Is this Haunted House WAY TO FAR OVER THE TOP Controversal? I do!

[Marr Branch]

The introduction to my haunt is a funeral home. We have wreaths, music, casket, and it smells like a funeral home. The undertaker explains the backstory and tells you the rules while having a funeral for Mr. McGregor Edmundson Krabbs "yes thats the real name". I thought to myself the first year maybe some customers just lost a loved one and may be offended? Maybe they had just recently had to go to a funeral for Grandma. Then I thought F**K IT, this ain't a boyscout jamboree this is the Marr Branch. Nobody's ever complained but if you think about it what is most everyone afraid of Death. Man I wish somebody would call WRAL in Raliegh and tell them they we're offended in my haunt. I might crack the 2'000 mark.

[Haunted Prints (EOM)]

I thinks its a pretty cool concept. As others have said, movies, TV shows and depict these real life murders all the time. You gotta take it for what it is, Entertainment. If you don't like it, don't go.

[zombietoxin]

meh...

What do I think?

I think my haunt is better than his and that's all I've got to say about that....

[Pumpkin King]

Honestly? I don't see much of a problem with this haunt. The idea of an off-color plot line is not really new to our industry, and I think history has proven such haunts to be quite successful with their patrons.

Look at House of Shock. When they first opened they were criticized like crazy for their depiction of the church of Satan, people thought they were recruiting kids into satanism. Now though, they're one of the most popular haunts in the region, and are hugely succesful probably thanks to this extreme element of their show. Another example is Haunted Hoochie, mainly the shotgun suicide scene. Do you seriously think that skit went over well when they first introduced it? But look at the Hoochie now, they have huge crowds and loyal fans. Are there people that shouldn't go through Haunted Hoochie? Heck ya! But these people know what the Hoochie has in store for them and stay away, leaving those who can handle the gore to appriciate what they're doing. After all, isn't all horror inherently dirty?

Bottom line is that this haunt is no different. They may not have the reputation of House of Shock of Haunted Hoochie, but in respect to thier off-coloredness they are just the same. This guy can't please everyone, but he knows his target audiece: young New Yorkers. And in the end, if anyone is going to stick up for his freedom of speech, shouldn't it be his fellow haunters? The second we let censorship control our industry we lose our creative freedom. Just my $0.02

-Collin

[Howie Slobber Erlich]

Well said Pumpkin King!

[Deathwing]

I think these guys are geniuses. The fact they we're talking about proves it. People want realism and nothing's more real that real life killers. It's unique and smart and that's good business they'll do great!

Jake

[badass]

Brutal reality is king...
and the Hooch proves it every single day...

now i am not saying this haunt is any good..it might be ..or it might be a complete cheese factory..
but our industry leaders should recognize its not the 80s anymore..
people are well educated in horror and thrive on it....we do not run from controversy..we hit it head on...
this is art ...our art ...and our right to express it and sell it to a anxious audience always waiting for the next gory detail...
callin another haunter an idiot for doing brutal reality is asinine.... and is libel...i would probably sue...he got a prime spot on the afternoon news ...and his doors are still open..
and who is talking about it.. ? us...he must be readin the haunted hoochie playbook

the public yearns for something different...something more then the same old same old haunt...
and they will travel long distances to get it...
we have a great hotel package...
they will shuttle you to and from our haunt and the hotel...pretty sweet..and all the debauchery u can handle

[screamforadream]

The whole Borden family was real and we as an industry use it every year, it's cheesy by now, but it was still real....that's all I'm sayin lol.

[jack]

Taking offense? Really?

This is an old idea. Lizzie Borden was mentioned. And people use Jack the Ripper all the time. And whose house doesn't have at least one room decorated in the finest Gein?

Real killers are used all the time. Because, as scary as endlessly reworked 80s slashers are, Jeffrey Dahmer lived down the street, not on celluloid. He really could eat you.

I suspect the house itself will be too static and museumy to generate too much after the buzz of the news article dies down. Pity, because it's something that could be scary.

[carnagecrew]

I dig the idea, I like to push the limits of what people find offensive in my attraction. Some customers hate it, MOST love it. I think it's a great way for a haunt that doesn't have a huge budget to set themselves apart.

[Jim Warfield]

I Need My Customers To Come Back!

..and not for revenge!
Many moons ago I built a motorcycle wreck into the huge dent in the side of my car, complete with a skeletal rider. This was scary, gory, but impossible, so it was actually funny, unless you were scared by seeing it.
Then in this small village a Sophmore in the local high school was killed as he and his friend were attempting to ellude the Policeon a motorcycle. His head hit a trailer hitch as they sped up a private driveway in the dark.... and there is my skeleton on a motorcycle....
I needed some kind of door or divider in an attic room. I created this room into a closet.....then maybe a month later a very pretty Freshman girl killed herself, by hanging herself in her closet.....A group would come here for a tour, I might know one or two of them, then I made a joke about a coffin, nobody even smirked, They all just came from Grandpa's funeral! (How was I to know?)
One opinion concerning the murder's house in New York was he should have asked permission or something of the victim's family, film makers do this when making a documentary film of factual and often tragic true events. (I never knew this?)
I have one room with some Nazi stuff. I am actually making fun of them, but some people take offense, can't see or notice the intended humor?
"What would a Jewish person think about this?"
"I don't know, maybe I'll ask my Grandfather Katzenburger?" ("Where is my Oui-Ja board?")
I have had So Many people see my Crawlspace exhibit, which has no mention of John Gacy, but so many people have told me they lived near him who come to my house that it really makes me wonder?
A few years ago a young woman who only worked here for one night said that she used to serve coffee late at night to Gacy in the resturant she worked at, and one of her classmates had been one of his victims!?
I really do not try to upset or offend people. The crawlspace effect has "something" crawling towards you under the dirt, not something any of his victims ever got to do, as far as anyone knows.
I have never had bloody displays here, no serial-killer stuff at all. No loud sound defects, no strobe lights, no manufactured ear or eye pain here from me or this house, have fun, come back again!

[dudedigital]

Meh

Personally, I think what he's done is fine. It's too hard to please everyone. There will always be people who don't like your idea. Given that amount of time that's passed and how many other ways these evil people have been exploited makes this haunt seem less shocking. He isn't glorifying he's horrifying. Looks like people liked it too. He also got a lot of reviews from some decent websites: http://www.iscareyou.com

[Jim Warfield]

In the End.......

What ever works... "Works.
difficult to argue with that.