Nuts and Volts - September 2014

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.