Do you do any “soft” scares? Is there scope in the scenes to do that type of scare?
To elaborate: While I’ve never worked in a haunted attraction, I’ve done a fair number of scares in live-action games, and I’ve often found the best scares come from letting people get comfortable, then doing something subtle that draws attention, so they suddenly realize that someone was there all along, and they didn’t know it. For example, listening in on a conversation in the path to a scene, letting them get through the scene and feel comfortable in the next “safe” section, then whispering a quote from their conversation at them in the dark. No flashing lights, or loud noises, just subverting that sense of safety.
I’m guessing that it would be hard to do in most haunted attractions, unless they had space built in specifically for this, but I’m curious as to how effective it would be, if one mixed in with jump scares.
Nope, we’re all jump scares from the minute they’re through the gate. The only “subtlety” is, like I mentioned, listening for their names and then saying their names when I scare them.
Do you ever have to deal with certain people who have the reaction to swing at or strike the thing that caused them to jump? Do you take a more defensive position if you sense someone might lash out at you?
Man, I hate jump scares. I’d never in a million years choose to go to a haunted house attraction (I don’t believe in ghosts, so an actual house that’s supposedly haunted would be fine).
When my older kid was in third grade, I helped chaperone a trip to a corn maze/pumpkin festival type place that had definitely not been advertised as a Halloween attraction. I was shepherding my group through the maze when a guy dressed as a mildly scary scarecrow jumped out in front of us. They didn’t end up ejecting our whole group, but I did have to go sit in the barn after I apologized. I didn’t hurt him, but I would guess he got as much of a scare as I did. And after that, the teacher knew for sure she could rely on me to protect the kids in my care!
Me too. You should avoid Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. They have shows or attractions, but as you walk from one to the next, costumed people jump out at you. I felt bad for the actors, so I would pretend to be frightened and run a few steps so they’d feel they’d done their jobs and could go harass the next person. By the end of the night it was beyond tedious.
No offense, @HeyHomie, I know a lot of people dig it.
It never happened to me, although I did have a few come close - like rearing back their fists as if they were going to punch. But they all realized immediately that they were just going with their gut reaction, and laughed and put their fists down.
It happened last night. I didn’t witness it, but according to the chatter on the walkie-talkies, a girl (a child? a teenager? I don’t know) socked one of our actresses (herself a teenager). Gave her a fat lip. One of our security guys confronted the party and the assailant started sobbing and apologizing and said she just reacted, there was no malice. The injured actress didn’t want it to become a thing so the party went on with a stern warning.
I worked at a haunted house back (Haunted Mansion) in high school. In ours, the guests were separated from the actors by bars or chicken-wire, depending on the room. I’m surprised that guests can actually interact with the actors.
Well. I’ve oft thought about what the people who run my haunt are paying. One of the daughters told me that, for the family, it’s basically a labor of love and they barely break even every season. The family keeps costs down in a variety of ways.
The land was/is dirt cheap, being woods/scrub land in the middle of nowhere in Missouri. I imagine the mortgage is a small part of the operating budget. Further, the land came with a number of abandoned, but still structurally safe, structures (barn, couple of houses, etc.). That cut down on building costs immensely.
They pay a pittance, but we’re all doing it for fun, except for the teenagers, who are doing it for pocket money.
The husband/owner makes all of the props himself, being skilled in mechanics and whatnot.
Everything that Jeff didn’t build himself was scavenged - these people hit up estate sales like it’s going out of style, and they’re not above checking out the junkyard.
There’s no climate control and the entire thing is subjcet to Missouri’s unpredictable autumn weather. But hey, there’s no A/C or heating bill to pay.
Still, I imagine the electric bill is staggering. There’s also the matter that the attraction’s electrical infrastructure is a giant house of cards that’s one day going to crash (image in the tree-lighting scene in A Christmas Story writ large). I imagine if they hired an electrician to professionally wire the place - with buried wires, new equipment, central control, etc. - the bill would be in the low five figures.
There’s also the matter of insurance. I doubt the owners pay any, and the customers are given disclaimers about the uneven ground and whatnot, but I doubt they’d hold up in court. There’s also the matter that, sooner or later, a teenager/child is going to get socked and their parents are going to sue the attraction.
I’ve always wanted to do that but never have enough time. I shoot Urbex, & well, there maaayyy be some props or attire involved sometimes. (that’s me sitting there being ‘checked in on’).
I have a friend who works at one & her toilet was in the show last year.
Over the summer she was having her bathroom remodeled when she got an email that they were looking for a loo for a new scene. Her old toilet went in the dumpster, literally less than an hour before she got the email; luckily, it didn’t break when it was thrown in so she rescued it, put it in her car & drove it to the farm where it was unloaded, to much fanfare (It was a freak of timing, but who just happens to have a toilet sitting around.), & used for whatever the scene was.
