Hi, I'm Patrick and I'm a first time haunter.
I've long been fascinated with haunts and scaring people. Back when I was a lad, I used to put on a Freddy Krueger mask and run around a bible camp I used to attend, hiding in bushes and grabbing people's ankles as they passed. Oh what fun those heady days of youth were. I've wanted to do a haunt for a long time. I've volunteered for a few, attended many, but never ran one.
Then I got my dream job at the local radio stations. I thought perhaps I could convince my bosses to sponsor one. I sat on the idea for a couple years (as management had changed a few times since I was hired), until I had the opportunity last year to present my idea during a company meeting where they were looking for event ideas. I was prepared: I had locations in mind, I had a theme in mind, how we would get sponsors for it, how the money made would go to charity, I felt I was prepared for any question they were bound to ask.
The conversation went like this:
BOSS: Anyone else have any ideas for events we could do?
ME: I think we should do a haunted house.
BOSS: Okay, make it happen.
Shocked that it was that easy, I set to work. I gave the sales staff my list of choices for locations and asked them to set up meetings with the owners (as most of the owners were already clients). At the time, only one location got back to us, a farm that would be great for a haunted hayride, (but with Autumns in Wisconsin, that can be a dicey proposition). We passed on that location, and that seemed to be the end of it. Until about 3 weeks ago. While working a remote with the head of sales, I asked if there was any process in looking for a haunt location. "Oh, yeah, we can do it in the mall."
Um...when did you find this out and why wasn't I notified sooner? And of course, I 'm expected to have everything done and raring to go for October.
So I have a haunt to put together in a very short period of time. Fortunately, I was planning on starting small and building over the years (hopefully). I'm not going to be able to do everything I wanted, but I think it will be a good experience.
I found this forum a couple weeks ago, lurking at first, and thought it would be a good place to put down my experiences and get advice from those who have come before.
More to come soon!
TC
I've long been fascinated with haunts and scaring people. Back when I was a lad, I used to put on a Freddy Krueger mask and run around a bible camp I used to attend, hiding in bushes and grabbing people's ankles as they passed. Oh what fun those heady days of youth were. I've wanted to do a haunt for a long time. I've volunteered for a few, attended many, but never ran one.
Then I got my dream job at the local radio stations. I thought perhaps I could convince my bosses to sponsor one. I sat on the idea for a couple years (as management had changed a few times since I was hired), until I had the opportunity last year to present my idea during a company meeting where they were looking for event ideas. I was prepared: I had locations in mind, I had a theme in mind, how we would get sponsors for it, how the money made would go to charity, I felt I was prepared for any question they were bound to ask.
The conversation went like this:
BOSS: Anyone else have any ideas for events we could do?
ME: I think we should do a haunted house.
BOSS: Okay, make it happen.
Shocked that it was that easy, I set to work. I gave the sales staff my list of choices for locations and asked them to set up meetings with the owners (as most of the owners were already clients). At the time, only one location got back to us, a farm that would be great for a haunted hayride, (but with Autumns in Wisconsin, that can be a dicey proposition). We passed on that location, and that seemed to be the end of it. Until about 3 weeks ago. While working a remote with the head of sales, I asked if there was any process in looking for a haunt location. "Oh, yeah, we can do it in the mall."
Um...when did you find this out and why wasn't I notified sooner? And of course, I 'm expected to have everything done and raring to go for October.
So I have a haunt to put together in a very short period of time. Fortunately, I was planning on starting small and building over the years (hopefully). I'm not going to be able to do everything I wanted, but I think it will be a good experience.
I found this forum a couple weeks ago, lurking at first, and thought it would be a good place to put down my experiences and get advice from those who have come before.
More to come soon!
TC
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