reviews?

[FRIGHTful]

Hello everyone! i'm new to this site and to Denver. After some stumbling around I found this forum off of haunted denver's website. Love it! Does anyone know when the reviews go up, however? My boyfriend and I are desperatly trying to go to a haunted house, but want to go to only the best. are there any other websites for haunted houses in Denver, or Colorado?

[Luv2BScared]

Reviews have been submitted to the webmaster. I'm not sure when they will be posted, that could be directed to them.

[lovestobescared]

Hello everyone! i'm new to this site and to Denver. After some stumbling around I found this forum off of haunted denver's website. Love it! Does anyone know when the reviews go up, however? My boyfriend and I are desperatly trying to go to a haunted house, but want to go to only the best. are there any other websites for haunted houses in Denver, or Colorado?
Scared.com is another site, its a great site!! If i could suggest some houses for u I would say City of the dead, and Twisted Fairytales Haunt, and field of courps. those are the best.

[SChaser783]

Scared.com is another site, its a great site!!

Well, since we're offering sites that haunted houses pay to put on the web as advertisements then I'll throw out getscared.com as they have 3 haunted houses listed on it: The Asylum, Bloodshed and 13th Floor.

[mr-scary]

Scared.com is another site, its a great site!! If i could suggest some houses for u I would say City of the dead, and Twisted Fairytales Haunt, and field of courps. those are the best.

do I have to call you out yet again????

[FRIGHTful]

are there any other review sites out there that anyone knows about? I saw this one:
hauntedratings.com
but it looks kinda of lame...

[lovestobescared]

do I have to call you out yet again????
call me out on what Mr-scary, i cant help out someone asking for info, wow ur so rude.

[Hellraiser15]

are there any other review sites out there that anyone knows about? I saw this one:
hauntedratings.com
but it looks kinda of lame...

Sucks. They always list the starland haunts as the best because starland runs the site. its bull$h!t

[Shadow]

Im happy to be a critic this year but I worked my ass off writing those reviews so they better be posted soon!

[Luv2BScared]

Hello everyone! i'm new to this site and to Denver. After some stumbling around I found this forum off of haunted denver's website. Love it! Does anyone know when the reviews go up, however? My boyfriend and I are desperatly trying to go to a haunted house, but want to go to only the best. are there any other websites for haunted houses in Denver, or Colorado?

How about this since the kids are throwing sand in the sandbox again....go to the HD website and look at reviews for the haunts we reviewed last season to give you an idea. That will give you a place to start as reviews for this season have not posted yet. If you need something more specific, please PM me.

[FRIGHTful]

I cant find the link to past reviews? and the the only critic review for this year is for the 13th Floor. No other reviews are up yet? bummer....

[Luv2BScared]

The review that is up for the 13th Floor is a test review for the webmaster and will be gone once 2009 reviews get posted.

Here is the link for the 2008 reviews and scores:

http://www.haunteddenver.com/reviews/

If you need anything else, give me a shout! :D

[LilSkeerd]

The review that is up for the 13th Floor is a test review for the webmaster and will be gone once 2009 reviews get posted.

Here is the link for the 2008 reviews and scores:

http://www.haunteddenver.com/reviews/

If you need anything else, give me a shout! :D

The problem with using last year's reviews is that they don't include any of the new haunts. It's kind of lame to suggest something that leaves a number of haunts out of the reviews. There is another site out allowing ratings and it doesn't have any paid advertising. spookycolorado.com From what I understand, it is the ONLY site not having haunts pay for advertising on their site.

[Luv2BScared]

No, last year's haunt reviews do not incude new haunts this season. But I also made it clear in my post if anything else was needed to ask me. That way I could provide a more in depth service to the individual that requested it. That would include answering questions about new haunts.

[lovestobescared]

wow, so much hostility...lets all just take a deep breath, and relax..

[Luv2BScared]

I would love to! If everyone would chill out it would be amazing! I do the very best that I can as a critic to provide readers with as much information as I can about haunts. That is why I am a critic, because I love haunted houses and want to share that love with others.
Reviews from last season can give an idea about haunts this season and yes, there are new haunts, which again is why I offered any additional help I could for the new haunts.
People just need to calm down and enjoy the season.

[FRIGHTful]

luv2bscared, thanks for all your help!

I like the Spookycolorado.com website! There's also a forum there too, although it looks relatively new.

That site also brings up some interesting information of google results when you type in "haunted houses, denver, colorado" like I have just done over the past week. I had no idea that a majority of these websites are owned by haunt owners themselves, including this one and haunteddenver.com.

I'm really looking for the best haunt to go to, but how can I trust sites like haunteddenver.com when they're owned by hauntowners themselves? do they all collectivly own it? or just one?

[mr-scary]

it's been stated many times on here so no need to rahash it but owning and being in control of whats on the site are 2 different things but if it helps others sleep at night then conspire away!

[FRIGHTful]

Seems to me if you own the website, you have complete control of what's on it. maybe the reviews are different, there seems to be a lot of different reviewers, but why aren't some haunts being reviewed? do they suck that bad? or does the owner just not want them to be reviewed? and why do I get the disservice of not seeing all reviews for all haunts? is that fair? How hard can it be to just get a complete list of ALL haunts in or around Denver?
p.s. dont yell at me, i'm new here and am just trying to figure out which haunt I want to go to.

[moodeous]

:D Hey Frightful, Lots of us are here and just wanting the same thing. Reviews of haunted houses for the general public to make informed decisions. I've had the good fortune of seeing a lot of haunts this year and I'd recommend any of the following as favorites in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!

Frightmare
City of the Dead
13th Floor
Field of Corpses
Haunted Mines


Have you ever been to any haunted houses in Denver? Do you have a favorite kind of haunt? Some people prefer outdoor haunts, other people really enjoy indoor haunts.

I also tend to like the Asylum a lot, but that's a personal preference. It is really really disorienting with lots of strobe lights and darkness. I like the feeling of not knowing whats coming next! Spider Mansion is a pretty classic haunt in the area too and a lot of people really love it. Good luck!

[Luv2BScared]

Seems to me if you own the website, you have complete control of what's on it. maybe the reviews are different, there seems to be a lot of different reviewers, but why aren't some haunts being reviewed? do they suck that bad? or does the owner just not want them to be reviewed? and why do I get the disservice of not seeing all reviews for all haunts? is that fair? How hard can it be to just get a complete list of ALL haunts in or around Denver?
p.s. dont yell at me, i'm new here and am just trying to figure out which haunt I want to go to.

Let me address this as best I can from a critics' point of view. The critics here at HD have been and always will be an unbiased review team. Speaking for myself and the team, we couldn't care less who owns what haunt and who owns what site. It has NO IMPACT on our reviews whatsoever. We call it as we see it, our reviews are not bought, influenced or otherwise tampered with by ANY haunt owner, period. If the team goes to a haunt that is beyond terrible, we will all say so. If we go to a haunt that is outstanding, we will say so. This team works very hard to get to all of the haunts and get them reviewed. People really have no idea how tough it is to be a critic, so I will say it now. Being a critic is not all fun and games the way one would think. We spend a LOT of hours on the road going from place to place. We pay for our own gas, and wear and tear on our vehicles. We freeze our tails off in lousy weather, go when we're sick and run ourselves ragged to complete the schedule. We take the time to write our reviews, get them edited and to the webmaster for publication. If we were going to be biased, why in the world would we spend the time and money that we do? I could sit at home and make crap up for free if I was just going to 'sell' good reviews to haunt owners. This team is a dedicated group of hardcore enthusiasts that go out and do the reviews so that the public has something to go on when deciding on a haunt to visit.
As far as not listing or seeing every haunt in town on this site, those decisions are not up to the critics' team and we have no control over that. There are haunts that do not wish to be reviewed and there are haunts that supplied information too late in the season to get reviewed. Understand that I make the review schedule in September before opening night so we can get to all of the haunts. Haunt owners have no idea when we are coming, only the team knows, that keeps it fair for everyone. If I do not get information from haunt owners about their attraction in time, they may not be worked into the schedule. That is an unfortunate part that we have to deal with. I cannot, and will not ask the team to drop everything at the last minute to run out and do a haunt that didn't submit early enough. We have lives, jobs, families and friends that we put on hold to do this. We set a certain amount of time aside for that every year. If we don't have complete or accurate information from haunt owners, that can affect the number we can review.
As far as a complete list of all haunts, speaking directly about HD, haunt owners are responsible for listing their haunt. It is a simple registration and listing process.
And no, I am not yelling at you. Not at all. I am just firmly stating my position and the position of the critics' team as every year we find ourselves being called biased and have to defend what we do. If anyone really had any idea how hard we work and what we sacrifice to do this, they would bite their tongue and wash their mouth out with lye.
Sorry if I sound harsh, I'm just frustrated with the issue of bias and really truly am fed up with the whole thing.
Again, if there is something I can help you with in making a decision about a haunt to see, please let me know!
The haunts Moodeous listed are a great place to start! :D

[Shadow]

I am a critic this year and im very blessed to have this job because Luv2 had to pull lots of strings to get me on and I seriously had no idea how hard it would be. You do not have any idea. Basically the haunts that do not request to be reviewed probably are not very good. I know that some of the things may not make sense right now but you just need to be in our perspectives and it would make tons of sense.

[Luv2BScared]

Thanks Shadow!! It's true, every word of it . I won't tolerate an attack on this team that works so hard. We are every bit of what I said and more and I just won't put up with it. :mad:

[SChaser783]

luv2bscared, thanks for all your help!

I like the Spookycolorado.com website! There's also a forum there too, although it looks relatively new.

That site also brings up some interesting information of google results when you type in "haunted houses, denver, colorado" like I have just done over the past week. I had no idea that a majority of these websites are owned by haunt owners themselves, including this one and haunteddenver.com.


Hmm, and who can vouch for this website?

[Rev. Noch]

Thanks Luv2. You took the words right out of my mouth.

[Luv2BScared]

If that's the case Rev, you should be speechless!! I'm not trying to be a hag, I'm just tired of the drama and BS that the team puts up with.

[VickiDanger]

Where the crap are the reviews? It's now 3 days until Halloween...all I have to say is wow. All the time and effort that it took to make the reviews is sure getting it's fullest use!

[Luv2BScared]

I was wondering myself....

[moodeous]

I didn't write fifteen 500 word reviews, give up multiple weekend nights with my boyfriend and drive over 300 miles for no one to get any use out of it... or did I?

[Hellraiser15]

Im prepared to take a virtual sh!t storm for this but here it goes, Maybe the new owners of Haunetd denver dont have the time to run 3 haunts and 6 websites. I feel like this place has slowly been slipping since it changed hands. The reviews dont get posted in time, some haunts arent even listed anymore. Sometimes it just feels like we're slowly slipping into another biased website that doesnt really represent the denver haunt scene. plus, these boards have been SO FREAKIN ANGRY this year. I stopped posting as much as i have in past years because everyone was flipping out sooooo bad. A little criticism here and there is good, but when we all flip out on someone for a little thing like we have this year, its just not cool, and doesnt represent the boards I've loved for 3 or 4 years now. I've had one of the best seasons of my life being an actor this year, and cant believe how much fun ive had. But apparentley people on here cant just relax and think twice before they jump on someone for their opionions. Something should be done about HD and the OL, and no offense to Chris S. and his team because they do a great job every year, but maybe HD and the OL just arent their bag. Site failures possiblydue to topics, Hatred being thrown at most the new people, and a 13 year old critic. I dont know what happened to this place.

[lovestobescared]

Im prepared to take a virtual sh!t storm for this but here it goes, Maybe the new owners of Haunetd denver dont have the time to run 3 haunts and 6 websites. I feel like this place has slowly been slipping since it changed hands. The reviews dont get posted in time, some haunts arent even listed anymore. Sometimes it just feels like we're slowly slipping into another biased website that doesnt really represent the denver haunt scene. plus, these boards have been SO FREAKIN ANGRY this year. I stopped posting as much as i have in past years because everyone was flipping out sooooo bad. A little criticism here and there is good, but when we all flip out on someone for a little thing like we have this year, its just not cool, and doesnt represent the boards I've loved for 3 or 4 years now. I've had one of the best seasons of my life being an actor this year, and cant believe how much fun ive had. But apparentley people on here cant just relax and think twice before they jump on someone for their opionions. Something should be done about HD and the OL, and no offense to Chris S. and his team because they do a great job every year, but maybe HD and the OL just arent their bag. Site failures possiblydue to topics, Hatred being thrown at most the new people, and a 13 year old critic. I dont know what happened to this place.
AMEN hellraiser!! I come to this site every yr, to see what people have said about the haunts in my area, and this yr if anyone posts anything, 1 word negitive you get attacked. HD used to be awesome, and yeah i can see how there turning biased. maybe the new owners should focus on there haunts and let someone else focus on the reviews!

[Shade]

A few observations here. Everyone is on edge this year for a variety of reasons.

First off, economic situations being what they are, some haunts are in make-it-or-break-it positions this year. They're having to focus solely on their bottom line, and I think we see that reflected in their shows. They have to take care of business this year to make sure they're able to return for another show next year. We're all hopeful that every haunt will be able to improve next year. They want it, we want it, let's hope it happens.

Second, rivalry between haunts that have historically had bad blood with each other seems to have reached an all-time high this year. Whatever is going down between the various haunt owners involved, I imagine it's going to take months to be resolved. Right now they're all delaying the inevitable because they need to make it through their season first. But that drama, which the rest of us are lucky to not be a part of, is going to take a while to play out.

Third, that negativity between haunt owners gets translated inadvertently to haunt employees who, rather than rooting for their hometeam as in years past, have been swept into some of the drama and are now as upset at other haunts as they are excited about their own.

Fourth, the other haunts who aren't in the middle of that drama are even feeling the weight of it. They're trying to stay out of it, but I personally know at least a few of them who worry about what that conflict is doing their industry, and how that affects even the local haunts who have nothing to do with the disputes.

Last, there's an obvious tension going on between the haunted house critics and whomever is responsible for getting their reviews posted. No one likes to volunteer hours and hours of time, only to feel like it may have been for nothing.

It's a tough year. I'm glad that despite it all, there are some excellent haunts in town this year, and I'm hopeful that the best years of haunted houses in Denver are yet to come.

The good news admist the chaos is that, unlike any other town I've seen, Denver seems to have a very unique community of haunted house fans. We weigh in with our opinions, we want our haunts to be worth the money, and we connect with each other regardless of what BS might be going on.

We are the Denver haunted house community. We neither depend on, nor answer to, any haunt, any person or any website. And I predict that in 2010, we as a community of haunt enthusiasts will start to pull together as a result of this year's craziness.

I, for one, can't wait.

[Hellraiser15]

The good news admist the chaos is that, unlike any other town I've seen, Denver seems to have a very unique community of haunted house fans. We weigh in with our opinions, we want our haunts to be worth the money, and we connect with each other regardless of what BS might be going on.

We are the Denver haunted house community. We neither depend on, nor answer to, any haunt, any person or any website. And I predict that in 2010, we as a community of haunt enthusiasts will start to pull together as a result of this year's craziness.

I, for one, can't wait.

Damn Straight

[Luv2BScared]

Well said.

[Luv2BScared]

And the 13 year old critic was an addition to the team in order to get a better perspective of how all age groups view haunted houses. If reviews get posted up, you will see that he writes very well and has a good eye when it comes to haunts. Please, let's not rail on him, he's done nothing wrong here.

[mr-scary]

and a 13 year old critic. I dont know what happened to this place.

i have a 13 year old son who frequents haunts, i have seen a ton of pay customers at huants around this age...why not get their prospective?

[SChaser783]

Im prepared to take a virtual sh!t storm for this but here it goes, Maybe the new owners of Haunetd denver dont have the time to run 3 haunts and 6 websites. I feel like this place has slowly been slipping since it changed hands.

Whose hands would you like it to be in? As a business owner, when the original owner sold out of Haunted Denver, would you rather buy it yourself or let some other haunted house buy it? Sure you end up looking like the bad guy, but whoever bought it was bound to look biased and take the heat. Personally I'd rather deal with that then to have some really slanted competitor takeover and have their brother and Uncle Bob out there reviewing. At the very least, the critic team is completely independent and have no ties to any one haunted house. Would that have been the same if Haunted Ratings had purchased Haunted Denver instead?

[lovestobescared]

Whose hands would you like it to be in? As a business owner, when the original owner sold out of Haunted Denver, would you rather buy it yourself or let some other haunted house buy it? Sure you end up looking like the bad guy, but whoever bought it was bound to look biased and take the heat. Personally I'd rather deal with that then to have some really slanted competitor takeover and have their brother and Uncle Bob out there reviewing. At the very least, the critic team is completely independent and have no ties to any one haunted house. Would that have been the same if Haunted Ratings had purchased Haunted Denver instead?
yeah they own 3 not just one house. its not fair... they didnt even go to all the houses to review them. Bias bias bias!!

[Luv2BScared]

i have a 13 year old son who frequents haunts, i have seen a ton of pay customers at huants around this age...why not get their prospective?

And we were polling kids in the same age group at the haunts and interestingly enough, their opinions are VERY close to those of the team. We were actually surprised when asking them what scares them, what makes a haunt good to them, etc...
Having a now 14 year old on the team has been very enlightening and informative. He has been a great asset to our team this year!

[Luv2BScared]

yeah they own 3 not just one house. its not fair... they didnt even go to all the houses to review them. Bias bias bias!!

I addressed this in another thread, so I will try not to be too repetitive or long winded.
There were haunts that did not wish to be reviewed. That was their choice, not the critics' team. We cannot control what haunt owners do and if they refuse, the most we could possibly do is list a haunt with a disclaimer stating that they chose not to participate in reviews.
Some haunts did not submit their information in time to be reviewed. We did the best we could to work all of the last minute submissions in, but sometimes that is just not possible. Haunt owners know, I would think, at least a month in advance that they are doing a haunt. I put together the review schedule a month in advance based on the submissions received from owners. I do allow for bad weather days, which we needed this year and for late submissions. Some submissions however, were too late to squeeze in. If every owner had all of their info in in a timely mannor, they would be on the schedule, bad weather or not.
That may seem unfair, but owners have to understand they are not the only busy ones during the season and if they want to be reviewed, we need their info on time. It's not bias on the part of the review team, it's a matter of time and what we have been given by owners.

[SChaser783]

yeah they own 3 not just one house. its not fair... they didnt even go to all the houses to review them. Bias bias bias!!

http://apleasingfiveness.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/wambulance_logo.jpg

[Luv2BScared]

Whose hands would you like it to be in? As a business owner, when the original owner sold out of Haunted Denver, would you rather buy it yourself or let some other haunted house buy it? Sure you end up looking like the bad guy, but whoever bought it was bound to look biased and take the heat. Personally I'd rather deal with that then to have some really slanted competitor takeover and have their brother and Uncle Bob out there reviewing. At the very least, the critic team is completely independent and have no ties to any one haunted house. Would that have been the same if Haunted Ratings had purchased Haunted Denver instead?

This has been a sticking point for 3 seasons now, since the change of ownership.
Ideally, a site like this would be completely independant, having no ties to any owner whatsoever. But, this is the real world and it just doesn't happen that way. HD has gone through many changes, some for the better, some not. They are growing pains that would be expected to some degree whether owned by a haunt owner or an independant. Some changes I have liked and others I didn't. If we were all 100% happy with everything in our lives, then what? We all have different opinions and views and EVERY haunt owner is SURE that their attraction is the best in town. Think I'm wrong? go look at any haunt site and see if they don't dub themselves, scariest, #1, etc...
Everyone wants to be number one...who doesn't? That's part of what makes this a great town to live in if you love haunts. There is so much competition and diversity, all owners strive for the best show in town. Some budgets are larger than others, but good old fashioned scare tactics still work and are appreciated. There are so many choices and so many styles, no 2 haunts are the same.
There is a long history of spats between haunt owners here in Denver, we all know that. Some is ridiculous and some is legitimate. There will never be a true winner in any of these spats as the only purpose it serves is to make those involved lose credibility and professionalism.
Society as a whole, and I am not saying anyone here, just people in general, chose sides when there is conflict. The lines get drawn and everyone choses a side. Some sides are chosen without knowing all of the facts and then we have even more spin on an already out of control situation. I am pleased that the critics' team has manged to stay out of all of this.
As haunt owners, it would be wonderful if all of you could appreciate one anothers' work, acknowledge your own shortcomings, be humble and stop all of the crap.
Having grown up here and having gone to every haunt, every year since I was a kid has really revealed a lot of things about the industry. Once, there was a time that I could go to a haunt and come out, half scared, half excited and the owner would ask me what I thought. After giving my opinion, the owner would say something like, "Well, if you liked my haunt, I bet you would like _______". The owners would actually refer visitors to other haunts that were competitors!! Why? A. It's good sportsmanship B. It would get the same reciprocated on the other end, driving more business for both haunts.
I'm climbing down off my soapbox now, but if this were football, there would be no teams left. Everyone with the exception of a few would be disqualified and banned from playing again. Those in the mix of the drama know who they are and should really consider stopping all of it for the sake of the industry. Really, the only thing that comes out of all the fighting between owners are unhappy disgruntled employees and unhappy disgruntled customers. The anger and frustration that gets generated by those involved gets projected onto everyone else around them. It makes for bad business. No matter how hard everyone tries to conceal it, it's there and everyone feels it.

My final note is to say thank you to all of the owners who chose not to particiapte in the drama. Your absence in the chaos is very much appreciated!! :D

[SChaser783]

First off, economic situations being what they are, some haunts are in make-it-or-break-it positions this year. They're having to focus solely on their bottom line, and I think we see that reflected in their shows. They have to take care of business this year to make sure they're able to return for another show next year. We're all hopeful that every haunt will be able to improve next year. They want it, we want it, let's hope it happens.

Second, rivalry between haunts that have historically had bad blood with each other seems to have reached an all-time high this year. Whatever is going down between the various haunt owners involved, I imagine it's going to take months to be resolved. Right now they're all delaying the inevitable because they need to make it through their season first. But that drama, which the rest of us are lucky to not be a part of, is going to take a while to play out.


Well said, and both probably go hand in hand. Several new attractions opened this year while at the same time there are either less people going to haunted houses or they are choosing to go to only 1 instead of several. I'd expect to see everyone much calmer next year as things look up.

[lovestobescared]

wow what did i do to get all this crap talk to. i thought this site was for ppl to have there opinons oh this stuff. not get attacked. wow so just lost this. im done, this site sucks!!!

[SChaser783]

Having grown up here and having gone to every haunt, every year since I was a kid has really revealed a lot of things about the industry. Once, there was a time that I could go to a haunt and come out, half scared, half excited and the owner would ask me what I thought. After giving my opinion, the owner would say something like, "Well, if you liked my haunt, I bet you would like _______". The owners would actually refer visitors to other haunts that were competitors!! Why? A. It's good sportsmanship B. It would get the same reciprocated on the other end, driving more business for both haunts.

I think this still happens. I know that I have recommended other haunts (that are outside of the ones that we run) to people who have just gone through or who maybe got there after we have closed and are looking for someone open later. I'd like to hope that others are doing the same as well.

[mr-scary]

wow what did i do to get all this crap talk to. i thought this site was for ppl to have there opinons oh this stuff. not get attacked. wow so just lost this. im done, this site sucks!!!


:confused: you know why

[mr-scary]

I think this still happens. I know that I have recommended other haunts (that are outside of the ones that we run) to people who have just gone through or who maybe got there after we have closed and are looking for someone open later. I'd like to hope that others are doing the same as well.


I have as well....even to the one loves2b is affiliated with but thats besides the point, i guess im just talking out my ass.

[lovestobescared]

I have as well....even to the one loves2b is affiliated with but thats besides the point, i guess im just talking out my ass.
you nave not recommended the haunt i so call work for. so yeah ur talking out ur butt!

[mr-scary]

you nave not recommended the haunt i so call work for. so yeah ur talking out ur butt!


umm I actually have since it closes after us on a specific night and our box office was closed but hey, keep thinking that!

[lovestobescared]

then tell me who i "work" for..

[Luv2BScared]

I think this still happens. I know that I have recommended other haunts (that are outside of the ones that we run) to people who have just gone through or who maybe got there after we have closed and are looking for someone open later. I'd like to hope that others are doing the same as well.

I'm glad to hear that! I really am. You may be the exception and not the rule though. I miss the old days...the spirit of friendly competition needs to be revived.
Why not offer a 2 for 1 deal that is for your haunt and a competitors' haunt?? Good strategy for both if you ask me. I'm not pointing out you in particular, just suggesting in general.

[Hellraiser15]

Outside of where i work, I will tell my friends and people at school to go to other haunts besides my own. I think it happens more than you might think.

[lovestobescared]

i do it to, i support my fellow haunts/ haunters. i dont support the ones that i have a bad past with.

[Hellraiser15]

Whose hands would you like it to be in? As a business owner, when the original owner sold out of Haunted Denver, would you rather buy it yourself or let some other haunted house buy it? Sure you end up looking like the bad guy, but whoever bought it was bound to look biased and take the heat. Personally I'd rather deal with that then to have some really slanted competitor takeover and have their brother and Uncle Bob out there reviewing. At the very least, the critic team is completely independent and have no ties to any one haunted house. Would that have been the same if Haunted Ratings had purchased Haunted Denver instead?

Of course your going to argue with me on this because your, if my memory serves me right, one of the main guys with sceamwork,(or the people that own this site) Im just saying mabeyou guys dont have time to run sooooooooo much stuff. I like your haunts, i think you guys do some great things to the Denver haunt scene, but im just saying 3 haunts and 6 websites may take a little more time to run then u guys properly have. Thus the reason why reviews have yet to be posted.

[Luv2BScared]

Outside of where i work, I will tell my friends and people at school to go to other haunts besides my own. I think it happens more than you might think.

I wish it did. I go to nearly every haunt in town at least twice every season. I have actually asked haunt staff what other haunts are good in the area and have been told that they are the best and nothing else is really worth my time or money. Obviously, I know the haunts in town, I ask just to see what they will say. Once and once only have I been given a referral to another haunt.
Keep referring and make sure to tell the customer that you, from your haunt, sent them. Create that atmosphere and maybe it will catch on everywhere.


i do it to, i support my fellow haunts/ haunters. i dont support the ones that i have a bad past with.

Thanks for bringing that up loves...there is that line in the sand that I was talking about. People choose sides and decide who to keep in their circle and who to kick out. Why not let bygones, be just that...gone? I would love to get every haunt owner in one room and have them hash it all out in an open forum once and for all. Stop all of the secrets and backstabbing and just get on with the business of scaring people.
I'm not jumping on you loves, just pointing out how all of this animosity gets fueled, that's all.
I'm glad you refer customers to competitors. Keep it going and encourage your crew to do the same. Even the 'bad past' haunts. If they have a good show, send them and make sure they know it was you sending them business!


Of course your going to argue with me on this because your, if my memory serves me right, one of the main guys with sceamwork,(or the people that own this site) Im just saying mabeyou guys dont have time to run sooooooooo much stuff. I like your haunts, i think you guys do some great things to the Denver haunt scene, but im just saying 3 haunts and 6 websites may take a little more time to run then u guys properly have. Thus the reason why reviews have yet to be posted.

Good perspective and point. Growing pains are being felt here, there is no question about that. I have to ask the same question...has it grown so much, so quickly that there is no longer enough hours in the day to get it all done? It would appear so with the lack of reviews 3 days before Halloween. This may be the abundance of work that the webmaster himself has and not an HD issue, but I am not sure. In any event, the team is anxious and becoming frustrated as it was a lot of work, time and money to get them done and submitted. If they are not posted, it will be very disappointing to say the least.

[Hellraiser15]

I support the critics, not so sure i support HD anymore. I know how hard u folks work. I LOVE your reviews. I read them fully as soon as they some out and then what u do is great. but the fact they have yet to be posted raises many questions. btw, i checked out spooky colorado. its not a bad site. and Luv2B, an old friend of ours is on their forums.

[lovestobescared]

sorry. didnt mean to play in the sand box again. DAMN child in my head!!

[Luv2BScared]

I support the critics, not so sure i support HD anymore. I know how hard u folks work. I LOVE your reviews. I read them fully as soon as they some out and then what u do is great. but the fact they have yet to be posted raises many questions. btw, i checked out spooky colorado. its not a bad site. and Luv2B, an old friend of ours is on their forums.

Thanks Hellraiser! We bust our butts for the readers...glad to know somebody actually reads them!!
Maybe I'll scoot by and find out who's there...


sorry. didnt mean to play in the sand box again. DAMN child in my head!!

Oh no, you misunderstood me loves...your post got me thinking just how easy it is for us as human beings in general to chose sides and maybe not even realize it. Does that make sense?

[Hellraiser15]

lets just say, when u look for her, dont look up! ;)

[lovestobescared]

lets just say, when u look for her, dont look up! ;)
are u talking about the wonderful. the amazing, welch witch??

[Hellraiser15]

I believe i am!!!

[lovestobescared]

if u r thinking i am her ...wrong im not :)

[Luv2BScared]

Glad to hear she has not gone completely away. Is she wearing underwear yet? I'm going to guess no on that one!!

[Hellraiser15]

I knew u werent her lovestobe! haha and she did mention wearing her Haunted Denver thong.... haha so maybe

[lovestobescared]

ok good!! love her but in glad she has something on now!!

[Luv2BScared]

No more nakey butt flying?? That's just not right!! :(

[jasonbach]

Thanks to all those who understand the time away we spend giving up our weekends this month to go to haunts and spend even more time writing reviews. I wouldn't call it work really, b/c I love going to haunts - but yes it is frustrating when the whole point of writing reviews is for people in Denver to make an informed decision about where to spend their hard earned cash on which of Denver's 20+ amazing productions out there. HauntedDenver.com doesn't get updated very timely and this has been an ongoing issue now for the past few years much to the critics dismay. Even the current list of critics posted on HD is 2 years old. I can understand from a business perspective why HD was bought. The bottom line is $$, pure and simple and any business 101 class will teach you that. What I don't understand is having such a great website for promotions and advertising AND unbiased reviews...and not utilizing it to it's fullest. Needless to say I was disappointing that reviews didn't go up last weekend and now as the week closes to it's final operating weekend for the industry and still no reviews, I am feeling more and more disillusioned.

[Luv2BScared]

I wish I had an answer about what is going on, I don't. :confused:

[moodeous]

Luvs2B... I certainly don't expect an answer from you.

I am really thankful of your hard work paroling the boards and offering insight. I hope everyone else understands and appreciates where you're coming from!

Knowing you personally I can attest to the fact that your love of Halloween and haunted houses would have you visiting every haunt in the area with or without being a critic.

[SChaser783]

Of course your going to argue with me on this because your, if my memory serves me right, one of the main guys with sceamwork,(or the people that own this site) Im just saying mabeyou guys dont have time to run sooooooooo much stuff.

Well, I appreciate that but you may be giving me too much credit :p



but im just saying 3 haunts and 6 websites may take a little more time to run then u guys properly have. Thus the reason why reviews have yet to be posted.

I'm just saying that if the original owner wanted to keep it completely separate, then he should have turned it over to another unaffiliated haunt enthusiast. When you decide to sell something to the highest bidder, then obviously a business is going to be able to purchase it over some haunt enthusiast out there.

**Disclaimer** I speak from pure speculation and have no knowledge of the interworkings of Haunted Denver. My opinions only represent my thoughts as a business owner.

[Hellraiser15]

But the fact that a haunt owner and not a haunt enthusiast purchased this site is whats causing the fears of bias with these reviews not being posted. Once again, the critics are not biased in my opionion, im just saying because of who purchesed the site is whats causing all this commotion.

[SChaser783]

But the fact that a haunt owner and not a haunt enthusiast purchased this site is whats causing the fears of bias with these reviews not being posted. Once again, the critics are not biased in my opionion, im just saying because of who purchesed the site is whats causing all this commotion.

I think we can safely both agree on that. :D

[Shade]

First off, it's kind of funny to me that 2009 ends up being the magic season when this whole conversation suddenly starts. I sold Haunted Denver to its current owner almost three years ago.

Second, even when it was owned and operated by "haunt enthusiasts" (which was me and my team) everyone still accused us of being biased and partial. It made for lengthy October Lounge discussions every year. Every haunt thinks they're the best, and they freak out if they were a 9.5 one year and then get an 8 the next. Rather than realizing that there actually is the chance that their haunt got worse instead of better, they figure there must be some conspiracy against them or that some haunt paid us to either rate the other haunt higher or to rate their haunt lower. But it never happened.

In its day, Haunted Denver pulled most of its revenue by selling "sponsored listings," kind of like the ones that still appear now. Just like Google, where you see the paid listings first and the other listings next, that's how we worked it. But whether someone was a "sponsored haunt" or not had no bearing on their reviews. And believe me, it caused some tension when people who had plopped down a few thousand dollars to be a featured haunt didn't even make the top ten as far as scores went. Didn't matter, though, because the two weren't connected to each other.

I personally know every single person on the current Haunted Denver review team, even the ones who joined after I left, and I know for a fact that they are still committed to being just as impartial and objective as they always were.

While negotiating the sale of the site, I mentioned my concerns for its ongoing usefulness as a resource to the haunt community. I was told that the review process was basically going to be left alone. The new owner wanted to keep the team intact and wanted to take a hands-off approach. I think that approach has shifted gradually a little more each year, to the point that I started getting phone calls and emails from frustrated members of the critics team this year telling me that they were facing a lot of static and opposition in trying to go about their business in the usual way.

Also, while negotiating the sale, I expressed concerns about the ability to keep the site maintained and current, and again was reassured that it would work out just fine. Again, the first year went okay but it's gotten a little slower each year, to the point that two days before Halloween, there are no reviews posted. The person who maintains the site (whom I have also met personally) is an extremely talented designer, but he caters exclusively to the haunted attraction and horror industry, so by the time October rolls around I imagine he's swamped by every last one of his clients. Again, as someone else observed, maybe a great choice for the initial design, but maybe not the best for ongoing maintenance.

The way things have played out this year are disappointing to me, but let's be real. What can I do about it? The site doesn't belong to me. If you're a painter, and you sell a masterpiece to a collector, you hope that he'll display it prominently and take good care of it. But if he leaves it in an attic to collect dust and be damaged by rodents, it's his prerogative. He bought it, it's his.

The person who bought the site told me he wanted it because it would be less expensive in the long run than buying advertising on the site every year. I think that was probably true, but the way things have played out between my buyer and other haunt owners in town, I think it's safe to say that there were other goals and plans associated with the purchase of Haunted Denver, too -- ones that were never expressed to me. But it still has no major significance. It is what it is, and as far as I'm concerned, it's water under the bridge.

And Tye, for the record, the site didn't go to the "highest bidder." A couple of other executives (both haunted house owners and other media organizations) made offers. I think there were probably a good amount of other haunt owners in town that would have driven up the price quite a bit in a bidding war if they'd had the opportunity. I think the biggest offer of all probably would have come collectively from the Rocky Mountain Haunted House Guild itself. I just didn't feel like I could, in good conscience, do that to both the haunt community and to the other non-Guild haunts who might very well have gone out of business as a result.

I opted to sell it for a price that was probably substantially less than it was worth, hoping and trusting that it was going to continue on in good hands. Maybe that was a good choice, maybe it was a bad choice. I don't think the whole thing has necessarily gone to hell in a handbasket, and up until this year, I've observed it with a reasonable amount of satisfaction because whether it's the way I would have done it or not, it's continued doing what it does and doing a reasonably good job of it. This year there appear to be some major roadblocks. Doesn't matter, what's done is done. The question now is, "Now what?"

I have my own ideas about what the "now what" looks like, but who knows. How they'll actually play out, we'll just have to wait and see.

[LilSkeerd]

Are the reviews bought a paid for or are they "owned" by the reviewer? The reason I ask is would it be possible to have posted the reviews either on another site or within this forum. Thus bypassing the situation all together?

[Luv2BScared]

Reviews are not bought. The critics' team volunteers their time to review haunts.
As for ownership...hmmmm. If i wrote it, I would think that it would belong to me. There could be some gret areas here....
It's a question that needs to be answered. Myself and the team would love to post our reviews on the OL if they can't get posted on HD.

[LilSkeerd]

Why not take what was written by your own hand, bypass OL and send it to Spookycolorado or another forum out there. Honestly, and I don't like to get into politics, but HD hasn't been very respectful and the following here at OL seems to be falling off. If I had done all that hard work, I would be posting it to any review site who would allow it. There are more out there and you don't have to be "official" reviewers. I, for one, would love to hear what each reviewer has to say as I read the reviews (all of them) each year. Besides, I unofficially know a reviewer through his mother and I love to read his opinion. So please, think about it! It's free and the reviews are yours. Why wait?

[FRIGHTful]

After reading much more on the OL, especially from weeks back, and perusing the other websites out there pertaining to denver's local haunt industry, I see this pattern of paid advertising by local haunts that are very misleading to the consumers. Whether it's fake rating websites set up to just grab google traffic or the America Haunt's website that boasts the "premier" haunts in America, it seems like there are a lot of advertising methods out there that haunt owners use to generate traffic. Now, I know this is business as usual, but "buying ratings" and then coming off as if they were chosen as a premier haunt seems pretty borderline ethical to me.

Check out the sponserships page for America Haunts website:
http://www.americahaunts.com/sponsorships.html

"From promotional tie-ins to comprehensive inclusion into marketing and PR campaigns America Haunts is the premier destination for any organization seeking to drive traffic, boost sales, raise awareness and promote products during the Halloween season."

I understand that it is entirely within each haunt owner's right to buy into this form of paid advertising, I just think it's misleading as the website markets these haunts as if they personally chose them b/c they were the "premier" or best haunts in America. Not true - they just paid money.

My boyfriend and I have loved haunts our entire lives and until just recently discovering the Denver market, have never seen so much politics go on in the industry. i'm sure this is just business as usual for every other type of industry as well. I just don't like the misleading, that's all. Another lesson to not believe in everything you read.

[LilSkeerd]

My boyfriend and I have loved haunts our entire lives and until just recently discovering the Denver market, have never seen so much politics go on in the industry. i'm sure this is just business as usual for every other type of industry as well. I just don't like the misleading, that's all. Another lesson to not believe in everything you read.

I completely understand FRIGHTful! I have never understood the politics in any industry but especially one in which the owners benefit from working together instead of against each other. I personally LOVE to go to haunted houses and I would love to just go to one and when I come out have another recommended to me not because the owner owns both haunts but because the owners want the haunt-goers to have a great time!

[Luv2BScared]

Why not take what was written by your own hand, bypass OL and send it to Spookycolorado or another forum out there. Honestly, and I don't like to get into politics, but HD hasn't been very respectful and the following here at OL seems to be falling off. If I had done all that hard work, I would be posting it to any review site who would allow it. There are more out there and you don't have to be "official" reviewers. I, for one, would love to hear what each reviewer has to say as I read the reviews (all of them) each year. Besides, I unofficially know a reviewer through his mother and I love to read his opinion. So please, think about it! It's free and the reviews are yours. Why wait?

I would love to simply say, YES and do just that as at this point I am as frustrated as you all are. There may be some legality in just posting reviews up somewhere else, so I would want to check that first, which I will do and post my findings here.
I really am at a complete loss as to what is going on, but at this point it feels like we (critics' team) may have just wasted several weekends going to haunts and then writing reviews. I hate to say that out here in the forum, but here we are 2 days from Halloween and nothing. I'm terribly disappointed. :(

[Luv2BScared]

After reading much more on the OL, especially from weeks back, and perusing the other websites out there pertaining to denver's local haunt industry, I see this pattern of paid advertising by local haunts that are very misleading to the consumers. Whether it's fake rating websites set up to just grab google traffic or the America Haunt's website that boasts the "premier" haunts in America, it seems like there are a lot of advertising methods out there that haunt owners use to generate traffic. Now, I know this is business as usual, but "buying ratings" and then coming off as if they were chosen as a premier haunt seems pretty borderline ethical to me.

Check out the sponserships page for America Haunts website:
http://www.americahaunts.com/sponsorships.html

"From promotional tie-ins to comprehensive inclusion into marketing and PR campaigns America Haunts is the premier destination for any organization seeking to drive traffic, boost sales, raise awareness and promote products during the Halloween season."

I understand that it is entirely within each haunt owner's right to buy into this form of paid advertising, I just think it's misleading as the website markets these haunts as if they personally chose them b/c they were the "premier" or best haunts in America. Not true - they just paid money.

My boyfriend and I have loved haunts our entire lives and until just recently discovering the Denver market, have never seen so much politics go on in the industry. i'm sure this is just business as usual for every other type of industry as well. I just don't like the misleading, that's all. Another lesson to not believe in everything you read.

Well, that's enlightening isn't it? Again, I'm just not sure what to say...

[Chris]

Well, I would like to be able to come on here and confirm or deny all the observations that are being made about HD, me, my company, and maybe I will, but not right now.

The statement I am about to make will create even more controversy, but here goes.

You're all wrong. All of you. (let the accusations begin)

I guess maybe Hellraiser get's the prize for coming the closest, but he's still not right.

A lot of changes were made to HD this year, including a management system so that reviews could get up quicker. Unfortunately, as of today, this system is still not working as it should be, it is being worked on as we speak, and my goal is to have reviews up as soon as possible, I hope later today.

Could things have been maybe a couple days earlier? Maybe. But I, as with every other haunt owner in town has been busy scrambling in light of the storm the last couple days. But it would have been just a couple days.

To the critics team, think of your schedule, think of when reviews were submitted, think that most haunted houses didn't open the last weekend in Septemeber, think that you were not out every night you could have been because of schedule conflicts. If you look at a history of the past couple seasons, you will see that reviews (unfortunately) are likely getting posted in a comparable time frame. Be sure, if you point the finger at HD over this, that your first know that your hands are clean, and that you have done what you can for HD. As I said, a system was designed and implemented this year, to avoid this very issue, I wish it was working as much as anyone, heck, I paid for it.

Above all, I am human. I have a family to take care of. I'm not going in to it, but I can say that my family has taken priority over many things this year, and will continue to do so. I won't apologize for this, ever.

If I owned a restaraunt or other business, the quality and service may have suffered in light of circumstances, I understand that because of the nature of this business being seasonal, things become a little more urgent. But as I already said, things really aren't as different as you may think this year.

Did everything this season happen the way I would like it to? No. But that's life, and business, you evaluate and adjust, and when you come back, it's better than before.

Like I said, maybe once the dust has settled, I will sit down and go through some of these observations and address them, and maybe I'll decide some are just not worth the time. At any rate, I'm off to get ready, to go shovel a foot and a half of snow out of our business. At least I'll be shoveling something better than some of what is being stirred in here.

Bottom line is this, Haunted Denver will continue to be the #1 source for information on haunted houses in the Denver area. I learn from things, and those of you that know me know that I will adjust, and I will make things better than ever. I don't back off like some, when challenged to do better, I do better. You guys represent a piece of our "customer" base, and I like happy customers.

Chris

[moodeous]

Hey Everyone,

An observation:
Too much talking behind backs is going on. Too much drama. It's dumb.

Another observation:
The people who care about all this are:
A) Haunt Owners
B) Haunt Workers
C) A small subculture of haunted house enthusiasts (myself included)

Ultimately it's Halloween weekend and the general public doesn't care what any of the above groups of people think about Haunted Denver. Seriously.

The thousands (literally) of people (hopefully) lined up for haunts this weekend probably have only a tertiary at best knowledge of Haunted Denver and I think we all need to get our heads on straight and chill out.

I've intentionally hid the list of people on this email, so think twice before getting your panties in a bunch and saying something you regret. Let it be. At least until the season is over. Then you have 300 odd days to hash it all out.

[SChaser783]

The people who care about all this are:
A) Haunt Owners
B) Haunt Workers
C) A small subculture of haunted house enthusiasts (myself included)

Ultimately it's Halloween weekend and the general public doesn't care what any of the above groups of people think about Haunted Denver. Seriously.

The thousands (literally) of people (hopefully) lined up for haunts this weekend probably have only a tertiary at best knowledge of Haunted Denver and I think we all need to get our heads on straight and chill out.


You couldn't be more right.

[Chris]

Critics reviews are about 80% up, I've noticed some missing, I've noticed some calculation/rounding issues, when I have a minute I will go over in further detail.

In the mean time, there's quite a bit to chew on there, so enjoy. I know I will once I have a chance to sit and read them, when the snow is gone! :)

[Shadow]

My reviews wernt posted!!! grrrrrrrrrrr :mad:

[floydfan27]

Nice post Chris.

To any of you out there who hasn't met Chris in person yet, he is a great guy. Out of all of the Haunt owners in Denver Chris is the only one, that I can say with any confidence, who has consistently listened to his customers year after year and made real solid improvements to all of his attractions. Every year I go to his haunts I know that I will seem him hanging out talking to the crowd and getting a feel for what people liked and disliked.

[hauntfreak156]

I would like to thank all of the critics and the owner of this website. I have been coming here for the past couple of years, and I love reading the message boards and the reviews. Haunted Denver blows any other Colorado haunt site out of the water. So what the reviews were a little late this year? It couldn't be controlled, and the only thing that matters is that they are up now. I have read them all and they are spectacular.

So thank you everyone, for making Haunted Denver a truly great site.

[Chris]

Floydfan,

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. Contrary to what some may think, you can actually disagree with me and gain my respect. I'd have to dig, but I remember when you first showed up on the boards, your posts may not have been as complimentary. I remember the night we met, I thought you might have been someone else based on some of your posts. I remember we had a good talk. Since then we've talked in passing when you've come out to the haunts, but I have appreciated your insights. We build haunted houses for people like you, and yes I do listen to my customers, thanks for noticing.

Hauntfreak,

Wow, a voice of reason, someone who isn't buying in to the conspiracy theories, and realizes with the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people that visit the site, that HD is and will continue to be the source for haunted house information in Denver. As I said, am I happy with everything now, no, but I will be.

Shadow,

If I'm not mistaken, I believe you were told by Kris from the beginning that your work would be as an intern on the review team. She never told you that your reviews would be posted as far as I know. However, your reviews, when they were received, were not submitted through the form system that everyone else's were. As I posted to the team, I will see if they can get input manually. I know you and your parents dedicated a lot of time and effort in having you work with the team this year. I hope you enjoyed it.

Everyone else,

The people that post on these boards represent the "hard core" haunted house enthusiasts. Whether it be owners, actors, staff, fans, etc. You may need to take off whatever hat you're wearing to actually appreciate what HD does for the haunted house market here. Everyone seems to have an opinion of how HD should run, but those ideas are filled with lots of self reference criteria. Our primary user is pre-teen to late twenties, they are looking for information on haunted houses in Denver, so they can decide where to go for a scare. They don't care about all the behind the scenes garbage. On that note, something that no one has pointed out here is that last year HD added user reviews, so that there would be reviews up early in the season. User reviews are great feedback for haunt owners. I wish some of the users would post more in depth reviews, but the more you require of them, the fewer reviews you get. Sure, some of these are haunts pumping themselves up, some are other haunts tearing them down, but if you take the time to sift through those ones, you can find some really good information. The process isn't perfect, but it's getting better, and will continue to do so.

Chris

[Shadow]

She had said that they don't know what they were going to do with my reviews but they would be posted somewhere so that my work would not go to waste.

[HailSkatan]

wow what did i do to get all this crap talk to. i thought this site was for ppl to have there opinons oh this stuff. not get attacked. wow so just lost this. im done, this site sucks!!!

Your loss. I'm sure it's time for you to get off the internets/go to bed and let your dad look at porn anyway.

[Shadow]

Your loss. I'm sure it's time for you to get off the internets/go to bed and let your dad look at porn anyway.

hahaha I laughed but that is cruel