Getting Back Into It, Need Help!

[Fear by the Falls]

Hi all,

My name is Dan and I live near Buffalo, NY. Back in high school I was involved with a haunted house fundraiser called Creepy Camp (03 and 04) and then I made my own haunted house in my garage, and then in a 2,500 square foot maintenance garage at my church (05 and 06). The latter was extremely successful and we had over 700 patrons go through during the course of 2 nights and made over $3,000 in gross revenue.

While it could never have been accomplished without the help of 40 volunteers during the nights of operation, I nearly single handedly designed and constructed the haunt.

Well, a couple years later here I am. I'd really like to get back into it. While in 2006 I had space pretty much handed over to me, I'm at a loss as to what to do.

I have come up with two options.

1.) I associate myself with a particular organization, and either use their space or use THEIR name to help me find space. All proceeds go to that organization.

2.) I create my own business and rent out space. I was thinking the Niagara Falls area because it lacks any major haunted attraction. I go to school at Niagara University so it wouldn't be too far of a commute. I could start a production company of sorts and then approach a Development Company (Benderson in particular) with my plan to to build this haunt to raise money, and then keep, say 25% of profits for future development, and donate the remaining 75% in form of a check to various charities and outreach programs.


I was hoping some more experienced haunters, or business people for that matte, would be able to point me in the right direction as to what is feasible and what isn't. I'm still a college student and I'm 20 years old, and I don't know if that would effect my ability to rent space. Maybe it could be donated?

I'd appreciate any thoughts!

[farnsworth]

Option number two is a long term goal, starting a company and making it profitable can takes a couple years at best. It's a great idea, but it takes a lot of commitment and a lot of hours that you may not have while still in school.

Option one is great for starting out, you can use their resources and their manpower to help you build a good haunted attraction. Look into a non-profit organization like the Jaycees, Kiwanis, maybe even the American Legion(and others that I can't think of). The down-side is you usually have to be a member and any dues each year to belong to those clubs, and there's a political side to dealing with any bigger organization.


Personally, I'd say join an organization first, while you're still in school(and take some business classes too), and while you're getting their Haunted House up and running, make contacts with anyone who is willing to go into the production business, and work your way into making your own professional haunt.

It's the long route, but that's how I'd do it...

[DarkTikiEntertainment]

This is another good example of a thread that could be in the "Aspiring Pros" section that I'm trying to get Haunt World to add to the forums.

[freak 'n' stein]

This is another good example of a thread that could be in the "Aspiring Pros" section that I'm trying to get Haunt World to add to the forums.

That's a great idea for a section because I agree, when new people join they tend to ask questions that have already been answered 100's of times over...which I am just as guilty of doing.