Anyone Seen One of the Gould/Hilligoss Jaycees Haunt Handbooks from 1975?

[Randy Schadel]

After 44 years of haunting I'm in the process of gradually changing over my longtime haunt review website to a "Classic Haunts" website for the southwest Ohio area (since I've accumulated so much material over the years...it'd be a shame not to have the piles of photos and event narratives be preserved somewhere). One thing I've been looking for for (literally) decades is a copy of the 1975 Jaycees Haunted House handbook by Jim Gould and Tom Hilligoss. It was the first real "how-to" guide in the biz and a bible that helped the Jaycees become haunt powerhouses in the 70's. I'd like to feature it on my site, as it really is of some historical import for the haunt industry and deserves not to languish in obscurity (planning to do the same thing for the Morris guides, of which I have the five/six different editions). Of course, to do that, I'd have to FIND one! I've talked to dozens of former Jaycees haunters that had one but either wore it out or tossed it when it became outdated (or their attractions closed). So if anyone could point me in the direction of a copy (or a scan or PDF) it would be most appreciated.

[JamBam]

me too.

If you get a copy, I would be interested in seeing it either online or in person.

[Randy Schadel]

Hi Brett, yep, that'd be the plan-I'd like to make it available online to anyone (of course, potential copyright issues would have to be taken into consideration). Ideally, I'd like to track down and interview one or both of the original authors and in the process obtain their permission to post it online.

[davidm]

There's 12 Jim Gould's in Ohio (78 nationwide) and only 4 Tom Hilligoss nationwide all in the midwest, have you tried calling them?

[JamBam]

have some old contacts

I had a couple of emails from people that knew Tom Hilligoss and have sent emails looking for currnet info.

Brett

[Randy Schadel]

DavidM, a good suggestion and I did pull up both names online and checked them out for some likely suspects. The best matches for Hillinger (mainly based on the likely age range of about 56-79, with 58-70 being most probable) seemed to be on the West coast and I had a harder time finding good matches for Gould. After haunt season is over I’ll probably contact a few of them.

Brett, thanks for putting out the feelers-I appreciate it.