Any Houses near you get "competitive"?

[farnsworth]

I say "competitive" in a negative way. I've always been one to help promote all things Haunted and Halloween, even going so far as to give directions to other Houses to our patrons who ask. But this year, I was disappointed to hear that another non-profit House was telling people "If you want fake, go to ___". They've included us in their slander a few times(lol, "slander".. We're all "Fake", but you know what I mean"

Now, our Core team is livid. One of them wants to write to the Club that puts on the Haunted House and let them know what a shitty thing their House has been doing to other houses.. I'm of the opinion that we should talk to them and see why they're doing things like that.

Any opinions/thoughts?

[Gman035t]

I am a firm believer of promoting yourself, but not by trashing others. That is something you learn early in organized sports. Cheer for your team, but do not trash the other team. In my opinion it makes you look weak.

Edit: After a certain point you have to decide though, if they want to play hard ball do you return fire?

[Jim Warfield]

"Please,please, help us, give us ideas!"

I was really too busy to do this , BUT, I did anyway, spending maybe 3 very valuable hours of my October advising a JC chapter about things they needed to know concerning putting on some nocturnal entertainmnet.
Then people were telling me THEY were telling customers not to waste their time coming to see my house because:"It's just a "walk-Through" for little old ladies!"
...revenge is So Sweet!
After their season ended (mine never does) the guy saying this crap, the JC President, came here for a tour of my "Walk Through".
I set up his friend to be able to scare him with all the lights on and bright sunshine pouring through the window.
This man was maybe 6ft.2 and a very stocky build, he jumped SO HIGH! And so quickly that it amazed me!
He jumped and spun around like a ballerina in mid-air, landed on his feet and ran another 8 feet, all in the blink of an eye!
"How did you enjoy your "walk"?
The JC Pres. returned so he could do the same thing to a friend of his a week later.

After all of my advice, I was told the scariest part of their show was the werewolf wrestling with customers in the graveyard! Of course the werewolf didnot always "win" that match and some physical abuse was evidence of that! (Black eyes, loose teeth)
Why did I bother?

[freak 'n' stein]

I wouldn't say "competitive"

Last night was our first night open and another local haunt came out to visit us. I believe we put on a fairly good show for the first night and our turn out was greater than last years. Our show has a lot of "mini-shows" throughout so they tried to give us a hard time by not going along with many of the volunteer aspects of the rooms, but we told them it was on when we visit them!!! PAYBACK IS A B*TCH!!!

[HauntedMemphis]

I'm fortunately to have found exactly the opposite in the Memphis area. Although everyone pretty much does their own thing, every haunt owner or haunt staff member I've talked to has been great to deal with. The only negatives I've heard about anyone at all is a couple of people who used to work with a certain haunt and had bad experiences from that side. That isn't used to badmouth the haunt to customers however.

[Front Yard Fright]

We do and we don't even run a commercial 'pro' haunt yet. This season we've had threatening phone calls, we've had the city called on us, and it just hasn't been much fun this year.

And I totally agree with the statement 'Cheer for your team, but do not trash the other team. In my opinion it makes you look weak.' because that's exactly the case.

Some people just need to grow up...

[xxxdirk]

Most haunts around me have a friendly relationship, however there is one that I must be making nervous because they keep doing real kiddish things and some of their actors do their best to slam us whereever they can.....

[Boni]

I would talk to the person face to face about it. Explain that there are plenty of dollars out there to be had. Competition in marketing, set design, scare factor, etc are all fine, but no bad mouthing.

I would also verify that the person really said what was relayed back to you. That person might have gone to your haunt and then said to a volunteer at his haunt "They are not as scary as ours" then after a few rounds though the rumor mill you hears that he said "There haunt sucks".

So don't get all upset until you talk to the person.

[WelchWitch]

Competitive

For the most part we all do our own thing and not trash anyone. Each person has their own likes and dislikes, so what I may like someone else may not. We figure as mature adults that it is a large enough sandbox and we all can fit in it, but there is one person who thinks they are the Queen Mary and trashes others and tries to control the information because they think they are the one of authority. The funny thing is, they aren't, everyone thinks they are a joke and they have no clout what so ever in industry. No one will say anything to them because we would rather watch them spin in a circle chasing their tail. I agree, Karma is a Bi*t*h. They will get what they give. Money can't buy respect. The difference is like the saying that you can take the person out of the trailer park, but not the trailer park out of the person. With the money and clout the only thing that seperate them we say is that they are in a double wide trailer.

[Jim Warfield]

Gettin That "Leg Up!"

Someone has more (money, diplomas, brains, good Luck) than you feel you have ...so to get a "Leg Up" on them ..what happens?
Muddy the waters? Baffle them with bullchitt? Cry like an injured animal?
Gotta get that Attention somehow..no matter what?
Unfortunately for the trully ambitious and gifted sometimes the real noticable rewards will fall to the one playing the leg up game and not because of their own good energys.
The haunting field is not unique in this unpleasant description, it's everywhere, it's human nature.

[Motograter]

There are 4 other haunts all within 10 miles from us and we all pretty much get along. We do haunt flier exchanges at our ticket booths etc.

[monsterwax]

The folks we compete with are in Orlando, that being Universal's "Halloween Horror Nights". They are a big corporate entity, so they have every advantage. Still, I don't mean them any harm, but I tell folks the honest truth about them. I say, "they have better make up, and they have better props, but we're MUCH scarier, and here's why: they put everyone through in a continuous line and it telegraphs exactly what's going to happen ahead of you in the line. You see and hear every surprise. But we break them up in small groups, and you never know what's in store for you. People leave our haunt with their hearts pounding and lungs panting, just stand by the exit and see." And so far, every single person I've asked who has been to both haunts agrees.

Our customers also benefit from the lower cost of 1/7th the ticket price, and no travel or hotel required. So we're hoping the recession will actually help us this year. Folks can get better thrills for a fraction of the price. They do have more haunts at Universal, but ours is four to five times bigger, all in one long walk through. It gives the patrons less time to recuperate between scares!

[John Coen]

I have a "personal psycho" who tries to tear down anything I do. I tried again and again to be friends with him, and invite him to come and see my haunt while we're building it, and offer to cross promote our haunts and in return he sicked the fire marshall on me, made threatening calls/ e-mails, lied about his own haunt, told other haunts that I was trying to shut them down, etc..

He reads this forum too, so he knows who he is. "Hi personal psycho!"

[monsterwax]

It is a shame when two people who share the same interest in something that very few people know about or care about, chose to become enemies instead of allies. It's almost like those marriages where two people raised the same kid, got divorced, and now can't stand to talk to each other. They are the only two people who really know or care about their collective experience raising that child, but they cannot share or enjoy those memories because they are too angry at the only other person who really cares about it.

[The Nightmare Factory]

We have for the most part a freindly relattionship with most of the haunts in Oregon, there are a few that are too far from us to know them, but we all get along for the most part.

Why trash talk eah other, that only speaks poorly about your event.