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New Reality show to air late sept! America's Haunted House!

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  • #31
    Troubled

    I am a home haunter with dreams and ambitions of becoming a successful as Larry and Ben. That sounds like hero worship but it is in fact me recognizing their accomplishments. A business is hard enough to start, but when you are starting a business that a good portion of the population finds distasteful it is all the harder.
    My concern is that if the right people dont do this show that it will cast all of us large and small in a bad light. I am a store manager for a large retailer and I know how much that even minor negative publicity can effect sales. If we are honestly concerned than maybe we should express those concerns to the scifi channel. This is not an attack piece on those chosen but I think the top haunters should have been given the oppurtunity.

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    • #32
      Gerbil

      My sentiments exact, Congrats to all that have been chosen, however if they were going for elite, they passed up on many with much more skills and talent, like I said earlier there's a few names there that are worthy.

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      • #33
        I always thought the beer in the refrigerator gag of leonards was funny! Ya I said funny NOT SCARY!
        Damon
        Damon Carson

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        • #34
          I think it might be better to stay away from the top haunters for the simple fact that haunts as big and good as theirs really do not represent the industry to be honest. The average 'good" pro haunt is simply good enough for the average guest and they do well. The big or mega haunts are few and far between and some might argue are too over done and not as scary as they are realistic looking in their design.

          By showing some of these other guys it relates to the wider majority of haunters or would be haunters than to single out the few elites. One thing that has to be remembered is to have a great haunt takes hard work, creativity and a good crew but a lot of it is luck too. Some markets do not have warehouse buildings to lease or rent, family owned open land, large vacant buildings and things like that. They are not in Northern VA I can tell you that. Developers buy up all avalable spaces and some people cannot see it to deal with a haunter for leasing space. Many of you have large ideal locations and you are allowed to grow your haunts into something incredible. I'm sure on this board alone if they had the building the few lucked in to their show would just as good or maybe better.

          I for one am looking forward to seeing this show...

          Darkangel
          Last edited by Darkangel; 06-03-2008, 12:05 PM.

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          • #35
            DarkAngel, Slain

            I totally agree with you both there is really nothing I can add to what has been said. Shane
            sigpic

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            • #36
              Lets face it, no matter who got tapped to be in this show there would be someone here to bitch and moan about it. If it had been Larry, Ben and Jesus Christ someone would have had a complaint. Maybe the people that got on the show where selected cause they don’t spend so much time bitching and moaning, but rather working different angles of the haunt biz.
              If this show airs, good or bad, it can benefit us all. One way I can think of right off the top of my head is the fact that there will be an hour every week in September/October that people interested in haunted houses will be watching the Sci-fi channel. What a great time slot to have your local cable channel air commercials for your haunted house.
              Lets think of ways this can be utilized for our benefit, rather than tossing sour grapes.
              sigpic
              Louis Brown
              Owner, operator, and dish washer
              at
              DarkWood Manor

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              • #37
                Mutant space gerbil

                Originally posted by Mutant Space Gerbil View Post
                I am a home haunter with dreams and ambitions of becoming a successful as Larry and Ben. That sounds like hero worship but it is in fact me recognizing their accomplishments. A business is hard enough to start, but when you are starting a business that a good portion of the population finds distasteful it is all the harder.
                My concern is that if the right people dont do this show that it will cast all of us large and small in a bad light. I am a store manager for a large retailer and I know how much that even minor negative publicity can effect sales. If we are honestly concerned than maybe we should express those concerns to the scifi channel. This is not an attack piece on those chosen but I think the top haunters should have been given the oppurtunity.
                Wow you must not have high expectations of yourself. You need to look beyond these type sites. Go to some of these so called great haunts and haunters and see for yourself what they have and what they don't..
                Looking up to people because they have a site dedicated to the haunt industry doesn't mean that they have a great haunt it simply means that their mother took them off breastfeeding to early. Be yourself, do it your way not the way the others do it. This is what will make you a better haunter...
                Why copy..... Invent it!!

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                • #38
                  Omg

                  I just fell out of my chair and spit my drink across the room LOL !!!!! Also HauntedHouseNut if you see this get on line tonight we got to tallk I heard something and want to know the truth! Lurker I myself love to hear the bitching,drama,bigheads,and big egos I think this is a great mix for some great hell rasin!!!!!Shane
                  Last edited by graystone; 06-03-2008, 01:11 PM.
                  sigpic

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                  • #39
                    This is one thing I can agree with everyone on here...

                    You're 110% correct no matter who they would pick, even if it was the real percieved elite from this industry, people would still say NO IT IS NOT, WHAT ABOUT SO AND SO...

                    You're correct very correct!

                    I think every single person on this list brings something cool to the table and it will be interesting to see what they can create. And yes I also am looking forward to seeing it.

                    However when you use statements like 'Build America's Best Haunted House in 10 weeks with the most ELITE crew...". Well that is dangerous for our industry.

                    Because YOU WILL NOT build America's BEST haunted house, and I don't care what crew you get. That would be a slap in the face to all those haunts out there that spends YEARS and YEARS to actually create one of America's best haunted houses. 13th Gate has an ELITE crew and it took them months and months, just to get an aready AWESOME haunted house ready for Hauntcon, and he didn't have to build walls,pass fire codes, and all that stuff that takes a lot of time to do.

                    He was simply making the place look MORE AWESOME, and it took him 18 hours a day, with a crew of 10 people a day for several months just to make those simple IMPROVEMENTS to his attraction for Hauntcon.

                    THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL... ANYONE can build the best haunted house with a crew of 10 in 10 weeks that will compare with what this industry has already et as a standard as being one of the best. It is just not possible.

                    My only concern is simply, that when you throw around statements like that you could send the wrong message to a national audience that what you are doing is the GOLD standard for our industry, which it will not be.

                    I think most people laugh and call people on reality shows fools, and morons for all the stupid stuff they do... but yes it is good tv and people keep watching.

                    No one isn't saying this won't be good tv, or that it might not be good for our industry, because it probably will, but only if we're repesenting correctly, and what you're creating is what it is...

                    If you say you are creating AMERICAS best haunted house with the MOST ELITE group of designers, then that is how this show will reflect on an entire industry.

                    As I said before what a burden to bear!

                    In the end this could make us all look like ROCK STARS or make us all look like a second rate industry. I'm only interestd in the ROCK STAR side... so as I said don't hesitate to bring in the reinforcements if you won't make your deadline.

                    Hell that could be a great thing to add to the show...

                    YOU ACTUALLY CAN NOT build one of America's best haunted houses in that short period so you had to bring in more people... because in REALITY that is how it all end up for ANY haunted house... at the last minute you have to bring in every warm body! LOL

                    Again I say MAKE US LOOK GOOD!

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

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Slain,

                      Yes I know Leonard thinks the most important thing is thru put, and yes I agree with you he's 110% wrong. He doesn't know what he's talking about in my opinion on just about everything.

                      Actually he's right...he needs to design his haunts for through put, meaning to ATTRACT some through put because all the haunts he does seem to bomb because no one goes through.

                      You have to design a show that will attract large crowds, and when desiging a haunt yes you want the people to be able to get through it, but his washed up idea's of having a big giant circle in the middle of a maze so one actor can scare everyone is well I shake my head.

                      We all know people want realism, lots of scary actors, Hollywood set design, special effects and more.

                      At Creepyworld last year we shoved through 4,500 people in one night, and that was through FOUR MAJOR attractions, and one being a hayride. You don't have to sacrifice details and scares for through put...

                      It is an absurd notion.

                      Getting myself and Leonard building a haunt together would never work!!! EVER!


                      What would be a better show is a Haunter Build Off... he is on one side of the street and we're on the other. We'd kick his assssssssssss....brother! LOL

                      Now I would do that show in a heartbeat!

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

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Yes...Yes... Yes.....

                        Larry,
                        Leonard and my guys almost come to blows one night in Chicago. (I think he did get punched by someone that night.. some chick)
                        Anywho back in 2001 we drove through Louisiana, Texas to see the best of the best, we found one thing in common with most of those haunts. They were cool with the pyrotechnics animatronics and such but you know we found one thing. All of the end result was the trough put. No only were they bad, these at the time were some of the top rated haunts in the US. So when you here me say that the top 13 haunts needs to be rated by people that has actually gone through these events you'll know why.
                        Don't get me wrong we saw some good things in our drive but when it was all over we new what we didn't want to do. We didn't want to build something that people would say sucked just to make a buck....Get out haunters and see what is out there. Some of the smaller haunts are better than most of the large commercial events.

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                        • #42
                          Hummmm

                          This is for sure one of thoes double bladed knives!!!Damed if you do and Damed if you dont. All I know is I am sure these guys will put their best effort into it or atleast I hope they do. Two of the guys I know the others I dont know them from a rat's ass. And I can tell you for years I have worked on haunted houses as far as Graystone goes its almost a daily thing in making it the best it can be. I just dont see how it can be the best in 10 weeks. Maybe they should call the show. ''So You Want To Bulid A Haunted House'' and show the world what you can do in 10 weeks while the whole time you stress how much more it could be with months of hard work. Again can Shane get an Amen or get anyone to agree with me? Also Slain is exactly right in his points I know this bunch on a personal leval and I can tell you that they for sure dont skimp on the haunt just for the extra traffic flow!
                          sigpic

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                          • #43
                            Whoa

                            Originally posted by Slain View Post
                            Wow you must not have high expectations of yourself. You need to look beyond these type sites. Go to some of these so called great haunts and haunters and see for yourself what they have and what they don't..
                            Looking up to people because they have a site dedicated to the haunt industry doesn't mean that they have a great haunt it simply means that their mother took them off breastfeeding to early. Be yourself, do it your way not the way the others do it. This is what will make you a better haunter...
                            Why copy..... Invent it!!
                            Wait a minute I said I respected and wanted to be as SUCESSFUL. That is I am setting a goal and striving to achieve it. If one thing can be said about a something in the ice production is that we are original. You wont find any @%# clowns with chainsaws or any other cheesy crap. Its themed its storied and it is over the top. Here are a few more for the list: Jim Warfield Master entertainer and story teller ( I dont think I have ever be as genuinely scared as when I went on his tour. Half-way through I thought he might actually be off his rocker. The woman from rocky point (forgive me I cant remeber her name) her attention to detail was amazing and I say hers because the decisions reseted with her if she didnt like it it didnt get done.,

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                            • #44
                              That actually brings up a good point... what kind of scenes best reflect our industry. A lot of the haunts you see today are just a little of this and a little of that... which I would NEVER DO MYSELF!

                              I don't believe in having a clown scene, then a jail, then a mansion and them something gory. I like ONE THEME throughout the show unless the story line of the attraction allows for it... like 13th Gate, its 13 different themes.

                              But most haunts don't have a theme like that soooooo....why do people do it I don't know, lack of idea's or creativity who knows. But I think most haunts today are creating an entire theme and sticking to it.

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

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                well

                                MTV's "SUREAL LIFE" enough said

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