMM!"
"The Lady who handed me the ticket money said she wanted you all out at 3:30, it's now 3:35..What do you want to do?
Dad consulted his watch. "We can be here another 15 minutes."
"OK."
As they were exiting I said that I hoped that none of the girls were too scared or would have bad dreams tonight, "was it too scary?"
"It was just right." Dad said.
Good!
I had them laughing alot more than screaming. Two of the girls had been very frightened in another haunt and really didnot want to be here to start with..maybe me giving the Bossy Mom a small scare at the start of selling them their tickets helped the girls decide they wanted to be here?
Scares seem to "sell better" when they seem to be shared as everybody gets some.