Building a Haunted House: 5 Things I’ve Observed While Being a Visitor

It’s a HUGE dream of my wife and I’s to own and operate a haunted house someday. I’m a lover of all things horror/creepy/Halloween, and this would be the culmination of my fascination. The other day, I went to a local haunted attraction based in a mall. On the drive home, my wife and I discussed a few things we need to keep in mind when we do end up building one:

 1. Remember the ratio of time spent in one room to the number of props. 

Sometimes haunted houses are over too quickly, and that leaves the visitor with a feeling of poor value for the money they paid. The haunt I visited the other day had a classic “meat butcher” room, and the props amazed me. This room was FILLED to the brim with arms and legs and heads and other fun Halloween props. But, we were pushed through the room within a period of about 5 seconds. 

There was hardly any time to admire any of the props. Meanwhile, the haunt was VERY short (although they had a lot of unused space to work with). I realized that they could have taken 1/4^th of the props from the butcher room and hung them from ropes and make you walk through them or something. Spread out all of those props you’ve invested in! People want to see them!

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2. Pick a theme and stick with it.
Something that always pulls me out of the experience of being scared is the organization of rooms within a haunted house. If I exit a meat butchery, enter a witch’s hut, then enter a clown circus room, followed by a mad scientist’s laboratory, the house doesn’t make sense to me. One thing Hell Houses get right is that they tell a story. I’m not saying a haunted attraction needs to be like a theatrical play with dialog and lines, but having some sort of reason for why one scene leads to another immerses the visitor into the world. You can have variety, but still have a theme.

3. Don’t use child actors.

If you have a tiny, non-profit haunt, do whatever the hell you want. However, if I’m paying more than 8 bucks to enter and Spirit Halloween sponsors it, then don’t use children. This haunt I recently walked through had children from 4 to 8 with skull masks. It wasn’t scary. It pulled me out of the experience. I instantly wanted to pretend to be scared to amuse the kids, but that’s not fair to me, the customer. I didn’t come to entertain them. I’m sure the rare child in a small nook that only one could fit in could be scary, but don’t have a bunch of kids in your haunt if you’re trying to take it seriously. Kids don’t know how to act legitimately scary. They’re just cute. 



4. Have line entertainment.
Lines are boring. Why not have a monster or something out there interacting with them? Maybe a few actors within your haunt could take shifts being the line entertainer. This primes the visitors, puts them in the mood to be scared. Also, it increases the cost/value of the experience. Some lines are as long as the haunted attraction itself; make that time well spent. 
 

 5. Don’t be pushy.
Sure, you might need to get a lot of visitors through in a night, but I paid to get in, don’t be so happy to have me out. At this last haunt I went to, each room had someone yelling “GET OUT!” It made us all rush through the already-too-short haunt faster. It might be weird to say this, but I didn’t feel welcome. I felt rushed. The best haunted houses I’ve been to have allowed me a chance to “discover” the secrets of the rooms. For example: entering the dollhouse room, admiring the statue of the dollface girl. I slowly examine the room, and finally get to the statue. It comes to life and scares my pants off. Because I was allowed to take my time and “discover” the dollface by myself, it was actually pretty scary. But if all monsters are just standing there screaming at me to get out, then I’m not being scared. I just feel intrusive.

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