Send a text Episode 100, as most of you remember, was our blowout celebration episode where we definitely did NOT talk about any news. Episode 104 is where the hangover sets in. Now we have to get through two months, the two busines months, of haunt news in one go. So, that's exactly what we're going to try and do (and probably fail miserably in the process). So, with that in mind, let's take a look at what is in this week's episode: IntroRemembering Jerry Lesperance ( Please consider donating t...
Nov 27, 2017•52 min
Send a text Starting any haunted attraction is a daunting challenge. Starting a professional one is much, much more so. However, when Jamie Lee Sullivan and Rickie Haines set out to make their own pro haunt, they didn't even have experience with a home haunt. Though they had been involved with haunted attractions for decades, they had never actually built a haunt in their lives. So how did they make the jump from avid actors and helpers to proud haunt owners? That's exactly what this episode is ...
Nov 20, 2017•57 min
Send a text Haunting is hard. It's hard work, it's a hard business and it's hard creatively. Because of that, we sometimes turn to crutches and lean on things that, maybe, are more out of laziness and lack of ideas than what is actually best. So, in this episode we're taking a look at just some of those crutches, the things we lean on when we're out of ideas but need to fill a room (or 20). This Week's Episode Includes: IntroductionRenFest StoryConference RemindersChainsawsStrobe LightsFogDrop P...
Nov 13, 2017•55 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly, we're taking it a bit easy. It's been a long, wonderful season so we need to take a moment to relax, reflect and talk about the season that's just finished. And what a season it was. Record numbers, amazing scares and hours of security camera footage to pour over. We've got a LOT left to do but we can't help but take a minute and reflect. So, reflect we shall! However, this isn't all just about reminiscing, we've also got conference reminders and some podca...
Nov 06, 2017•55 min
Send a text HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! Hope everyone's season is going well and that you're having a safe, scary and (if relevant) profitable October. The big night is just ahead but, for us, this is also a major milestone as we release episode 100 of Haunt Weekly! Due to the time of year and the fact we, like everyone else, is at our busiest, we decided to keep things low key, we're talking about what Halloween and haunting means to us. To make things special though, it's our first ever lve epis...
Oct 30, 2017•57 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly, we're wrapping up conversation about our Atlanta trip by looking at some of the lessons we learned from it. Many of these lessons come not from anything specific to Atlanta, but rather, from visiting 9 haunts over 4 nights (including 7 haunts in 2 nights). When you do that, you start to see some paterns that you might miss when you go to just one or two a night. Beyond that, we also have some news on the upcoming episode 100, which will be a LIVE edition of...
Oct 23, 2017•54 min
Send a text We are back! We have returned from the exotic locale of Atlanta and, along the way, managed to take in 9 different haunted attractions including seven in two nights. While we really didn't want to make this a "review" episode of Haunt Weekly, it's kind of hard to talk about the trip without it being at least review-like. So, we're going to break down the haunts we visited, our thoughts on them and tell some stories of the general insanity of this trip. It was a packed one that much i...
Oct 16, 2017•1 hr 2 min
Send a text Hope everyone is having a great season and that your haunts are operating as smoothly and as briskly as you like. For us as home haunters, this part of the month is the time where we head out and visit literally all of the haunts we can. However, we noticed something: It's getting to be a pretty expensive hobby. With that in mind we had to ask ourselves a simple question: Are haunts getting too expensive? Since we didn't have the answer to that we decided to turn to someone much smar...
Oct 09, 2017•52 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly, it's another episode divisble by four and that means it's time to do THE NEWS! If your season hasn't already started it's likely coming up very soon. Either way, this is definitely the busy season for the industry and that's also true for the news about the industry. However, a lot of this week's news isn't all that happy. While we are hearing great reports of high ticket sales and interest in haunted attractions this year, we're also generating a lot of no...
Oct 02, 2017•50 min
Send a text As haunters, we like to build things and the things we don't build we usually have a "source" or a "guy" we'd rather buy from. However, that doesn't mean it isn't fun to traipse through the Halloween section at Walmart or swing by your nearest Spirit store at least a couple of times per season. In this episode, we take a look at Halloween retail and what we've noticed roaming around the various stores in our area this year. The goal: To find where you can go shop to find some cool th...
Sep 25, 2017•57 min
Send a text Japes Palles is one of the busiest men in haunting, and that's saying something. Not only is he a new father but, even as haunt season is ramping up, he is taking on not one but two new projects, both of them epic in their scale and what they can do for area haunts. The first is a new Facebook group that aims to help haunts and actors pair up. Haunts and actors alike sign up, haunts post what they need and actors step up to fill roles. Easy, but complex at the same time. The second i...
Sep 18, 2017•53 min
Send a text You guys should go pro! Why don't you? It's a question we get asked dozens of times per year, usually starting right now as the work ramps up. Usually the question is high praise and comes from happy visitors to our overgrown home haunt. They see the work and money we put into it and want us to be successful. But while it's flattering, it's alst not something we are pursuing at this time. However, we have had many conversations about it and have even started the ball rolling once or ...
Sep 11, 2017•54 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly, it's another episode divisible by four and that means it's time to do the news! And a busy time for haunt news it is. As haunts gear up for the start of season, press releases are flying everywhere and everyone is talking about actor auditions and openingn nights. But that's not why we're here. Though it tickles us pink to see the great coverage the industry has been getting, we're all about the big news and celebrating milestones. So, on that note, here's ...
Sep 05, 2017•54 min
Send a text Halloween & Hauntfest 2017 is in the books and what a show it was. Some great classes, an exciting trade show floor and some after hours events that will make a lifetime of memories. Over the course of the 48 hours there, I have two talks, attended half a dozen more, Crystal acted in a small haunted house, we both were chased around a room by a zombie, bought a prop for our haunt back home and got to meet a couple fans of the show. However, all of that barely scratches the surfac...
Aug 29, 2017•1 hr 2 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly, we're not just staring at the eclipse, we're gearing up to go to Halloween & HauntFest next weekend in Dallas! Now, before we begin, we had some technical issues with last week's episode. If you didn't ge the full 50 minutes of the podcast, simply refresh the feed and you should download a new episode that fixes it. Sorry for those problems! But, out with the old and in with the new as we spend the hour taking a look at what is coming up at Halloween an...
Aug 21, 2017•49 min
Send a text To those who are not and never have been fans of pro wrestling, it can seem silly. That's partly because it is, but, then again, so is haunting a lot of time. Just because something is silly doesn't mean it isn't also very serious. But, most importantly, professional wrestling is both a form of storytelling and a form of acting that is easy to overlook. As an industry built on non-traditional storytelling and acting, it's worth taking a moment to see what lessons we can learn. So, wi...
Aug 15, 2017•54 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly we're doing the news and we have a lot to go through this episode! We have tales of two break ins at haunted attractions, an update on McKamey Manor, a new and unique haunt opening up in Orlando and another merger in Pennsylvania. Combine that with the next announcement from Universal's Halloween Horror Nights and news about a Nightmare Before Christmas sequel and you have an episode that you do not want to miss! This week's Episode Includes: IntroductionCon...
Aug 07, 2017•51 min
Send a text Most haunters are already very familiar with Raven's Grin Inn , a year-round haunted attraction in Mt. Carroll, IL. The brain child and labor of Jim Warfield, it is an attraction that is both unique and revered. Last week, we got the chance to see the iconic haunt and it was indeed every bit as unusual an amazing that we thought it would be. But, equally awesome, Jim agreed to sit down with us and talk for an hour about his attraction, how he got started and the challenges of running...
Jul 31, 2017•56 min
Send a text After a heavy podcast last week, we're lightening things up this week with a podcast all about web services that can you run, promote and monetize your haunt more effectively. Best of all, these are all web services that, while very useful, aren't targeted at the haunt industry. Even better still, most are free or at least offer a free tier. So, whether you're looking to get some graphic design help, schedule your actors, setup an online store or just organize your reciepts for taxes...
Jul 24, 2017•57 min
Send a text Haunting is hard. Threading the needle between scaring someone and actively traumatizing hem is a difficult task. However, sometimes haunts can cross the line and include scares, props and scenes that do more to offend than scare. While haunting is an art and no haunter should feel like they're being censored, it's also important to understand that haunt is a commercial art that must be palatable to a broad audience. With that in mind, we're starting a conversation about certain scen...
Jul 17, 2017•54 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly, it's another "4" episode meaning that it's time to do the news! This is admittedly a slow week for haunted attraction news but there are still a few stories of serious import including the purchase of a major haunt conference and the merger of two major costume companies. Beyond that, we have a bill that was tanked by the inclusion of haunted attractions and an exciting new attraction in Tokyo that combines elements from both escape rooms and haunted houses...
Jul 10, 2017•53 min
Send a text Previously, on Haunt Weekly, we looked at haunt marketing and the questions that you need to answer with every single piece of marketing you put out. This week, we're getting a bit more holistic and looking at haunt branding. This week's episode is a whirlwind tour through the basics of haunt branding including what a brand is, how you develop a brand and how you expand it so that you can use it on other projects. As with the marketing talk, a lot of this can apply to any business, b...
Jul 03, 2017•51 min
Send a text We've been spending a lot of time on haunted attraction websites and haunted attraction conference websites lately. What have we learned? That there is a lot of basic information missing from them. To that end, we've decided to do a little bit of marketing 101 and discuss the six questions that every piece of marketing you put out must answer in order to be successful. The questions themselves aren't that difficult but they ARE crucial and failure to answer them will hurt you with wa...
Jun 26, 2017•54 min
Send a text Making a good escape room is tough. It requires days of planning, countless hours of beta testing and an endless string of adjustments and tweaks. And we don't have that kind of time, knowledge or expertise. However, we are avid players of escape games and, if you want to know how to make your escape game really crappy, we can tell you that real easy. We didn't even have to research how to do that. So, on that note, here's our basic tips for making your escape room as terrible as pos...
Jun 19, 2017•55 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly it's another episode divisible by four so that means we are doing the news! And it's a surprisingly busy week for news as theme parks seem to be picking up the slack from the dead part of the year. We have news of several parks either opening or renovating haunted attractions bringing more spooks into the summer months. We've also got updates on Netherworld, Midwest Haunters Convention and much, much more so strap in and let's discuss what's going on in the ...
Jun 12, 2017•50 min
Send a text Not many podcast episodes start with a bit of house cleaning but this one certainly does. While doing some sprucing up ahead of a family visit, Crystal found a time capsule in an old box, a 2010 edition of Haunted Attraction Magazine , issue #53 to be exact. So we decided to take a look at the magazine and do something we probably didn't do when we got it: Read it cover to cover. What we found was an interesting look back at the industry but one that was surprisingly relevant and top...
Jun 05, 2017•53 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly we have a real treast for you as we sit down with Brooke Englehart of Svenpuss Productions . Based in Chicago, Svenpuss Productions is a traveling haunter troupe that also specializes in character designs, costumes and accessories. Whether you need line actors, costumes for said actors or a bulk costume order for your haunt, they have your back. Brooke herself is one of the best-known haunt character designers, having won multiple awards with her conjoined t...
May 29, 2017•52 min
Send a text The number one reason that haunts don't make it past the concept stage is funding. However, as haunts get more expensive to open and remain high-risk traditiional sources to raise capital are being closed off. Banks, investors and self-funding are getting harder and harder to do. In response to that, some haunts are turning into a more tech-savvy means of getting off of the ground: Crowdfunding. So, in this episode, we take a look at crowdfunding, what it means, whether its right for...
May 22, 2017•53 min
Send a text This week on Haunt Weekly we are doing the news! As we are wont to do on episodes diisible by four, we're bringing yout the latest and greatest of haunted attraction news and, despite being literally as far away from Halloween as you can get, we have a LOT of news to go through. So strap yourself in and prepare to get updated on all the goings on in the haunted attraction industry! This Week's Episode Includes: Conference RemindersHalfway to Halloween Celebrations (and Openings) Man ...
May 15, 2017•52 min
Send a text You might remember we sat down with Japes a few times in the past. For example Episode 59 , Episode 46 and Episode 43 if you're curious. You migh also remember that, on Episode 65 , we discussed toxic actors and repeatedly said we wishes we could have Japes on this subject. Well, our Japes prayers have been answered as the actor guru sat down with us to discuss toxic actors and everything we said wrong. To that end, he started with correcting the term "toxic actors" saying he prefers...
May 08, 2017•59 min
