Haunted Attraction Network

A huge thank you to all who were interviewed on this episode:

Scare Manager, Scream Camp, Scare Me, Faceless Ventures, Rspace Productions, Dead Reel Films, Twisted Experiences, Parks,Scares & Glitter, Instantly Inverted, Scream effects co, Mad About Horror, Mad About Scares, Haunted Lantern, Horrortronics, Dead Walk Designs, 1eight Creative, Fear & Sons and EVILution Events.

We would like to wish our huge congratulations to all Scare Award Winners and nominees.

Watch our latest ScareCam vlog episodes: https://youtube.com/scaretrack
You can support the show here: https://patreon.com/ScareTrack
ScareTrack merchandise can be found here: https://smart-fx.co.uk/smart-artists/...

Social media
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Instagram- @scaretrack
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This week on Haunt Weekly, we're doing the news and, despite it being in the doldrums of summer we have a surprisingly large amount of news to go through.

We have updates about new haunts, new escape rooms, a haunt getting a beer license and a triple update on Halloween Horror Nights.

So while the temperatures are rising outside, why don't you cool off for the next 45 minutes or so with us and catch up on all the goings on in the haunt industry.

This Week's Episode Includes:

Intro
Conference Reminders
Mysic Manor Opens at OWA in Alabama
Erebus Opens New Escape Game
Wisconsin Haunt Gets a Beer License
Iowa Haunt Opens for Midsummer Event
HHN Announces New Yeti-Themed Haunt
HHN Also Announces All Of Its Scare Zones
HHN Announces Fan Preview Night
Dallas to Promote First Day of the Dead Parade
Ireland to Celebrate New Samhain Festival
Artist Transforms Herself into Parodies of Haunted House Characters
Conclusions
All in all, this is one episode you do Not want to miss!

PS: If you're still in the dark about the WCW Yet, here you go...

It's halfway to Halloween and the best way to celebrate is with some scare at Scare Kingdom Scream Park!

On this episode, Mikey is joined by guest hosts Ryan Nixon (The Inevitable Theme Park Podcast) and Jenna Bulmer (Theme park geek) to give their first impressions of Scare Kingdoms three attractions on offer.

-Follow guest host Ryan on Twitter and Instagram: @therealrnixon

-Follow guest host Jenna on Instagram: @waniesworlds

Watch our latest ScareCam vlog episodes: https://youtube.com/scaretrack

You can support the show here: https://patreon.com/ScareTrack

ScareTrack merchandise can be found here: https://smart-fx.co.uk/smart-artists/...

Social media
Facebook.com/ScareTrack
Instagram- @scaretrack
Twitter- @scaretrack
Snapchat- scaretrack
TikTok-scaretrackhannah

Last week, we talked about what we wished we'd known when we started haunting, this week, we're looking at it as customers and talking about things that big haunts forget to do.

However, we're not really focusing on things IN the haunt itself. Instead, we're talking about the things that impact the customer experience around the haunt and help keep the haunt safe.

All of these things are simple, easy-to-execute elements that make your haunt experience better for customers but that often get left out by haunts. Luckily, they're all super easy to fix.

So if you're looking for some fast and easy way to improve your customers' experience, this is the episode for you!

This Week's Episode Includes:

Intro
Conference Reminders
Apologies and Housekeeping
The Rules of the Episode
Bathrooms and Trash Cans
Signage
Other Things To Do
Clear Rules
Non-Costumed Employees
Adequate Security Cameras
Feedback and Customer Capture
Conclusions
All in all, this is one episode no haunter will want to miss!

In this episode, Scott discusses the elements involved in starting a Haunted Attraction for the first time. He discusses everything from budgets to location to staffing to preparing for the unexpected.

Main Topic: Adapting your attraction to a new target market’s culture

Step 1: You should have the demographic and psychographic analysis of this new target market done. Additionally, your team must have decided the new market is worth testing.

Step 2: What that we’re doing now needs to change?
You’ll go through each of the below considerations before deciding on tactics.

Tactics/Considerations:

Direct or Mass?
Mass marketing is for high throughput attractions targeting a large target market. Mass marketing includes TV, Radio, Hulu, etc. Sometimes you find microcosms where you can go mass in a small way. For example, college radio stations, community TV, regional billboards, or influencers.
Otherwise, most new target markets are a direct selling tactic.

Language.
The language applies to signage, directions, website, tickets, maps, apps, menus and more.
Do visitors understand your website and can they purchase tickets? What about references that don’t translate to English? This need not be a large overhaul but could benefit from tweaking.

Technology.
Many markets don’t have desktops; they’re using tablets and mobile only. They may not have access to new technology (IE buying refurbished devices). Is your market more tech-savvy or less tech-savvy? Do you need a phone line, a WhatsApp ID, a WeChat ID, or a Messenger link?

Distribution Channels.
How does this market consume media and check your quantity? Popular options include Facebook, WeChat, TripAdvisor, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Google, and more. Developing a new distribution channel could be a large investment.

Media Assets.
Can your new target market see themselves in the narrative of your marketing? How well do your marketing assets translate over? Families, ethnicities, etc.

Values.
Will the nature of your attraction violate the value system of this new market? What about the marketing messages you’re using? Examples of multigenerational families, etc.

Attraction Theming.
Large examples include phantom manor versus mystic manor and small examples include adjusting stage shows by adding target market specific jokes.

Food.
If the target market is large enough, should you incorporate new food?

Haunting is a learning process and, no matter how much you know, there's always more to learn.

However, there are still some things that we really wish we had known before we got started. We made some major blunders simply because we didn't know what we were walking into.

So what do we wish we had known? There's a lot but here are just seven things to get you started.

This Week's Episode Includes:

Intro
Conference Reminders
Update on The Roof
How to Build a Proper Panel/Don't Cheap Out on Materials
Don't Cheap Out on Tools
How Scared People Get
How to Properly Staff
How to Build a Haunt Family
How Horrible People Can Be
How Amazing People Can Be
Conclusions
All in all, whether you're a new haunter or a grizzled veteran, this is one episode you do NOT want to miss!

Haunters and often avid games and there's not a genre of games haunters love more than horror games. But can horror games help make us better haunters? What lessons can we learn from them?

Well, we're going to list ten horror games that definitely have lessons haunters can learn. Even if they're not all the best horror games ever, they're great educational experiences.

So sit back, relax and let's talk about some horror video games!

This Week's Episode Includes:

Intro
Conference Reminders
Rules of the Topic
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Five Nights at Freddy's
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Dead Space
Slender: The Eight Pages
Silent Hill
F.E.A.R.
Fatal Frame
Manhunt
Dead Island
Conclusions
All, in all, if you're a haunter that likes playing video games, this is one episode you do NOT want to miss!

In this podcast we interview Edward Douglas and Gavin Goska and get these key takeaways:

What Type of Haunt Music to Use in Your Haunted Attraction
How Midnight Syndicate Got Started in Gothic/Horror Music
The Reasons They Keep Playing Live at Cedar Point in Ohio
Which of Their Soundtracks is their Favorite Ones
Midnight Syndicate is a Gothic - Horror - Haunt musical group that has been producing "soundtracks for the imagination" since 1997. Many Haunters use their music as ambient landscapes inside and outside their Haunted Attractions.

You can find Midnight Syndicate playing LIVE at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio in 2019. If you're reading this after that, check the schedule on their website. MidnightSyndicate.com

It's an episode that's divisible by four and that means it's time to do the news!

And we have a doozy of a podcast for you as it has been a very active week for haunted attraction news. We have a tale of one haunt being spared by flooding, another that was badly damaged, another story about an arsonist and much more.

We also have our seasonal drip feed of Halloween Horror Nights news and one lady who is tried to pass of her racist yard display as Halloween decorations.

Yeah, it's a pretty busy episode so you definitely want to get started now!

This Week's Episode Includes:

Intro
Conference Reminders
13th Gate Spared in Flooding
Psycho Path (OK) Hit by Flooding
Arsonist Hits Nightmare Factory in North Carolina
ScareHouse To Go on Hiatus for 2019
Pennsylvania Haunter Featured in New Documentary
Universal Announces New Halloween Horror Nights Haunt
Halloween Horror Nights to Bring Back 80s Theme
Winchester Mystery House Announces New Halloween Event
Woman Tries to Claim Lynched Dummy is Halloween Prop
Gamers Recreate Disney's Haunted Mansion in Minecraft
Closing