What is the big bang in your haunt?

[tchaunt]

Everyone has their own version of it. You know, the event in your haunt. The one everyone talks about until next Easter. And then a few people talk about it after that. I was wondering, what effects or rooms are usually the most popular among your guests?
Also, what types of characters do the people (guests) usually love?

[Odinseye]

Our best the past year has been our dark maze through the barn... we have it at the end of our tour and its always been a hit. We change it every year but last year we started it out with three doors, two that lead to dead ends and one that goes into the main maze.
Best costume was our stilt guy in the parking lot... had a ton of great compliments from him. (you can see some pics at lovetoscream.com)
This year we also had an actor from the college who played "host" and escorted groups to the entrance when it was time to start the tour. We dressed him up as a pirate and he did the whole thing in character. They loved him.
Unfortunately last year our cave and new grave yard got flooded out... but this year its going to be great!!!

[tchaunt]

What exactly do you do for the maze? Like, is it a dark chain-link maze or is it a wall-panel maze?

I'm definitely wanting to get one stilt character for when I open my haunt. From what I've heard, they always go over good.

Dang, that would suck. Did it happen before the season or during the season?

[Odinseye]

The first year we started out our maze as just a "dark maze" we used plywood and 2x4s to make the walls... everything painted black. They screw together real fast and we take them down and stack them throughout the rest of the year. Doing it this way also allows us to change things every year. Thats really all we did the first year... one long dark maze with a few people hidden in it. But it was still a hit with just that.
This year we took two areas and made them a bit more "permanent" setting up one jungle room and one bug room. This year I hope to put in several endless hallways to liven it up a bit. By the way, last year we put in a sheet of plexiglass in one hallway... it was great. Second to the last group on the last night broke it into pieces though but it was worth the $150 for the season! Especially when 5 blonds crashed into it one after the other in a big pile up!!!!
If you do the stilts get those running stilts. Most people can get around on them with about 20 minutes practice and they freek people out when the come running across the parking lot.
Unfortunately we had a ton of rain during out season last year. Just one of those things you cant fight... but since we are in Minnesota at least it wasn't snow!!!

[Motograter]

Not to brag or anything but I think that I was one of the best things this past year. I acted as a 7 foot cannibal mortician eating out of a Unit 70 "eyegore" prop. I designed a Morgue room where customers had to walk past my autopsy table where then I chased after them with an axe made by Oak Island. I scared the S*** out of so many people it was great. I can do a great death metal voice like the band Cannbal Corpse. So I would yell "ANOTHER BODY FOR MY MORGUE!" slame my axe on the table and than go run after them. We had returning customers just to see me believe it or not on the special perview nights where you could go through the haunt as many times as you like on opening weekend. It actually shocked me to hear this from our ticket sales ladies. After the nights where over, they would tell me that customers came back to the ticket window to say how much fun that had at our haunt and how awesome "That really tall guy was" lol. So I have great plans in the making for this season. hehehehe

[Jim Warfield]

No big Bangs

Is what many of my customers have always told me when I ask them what they have enjoyed, been scared of or thought was impressive in other haunts ?
Tonight a young couple were doing the tour, he was here for maybe his 4th time , her first time.
Why don't they go to other haunts? Boring. Too many people crammed together, no scares because the front person always got the treatment, they could hear it and/or see it coming.
I get a large number of customers who will never go back to another haunted house.
Some were too young when someone took them. Some hate chainsaws, as some don't like bloody displays and face-screaming.
Her answer was, I don't go back there.

[tchaunt]

@Jim:
That actually does make sense. My mom would probably be the person to go to your haunt. She hates the fact that I am so desensitized to gore and all. But, yeah, I do believe you when you say that.

@Motograter:
XD That sounds like it'd be a fun role to play. Did you ever have people actually crap themselves though?

@Odin:
How I wish I could've seen the blonds crashing. On the way back to class from lunch (I'm in middle school) I watch my blond friends run into a lot of random items:
doors
lockers
trash cans
fire alarms
poles

And the list could go on. I can hardly breathe when I get in class I'm laughing so much.

[JamBam]

big bang!

It is very insightful for a young man your age to see the need for this already. The distraction / scare idea is another very important idea that some never get.

Our big bang this year was our custom made J shaped claustrophobia exit. That concept is awesome. Some would absolutely lose it in there.



My opinion of Warfield's Raven's Grin Inn big bang is the three story slide from the bed that tips into the slide. You travel down barely touching the slide and bumping both sides as it twists downward. You wonder how you will stop without a crash when suddenly you are laying face up in the deepest basement I have ever been in. A twenty foot arched stone ceiling and a cold damp floor. It is 53 degrees that far down. Then, you look around cautiously and wait for Warfiled to make his way down to continue the tour with his genuinely unique show.

The other big bang that happened on the first of the three visits for me was the exiting from the subteranean tunnel up out of the trunk of a 46 Hudson onto the street. Blew me AWAY!!!

Thanks for the great show Warfield!!!!!!

[mindtumor]

@Jim:
That actually does make sense. My mom would probably be the person to go to your haunt. She hates the fact that I am so desensitized to gore and all. But, yeah, I do believe you when you say that.

@Motograter:
XD That sounds like it'd be a fun role to play. Did you ever have people actually crap themselves though?

@Odin:
How I wish I could've seen the blonds crashing. On the way back to class from lunch (I'm in middle school) I watch my blond friends run into a lot of random items:
doors
lockers
trash cans
fire alarms
poles

And the list could go on. I can hardly breathe when I get in class I'm laughing so much.

One of the radio guys ran head first into the wall after seeing him. That was pretty funny. Plus bill's nickname now is tall motherfucker.

[Motograter]

Oh yeah I forgot about that guy! I scared him so bad he ran full speed into a black wall. I think he was bleeding a little too. Thanks Jared for the new nickname lol. I like it.

[mindtumor]

No I didn't name you that, one of the guests at the haunt did after they left. Maybe we never told you.

[Jim Warfield]

Don't Beleive Everything.

On our web site we have a copy of a newspaper article written several years ago by Bill Windom? In which he states numerous things that were not true when he was here and have never ever been true.
His style of writing is heavilly into whimsey and flights of fancy and I guess that his audience of regular readers must realise this, I know at least some of them do.
The story about someone getting scared, running into a wall reminded me of what this Windom wrote, it was describing how we rammed his head into a real brick wall, the wall exploded! ....
But he was all right.
In my opinion there have only been a very few people whose head should have met the non-exploding brick wall, but they didn't .
I plead guilty to inspiring many person's imaginations to run from wild to wacky upon seeing then touring my house. I see that as part of the buzz called "entertainment".

[tchaunt]

Jim, I knew your haunt was impressive, but I didn't know just how impressive. I feel that I have to visit your haunt now when I get enough money. I already have a list of like 6 or 7 haunts I have to visit when I get my haunt started. Obviously, all of them are owned by HW members. But sorry guys, I'm going to give Tyler the gift of being the very first haunt owner to have his actors scare me. Maybe I should make a certificate for him for when my crew and I go! XD
In gold letters:
"Congratulations!
You were the first person to scare the s*** out of Jon-Kyle Bailey!
x_________"
Of course, the line will have my signature on it.

But, um, what did he write for? Like was it a blog or newspaper? I don't think I'd keep him employed very long. Unless it was a tabloid and the readers were looking for articles like "Batboy lives again" and "Sasquatch files sexual assault charges on the Loch Ness Monster".


Thanks for the compliment Brett! I only know that I want to beat all the haunts around me. Since my friends who go to those death traps tell me they sucked becuase they weren't scary and that it was a bunch of bad clown masks. So I know to win guests, I need things for them to talk about.

Hey Bill, do you use those weird looking "kangaroo stilts" as I call them? The ones that add like 1 1/2' to your height?

[mindtumor]

Jim, I knew your haunt was impressive, but I didn't know just how impressive. I feel that I have to visit your haunt now when I get enough money. I already have a list of like 6 or 7 haunts I have to visit when I get my haunt started. Obviously, all of them are owned by HW members. But sorry guys, I'm going to give Tyler the gift of being the very first haunt owner to have his actors scare me. Maybe I should make a certificate for him for when my crew and I go! XD
In gold letters:
"Congratulations!
You were the first person to scare the s*** out of Jon-Kyle Bailey!
x_________"
Of course, the line will have my signature on it.

But, um, what did he write for? Like was it a blog or newspaper? I don't think I'd keep him employed very long. Unless it was a tabloid and the readers were looking for articles like "Batboy lives again" and "Sasquatch files sexual assault charges on the Loch Ness Monster".


Thanks for the compliment Brett! I only know that I want to beat all the haunts around me. Since my friends who go to those death traps tell me they sucked becuase they weren't scary and that it was a bunch of bad clown masks. So I know to win guests, I need things for them to talk about.

Hey Bill, do you use those weird looking "kangaroo stilts" as I call them? The ones that add like 1 1/2' to your height?

No Bill is really actually that tall.

[tchaunt]

Nearly 7 ft? (Just making sure I'm not remembering the wrong thing)