Backstory/Storyline

[HauntChick]

I came up with a novel (in my opinion) way to share my haunts back story with my guests this year.

OMG! I thought of doing something similar to this because Black Ops did it before their release... It's fantastic! Did you have to go through a company to get the call set up how you wanted? Like a service? or am I just not up with the times and that a really easy thing to do on your own?

THANKS!!!

[Nightmaresgate]

Allen..... you are one filthy McGyver!!!!

[FablesStudios]

Allen what a good idea.. wonder if I could set that up with texting somehow..

[Allen H]

I originally started with the concept of an auto reply text program. I ended up using a service that sets up audio tours there are several to choose from out there on the web, If you need help finding one then Pm me and I will tell ya.
Allen H

[legendsofthefog]

LOTF back-story

When we started Legends of the Fog we wanted to be "story-based." There were so many haunts in the area that didn't have the least inkling of story, continuity, or sense to the rooms in their houses. Although there was no story, there was a tremendous amount of funding behind their set design, pneumatics, layout, actors, etc. that it probably didn't matter to some people that they got a story or not, because they got what they paid for... the scare.

When we started, we knew we didn't have these things. We had a 1 1/2 mile hayride, and we certainly weren't going to fill every little piece with an actor, set, or scare, so we started with the story. Before we even started the haunt, we filmed a video telling our back story... we posted a trailer online, and we had a private viewing tent setup for pre-hayride 'briefing'. Once our customers loaded on the hayride, we had story tellers fill in the gaps between stops/sets.
The wagon guides were to gain the trust of the guests, like they were there to get them through to the other side... then the wagon guides turn against the group at the end as the wagon was pulled into a gas chamber and everyone was "gassed" (fogged)... It worked. It allowed us to pull off a medium-budget haunt in a first year without a ton of moving parts.

The director of this film and co-creator is no longer on board, so we had to move on from this film in the 2009 season, and we posted it to youtube as an archived video. We have new videos (not published), and we evolve our story as time allows.

Personally, I don't think that our story isn't going anywhere... nor are zombies. I think we'll always be zombie-based, but we'll do whatever we can to change small things up to keep customers coming back.

As a young haunt or a startup haunt, or any haunt for that matter... investing time into the production of a story... building your haunt around the story... and executing the story... you will connect to your customers in a way that they won't forget. If your customers don't feel like they're on a journey, or there is no plot or compelling story, then there is a disconnect.

Think about hollywood movies. Even high-octane, action driven movies (Crank, Salt, Commando (takes you way back)) have a plot and story. Although people go to these movies to see shit blown up... there was still a beginning, middle and end... a common goal to keep the viewers invested in the movie.