There is no place for this in our industry what so ever!!!!!!!!

[drfrightner]

The reality is PR this Halloween was dominated by two things...

1) Fatal Accidents in Haunted Attractions

2) Offending People / Extreme Haunts: Don't know if they helped those haunts or should I say attractions that called themselves haunts with one story after another about how offensive these attractions are to certain people. We live in such a PR world that you can find like 500 outlets that will run a story about your cat being offended. That is how the world works now.
So I wasn't surprised that the news would report on the serial killer aspect offending people, or the extreme haunts that people think are going to far, blah, blah. The media jumped on this stuff and stayed on it all the way to the end.

Extreme haunts are begging for trouble and honestly I see no long term future in them... they are gimmicks for haunts who really have no ability to create something worth attending in the first place. Shock is easy to do its easy to obtain but they never last long.

I would predict next year the media will have forgot all about that aspect and will instead focus on something different.

Larry

[haunter1313]

I think the place in San Diego got all the press with their super extreme home haunted house. I watched the video holy mother of Christ. How does that haunt get away with all that stuff. Love to see or hear more information about that place.

[Jim Warfield]

Jeff Dahmer's Cousin and Wife..

Came through Ravens Grin a number of years ago. I discovered who they were when I said to the Father:"Open up the refrigerator and see who's home for lunch, Mr. Dahmer!"
Both he and she looked daggers at me as he said he was Jeff Dahmer's Cousin. (He had only met his infamous Cousin a time or two, never shared a meal together.)
Some psychos are just born that way, many are not, instead they go through this life experiencing new things, criminal sexual things, and never get caught, SO they keep on going further and further, eventually murdering. (This isn't just My theory, it happens like this) A 13 yr.old window peeker doesn't get caught, next he's slipping into girl's bedrooms doesn't get found out, keeps right on going, at age 25 he gets pulled over for no brake lights and the Police find the bodies of three dead hookers in his van-Caught!
So place this unfortunate human hobby on a Haunt that keeps getting more and more extreme, until a real serial killer is now working there. Would the required criminal backround check catch this , no, not if he has never been caught ..yet.
A Psyc. teacher told his class ,"If somebody wants, needs , to wear a cowboy hat as they walk down the city street, so what? They aren't hurting anyone."
But if "Mr. Cowboy" decides to go shooting everyone he thinks just May be an "Indian", that's a whole nuther story, right?
So, Larry(I guess you are workig on this right now?) Here's how you create the perfect Haunt:"Have it all under the same roof, but the lights showing some rooms won't be turned "On" for certain groups.. but it'a ALL Still There for that certain age and particulair fetish, so all the money comes just -a-rolling in! HAHAHAHA! Sure.
The modifying of The Ravens Grin house tour happens via what I choose to say to what group. We will kill the lights to one exhibit if my Wife feels that we should,and I have no problem with that.
I might be doing a Sunday afternoon tour for little kids, then late that same night be doing a tour for a couple of "Frisky" College kids, and these two tours will usually not be the same.
Funny thing is, I enjoy both of these tours.