Introduce Yourself...

[TrueDungeon]

Jeff From True Adventures, Ltd.

*** Sorry, I thought I posted long ago... ***

My name is Jeff Martin, and I DO NOT operate a haunt attraction. Nope. Instead I coordinate a very large live-action gaming event called True Dungeon. TD is a two-hour experience built in a 20,000 s.f. hotel ballroom that allows players to step inside a life-like Dungeons and Dragons experience. We are even sponsored by the owners of the D&D game (Hasbro), and we are the premier event at the world's largest gaming convention -- Gen Con Indy. We run 3,000 people through our sold-out event over a 3 day period in August.

We have also done some events for Upper Deck Entertainment, and we are talking with other well-known companies to bring their IP to life.

I get some GREAT ideas from this forum, and I find the people who frequent is very helpful and nice. Some day I may do my own haunted attraction, but since my huge event is in August, it is really bad timing.

My day job is President of Dwaven Forge, LLC which is a really cool gaming miniatures company that makes the world's finest 3D miniature gaming terrain.

I love my TWO jobs -- and I think I am the luckiest gamer on Earth!

www.truedungeon.com

www.dwarvenforge.com

[Gambit]

Name: Chris McSweeney
Age: 21
Character: Dr. Chatter
Haunt: Fomerly Death Valley Haunted Aslymn-- 15 Minutes South of Nashville

I am not new to haunting a house, I am new to becoming an entrepenure within the haunting community. The owner of the haunted house that I worked died last year and so did his beloved haunted house.
I have never thought about getting serious into a commercial haunted house, until my wife looked at me and said "if you love Halloween so much, why don't you do something related for a living?"
SO I began searching the net for clues on what to do. I finally found myself staring at the computer screen at Jim Warfields post. I have seen him on other sites and he has done wonders to his Year Round Haunted House. ( Great work Jim ) This is the first site that has actually been beneficial to helping me on my quest to create a haunted attraction. I thank all of those who have responed to my crys for help ( especially Nightgore, thanks for the hyper link to the book, it is already got my mind clicking.) and offered valuable knowledge. I am welcome to anyones insight. Again you all have been extremely helpful and thank you.

[WelchWitch]

Introduce Yourself

I will fly in as well,

I am a 500 year old mischievous but fun loving witch. By day my name is Kim but at night I fly high above you. I joined here last season after numeorus years of being just a haunt goer to becoming a Haunt Operator for Scream Park in Brighton, CO for Little Spider( who is also a member here), who inturn showed me this forum. This year, I look forward to playing more behind the scenes the running the scenes with a local haunt. Havent decided which one yet. I have been a member of other forums, but this year, look forward to coming here more and learning more about the industry with out the drama and politics. I am from Alabama, where I grew up on Jaycees haunts, to coming to Colorado and bringing what I learned there and scaring people here redneck style! I am excited about another season starting and look forward to talking with you all more throughout.

[Lord Barnabus]

Thanks Empress, it's good to be back....Finally!!

[Empressnightshade]

Some of you probably remember me, and others will get to know me.

Happy Haunting!!!

Welcome back, Lord B! Miss ya, Honey!

[Lord Barnabus]

The Terror House in ND

Real Name: Steven Hoffart
Character Name: Lord Barnabus
Location: Minot, North Dakota

I've been a member of HauntWorld for some time now. I have not been here for close to a year as I have not had internet service, and been to busy with a nightclub which I was a partner in. I am now back here, as I got married on August 7th of this past month, got a new house about a week before the wedding, and finally have internet hooked up again. I ran our local YMCA haunt for the last three years that they had the event, took a year off from haunting, then opened The Terror House with a partner. The Terror House ran for four years, and did not open last season as we opened a new nightclub. The club closed a few weeks ago cause we did not have enough customers to keep the place funded. This past week I purchased all the Halloween stuff from my business partner. I won't have a haunt open this season, but am trying to put together a small maze to put at an annual childrens Trick-Or-Treat event that attracts a few thousand youth.

Some of you probably remember me, and others will get to know me.

Happy Haunting!!!

[robertcbradley]

Haunt Fan

Hi Everyone.

My name is Robert Bradley.
Have spent considerable time on the site and decided it was silly not to join to be able to contribute.
Live in Maryland with my wife and dog.
Big fan of the Haunted Attraction industry.

Work as a specialty risk advisor (fancy for commercial insurance broker that focuses on unique industries)

Insurance can be pretty boring to say the least...so I worked over the years to create and implement unique programs for industries I admired and took a great deal of personal interest in. Just hopeful I may be able to offer any guidance or assistance in a such a great field. Currently, I am working to create a program specifically for the Haunted House / Haunted Attraction industry. Reduced premiums, better coverage, less stringent, etc. I'll share that with you as it progresses - if an interest from Haunt Owners, in such a program, exists.

Anyway. not here to "sell insurance." Really looking forward to being involved in such a unique industry with what appears to be an incredible group of people.

Also hope to begin traveling to some of the well known Haunts across the country.

Thanks!

Rob

[No Ones God]

What? Not scary enough for you?

Well, I'm completely new to this forum, so greetings and salutations to all.

Name: Chris Chase
Character(s): Oz the Clown, Gourd the Pumpkinhead (and misc... I like to mix it up.)
Age:34
Years pro: 15 (with a few years off in the middle)
Haunt: Currently looking


I'm a Wisconsin boy who's always been into Halloween but; unfortunately, I've been out of the scene for a while (spent too much time in Australia where they look at Halloween like it's a kids thing.) and the haunt I was employed at last year, even after getting great reviews, is not going to be around this year. So if anyone can suggest a good haunt to hit up for work, especially in the Madison or southern Wisconsin area, I'm all ears.

I'm a professional graphic artist/webmaster for the bulk of the year. I've been known to do ad work, photography, prop design, and websites for the industry.
During haunts, like most people, I do a little bit of everything... but I concentrate on props, make-up and prosthetics, and then acting when I'm not doing the rest.

I also helped run a hearse club a few years back (now I'm just a non-active member) and am in the process of building my dream hot-rod... a '72 Cadillac Superior.

I'm hoping to glean as much business info as I can and open my own haunt in 2009. (Or, hey, lets be optimistic and say next year!)

Question for the Admin: Why are there no Halloween based smileys? (No pumpkin, no skull, etc.)

[Medusa53]

I own a haunted trail here in Mississippi called "Medusas Dark Dwellings".We have been doing this trail for about 10 years now.We do not use a hayride;it's just a walk through the dark woods where creatures of the night wait to eat....that is... GREET you!Very dimly lit,NO guides...NO flashlights...NO hope.This year,I plan to sing a few Halloween karaoke songs to entertain the waiting line.I also plan to do Halloween trivia questions for small prizes and challange one person every half hour to come up on stage and sing karaoke for a free pass.We are also going to offer a couple of Halloween carnival games like The Bloody Duck Pond and Toss a Ring Around the Blood Bottle,that folks can play as they wait at the entrance.Line entertainment...thats my quest this year.

[Mephisto the Great]

Mephisto (the Great)

Howdy!

My name's Erik and I've been professionally haunting since 1998. I was a devoted follower of this site for many years (back in the days when Larry would call you personally when there was an interesting issue debated on the Forum).

I started with a Home Haunt in 1994 which did bang-up business so we went pro with an indoor haunt called the "House of Fear" in a 110-year old mansion in Utah. Work moved my wife and I to the Pacific Northwest and I started up an outdoor haunt, "Dark Hollow" in 1992, but then the owner of the forest got religion and ended the relationship due to his opposition to Halloween. BOO! Thankfully, I ended up getting hired by a Rotary group to help produce "Nightmare at Beaver Lake". My biggest contribution was convincing them to expand beyond their indoor haunt and putting my haunted forest skills to use...and the result led to fantastic business.

Now I'm taking a year off then hope to develop another haunt in 2008. I am a big fan of the "Disneyland" approach of a themed event: family friendly (though scary), atmosphere from the start of the queue-line to end, no rock music or gore, and a storyline that is extended over multiple seasons. We also produce a yearly queue-line DVD that patrons watch while waiting, and last year we filmed a Blair Witch-type "origin of the haunt" film aboard the "Lady Washington" (tall ship used in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie). That was a blast to shoot a film right where Captain Jack Sparrow once stood.

Anyway, haunting's a hoot and in my blood. I look forward to renewing my ties on this forum and gleaning ideas for my next adventure!

[Gorn]

Hello,

My fiance and I recently purchased a Skull making business called Cryptic Imports. We are fairly new to this industry but we have always loved halloween and haunted houses.

We found out about this website from gadget at Evilusions when we met him at the Midwestern Haunters Convention. We had a great time and met alot of awesome people.

If anyone needs skulls for their Haunted house or home haunt please visit our new website www.crypticimports.com and let us know how we can help. We offer quality skulls at very affordable prices. Check out our various skulls from the Classic, exhumed, mummy, clown, reaper, pirate and more.

Thank you,

Mark (Gorn) Podgorny
Terri Swan

[hamilton]

Howdy

I'm Nathan, owner of Turbidite Manor. I have an extensive background in professional entertainment, spanning from performance to directing, tech to producing... mostly in live presentation. I'll be posting a full online portfolio site sometime soon if anybody is really interested. Having such diversity in my past helps bridge the gap between the different disciplines production requires, as I usually can speak everyone's language (designers, technicians, performers, etc) and keep things in perspective.

I strive to do more than scare people... I try to immerse guests in what I like to call the Living Storybook, communicating what some may consider a morality play (without being too preachy) through the use of the haunt medium.

That too deep? OK, I do like to scare people too. ;o) But I plan the scares very carefully, with plenty of setup. Most of the attraction is scenic and illusion based, and it seems to be working pretty well so far... if folks want chainsaws and beheadings, this ain't the place. I think of Turbidite Manor more as theatre than anything else, and run it accordingly.

Though the story is solid, it's all still developing for the audience, even 20 years into the process. Hey, if I had all the resources one could ever want, I'd do it all now... but for the time being I give the crowd what I can. Some love it, some don't get it... but hey, I don't try to please everyone - it's just like that when you present something few are trying.

Glad to be part of the forum now and hope to gain some new wisdom. Cheers!

[Pumpkinman138]

Name:Jordan Sousa
Age:14
Town:Currently in Raleigh,NC moving back to New England tho.
Website:www.geocities.com/jordans_haunt

I started doing my home haunt when i was 9 back then it was just cardboard gravestones. Now i have fog macines, a casket and other great stuff.

[undertaker]

Well my name is Brian, i'm 18 and reside in Detroit, Michigan which people like to consider the Haunt capital of the "Haunted Attraction Capital of the World" due to the number and quality of Haunted events in the metro area.

I'm a Haunted Attraction Enthusiast and have worked in a couple myself. My dream is to one day own a haunted attraction myself but we'll see how that goes since it's a lot easier said than done.

You'll see me roaming around here typically around the Halloween season or whenever i get that Haunted Attraction "itch" which is why i'm roaming currently.

[scaryguy666]

hey larry the site looks good