Haunted House Operations

[Skelterbet]

This is a carryover from the Friday the 13th discussion.

What would it take to make a national-level quality haunt here in Denver?

Before everyone says "lots of money" let's look at the details of how a Haunt operates and how they build and grow from year to year. I'm sure lots of money would be very helpful, but it would not necessarily guarentee a great haunt. I have never worked for a Haunt, so I'm out of my element here. There are many on this Forum who work in Haunts (or run them). What do you folks think?

How much money does it cost to put on a local Haunt now?
How much money does a Rocky Point-caliber Haunt cost to put on?
Didn't Rocky Point start out the same way as our local Haunts?

[Mordred the Eld]

I too am a total amateur so let me know if I am talking out my @$$.

I think the one of the factors in growth, or lack there of is that a lot of the local haunt owners don't own the property that their haunts are on. There is a great advantage to having a permanent location, you can develop and maintain sets year round. It also allows you to be more flexible of when you can start the season, haunts like The Beast and Rocky Point are open weekends starting in September when our local haunts are just getting set up.

The problems with the permanent location is finding a great location that has the necessary character for a Haunt, there aren't that many old creepy factories, warehouses, farms, insane asylums or prisons around, and buying a piece of land to build something like that is impractical. Then what do you do with the building the other 10 months of the year? It is hard to justify owning property when the business it generates happens 1-2 months a year.

[jasonbach]

I think there are plenty of warehouses around denver that are empty year round. I know b/c my buddy and I were looking into creating a club at some point awhile back. im sure there are plenty of warehouse owners that wouldnt mind renting out there real estate for 2 months if they get a cut of the profits. This is why I am confused - shouldnt we see more warehouse haunts? in actual buildings? with actual stairs and levels?

[robokatt12]

Well, having lotsa money is absolutely a must, but creativity and talent have to be in evidence as well. What good is it to spend tons of cash on the same old stuff that everybody's become accustomed to year after year? I think that having some awesome makeup and other special effects artists is an absolute necessity. Of course, a talented and enthusiastic cast is crucial for a successful haunt experience.
Isn't Spider Mansion a permanent installation? That'd be an ideal situation, because the owners are able to work on things for the entire year leading up to the season.
I'd like to see a haunt based on one of those massive sailing vessels of yore, even if it was landlocked in the middle of Kansas!

[SChaser783]

First off, I can think of at least 8 permanent locations in Denver. Second, starting a haunt is going to take a large chunk of change to be pretty good. While I don't have any actual numbers, I'm guessing an average sized haunt after the first year of operation would be getting near the century mark. Just because you sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into an attraction doesn't mean it will be popular, anyone remember the dig?

[WelchWitch]

Scream Park is a permanent location. And during the other times of the year he uses it to store items in some spots and then uses the rest to build new items for next season and make things with other projects that are needed year round. If you like to design and build there are sooooo many other things you can do with that talent that might not be halloween oriented that can pay the bills and keep you busy all year round. He builds items that vary in sizes, some are carved and are used for like putt putt golf places, stores fronts, matter of fact he is in Vegas now promoting some of the stuff he has done. He built 2 large Dragons that were used in a store front to a martini glass for a radio station. These items are bigger then Reals perm. Some Haunt owners do this year round and can make the off season just as busy as the on season. Look at Reinke Brothers also.