When I first started haunting, the industry had just
graduated from making people put their hands in peeled
grapes for eyeballs and cold spaghetti for brains. Many
attractions were still using guides to show people through
heavy gore and even Satanic experiences. My approach
was more like the Disney Haunted Mansion
Doombuggies that never stop. I developed a low gore,
low theatrics, high startle, high capacity scare forward
design approach that I still use today.
Over the 27 years since, the industry has undergone
massive changes. Charity haunts like those of the March
of Dimes have all but faded away, unable to compete
with for-profit attractions with big construction and
marketing budgets. Ticket prices have increased
dramatically as has the level of scenic quality and
technology utilized in today's attractions.
Innovations like pneumatic animations and controllers
bring scary props to robotic life. New materials like
silicone and foams create more realistic sets and more
lifelike props and masks. Airbrush makeup drastically
increases the quality and speed of
turning staff into frightening live
characters. Low voltage LEDs have
revolutionized attraction lighting and
lowered electrical power
requirements for a haunt.
Each new technology that
comes on the market is quickly
hacked by haunters and turned into
something scary, putting haunted
houses on the cutting edge of
development for theatrical
experiences. The Internet has
become a vast educational treasure
trove of ideas, methods, and videos
sharing everything from scenic
painting techniques to do-it-yourself
animatronics how-to's.
With so much free information,
haunting has risen to a level never
before seen, and that trend will
continue for the foreseeable future.
Attendance to haunted attractions
has continued to increase year after
year for most events, with weather
and the success of the local baseball
team the biggest unknowns to deal
with.
Haunting is a great deal of fun
but it is not a “get rich quick”
Haunters are always looking for the next level of
fright, and the newest trend in haunting are the "Alone"
style haunts where people go though the attraction by
themselves, are verbally abused, physically grabbed, and
asked to do disgusting things to make it through. Not
exactly my style of haunting, it will be interesting to see if
this trend is a fad or a lasting change to the industy, but
this approach is nothing new. It’s just an over-the-top
version of peeled grape eyeballs and spaghetti brains.
NV
Leonard Pickel is owner of Hauntrepreneurs.com — a
themed attraction design and consulting firm — and
HAuNTcon.com — an educational conference for the fright
attraction industry. You can contact him at 972-951-5100
or by email at leonardpickel@gmail.com.
Leonard Pickel Guest Editorial by
September 2014 9