Biggest Article EVER WRITTEN... THE BIBLE OF OUR INDUSTRY

[damon carson]

Well if you do the math Noah. One is 1yr older than Edge. And the other one is 3 yrs older.
Damon

[Jim Warfield]

Ravens Grin =old

This place was built in 1870! It has been haunted since at least 1925. So Many people in town have such stories about this house. It once had as many as five apartments in it.
The local JCs had their haunt in it around 1975.
I have had the lights on and been open here for tours of the house for 8,760 nights besides being open almost every weekend afternoon, Sat.& Sun, from 2 to 5.
I have done probably 98% of all the work here over the period of my ownership, with very little help, my Wife, Jessica has been here for ten years and she does alot with the running of this business and even helping alot with the roofing here. (Lots of roof!)
Recently a woman told me I have alot of money invested here. Yes I do by my standards, not by most of the world's though. My major investment here is sweat equity. I told her I owned the house for maybe four or five years before I ever bought a new piece of lumber. I tore down a house, barn, was given old lumber piles.
You do it how ever you can financially.

[MDKing]

Man, these haunts were around before I was even born. I guess another thing to look at is which were the first haunts that really took it serious as a business and strived to have a professional look and run a professional attraction. I guess if you're acharity and have the building or property already it's a bit different then taking the leap and aquiring your own spot and building it up on your own that's a whole different ball game.


Allan

[Infoamtek]

The Campus Life "Scream in the Dark" I helped with in the early '80's started around 1968 and was a fixture in San Diego for many decades.

[terrormasue]

WOW! I went to that haunt when I was a kid back in the 70's. To this day that was the best haunted house I have ever been to. If I remember right we had to go down a slide to get to the catacombs where the haunt was. I remember coming out of a room with black and white squares while a stobe light was going on and off. Talk about disorienting. The next room was Frankenstein, and when he got up off that table....well that was real, it WAS Frankenstein! Yes I was young and I will never forget it.

[Jim Warfield]

"Frank"

Was already , what? 180 years old when you met him. He still remembers you and tries to call you every Friday the 13th when the moon is full, ?
It's nice and fitting that you still remember him too.
Impressing the customer is where success resides.

[robert]

I remember being too scared to make it through a haunted recreation room at a local Autumn Fest when I was 10 so that would put it at 1959. The idea has been around for a long time but the Seventies somehow gave them the professional push. Also Disney's Haunted Mansion has had a profound effect on the Haunt Industry as inspiration for many of the industries early movers and shakers.

[Soul Reaper]

There has been several haunts around for decades. And I also like to read about them. I for one am looking forward to get a copy of issue 27 and reading what you have wrote Larry. I think if you could keep it full length it would be better.
And I agree with Dalloween it might make it and industry collector's issue.

[JamBam]

My dad can whip your dad...

If Larry is writing the bible of the haunted house industry, does that make him the haunted house God? LOL

The first Jaycees haunted houses that I have heard about started near or in Louisville, Kentucky. The Huntington Jaycees started their haunted house about 1967. A past member that was involved back then is a personal friend of mine. It started like many of them, from another chapter sharing their idea.

The state conventions were great networking events and it was at these that their version of a business plan, Chairman's Planning Guide (CPG), was submitted in dozens of categories and awards from peer judging. It was the CPG that was the idea generator for other chapters to get ideas for projects to run in the communities and give the members experience in leadership.

As with any great idea that looks like a gold mine, other groups, individuals, and companies jumped into the haunted house business. While Jaycees usually would try to find an unused house or building, it was the private operators that took it to the next level and beyond. Much further than most charity haunts could.

[Jim Warfield]

The Rockford JCs

Had enough donations to hire carpenters to build it for them using donated 2 by 4s and brand new plasterboard and chicken wire and hire a bunch of teenagers to operate it for them all in a shopping mall space.
They were "taking it to the next level" in some ways, dropping down to the basement level of customer satisfaction in the quality of the effects and "show" otherwise. (It was pretty bad)
Maybe the worst of it was there weren't any of the JCs doing any of it or having any fun with it.
"Delegate, delegate!"

[Darkangel]

The problem for one source writing the "bible" or a recount of the haunt industry history is it would probably be biased as told through one person's account. To do it right, you'd have to get together a bunch of people in on it who have seen or know the TRUE history of this industry.

DA

[JamBam]

a wiki article?

Larry has a pretty good handle on many things in the industry. That said, he is only coming from the perspective that he has lived and worked. Not knocking you here, Larry. If you have seen "Vantage Point", you understand my statement.

Maybe updating the "haunted attraction" wiki page would be a way to start this. There is a pretty good start on it now.

[Jolly Pumpkin]

I'm actually the one who wrote the entire page, but Wikipedia won't allow lists which I had tons of them for well known haunts, vendors, records broken etc. Basically, if they think you're advertising a haunt they will delete the content. So, the page used to be much more extensive about 3 or 4 days ago, but now it's pretty basic. But, I'm going to copy and paste the old page which featured a lot more information, but it will more than likely be deleted. They even blocked me for a day because I was updating too much. They said it was vandalism and I was the one who wrote the entire page. It doesn't make too much sense, but it is what is.

[Jolly Pumpkin]

Well, I put up the more extensive page, but it will more than likely be altered. I'm not sure how to add photos and it's really in the hands of the wikipedia admins on how it's going to be changed. It will though.

[zombiphobe]

Well, I put up the more extensive page, but it will more than likely be altered. I'm not sure how to add photos and it's really in the hands of the wikipedia admins on how it's going to be changed. It will though.

I like it a lot Noah. Well done.