Systems like this help teams manage guest flow and ensure staff safety. (Kingsville, Ontario). ( ve never been through a haunted house. The scariest movie I’ve ever watched is The Ring from 2002. I do enjoy a good thriller novel, but I’m quick to scream when someone appears around a corner too quickly.
You might think that’s pretty normal—except that every October my friends and family know I disappear into haunt season to run spooky experiences for scare-lovers. I’ve worked in haunts that run through greenhouses, shipping containers, actual corn mazes, forests, and fields. Each one is different, but the goal is always the same: to bring guests into a different world, just for a little while.
It’s been a decade (plus) since someone first asked me to manage a haunted experience, and I’m still doing it, having carved a niche out in a small industry full of weirdos like me. I’ve managed hundreds of haunt staff and watched thousands of guests scream and then laugh at themselves. I’ve painted dozens of tombstones, lost too many pairs of pants to fake blood spills to count, and spent a lot of time in strobe lights.
Here’s what I’ve learned along the way and the most common questions I get, answered. How do you design the scariest ones? Are there storylines to the haunts, and if so, who writes them?
When people ask us this as they enter or exit, my quick answer is that usually I don’t sleep much, or I have a lot of nightmares. While both those things are true, it’s actually from thinking about what’s classically scary—and using that theme to inspire a cohesive story. Yes, the best haunts have storylines!
You might not engage with the whole tale, or even catch that parts of it exist, but a more cohesive experience comes from a narrative. From character names (even though they never introduce themselves) to easter eggs in scenes or sets, we use the storyline to pull guests into the peaks and valleys that come with being terrified. I’ve worked at three different outdoor haunts, all with completely different styles of collaboration when it comes to how the stories are written.
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