Beginner seeking advice from veteran haunters

[Jim Warfield]

Fine Tuning good advice?

The common advice has been to work and build up your haunt over a period of years, start small, work and build displays, walls, everything that you can do towards your final goal...I agree with this and have often advised people to do this...then I was realising ...I did do just this same thing but I knew that this business was going to be eventually all that I would have for an income..it HAD to succeed...did I want to try to go really big-time public/advertising, major-market with a house that would be SO Much better just a year or six months later?
Would I want to waste the efforts of advertising by having a lessor offering to a virginal audience who might not ever return because it was a lessor experience?
This first big time audience would also be made up of people serious enough about seeing the house to drive 100 or more miles to be here.
Would they invest this effort a second time if the first time was nil?
I didn't think so.
I also did not want to advertise- boast bigger and promise tons more than I could deliver.
I had the advantage that I knew this was going to be my only and perminent location.

[tchaunt]

I actually really like that idea! One thing you can do is you can buy these haunt awards...like little statuets and you can award one to the best actor of the season. But yeah i would suggest doing that gathering thing like 3-4 weeks after the haunt closes for the season not so much as 2-3 months later. Hahaha

It would actually turn out to be a really fun event (in my opinion); especially with the awards.
I do see what you mean about the time. After a few months, people would probably mix events up and forget/accidentally change things in their heads.

The common advice has been to work and build up............I had the advantage that I knew this was going to be my only and perminent location.

Wow. That's definitely what I call dedication.
Just wondering (and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to), how long have you been involved in the haunt industry?

[Dr. Giggles]

Is that question posed for me or Jim?

[Jim Warfield]

I Am Like So Many..

Older haunters, our resumes read the same: "As a small kid I had a haunted house set up in my parent's basement."
Of course Timmy McVeigh did too, according to an article I have framed on the wall here from a Chicago newspaper.
Then came the costume contest competitions, then the JC haunted house, designing, building, cleaning up afterwards(although I sometimes got to do this all by myself)
Then buying my Ravens Grin Inn 21 years ago and working on it and in it almost every day and night since.
Don't get me wrong, I sure don't know everything about this business but I have successfully made a living doing what I do here and it remains heavilly influenced by my own concepts and vision, I actually try hard Not to copy others.
I have always felt this makes it unique enough to inspire more business from repeat customers.
See : hauntedravensgrin.com

[theeverydayguy]

i started off small with only a little walkway to my front door when i was only ten and now imam 16 and have 5,000(uncles barn ) feet of area to let my mind wonder and come up with some great stuff and my 3RD year some kid broke his wrist so make it as safe as possible

[tchaunt]

Is that question posed for me or Jim?

Actually, I was asking both of you.

Older haunters, our resumes read the same: "As a small kid I had a haunted house set up in my parent's basement."
Of course Timmy McVeigh did too, according to an article I have framed on the wall here from a Chicago newspaper.
Then came the costume contest competitions, then the JC haunted house, designing, building, cleaning up afterwards(although I sometimes got to do this all by myself)
Then buying my Ravens Grin Inn 21 years ago and working on it and in it almost every day and night since.
Don't get me wrong, I sure don't know everything about this business but I have successfully made a living doing what I do here and it remains heavilly influenced by my own concepts and vision, I actually try hard Not to copy others.
I have always felt this makes it unique enough to inspire more business from repeat customers.
See : hauntedravensgrin.com

Like I said, that is pure dedication.

I haven't been into haunting for too long, but in the 7 months I have been, all I see for room ideas/room templates are dot rooms and clown rooms. I realize they are effective, but they all seem the same. It seems like it wouldn't be that hard to make a room with the dot room's concept......but with a creative twist. I don't like how all haunts (that aren't very educated in how to haunt correctly) have a clown room, dot room, "black out" room, etc. I can count numerous rooms used in way too many low-quality haunts. To me, it is annoying. I personally feel like the people "copying" the room ideas are basically saying, "I'm in this for the money and don't care about satisfying the customers."

i started off small with only a little walkway to my front door when i was only ten and now imam 16 and have 5,000(uncles barn ) feet of area to let my mind wonder and come up with some great stuff and my 3RD year some kid broke his wrist so make it as safe as possible

Wow. I wish I could manage to find a 5000 sq. ft. building for next to free!

I look into a lot of safety articles about haunted houses. From day one, I will try to use only flame-retardant materials and try to invest in quality wall panels. I.e.: Not buy the cheap, black plastic used in many garage haunts to make walls. Even though I'll take all of the precautions, I'm sure something will happen that will be out of my control.

[Jim Warfield]

Dot Room?

I have never had a dot room here but I have had some different ideas on a dot room if I ever did have one but I haven't found a realistic dead Dalmation Dog as of yet.
But then I might have a dot room here, I guess. It's pretty different and it's not here all the time but when it is here people are very impressed.
It's the wine cellar below the basement. Sometimes we see balls of different colored light floating around down there.
PIctures have been taken of them with various types of cameras.
We see them first then take their pictures.
Maybe they are ghosts maybe it's a natural phenomina as of yet not quite fully understood?

[tchaunt]

I have never had a dot room here but I have had some different ideas on a dot room if I ever did have one but I haven't found a realistic dead Dalmation Dog as of yet.
But then I might have a dot room here, I guess. It's pretty different and it's not here all the time but when it is here people are very impressed.
It's the wine cellar below the basement. Sometimes we see balls of different colored light floating around down there.
PIctures have been taken of them with various types of cameras.
We see them first then take their pictures.
Maybe they are ghosts maybe it's a natural phenomina as of yet not quite fully understood?

"Daddy, I see dot people."
It must be nice having a haunted house set up inside a truly haunted house.

________________
Here's a question to anyone who can answer it.

What is the best system to use to play background music in a room? For instance, in a child's nursery, I want to play the Jack-in-the-box song with distorted tones along with echo-ish/ghostly crying baby. What system would I need to use for good quality? Also, how do I set it up?

[Jim Warfield]

Blasphemer that I am, I don't have any music playing here or any backround music, I tried it for a few years and it only distracted the customers and made them uneasy.
What I did back then I was using yard sale sound systems I played music continoiusly but stopped and started the music by interupting the signal to a speaker with a relay activated by motion switches .
The relays were off of furnace AC installations and have normally "Off" and normally "ON" places for the wires to hook to. These also needed a low-voltage transformer to activate the relay.

[monsterwax]

You can pick up a copy of Philip Morris book, "How to operate a financially successful haunted house" for pretty cheap (around $12 used). See AddAll used books. That has a lot of inexpensive but fun scenes you provide your haunt. These aren't "scare the hell out of them" type things, but eerie illusions and such. I suggest getting several different types of books and this is one older but classic ones. I used it for one of my first home haunts and found it to be quite useful.

[Dr. Giggles]

My haunting age?

Iv acted in haunted houses for six years and co owned one for about 2. But yeah scare acting is my passion, i dont really enjoy the managerial aspect of it...but i still find time to slip in to my Corpse skin from spookywoodsfx.com and scare the bajeesus out of people!

[tchaunt]

Iv acted in haunted houses for six years and co owned one for about 2. But yeah scare acting is my passion, i dont really enjoy the managerial aspect of it...but i still find time to slip in to my Corpse skin from spookywoodsfx.com and scare the bajeesus out of people!

I love scare acting and planning things. Honestly, I got a sensation that feels almost like a high when I scare people. The feeling is incredibly addicting for me. If it can be planned, I've planned it. About the only thing I haven't planned was a murder.

Blasphemer that I am, I don't have any music playing here or any backround music, I tried it for a few years and it only distracted the customers and made them uneasy.
What I did back then I was using yard sale sound systems I played music continoiusly but stopped and started the music by interupting the signal to a speaker with a relay activated by motion switches .
The relays were off of furnace AC installations and have normally "Off" and normally "ON" places for the wires to hook to. These also needed a low-voltage transformer to activate the relay.

So basically, only use music when I want to build suspense? Or does that just apply to haunts mainly based on telling a story?

You can pick up a copy of Philip Morris book, "How to operate a financially successful haunted house" for pretty cheap (around $12 used). See AddAll used books. That has a lot of inexpensive but fun scenes you provide your haunt. These aren't "scare the hell out of them" type things, but eerie illusions and such. I suggest getting several different types of books and this is one older but classic ones. I used it for one of my first home haunts and found it to be quite useful.

Well, I ordered Kelly's book on Christmas Eve (I am excited for it to arrive). I'll wait to buy any more books until I read the book and let all of the info soak in. And then I'll read it again. And Again. Then I'll start swearing by the book...........after I read it again. Or maybe I'll just start swearing by it now.

[Jim Warfield]

TCHaunt! Thrill defined.

A few times I have scared people in a situation that seemed to multiply the thrill of it quite noticably.
At least it sure increased it for me! (How about that?)
Maybe there was an actual physical/electrical force at work?
Here's the set up: Big thick plexiglass window
the customer's curiosity makes them want to see what is behind it.
As they put their face and hand up against the plexi the lights go off, I step up from a hiding place putting my face opposite to theirs
When the light came back on maybe just 2 seconds later we were eye-ball to eye-ball and I honestly seemed to feel an electrical charge pass between us via the retinas through the plexiglass!!!!!!!!
WOW!!!

[tchaunt]

A few times I have scared people in a situation that seemed to multiply the thrill of it quite noticably.
At least it sure increased it for me! (How about that?)
Maybe there was an actual physical/electrical force at work?
Here's the set up: Big thick plexiglass window the customer's curiosity makes them want to see what is behind it.
As they put their face and hand up against the plexi the lights go off, I step up from a hiding place putting my face opposite to theirs
When the light came back on maybe just 2 seconds later we were eye-ball to eye-ball and I honestly seemed to feel an electrical charge pass between us via the retinas through the plexiglass!!!!!!!!
WOW!!!

Dang! If I was the visitor, that would scare everything out of me! I would love to be able to do the scare though! Hearing all of these stories from everyone is getting me even more psyched about working at a haunt, if not owning a haunt, in the future.

[monsterwax]

You will probably find it hard to get cast people to show up on a regular basis just because you gave them party at the front end or conclusion of the haunt. If you are open for many nights, they will start to flake out on you unless there is some money reason why they HAVE to go. Perhaps you can tell whatever the charity that they must provide X amount of people or their % drops, so that their peers are applying pressure to get the cast there.

I'm always amazed how many people volunteer early on and how few actually show up. Homework, chores, errands, flat tires, angry girl friends, sickness, laziness and a million other excuses all come up. The more nights you are open, the bigger the problem. Plan for this and always overstaff, especially as the season drags on.