Does your haunt allow actors to touch?

[Killer Katie]

James - we have idiots like your situation all the time. Who the hell would waste their money if they don't want to be scared. And what kind of parent brings a kid to haunt if that kid doesn't want to be scared. It's like they all assume we have to cater to their wimpness. Enough i say! I tell my actors everyone deserves the same show, no matter who they are.

As for Erebus - one of the most AWESOME haunts I have ever had the pleasure to go into, but they do touch, I was ran into several times at a haunt tour. Getting eaten by a foam creature is a little creepy (andfun), but having someone in a costume they can't see out of run into you, is not.
I think if you are going to decide to be able to touch patrons - you need to know two things:
1. Who your actors are and their level of maturity and your trust of them.
2. Your customer base. The customer base that i have been involved in would rather hit you, and then sue. They seem to just come in looking for a fight.

[Jim Warfield]

When non-touching began..

Chicken wire was put up between the haunt actors and the public. It looked real crappy and made a safety zone feeling, removing much of the joy of anticipation and potential attack.
The Minnesota JCs were sued many years ago by a woman because they "SCared" her!
She was asking for 11.3 million dollars.
This was the beginning of the sour grapes in haunting.
This was all happening about 1975?

[The Doctor]

We just had a lady get upset because she and her daughter were screamed at. We have exits every few rooms and if someone is that freaked out we tell them to exit or we will have an actor escourt them out. We do not tone down the show for scared patrons. It is not fair for the other people in the group to get a watered down show because you were too ignorant of your childs level of fear or your own. Exit them out and keep the group moving has been our stratagy for scared actors.

As far as touching we are a strictly no touching haunt. There is of course the occasional inadverdent brush or bump but nothing intentional. There is a haunt close by and they are full contact and they have a very staunch following. I think there are always people who enjoy that kind of haunted house, we have chosen to go no touching because of the liability and have not seen an adverse affect on our numbers. People are raving about the attraction and leave having had a great time, and in the end that is what we all want, satisfied customers who will be back year after year and talk about how awsome their experiance was.

[Jim Warfield]

My Old Sign

Said:"Entering a construction zone
Do not touch anything, not even yourself!"

"Oh! OH! I was touched ! I'm suing! I'm suing!"
"Who touched you young lady?"
"It was dark I'm not really sure, but it might have been ....me?"

Sort of like an olfd high school girlfriend who told me :"Last night I was in a car going around this curve at 100 miles an hour, I was really scared!"
"Who was driving the car?"
"I was!"

All true.

[JackoWcko]

I've been to 12 haunts this year. 3 of them allowed touching. Those 3 clearly expressed on their tickets, with various signs, and during the introduction that they may get touched. Purchasing the ticket means they agree to these rules. So if they're going to sue after agreeing, they really dont have a case.

[The Doctor]

Sadly in this day and age they can sue and can win, just look at some of the cases where criminals were injured in the commision of a crime and then sued the owner of the building they broke into and won. Contracts are only as good as the lawyer defending them in court.

[Jim Warfield]

Doesn't winng a lawsuit still demand witnesses?
"He said-She said" would not a winning lawsuit make, now would it?

[The Doctor]

You would think and of course for the vast majority of them it does require some evidence, but there are those that are so ridiculously squewd as to make one wonder what the Hell the jury or judge was smoking. Plus the level of proof is much lower and many things that would be hersay in criminal court is allowed in civil court. Many times insurance companies will just settle out of court even when there is no fault on the insuredes part just to prevent a court battle.

[Lord Barnabus]

In nine years I have never allowed my staff to touch the guests. And the guests are also told not to touch the actors or props. We have always hung signs up pertaining to all of our rules, plus had them playing on the radio in the que line, and had the tour guides explain the rules when they entered the first room.

I tell the actors to try to stay an arms length away. Some people to swing and kick when they are scared, and safety is one of my top two concerns.

The haunt I am helping this year for their first year seems to have a totally different approach than I do. They don't seem to care what happens in their haunt, cause they keep bragging about how heavily insured they are and don't care if people get hurt or if they sue. So maybe I should just start groping all the cute girls that go through so I can get my jollies (I would never do that!).

I'm totally against touching, unless it is an accident (we know actors can't see too well out of a mask, especially in the dark).