So, How'd You Get Started?

[robos99]

It seems there's a wide variety of people around here in various roles within this industry, and I'm sure many more who are just getting started. As one of the people who hope to open a haunt one day soon, the question comes to mind....how did you all get your start in this business? And how have you gotten to where you are today?

[Jim Warfield]

Just like Timmy McVeigh, I had a haunted house in my parent's basement when I was a kid. (I have the Tribune article about Timmy on the wall as a display.)
The JCs haunted house was my adult fix for a few years, I spent alot of time on my own costumes and displays for the short season of Halloween which i remedied by buying this house (an actually haunted house) and working on it every day and opening it for tours almost every night for the last 21 years.
I run my house more as a tourist attraction versus having aggressive scaring and bloody displays. I have my own monsters here. I love making people scaream as long as it's immeadiately followed by their laughter because the scare was so simple-minded or basically silly.
See the website : hauntedravensgrin.com