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  • #16
    I think the biggest thing going on this year was the election period end of story. It sucked up all the positive PR for this year. Additionally I think another dynamic is where to find our audience has drastically changed. Another element I think that is happening and I'm predicting now that the haunted house industry is going to see a huge drop off over the next 10 years to a point maybe that its a dead entertainment industry. You have things going on like Escape Rooms sure but this VR experiences could one day put an end to everything. if you can create an experience so realistic that this becomes the new level of accomplishment then we're all in trouble.

    I'm not saying VR is going to be big, because who knows but they have this Ghostbusters Experience in New York and its doing outstanding. Additionally I think big league licensing is going to sweep into this industry like we've never seen before. I'm going to write about this in the new Hauntworld Magazine about to release.

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

    Comment


    • #17
      We had another great year. We started rebuilding and running this attraction in 2015 when the manager passed away. Over the past 2 years we have seen a 32% increase in customers and even raised the ticket price by 25%.
      We broke their record for nightly customers and for overall sales for a season. Things are looking up and we have already started ordering new products for 2017. The election or anything else doesn't seem to be affecting our customers here in Colorado.

      Greg
      Greg Allen
      scarygreg@andersonfarms.com
      www.andersonfarms.com

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      • #18
        We did ok..

        New location this year.. weather was great except for opening weekend.

        There was a previous haunt on location. We changed the whole concept so its hard to judge numbers but We tripled their numbers, BUT we would have liked more, I mean what haunt owner would not?..

        We also had the CUBS.... Stupid baseball and all that dumb stuff. but.. We did have a bar and the game in the park. Also what Larry said, the election is distracting people.

        For us it was word of mouth. Saw that typical haunt math of doubling weekends. Already having meetings for next season, marketing, houses (looking at 7 next season). We will see what happens after IAAPA.

        Have a nice turkey day everyone!!

        Peter T
        FS
        Fables Studios
        Your Home For Horror

        www.FablesStudios.com
        https://www.facebook.com/FablesStudios

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        • #19
          I believe if VR cuts into haunted house attendance (which it certainly could) it would be a temporary fad. People love new high tech gadgets-- just look at Pokemon. But it burns itself out after a while. What makes haunts special (at least the ones that use live actors) is that it is as real as it can be. They are real people, they are real sets, and you never know who or what is going to surprise you. It can't be duplicated in film or VR (although it can be simulated, but not to the same extent.) If you doubt me, take a go-pro through a REALLY TERRIFYING haunt, one that makes your skin crawl in expectation. Then run that exact footage on youtube. It will be fun, but it won't be near as frightening to viewers at home. People are safe on the other side of that screen, and they know it. Sure, you're technically safe in a haunted house too-- I mean, legally, no one is going to hurt you. But there is no screen to protect you and you can get touched, jostled, sprayed, blown with sudden gusts of air, shocked, buzzed, and see things that are difficult to explain in a non CGI-enviorment. Walk through videos of truly scary haunts seem tame in comparison to actually being there, just as roller coaster videos are exciting but not near AS exciting as taking the ride. To some extent, it's like porn: Watching it is can be exciting (or so I'm told, heh heh) but it's no substitute for the real thing.

          Of course, that's just my opinion, but I've noticed numerous times how unexciting walk throughs of other haunts I know are effective seem (in comparisons) on You-tube. They can't deliver the TENSION of the real thing. VR is always going to have that handicap. It will help once they add effective tactile sensations as well, but we're still a long ways from that point.
          www.TerrorOfTallahassee.com

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          • #20
            We were up about 5% this year over last year. TV advertising was very expensive, we didn’t get as much for our ad dollars this year compared to last year. We also had to contend with 3 night football games during our season. We close at midnight so we don’t get the after football crowd when the games end around that time. We spent more on digital advertising this year.

            Overall, we did very well. No problems at the haunt and the reviewers were very pleased with our new scenes. Our three minute escape rooms outperformed last year too. We have four of them now and that’s probably all we’re going to build. They can handle the crowds and provide additional revenue. Making plans now for 2017.

            Kelly Collins
            The ScareAtorium

            Comment


            • #21
              I think attendance up or down depends on the market. If you're in a big CITY then your attendance could be serious rattled by things like the election, economy, bad news, etc.

              Look at the election for example, Trump won and he dominated in the rural area's and lost big league the cities. I think if you're in a small market where there is no sports teams, no amusement parks, no broadway shows, major concerts things of that nature then you're less likely to feel the burn of something bad happening. If you're in a big market a huge city then you're more likely to feel the burn.

              Additionally if your haunt isn't doing 30k to 50k attendance each year also easier to grow even in a bad year for big haunts in big cities. Its hard to compare if this was a good year or bad because rural area haunts did great. They have little competition from anything...

              I'd be really interested in hear how all the Chicagoland or Cleveland haunts did this year ... baseball was a HUGE distraction for Chicago I betting.

              We need some big city haunts to report in.

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

              Comment


              • #22
                I wouldn't get your hopes up too high for cashing in from the football crowds. We never seem to get any customers from them (well, maybe a dozen or so, but nothing much), despite being right next to them, and even being featured on ESPN during the big games. Their customers spend the entire day tailgating (and probably their entire budget as well) and most don't want to leave any later than they absolutely have too. The traffic is horrible as they leave and they don't want to lose their place in the long car line.

                On a happier note, we opened during the big game this year on Sat, Oct 29th-- right smack in the middle of the game (8 to 11:30pm) and although it did cut into business, we still had a good flow. Traffic was a mess, parking was terrible, but they still made it in at good numbers. For that we are very thankful.
                www.TerrorOfTallahassee.com

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                • #23
                  We raised our prices this year so revenue was good. Our overall attendance was down about 10%. Most haunts I talked said they had a flat or down year. I'm wondering if all the escape rooms, VR stuff, paintball hayrides, to elaborate corn mazes on farms are eating into attendance. Any thoughts?

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                  • #24
                    Down just a little bit. Not a bad season not a great season. Everyone was talking about the election all the media coverage was devoted to it day and night. I think this had an impact.

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                    • #25
                      About the same as last year. I was reading about radio vs digital marketing someone might have hit the nail on the head there. Radio doesn't pack them in anymore. Does anyone know how to hire someone to do digital marketing. And speaking of digital marketing what are all the forms of digital just curious.

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                      • #26
                        Originally posted by hauntfarm View Post
                        About the same as last year. I was reading about radio vs digital marketing someone might have hit the nail on the head there. Radio doesn't pack them in anymore. Does anyone know how to hire someone to do digital marketing. And speaking of digital marketing what are all the forms of digital just curious.
                        You should email me at tyler@fearworm.com

                        There are numerous types of digital marketing. The two biggest formats are display (banners) and video. You also have contextual (like Google Search) advertising. The really "grit" comes down to the type of campaigns you want to run. Do you want to geo-fence a certain area to run ads to consumers mobile devices while they're their. Or would you want to target the actual device ID of that mobile device and run ads to them after they've left a particular location? Do you have a mailing list? Can do email marketing or if you have a physical mailing list, you can run an IP targeted campaign where we run ads to any device using an identified internet IP right into someones home.

                        You also have other digital mediums like premium/pre-roll video and digital radio/audio like Pandora or Spotify. Then there's the whole social media side of things...which is another beast on its own.

                        The issue with digital advertising is that everyone thinks it's cheaper or "free". It's not. It's the fastest growing advertising medium in the world and sometimes the most expensive. Your typical haunt cannot afford the minimums required to buy campaigns on services like Pandora, HULU, Spotify, etc. This is where you'll need to work with an advertising agency....which you should do anyways.

                        If you have anymore questions though feel free to email me at tyler@fearworm.com and I'd love to discuss how I can help you with your advertising next year. You can also visit http://www.fearworm.com to learn more.
                        Digital Marketing Manager at Fearworm Hauntvertising.

                        Celebrating 14 years of "haunting".

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          We've been using digital marketing for two years now with really good success. Highly recommend it for haunts. You can target people with your ad and videos. We target people at costume stores, sporting events, schools, etc. And we cut down on our marketing dollars spent while increasing our sales. Newspapers, radio, TV just aren't reaching the younger demographic. The kids are all walking around with their phones in their hands and we're targeting them with our messages.

                          I've not worked with Tyler at Fearworm, but his information in his post looks right on target!! We prefer to work with local agencies, but it isn't necessary to do so. As with anything you do, always ask for references and follow up on them before doing business with them. Also look for classes at the upcoming conventions on digital marketing for additional information.

                          Kelly
                          The ScareAtorium

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Originally posted by Spikerip View Post
                            We've been using digital marketing for two years now with really good success. Highly recommend it for haunts. You can target people with your ad and videos. We target people at costume stores, sporting events, schools, etc. And we cut down on our marketing dollars spent while increasing our sales. Newspapers, radio, TV just aren't reaching the younger demographic. The kids are all walking around with their phones in their hands and we're targeting them with our messages.

                            I've not worked with Tyler at Fearworm, but his information in his post looks right on target!! We prefer to work with local agencies, but it isn't necessary to do so. As with anything you do, always ask for references and follow up on them before doing business with them. Also look for classes at the upcoming conventions on digital marketing for additional information.

                            Kelly
                            The ScareAtorium
                            You hit the nail right on the head! The future is in fact digital marketing...soon TV, radio, -and yes- even billboards will be able to be bought programmatically (digitally). Working with an agency is critical to the success of any serious business.

                            Great insight!

                            -Tyler
                            tyler@fearworm.com
                            Digital Marketing Manager at Fearworm Hauntvertising.

                            Celebrating 14 years of "haunting".

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Curious...I keep hearing the election as a reason for numbers being down. is this because of the radio/tv ads getting cluttered up or something else. Like I said, I keep hearing it to be the reason, but I cant seem to connect the election to causing a low turnout, any input?
                              Like a midget at a urinal, you gotta be on your toes

                              http://www.wellstownshiphauntedhouse.com

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                              • #30
                                Fear

                                Sean,
                                The answer is fear.
                                Fear of what the future might hold.
                                instead of people being focused on the moment and having a good time and going to haunts, they were focused on the future and fearing what it might hold. Whether the answer for them is Hillary, or Trump. The outcome was the same. low attendance out of fear.
                                Do you remember 9-11?
                                It almost put us out of business. That year we opted to do IAAPA, and the show floor was empty, as was our wallets when we left that show that year. And transworld numbers were also down for us that season. Same explanation though. Fear!
                                Kevin R. Alvey
                                info at gore-galore.com
                                www.gore-galore.com
                                www.halloweenmusicgalore.com
                                www.youtube.com/goregalore13
                                www.facebook.com/goregalore


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