Weird Request of the Day and Updates

[drfrightner]

Every single week I get calls asking me 'can you help me open a haunted house' people send me emails a mile long asking me every single detail about opening a haunted house down to the last nut and bolt and expect me to answer these emails... they would take 4 weeks to respond to them.

Today I get a call from someone who owns an AMUSEMENT PARK NO LESS and says they want to turn their skating rink into a haunted house... I'm like okay what is your budget. He says they want to build a first class haunted house and they will spend 3 to 6 thousand dollars to do this. I explain to them you couldn't even buy enough screws and stuff for that kind of money. I said you'll never be able to even buy black paint are you nuts. LOL

I told him it would cost 1, 2 3 hundred thousand on the low end... he says even if we already have the building. OMG... yes!

LOL

I think if I was asked 500 times about building a haunt these guys had it off the most... the reason I post this is because people still don't understand what we all do the time we put into it the effort, the money, many still think this is done in 2 weeks for $3000.00.

We must continue to educate the WORLD that our attractions cost in the millions...

And we may not make a lot of money doing it still we put everything we have into it.... remember that when the media blitz starts here in a month or two!!!!

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Hauntworld Magazine will ship next week!

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We will start selling MONSTER COSTUMES start later this week... look for updates!

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More updates coming soon!

Larry

[Jonathan]

Many ppl think Haunting is a get rich quick type of biz. Too many think that.

[Slain]

haunt business

I couldn't agree more on this topic..
You should have told this guy the fee that consulting would charge alone would prohibit them from opening... You can buy a good prop for $3000

[Jim Warfield]

The Haunted Skating Rink!

"Something in the Ice" should have a comment or two about this.
Let's see...what can I call someone up about and ask them questions, and they will tell me all about how to do something that will make me alot of money?
Maybe call a brain surgeon?
Hurry up and tell me everything though, remember I'm paying for the call!

[chuck weber]

Some people don't have a clue

I'm sure that person with the skating rink enjoyed the wake up call ! Larry, update the haunted house supplies section (haunted apparel) with those NEW PRINT ALL OVER shirts. Still wanting to place an order. Thanks!

[damon carson]

LoL! I love how threads go from one thing to another too. Ha ha! Its usually after Jim posts on one, but not this time. Ya Larry please put the new hauntworld shirts up too! LOL! Thanks I know youve said your working on it. Ha!
Damon

[mindtumor]

Larry

I see to recall you saying a few months back that you wanted a new challenge or something along those lines. There is your challenge build that poor guy a $6,000.00 haunt, lol. Just do it.

[Jim Warfield]

You might be thinking of Gregg Chrise's "Haunted Car Trunk" for that money.

[OblivionHauntedHouse]

Funny you bring this up, Larry. Just a couple weeks ago - a van pulled into our lot while we were painting our facade. The woman went on to explaining that she is the president of the non profit down the street who has been planning to build a haunt for months now RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD. Litterally like a block and a half away. She wanted to come and see if we were new and 'nice'?

I proceeded to ask her if she had started to build, and they said they were going to start september 1. I then asked if she had any idea how much work it took to produce a quality event and she of course, fondly responded with "no."

This is the point we offered her a tour of our place, and explained that we had been building since November of last year.

Needless to say - they are NOT doing a haunt. They are, however volunteering to act for us.

[Jonathan]

That is toooo funny erick!!!

[poison]

This thread has endless entertainment value!

CLASSIC!!!!
I think we ALL deal with this on different levels.
Eric that is one of the funniest stories i have heard. A good laugh!

One of my favorites is when i get multiple a phone calls from someone that have not read the instructions and or even set up the prop at all.
But they can read my phone number at the bottom of the instructIons. LOL!!
I make it as simple as i can. Plug and Play!
I even include an air regulator. Oh well i guess its all part of this niche business right??

Keep the stories coming!

[Jim Warfield]

The Fat Guy & The Grease Monkey

The fat guy always wore a suit (1940?) He always insisted that he be standing in the grease pit as the grease monkey lubed his car.
Mr. Monkey got real tired of this so one day as the fat guy was standing breathing down his neck "inspecting" his every move, Mr. Monkey held his free hand in such a way as to direct the squirt of grease off of the grease fitting right at the fat guy!
It worked! Grease all over the expensive suit and Mr. Monkey was left alone down in the grease pit to do his job.
A very true story .

[extreme evil]

I am meeting with investors next week. I've already told them that $500,000.00 is bare minimum for me to open. They're still interested. BTW, that's leasing a building not buying one.

[phreakout]

Ive met a few people that have talked about building a haunt. They would rather discuss the themes and tactics they want to use, than create a budget and actually plan something out.

Their ideas and such were amazing, but were barely putting up the frames by the end of september. They didnt even realize they needed a safety inspector to make sure they were up to code. It was sad watching them tell everyone that the haunt was cancelled, but it goes to show that with ANY business, haunting or not, You have to know the business 360 degrees. You cannot just "dive" in with only dreams carrying you. Start with your feet on the floor before you start running.

[legendsofthefog]

Classic!

I love these stories... My pet peeve is when people take a look at your ticket price, and try to take a head count of the number of people they think are at your haunt... and tell you how rich you're getting.
However, to those who don't know the biz, and how advanced the industry is... they always say "how's your little haunted house thing going." They just have no idea.
But here's to everyone pulling 18 hour days, spending your waking hours and bank accounts at lowes and home depot... all for the thrill of the scare!