Co.Design | business + design: Every autumn, millions of Americans flock to haunted houses, happily willing to pay $20 or $30 to get petrified out of their wits. Scaring people is no amateur game: haunted houses make up a $300 million industry in the U.S. But there are only so many ways you can startle someone effectively (check out some DIY ideas here). So how do big-name haunted houses keep scaring customers year after year?
13 comments:
It's fascinating to me that haunted houses are transforming from a more passive experience (things happen to the visitors) to a more active experience (where the visitors are really a part of the story). I think that it's very possible to have a virtual reality haunted house, but I believe that would detract from the actual experience.
When visiting a haunted house, the main appeal for me is all the new sensations. These sensations wouldn't be as pronounced or real if they were hidden in virtual reality. Haunted houses are about taking people out of their comfort zone and putting them in a (hopefully false) sense of danger. That doesn't work with technology because technology is our comfort zone. We're the generation that grew up with computers and immersive gaming experiences--our technology is an extension of ourselves. Removing us from that extension makes us truly terrified.
It's good to see an article about the actual design process that goes into a Haunted House and how much thought and planning actually goes into these events. From a theatre background I have a hard time walking through Haunted Houses since I know the tricks they use to create the event. I'm trained to see something that is supposed to draw your attention and then I look in the opposite direction. There is the interesting aspect of newer haunted in having a more interactive experience with their tour. While it's an interesting time, I don't know how much it really adds to the experience. I remember going through the hands on portion of Scarehouse last year and found it to be largely anticlimatic since while you have people moving you around and doing things to your person, you know it's not real so I had a hard time suspending my disbelief and it was hard to let the world envelope me. It'll be interesting to see where the world of haunted houses go in the future and what needs to be added to them to continue scaring people in the world.
Haunted houses are a very interesting thing. They combine so many elements of design and production into one singular event. It even includes acting. I think that the article hits the nail on the head that you should take advantag of the the space that you are in when planning haunted houses. Places with farms or old buildings often do well because they already have the aesthetic of being haunted, but when you try to go into a space that was not designed to be creepy in any way it tends not to be as successful. I also like how the article mentioned that one of its best tools is surprise. It is so powerful and mind bending that it almost always works.
I absolutely love interactive haunted houses! One of the things I thought about when reading this article was seeing "Tamara" a few months ago. The idea that you follow the story in a 'choose your own adventure' style is very clever and definitely something that should be adapted to a haunted house. The idea that the narrative is very interwoven and audience gets to decide where they go, what they see, and how they are scared is such a cool idea.
That would definitely be something I'd love to see.
One of the things I found interesting about this article was at the beginning when they were talking about the benefits (and challenges) of using a real abandoned space as a haunted house. It reminded me of something Kevin taught us in Basic PTM: "whenever possible, get a real one." It would certainly be possible to build a haunted house from scratch. It would definitely make certain things easier- it would be much simpler to build in many of the effects and make changes as needed rather than worrying about disturbing historic architecture. However, the feeling your audience gets from knowing they're in a real abandoned prison is something that you could never replicate. In addition, having rooms and spaces already made can give you limitations that actually force you to think more creatively. In the article they talked about how they used the rooms as inspiration for the scenes- this definitely would make a more creative narrative than if they went with a simple traditional haunted house.
I have always loved haunted houses and would love to work on them in the future. This past weekend, some friends and I went to Pittsburgh Scarehouse and they did a fantastic job at keeping the audience engaged and scared. Time and pacing for scenes is the most important element for me. "The true key to designing a good startle scare is that the visitors don't see it coming." At some moments in the Scarehouse, I would see the group in front of me getting scared and I could anticipate the scare coming. Terror Behind the Walls sounds and looks amazing from their website. Working for this kind of entertainment would be something that I would truly love.
THIS LOOKS SO COOL AND I WANT TO GO REALLY BADLY! I am freaking out right now this looks so cool. Also, these steps are definitely easier said than done. I thought this was more of a ‘to do’ or a ‘how to’ for haunted houses, but this actually just a great article for the publicity of this haunted house. There is so much potential for a space such as a large prison. It is crazy to think that there are hundreds of actors running around the space, the managers must be having a fun time. I can imagine that being such a large part of the terror factor, the idea of being surrounded by monster and killers. I am interested to see a ‘haunted house’ space that is the same size as Terror Behind The Walls, but does not have the design or technical limitations that this space does (it being a museum during the day). The potential would be truly endless.
You can really tell that they put a lot of effort into making this haunted house look frightening and extremely realistic. After viewing many of the photos I could tell that they used lighting- amongst other things- to enhance the feeling of each space, just like you would with theatre. This virtual reality experience makes it more attractive to me. I used to work at Fright Fest in New Jersey and after that I have had a unique fascination with the process of creating and designing a haunted house. I liked how this article told more about the process of designing and creating it.
Haunted houses are so cool, and I really wish that I went to them more. I think that the work that these people do is incredible, and it was so interesting to read about their process. Also, I think that the historical aspect of where they are is fascinating. Abandoned mental asylums are creepy enough as is, but making it older and haunted, and then turning that into a haunted house, sounds so creepy/scary/awesome. It was also really interesting to read about the detail and attention that they put into things like timing. The attention to detail that goes into keeping designs and attractions in the world of the experience is one thing, but being able to time having groups of people within 10 feet of each other and not ruining scares, as well as making sure that people don't hear the same audio twice is really fascinating. It seems like such an incredibly well run place, and I really would want to go there one Halloween (although I'm sure that's not gonna happen). Also, there was a link to another article about things you can do to your house at Halloween that was okay. If you can use Arduino and feel like spending a bit of money it's worth checking out.
While logically I always knew that designing a haunted house wouldn't be a walk in the park, I had no idea the extreme care and design that went into making the good ones. I find it fascinating that there are so many aspects to the construction. The way that various aspects are manipulated to play on psychological reactions is fascinating. For example, using the flickering lights to create agitation, or basing designs off of the existing architecture to create an authentically terrifying experience. I wonder if a haunted house could eventually incorporate things like scent to create a fully immersive experience.
Designing immersive environments is a complex process in which a multitude of different parameters come into play, and that haunted houses pose a particular challenge as immersive experiences because of the particularities and difficulties that come with scaring audiences. I like that this article described certain parts of the design process so extensively. It’s always fascinating to think of haunted house as a theatre person, because they are very similar to what we do, but many of the priorities differ from one to the other. Having worked on designing haunted house myself, my theatre knowledge and skills were extremely helpful but I still had to change the way that I think about a design and the resources available in order to get in “haunted house” mode.
The shift to interactive haunted houses is interesting but not surprising, as the entertainment industry is constantly having to adapt to customers wanting more interactive technology and products.
Haunted houses are real-life horror movies that you yourself can experience. I really don't havea preference on Haunted House type, but I do know that I surprise easily. Jump scares, while cheesy, really get me and I love it. The best haunted houses I've gone to are ones that pull you into the story. I'm not a fan of interacting with them, but I do enjoy being led on a story rather than just a walk where things jump out at you. Suspending disbelief in this kind of situation though is really difficult. In an immersive experience like this where you're looking for one specific reaction from people, it's crucial that you get all the nuances right. Something as simple as a tag left on a prop can bring you out the world. For instance, I went to a Haunted House and one of the shirts was Abercrombie. I don't shop there but I recognized it immediately and it was the only thing I could focus on for the rest of the experience.
Using a real space which inflicts fear adds so much more to the experience than any built environment that has a manmade feel to it. This sense of reality adds a new level of detail to the experience that will help place the audience in a truly scary environment. I've been to so many "fright nights" and themed haunted houses that the startle scare rarely works on me anymore. Not only do I expect it come but I am also usually disengaged by the lack of attention to detail in the scenery and installation of the set. In the past few years I have yet to be truly scared by any haunted house. I want to go to this haunted house in Philadelphia to see if I can finally be fully immersed in the experience so that I can FINALLY be scared.
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