Hostile Situations in a Haunt

[NateTheGreat]

What are a few examples of some hostile situations that you have seen in your haunt or crimes committed. I want to be prepared and when interviewing my security team, I want to ask them a few of these situations to see how they would handle them. Thanks =)

~Natethegreat
www.Fearoverload.com

[OdetteDespairr]

We get alot of problems with teenagers in large groups, break the groups up and dont take no for an answer.

Teenagers tend to try and act hard and be tough. They tend to attempt to intimidate your actors and try to cover fear with bravado and impress their cohorts.

Watch them closely they like to touch things, they like to break things and they like to steal things. They tend to want 'trophy' items from their visit, like smuggling out a fake leg or arm.

Watch the drunks and the barflys. They tend to be more dangerous. Being intoxicated heightens some peoples agression levels.

Be watchful of you Q-Line actors with drunks, i cant tell you how many times iv been grabbed from behind by a drunk and his friends. And watch them carefully with your room actors, a scare to us may seem like a threat to them in their current state so be on guard.

Use zone capitans and security personel. Use headsets and walkie talkies, spend the money to keep your actors safe.

You will get the freaks occasionally who think its funny to grab actors in a suggestive manor but they're a minority i think.

The weirdest one i think i have seen though is we had a flasher run thru the haunt one year...just awkward....

Oh best advice i can give tho, is tell your actors to scream "Security" instead of "Help" if they are in a bad situation....screaming help can easily be misunderstood in a haunt and can very easily turn into a bad situation if no help is given

keep those actors safe!

Jackie
Rotting Flesh Radio Haunt Hottie

[Badger]

I've seen everything from people jumping the fence to get in, to blindsiding the actors, to knife fights in the park. We use uniformed Police from two states (park straddles the NC/SC border), plus an in-house park security force, PLUS a company that provides bodies that watch everyone.

With over 150,000 though the gate last year, we had a few arrests but NEVER be unprepared for the unexpected. Think of the worst security problem you can imagine and then double it.

I saw a knife fight in 2005 between gang members that escalated into a melee with a dozen people arrested and taken out. All I could do was stand clear as the actors are told repeatedly do NOT get involved. That's why we have security. I was only hit once last year by a drunk woman who laughingly said didn't know that it wasn't permitted. She and her group weren't laughing when I had her thrown out.

Over the years I've been hit with water bottles, basketballs, coins, rocks, purses, and just about anything else you can think of. There's almost never a night where one of the females gets groped or felt up. Last year we had a girl shine a laser pointer in an actor's eyes and it caused damage. As I was told a long time ago "Never underestimate the stupidity of people in large groups."

[Allen H]

Wow Badger, you have crap for customers! We have about 1/2 as many customers through our gates than you but no where near the security problems. We used to have more issues but we have worked very hard to change the atmosphere to breed different emotions. I would really like to see your grounds and see what kind of fung shway (spelled that way on purpose) you have going on to get those reactions. In your opinion does your staff have an attitude issue? Ours used to but they are all getting much better.
I think that the staff of a haunted house is responsible for 75% of security issues. Better patron reading skills, knowing how to come off as scary and not an assh*le is a fine line.
Allen H
P.S. how on earth were you hit by a basketball? did someone let him in the park with it?

[Allen H]

Nate,
to answer your question I would definitely check out their ability to find a cell phone in the maze, that will be one of the main things they do all evening. I will list a few of the doozies involved but they SHOULD NOT be regular occurrences.
* Actor gets punched
* Actor gets groped
* guest gets groped
* guest gets assaulted
* coulpe making out...or....you know.
* Possum attacking guests in the show (yeah it happened)
* Lost child/lost parent
* hyperventilation
* accident in parking lot
* car stolen from parking lot
* Power failure during show (and resulting issues)
* Fire marshall wants to shut you down

Allen H

[Badger]

Allen,

The issue is that this is a 100-acre theme park, complete with roller coasters and all the rides in addition to all the haunts. Last year the powers-that-be decided to offer unlimited free admission to the Halloween event if they bought season passes.

They sold 200,000 season passes and every one of them had free and unlimited access to the park. Unfortunately, we can't undo that policy now that the barn door is open. They're offering it again. Season-ticket holders tend to have that holier-than-thou attitude and expect special treatment or think they can get away with more.

I think the problem is that there is SO much to do here that parents drop their kids off for a few hours and let them run around. If you've ever been to a large amusement park you tend to see the lowest common denominator of human society hanging out there. They also sell alcohol in the park (which I don't like) which only adds to the problem.

But don't get me wrong. We do take care of issues quickly and safely. The problems I mentioned are the exception to the rule. We have great staff and actors and I will continue to work there as long as they keep asking me back.

Ironically, we rarely have problems that a lot of other haunt owners talk about. We don't seem to have problems with makeout sessions (or other). I would guess that 90% of our problems involve pushing or messing with actors. Most of those are reactions to scares. In 8 years, I've never been flashed, propositioned, or had my butt grabbed...

[Badger]

And here is a link to the park:

www.carowinds.com

And the haunt:

www.scarowinds.com

Maps are available there...

[xxxdirk]

LOL Possum attacking? That is too funny, just when you think you have everything covered a freaking possum gets pissed off!

[Allen H]

Badger,
I used to work for Universal studios halloween horror nights and the park Im director of now both sell alcohol. It adds to the issues for sure I suppose the statement that got to me most was
"There's almost never a night where one of the females gets groped or felt up." If that were true for me I would shut my show down. It is not worth it. The Texas crowd is rowdy, but we only get one attempted groping every three years or so. Now I do get my butt grabbed a couple times a year, but I am a stilt walker and I find that is a bit more common for stiltwalkers.
Allen H

[Twin Locusts]

And here is a link to the park:

www.carowinds.com

And the haunt:

www.scarowinds.com

Maps are available there...

I went to Carowinds in what must have been the late eighties, could have been, early nineties. All I remember was a white wooden roller coaster and a literal campaign of anti-Duran Duran grafitti. You couldn't go ten paces without seeing profane duran duran slogans.

I'm sure it's a great place this was just what stuck in my head all these years.

To offer any insight into the question posted. When I worked haunts in college the major issue was, as mentioned earlier, kids trying to steal set dressing. I firmly believe keeping groups at five, max six, prevents most issues.

[Dr. Giggles]

Make sure all the actors are in screaming distance of security or another actor. I know it sounds stupid but i have been in an occasion where a knife was involved. Lucky i am a fast runner. There was NO ONE in shouting distance, I was really dissapointed. I had to run to the next room and warn them then i sprinted to the front of the maze and called for security. The problem was they were watching the Q line, and the concession counter. Not doing their jobs, make sure they patrol or something. Luckily no one was hurt and the man was dealt with.

[BruiseMuse]

We have panic buttons installed in every room, so if there is any issue the actor simply presses the button and the security system display which room has the issue.

This has helped with attempted vandalism, rowdy drunks, etc.