I read about needling the next thing in haunted houses. New marketing, hi-tech, more national exposure, pushing the envelope, over the top gore, nudity etc.
Last season, on average, haunt attendance was down. We claim our audience is desensitized by video games and movies.
Forgive me if I missed a discussion, but have we considered that the thrill is no longer a mystery? Read on.... Before I got into the haunt business, I was blown away by the dancing ghosts in Disneys Mansion. Of course, I knew they weren't real, but the "how did they do that" was so intriguing to me. Once I learned how it was done, it was still 'cool', just not as cool.
At TW last month, we brought a guy to help in our booth ( I am a buyer and now 2 nd yr vendor) . He does magic. He had people scratching their heads at dinner in the evening. Wait! Let me rephrase that...he had ALL of US scratching our heads. I knew there was a trick to each performance, but I'll be damned if I could figure it out.
Later that night, I got him to show me how one is done (a cardinal sin in magic, shhhhh). Wow! So dang simple! It's still a cool trick/magic , but now that I know how it's done, well, ....ugh, just not as cool.
So we have websites like this one for us haunters. As we discuss topics amoungst each other about "how to" , challenges, plans, ideas etc., the whole general public can see it. They can link to vendors and watch videos how things are done. We have people (typically and respectfully, not haunt owners) running around TW filming and taking pics of all our latest and greatest ideas and inventions to WOW our customers this fall, but these people have it all out there for the world to see by 5 pm Thursday, opening day of TW. "They now know how the peppers ghost is done".....Not quite as cool.
I'm not hammering on HW, but why is a forum for Professional Haunters open to the public?
Why are so many people who aren't buyers walking the trade show floor?
I feel, in my opinion, that the mystery is slowly being diminished by exposure. I don't think it's the sole reason, but it's something that should be looked at. Not that we can change it.....
Last season, on average, haunt attendance was down. We claim our audience is desensitized by video games and movies.
Forgive me if I missed a discussion, but have we considered that the thrill is no longer a mystery? Read on.... Before I got into the haunt business, I was blown away by the dancing ghosts in Disneys Mansion. Of course, I knew they weren't real, but the "how did they do that" was so intriguing to me. Once I learned how it was done, it was still 'cool', just not as cool.
At TW last month, we brought a guy to help in our booth ( I am a buyer and now 2 nd yr vendor) . He does magic. He had people scratching their heads at dinner in the evening. Wait! Let me rephrase that...he had ALL of US scratching our heads. I knew there was a trick to each performance, but I'll be damned if I could figure it out.
Later that night, I got him to show me how one is done (a cardinal sin in magic, shhhhh). Wow! So dang simple! It's still a cool trick/magic , but now that I know how it's done, well, ....ugh, just not as cool.
So we have websites like this one for us haunters. As we discuss topics amoungst each other about "how to" , challenges, plans, ideas etc., the whole general public can see it. They can link to vendors and watch videos how things are done. We have people (typically and respectfully, not haunt owners) running around TW filming and taking pics of all our latest and greatest ideas and inventions to WOW our customers this fall, but these people have it all out there for the world to see by 5 pm Thursday, opening day of TW. "They now know how the peppers ghost is done".....Not quite as cool.
I'm not hammering on HW, but why is a forum for Professional Haunters open to the public?
Why are so many people who aren't buyers walking the trade show floor?
I feel, in my opinion, that the mystery is slowly being diminished by exposure. I don't think it's the sole reason, but it's something that should be looked at. Not that we can change it.....
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