Haunted Attraction Network

Top Stories: The CDC released updated guidelines to address COVID-19 that are specifically geared to Halloween and other holiday events and gatherings. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html#halloween Florida's Universal Orlando expands dates for 2 haunted houses Universal Orlando Resort in Florida has added new dates for its two haunted houses -- "Revenge of the...

On this Bonus Green Tagged: What 11 drive-in haunted attractions have in common, where they differ, and why it matters; a rundown of what every major US theme park is doing for Halloween; musings on The Haunted Toilet Experience; what hotels, a small town in Maine and, Mars Candy is doing to innovate this season. Read the show notes: https://greentaggedshow.com/theme-park-industry-news-green-tagge...

This week on Haunt Weekly we are expanding on a previous question of the week to look at things that haunters wish customers knew. Though the haunt industry has opened up a lot in recent decades, there's still a lot of things that we keep close to the vest. Unfortunately, keeping some of that from customers may actually be hurting us by making the experience worse for them and us. To that end, we'...

This week on Green Tagged: Theme Park in 30 - Halloween-themed drive-in movies debut at theme parks in the US and UK; Round One is slated to Replace a Sears store in Florida; while droves of escape rooms pivot virtual others reopen in-person; updates from the attractions industry in Singapore, Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong on working towards recovery plans. Read the Full Show Notes: https://gree...

This week on Green Tagged: ‘Schoolcation’ packages debut at Four Seasons Resort Orlando, Cancellations for Mickey’s Christmas Party and IAAPA Expo, live performances are coming back, and the theme park capital of the world battles public attitude. Read the Full Show Notes: https://greentaggedshow.com/theme-park-industry-news-green-tagged-sept13/

We divided this week’s news into three piles: the Florida and New York governors’ responses to how themed attractions can move forward during the pandemic, the evolution of IP experiences, and the trend to virtual. Full show notes here: https://greentaggedshow.com/theme-park-industry-news-green-tagged-sep6/

Right now, the haunt industry is being faced with something we’ve never done before—reopening our attractions in the midst of a pandemic. We’re all wondering when and how to make this happen. In this article, you’ll hear from the general manager of Fear Factory in Salt Lake City, Utah, Spencer Terry, about how his attraction did just that. Show notes: https://hauntedattractionnetwork.com/reopening...

Scott discusses the importance of unity within the industry during the 2020 Halloween Season.

2020 is giving haunters a wonderful opportunity to birth novel ways of telling our stories. In this podcast, presented by David Jones, we explore effective methods of scaring from a distance. Specifically, you’ll learn how to create a cohesive character that does three things: Evokes a specific fear. Creates rapport with guests. Stimulates unanswered questions in the minds of your guests. Key Take...

Learn from the mistakes and accomplishments of the Fear Factory in Salt Lake City, Utah, and how they opened their attraction in the middle of a health pandemic and successfully did it! Here's a link to their Contingency Plan to help you do it. http://fearfactoryslc.com/contingency-plan/ If you want to join us in our next Live session, join here: https://www.haunterstoolbox.com/main-pages/haunters...

This week on Haunt Weekly we're doing the news and, unfortunately, that means covering a lot of COVID-19 related things including limited haunt openings, closings and more things in between. But that's not all we have this week, we also have a spate of new drive-thru haunts, haunts that are taking a different approach and a lot of other news from the haunt industry. So buckle up as this is going t...

This podcast is a recording from a recent panel on personalizing your messaging to guests in preparation for opening your haunted attraction this season. The discussion is divided into three sections—recommendations about messaging for guests before you open, while guests are on-premises, and after it closes. Full article: https://hauntedattractionnetwork.com/haunted-attractions-messaging-marketin...

“Green Tagged” - The Top News in Theme Parks This Past Week An insider's take on the attraction industry's trending news. August 30th Edition - Welcome to the Green Tagged blog, based on our first podcast episode of Green Tagged, in which we (Philip Hernandez and Scott Swenson) covered the news stories and trends in the theme-park industry in 30 minutes. Top Stories Guggenheim approves plan to bec...

As bad as COVID-19 has been for haunts, it's been similarly bad for our sister industry: Escape rooms. However, many escape games have taken a different tact, launching virtual experiences that come in a wide variety of flavors. These include everything from simply playing existing escape rooms with a totem to new experiences that were built from the ground up to be virtual. So that's what we're l...

Last year was a very rough year for us. Due to some serious road work taking place, we were forced to cancel our 2019 season. Now, due to COVID-19, many haunts are finding that their 2020 season is hanging into balance. However, if you do have to cancel your season, it's important to cancel it right. A bad cancellation can make it impossible to recover. A good one can let you keep your audience, y...

This is the year of COVID cancellations and many Haunted Attractions are closed for 2020. Those that will be opened are doing things a little differently. The Haunt Master members of the Haunter's Toolbox share their thoughts on this year's operational plans and how you can safely open your attraction or home haunt. Join us next time by becoming a Haunt Master Member at HauntersToolbox.com

Pretty much every haunted attraction has a Facebook page. However, is there more that you could be doing with your social media presence? The answer is yes. Social media is a powerful tool for haunt promotion and, thanks to COVID-19, it's about to get even MORE important in 2020. Even if you can't open, social media can help you stay connected with your customers and make the 2021 seas that much b...

Based on the recent announcements that several large haunted attractions have decided not to open for the 2020 season, Scott discusses the options for both haunters and haunt fans to keep the spirit of Halloween alive.

It's becoming more and more clear that, if haunts are able to open at all this year, it's going to be with a good deal of restrictions and limitations. Those limitations will likely include masks for actors and customers alike. While getting customers to mask up will be challenging enough, there's also the issue of masking up actors. How do you create masks that work well for a haunt? What types o...

Scott discusses the three basic phases of post-crisis recovery and how they apply to the Haunt Industry...its more fun than it sounds. PLUS He announces his new email newsletter, "A Shout in the Dark". To join visit ScottSwenson.com and click on the "Click Here to Subscribe to Scott's Newsletter" link. New subscribers get a free gift!

This week on Haunt Weekly we're doing the news and what a rough news episodes it is. We slog our way through the first round of haunt closures due to COVID-19. However, we work hard to bring you a great deal of good news too, including at least one story that may bring a tear to your eye. So definitely buckle up with this one. It's going to be a rough ride but, if you stick with it, we hope to sen...

Steve Koci, many of you know him as Halstaff on the webs, is the author of The Ultimate Guide to DIY Animatronics. In this podcast, learn the best way to get started in moving props and how to animate many different types of props...Halloween Style.

No matter what happens between now and haunt season, the haunted attraction industry is facing an extremely challenging year. Even the best predictions call for smaller crowds, shortened seasons and limited capacity. In 2005, the city of New Orleans and the surrounding area was facing a challenge of its own: Hurricane Katrina. The disaster impacted the city in countless ways, including closing the...

The haunted attraction industry prides itself on being a welcoming space for anyone who loves scaring. However, as some recent events have shown, that's not always an ideal we live up to. The truth is that we have many of the same issues as any other industry but we often lack the tools and processes to address them adequately. So, that's where this week's conversation sits in as we sit down with...

Scott discusses how diversity, in every sense of the word, can improve the creativity and financial success of your haunted attraction.