Who has the best haunted house and why?

[UndeadProd]

Video representation was a big part of my Transworld seminar this year -- I think it's important to show off your attraction as much as possible through video and photos, but those images must be accurate representations of what people can actually expect to see in your show.

If your video looks better than the actual reality - or if you use too much animation and post-production wizz-bang stuff - people will sense that you are trying to hide something... or worse, will come away disappointed and cheated when the actual experience doesn't compare to what was on tv/online.

I spend a lot of time and $ on all of the HD stuff we shoot - but there is almost no tweaking of the images in post (other than some fiddling with black and chroma levels). In some cases, we're actually shooting the scenes with the existing lighting (just using considerably higher watt bulbs)

We don't add any kind of CG or do anything that isn't actually visible by the naked eye when people visit the attraction... and I think that's key. Likewise, all of the characters and actors seen in our big spots (like the one below) - were actually in the haunt every night: same actors, same costumes, same sets, etc.

So when people entered the little kids room (seen at the start of this trailer) - they knew the creepy girl was coming ... and boy did she nail them good once they recognized her from all the commercials.

[Jim Warfield]

Ravens Grin= "Best Haunted House by a dam site!"

888888888888

[lurker]

There is a line from Stephen King’s “Kingdom Hospital” that says, "And now, we will venture into the biggest, spookiest haunted house of them all. The human mind." I tend to agree. So, my vote goes to the human mind as best haunt of them all. I know mine is pretty damned scary.

[ihauntu]

House of Horrors Buffalo NY

House of Horrors Buffalo NY.
Detailed and more animations then any other haunt out there!
probably over 150+ animations
A show over 50,000 sq.ft.

[Spookyfinder]

Animations doesn't make a good haunt! In fact, the more animations a haunt has, I see it as a lack of creativity and kinda "showboating". So don't judge a haunt and call it great by the number of animations it has, it doesn't matter! -Tyler

[ihauntu]

animations

Animations don't make a Haunt good?

Anything you do to haunt makes it good!!!
MONEY SPENT ON A HAUNT, TIMES SPENT ON A HAUNT,PROPS ADDED TO A HAUNT, GOOD ACTORS, GOOD MAKEUP, GOOD DESIGN, GOOD THEME, ATMOSPHERE,
THERES SO MUCH THAT MAKES A HAUNT GOOD.

But good to one person dosn't meen good to another, we all know you can't make everyone happy.
but adding animations can sure set one haunt apart from another.
don't say animations can't help a haunt!
If thats true then WHY do so many people go to Transworld and drop thousands of dollars on animations?
WHY,To add to there haunt to make it different and bertter!

[Jolly Pumpkin]

Well if I had to just pick 3 haunts they would be as follows.

Industrial Nightmare (Jeffersonville, IN)
Industrial Nightmare is just one of those diamonds in the ruff that many people don't know about, but in my mind it stands out as being one of the most innovative and jaw dropping haunts in the nation. The amount of detail, unique scenes, intense actors and amazing animatronics few haunts can match.



The Haunted Hotel (Louisville, KY)
The Haunted Hotel is one of the most intense haunts I've ever been to and one of the most unique in how they deliver scares. Nearly every room is timed to startling music and intense lights that release actors that are just downright in your face. There's a reason they block off the streets when this haunt opens. It's that damn good and it gets better and better as time goes on. While they might not have the best detail, they have some of the best actors and intense scenes around.



Dead Acres (Pataskala, OH)
Dead Acres is simply one of the craziest haunts in America today. When it was just the Haunted Hoochie they mostly relied on intense graphic skits contained inside wooden huts. But when haunt technology evolved so did Dead Acres. This haunt was taken to a new level by combining amazing high tech scares with actors that were just relentless. But a few years later they would bring back the haunted hoochie style scenes that made this haunt famous in the first place. Some of the longest lines can be found at Dead Acres and some of the most dedicated haunt fans can be seen in the lines full of thousands of people. This haunt truly has a cult following.



Unfortunately these videos don't do the haunts justice at all. Couple of the videos from Dead Acres have the music disabled because of copy right issues, so I didn't use any of those and there really isn't any video of actual footage from Industrial Nightmare. The video of The Haunted Hotel makes the haunt look like an entirely different haunt because they couldn't pick up how many of the scenes are pulled off.

[damon carson]

Scares, Detail, and imagination, and being original is what I think makes the best haunts. Here's a list of some of my favorites.
Edge of Hell KC Missouri
The Beast KC Missouri
The Darkness Stl Missouri
Ravens Grin Inn Mt Carroll Illinois
House of Fright Mexico Mo
Damon

[HauntedPhantom]

House of Torment

I'm not plugging my own home haunt, nor do I work for any haunts. I've been to several in Texas and one stands heads above the others:

House of Torment

I've actually been to this haunt and others in Texas on many different occasions, and this one continues to amaze me. Every year it improves ten-fold. You can now buy advance tickets so that there is very little waiting, but even while waiting, it's great fun because movie-quality monsters are everywhere scaring people, and animatronics keep startling the crowds. There is also now food, drinks, and shopping for novelty items while you wait, something that wasn't available when this haunt began a few years ago, although my understanding is that it actually began as a home haunt before most of us knew it as House of Torment.

Now they also have two attractions instead of one, and both of those keep shocking and improving by so much that it doesn't seem possible. Illusion Manor is terrific, and Contagium was so scary this last year, with people dropping down at you unexpectedly. The sets, which I understand these guys build themselves, are awesome. And they also recently held events called Dark Stalkers, where people had to go through with the haunt pitch black, carrying only glow sticks, another new twist.

Their marketing is also over the top, with a billboard primely located in town, great radio promos and television commercials, and the guys that run the place are genuinely nice and go out and actually talk to their customers to promote the haunt and get to know their customers. They also get competing schools to come to the haunt and try to out-do each other and promote this on radio shows so that other schools want to get in on the action. Oh, and that creep call promo that they did last year was a great marketing addition.

I don't have any of their videos, but I've seen the videos on this site, and their control room, with many TVs watching over all rooms in their haunt is terrific. I've been through both attractions with many different people of all ages, and I know (because the scared ones always ask) that they have exits available everywhere for those that get too scared and want to leave immediately. When the scaredy cats don't make it all the way through the haunt, they give them the option of whether or not to have their picture put on their Wall of Shame.

I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of info about them, but I truly hope that they will be nominated and will be recognized and that they will post more videos for all of us to see. They don't post here much but I believe that's because they are genuinely humble guys (but with an often overlooked spectacular haunt because they don't post here enough). This is just my opinion.

Casey

[Speculo]

House or Torment

More info on House of Torment...

http://www.hauntworld.com/featured_a...n_austin_texas

Thanks!

[Creativecinema]

I don't post that much on this forum, except when I have input on video related topics. However, I'd like to take a minute to give my perspective on this topic as well as give my input on two very incredible haunts and the two insanely driven men who operate them. In my opinion their haunts should be considered among some of the very best.

I must first say that I am not a haunt owner or creator. I'm a videographer. Over the past 5 years I have had the privilege of producing videos for Eric Lowther's "Haunted Overload". More recently I have also had the privilege of producing videos for Tim Dunne's "Fright Kingdom". I have personally been witness to Haunted Overload's rise from a local home haunt phenomenon to an immensely successful professional haunt. I am now witnessing the immense expansion of one of the most unique indoor haunts in New England.

Haunted Overload is simply one of the most creative places that I have ever been to. I compare it to a Hollywood movie set, an outdoor venue that features 30-foot tall ghosts, scare crows, and goblins patrolled by a headless horseman who rides a huge draft horse set on a spacious New England farm surrounded by towering oak trees and acres of corn fields. Nearly every prop is hand made in meticulous detail. What sets this haunt apart from others is that fact that it focuses on the tradition of Halloween. You'll find very little blood or guts, just incredible one of a kind creations that embody the spirit of the holiday.

Tim Dunne's Fright Kingdom is entirely different from Haunted Overload. This haunt has it all. The scary part is that it is expanding from a 16,000 square feet to a 50,000 square feet building in 2009. If I know Tim he is already worried about running out of space. Fright Kingdom is the entire haunted house package and then some. This haunt is actually two haunts and counting under one roof. I liken Bloodmare Manor to a classic haunted mansion and Psycho Circus 3D to an insane asylum for demented clowns. They use some of the industries most state of the art animatronics and employee a staff of extremely talented and dedicated actors. Like Haunted Overload, this haunt is like a Hollywood movie set. Except more like a Hollywood horror movie set. In fact, both these guys could rent these places out to film makers. Mmmmmm it's had me thinking.

I have filmed patrons at Haunted Overload falling, crying, screaming, hyperventilating, and even sprinting for the parking lot. Last year the porta-potty "Suck Truck" operator complained that there were loads of women's panties stuck in his pump that had to be removed before he could finish pumping out the portable toilets. Scare footage captured at Fright Kingdom is some of my favorite scares from over five years of filming. Tim's human actors and live creatures (the likes of real snakes and tarantulas) are strategically set up to optimize scares. Like Haunted Overload, patrons get their monies worth. These haunts pass the "scary test". I have hours of video to prove it.

The thing that impresses me most about these two haunts is the creators. Both Eric and Tim are haunted house fanatics. They simply live, sleep, and breath haunted houses. Each waking moment of their days are spent on dreaming up ways to improve their haunts. Each year these guys come up with something bigger and better than the previous year. More impressive is their desire to promote the haunted house industry. Both of these guys are board members of the newly created HHA and although they are technically competitors, due to their proximity to each other, Eric and Tim focus their efforts on cross promotion instead of self promotion.

I have seen both of them put their hearts and souls into their respective haunts to the delight of their patrons and my video camera.

Eric just showed me this cross promotion he and Tim have been working on. I think it's great that two business like this in the same market can work together to become stronger.

http://www.northernfears.com/

I could go on and on about these two haunts. I truly expect that folks on this forum will be hearing about these haunts for a long time to come. I don't see any shortage of gas in the tank of either of these two guys.



Here are a couple of videos that I hope demonstrate both the creativity and intensity of these two haunts.

Haunted Overload Post 2009 annual after party video:

http://www.vimeo.com/2425815



Unreleased Fright Kingdom Promo Video:
Please note the password is: timbickford

http://www.vimeo.com/2985349


Thanks,

Tim Bickford
Creative Cinema Video Productions

[badass]

Ken Spriggs

I havent been on here in forever....

busy making the worlds most kicks ass haunt ever...

but when i read your comment Ken...
well....

it made my day

I know i am a hot head...just just like you...
but...
Thanks.....
I like Dream Reapers too....alot


and i have seen some kick ass haunts...

and another that comes to mind right now is the Darkness...
Hats off to you Larry...
it takes alot to impress me...
and when we took our tour at transworld...
we were amazed ....
from the beginning to the end...

and one more...
netherworld...of course...
oh..and erubus..
hmmmm...
when i start thinkin bout great haunts...
i hate to leave any out...
overload..
13th gate


i think all haunts strive to achieve what these haunts are...
they are impressive...
they make you say wow...
that was amazing

[graystone]

The best haunted house in the world.....

Is........ Well its ummmmmmm. Well you see its located in ummmmmmmmmm. Well you see they have all this amazing stuff. I hnow the name its ummmmmmm. Well its ummmmmmm and oh they got this big azz monster that eats guest then they come through! Its an awsome haunted house. Let me see the name of the haunt is ummmmmmm well its ummmmmmm well damn I cant think of the name of it but its good I can tell you that. Shane and its for the life of me I can't remember their name! Shane this time.

[BarbieHaunt]

Shane

Are you talking about that 10-story haunt that if you make it all the way through, you get a full refund? I've heard it's in Chicago, New York, St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta, etc. Nobody I know has seen it themselves but their family and friends all have or they at least know somebody who knows somebody who has! Obviously kidding!

[Haunted Illinois]

Well, the 10 story haunted house is so hard to find because it is constantly on the move! Just Like HauntCon, it changes locations every year. But honestly, I have been to it a couple of times and it's awesome! Really!!!