By its very nature, haunting is an up-and-down business. Sometimes, the queue lines are packed, and other times, it's impossible to get a crowd. After a few gangbuster years, things started to look scruffy, and there were a lot of indicators that should have given the haunters pause. No matter what the economy is actually doing, perception is 9/10s…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're doing the news! We have news about a haunt destroyed by arson, updates from Knotts Scary Farm and a series of celebrities getting involved in the haunt business. All of that and much, much more! This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Question of the Week 3. Conference Reminders 4. NC Haunt Destroyed By Arson - - …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're discussing the game Crime Scene Cleaner, recently released on Steam. The game isn't your standard cleaning simulation game. Instead, it's a masterclass of storytelling through one's environment. A great deal of thought went into the placement and setup of the game, making it one haunters need to pay attention to. So…

This week on Haunt Weekly we're doing a topic that, for us, has been a LOOOOOONG time coming: Aphantasia in haunting. What is aphantasia? It's the inability to form pictures in your mind. Where most of the population can picture a beautiful beach or a country cottage, people with aphantasia see only words, letters or numbers. Though this was origin…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're discussing building or improving your haunt character. It's the perfect time of year for this conversation, too. With just over a month before haunt season, many actors are trying to nail their characters down. This includes veterans looking to up their game and newcomers looking to hit the ground running. So, we'll…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're doing the news! Sadly, this week's lead story involves you-know-who being arrested on some serious charges. However, we also have some haunt openings, announcements from Six Flags and much more. This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Housekeeping Note 3. Question of the Week 4. Conference Reminders 5. RM Arrested…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're discussing the TV series The Walking Dead and examining the lessons that haunters can and should learn from it. From scare tactics to sound design, the show offers much to learn about scaring people. So, we will break down all the things you can learn from the show. This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Work We …

AI is still the big marketing buzzword for the 2020s. However, as the hype and fear begin to fade, it's time to look at what AI can actually do and how it might be able to help. To that end, most of AI's improvements are more iterative than revolutionary. However, that doesn't mean that AI is useless, just that one needs to be smart about how they …

Every haunt has a theme, even if they don't realize it. Sometimes, the theme is no theme; sometimes, it's a generic "Haunted Hosue" theme. Other times, it's something even worse. As haunts begin working on their themes and promotions, we'll discuss themes and the mistakes we see haunts, including some good ones, make when picking a theme. While a h…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're doing the news! It's a busy time for haunt news as we ramp up the preparation for haunt season. However, that doesn't mean we don't have a few stories from outside the industry that could have major impacts on haunted attractions. This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Question of the Week 3. Haunted House Actor …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're discussing day jobs—or rather, why day jobs should hire haunters. Haunting is hard work, and even those who've done it for years or decades may not view it as "real work." However, we should be more proud of our work and hiring managers should take note of the skills we've learned. After all, if we can survive a few…

Haunting is hard work, but it's much more difficult when unprepared. In this episode, we will discuss 13 things that every haunter should own. They can make haunting easier, more comfortable and, in some cases, safer. So sit back, relax and take some notes. You probably have a few things you'll want to buy. This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2.…

A haunted attraction is basically a magic act. Though everyone knows it's an illusion, we don't share how it is done. However, we're throwing open the curtain a bit and looking at 13 secrets that pretty much every haunter knows, but doesn't tell their customers. Some are standard, some are wholesome, and a few we'd probably rather not get out. But …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we are doing the news! We start talking about one haunt that tragically burned down, several haunts that are expanding, and a new experience that an escape room offers. In short, this is one busy episode despite the summer normally being the quiet season. This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Work We Did for the Haunt…

Injuries are a part of haunting, or so that's what many haunters say. Sure, we've all had the magic bruise that appears out of nowhere and the random cut that we can't explain, but serious injuries suck. If nothing else, they keep you from haunting. Fortunately, most haunt injuries can be easily avoided. All you need to do is follow a few simple ru…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're celebrating the retirement of our longest-running partner, our recorder. So we've decided to honor the little recorder that could by remembering how and why we started this podcast and looking back at the ideas, plans and visions we had all the way back in 2015. So take a trip with us down memory lane. Not advised i…

If you search the web for haunted attractions, you'll likely get the Wikipedia entry as your first result. So, after 400+ episodes and thousands of searches, we're finally reading it. So, does the entry do us justice? What did we learn from reading it? What do we disagree with? We discuss that and much more in this episode. This Week's Episode Incl…

This week on Haunt Weekly, it's an episode divisible by four, meaning that it is time to do the news! The news has been surprisingly busy this month, with a haunt scoring a major legal win, the Queen Mary making a comeback, and some haunts getting an early start to the season. So sit back, relax and enjoy as we go through all the haunted attraction…

The haunted attraction industry is bizarre. In many ways, it more closely resembles a sport than an industry, partly because of the importance of amateur/home/charity haunters for sustained growth. That said, a few professional haunters still look down on the home haunt crowd. So, we will talk about why home haunters are important to the industry a…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're talking about shadowcasts, including what they are, why you should check them out and what haunters can learn from them. For those who don't know, shadowcasts are when performers pantomime the film while it is being screened. Most commonly associated with Rocky Horror, many other films have been getting the shadowca…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're donning our hazmat suits and diving deep into the two lawsuits filed by Russ McKamey of McKamey Manor fame. What is he suing for? How solid are his arguments? How could these lawsuits impact the haunt industry? We're going to discuss all that and much more. This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Work We Did on th…

This week on Haunt Weekly it is time to do the news! And we have a LOT of news for you this week including an update on McKamey Manor, an attraction closing at Niles Scream Park, a major Halloween Horror Nights change and much more. We even have a summer camp for little haunters, a new video game to check out and, perhaps most importantly, a happy …

This week on Haunt Weekly we're flipping the script and reading some happy reviews of haunted houses. This includes reading some 30 reviews from the nation's biggest haunts and a few from our own. So let's all join around and have a feel good moment as we share the love from our happiest and most vocal visitors and learn both what they did and did …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're talking about ways that our brains are dumb and how haunters can exploit those tricks to make our scares more effective. With this episode, you can stop living in the past by recognizing that you are always living in the past. You can also learn that your visitors are as well that knowledge can give you an edge. Hat…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're looking at some of the meanest reviews that large, well-loved haunted attractions have ever received. This isn't to call out those haunts, but to show that even the best attractions sometimes get ugly one star review. But how many of these are customers gone wild or actual haunt issues? That's what we're trying to f…

This week on Haunt Weekly it is time to do the news! And it's a quiet month for haunted attraction news but there are plenty of stories for us to sink our teeth into. We have the latest on the Hotel of Terror, a casket washing up on Galveston beach and, yes, that terrible Willy Wonka event in Glasgow. So kick back and relax as we go through the hau…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're taking a more positive approach as we discuss trends we're seeing in the haunt industry that we hope will continue and grow even stronger. Whether it's better accessibility to all, improved marketing or a more diverse vendor landscape, there are a LOT of reasons to be positive about the future of the industry. Here …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're letting you write the episode as we discuss 13 trends we hope will die in the haunt industry, as commented by you. So what were your least favorite haunt trends and what are our thoughts on them? That's the exact questions of this week's episode and, believe me, there's a lot of trends to go around. This Week's Epis…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're talking about haunt trends that we wish would just go away... permanently. That's right, we're covering ten of our least favorite things we see in haunted houses and why we think it's past time the industry moved on. This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Question of the Week 3. This Week's Question of the Week 4…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're doing the news! We have a haunt putting on a special show for a conference, the world's smallest escape room and a petition to save a long-gone but still beloved haunted attraction. This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Work We Did for the Haunt 3. Question of the Week 4. Conference Reminders 5. Spanish Company …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're talking about empowering people, specifically how you can help empower your fellow haunters and your customers through the art of fear. For many people, haunting gives them a very real sense of pride, control and achievement that they can take into other parts of their lives. Here's how to nurture that experience. T…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're taking a look at the things you can learn from reality TV and why your guilty pleasure TV time may not be as big of a waste of time as some may think. To that end, you can learn a great deal from reality TV, from learning what your particular tastes are, mastering new techniques and even basic skills like communicat…

This week on Haunt Weekly, due to illness, we are revisiting an older episode where we sat down with Dwayne Sanburn from the 13th Gate. A great interview with a great haunter. Check out part two of the interview here: https://www.hauntweekly.com/1991532/10646240-haunt-weekly-episode-70-dwayne-sanburn-2-13th-gate ----- Previous Notes: This week on H…

This week on Haunt Weekly we're doing the news! We have a lot of important stories this week including the latest on a haunt owner pleading guilty to sexual assault, a haunt that is facing imminent domain and two major acts of haunt charity. Not bad for a January. This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Housekeeping Notes 3. Question of the Week …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're taking a look at the (now expanding) public domain and what in there might be of good use for haunted houses. Due to a copyright extension, no new works entered into the public domain from 1999-2019. However, now things are lapsing every year including early versions of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse and the rest of …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're celebrating the new year by both looking back at the year that was and looking ahead to the opportunities and challenges we see for the 2024 season. To that end, 2023 was a challenging season with many haunts reporting staffing shortages, lower numbers and rising costs. So, will 2024 break those trends? That's what …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're talking about flat black walls. We promise, it's at least slightly more interesting than watching paint dry. That's because we're talking about how to quickly and easily decorate such walls. After all, we've all been there and run out of time to detail, here's how to fix it. But if that doesn't sound interesting to …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're celebrating episode 420 (nice) the only way we can... By doing a regular news episode... That's right, we're covering all the haunted attraction news that is fit to print including a possible Terrifier haunted attraction, a huge home haunt that's avoided closure and much, much more! This Wee's Episode Includes: 1. I…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're not discussing haunted attractions. Instead, we're taking our year "holiday" divergence to talk about something that means a great deal to us. Rather, we're talking with someONE who means a great deal to us and that is George Patience, the performer behind I HATE XMAS, one of the all-time great anti-Christmas tracks…

As per the intro, go check out George Patience's song "I Hate Xmas" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PrNnVq3CAQ&t=0s ---- Previous Notes ---- This week on Haunt Weekly, we're not actually talking much about haunted houses and instead are looking at one of our holiday traditions: The Anti-Christmas Playlist Our Anti-Christmas playlist is a (ne…

This week on Haunt Weekly we're sitting down with Japes Palles to discuss not only how the Niles Scream Park event went, but also the upcoming event supporting Jim Warfield and Raven's Grin Inn. So, I'm going to skip the usual longer show notes and just encourage you to visit the event's page and get a ticket if you can go or donate if you cannot. …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're doing the news! We have all the latest news from the haunted attraction industry, including an update on McKamey Manor, several stories of haunts being robbed and a small-town haunt that is approaching 40 years. In short, we're wrapping up the 2023 haunt season with all the news that is fit to discuss! This Week's E…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're saying it loud and proud: Haunting is for everyone! However, there are numerous people who are intimidated to try. Maybe it's due to a physical issues, a fear of being the new actor in the haunt and so forth. So, if you think you can't be scary, here's why you're wrong This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Work …

This week on Haunt Weekly, it's early November, so that means it's time to talk about how our haunt season went. From a haunt perspective, it was our best season ever with great haunt, amazing visitors and plenty of laughs and smiles shared. That said, there are a few issues that we wanted to go over and improve next year. So sit back and relax as …

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're delving into the last three haunts we visited this season, namely Decomposed Haunted House, Haunting on Da Bayou and Rise Haunted House. Spoiler: It is a very strong finish to our haunt visits this season. In addition to that, we talk a bit about how our season is going and about a fun little game we've been playing…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're covering the news. However, we're also nearing the end of the 2023 haunt season, meaning we have a lot of news, both good and bad, to go through. So, take a break from your haunt season, sit back, relax and let us take you through all the haunt news that is fit to print! This Week's Episode Includes: 1. Intro 2. Que…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're doing another split episode as we first talk about how our 2023 season is going so far and then detail our trip to the 13th Gate. So how has our season been going? It's been a real mixed bag. Though we're happy with all the results and feel as if we are in a good place, the process has been brutal. As for the 13th G…

Check Out the Haunted House Chicago Event Here: https://www.hauntedhousechicago.com/2023/09/special-event-for-jim-warfield-and-ravens-grin-inn-save-the-date/ Most haunters are already very familiar with Raven's Grin Inn, a year-round haunted attraction in Mt. Carroll, IL. The brain child and labor of Jim Warfield, it is an attraction that is both u…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're doing things a little bit differently. This episode was recorded last week, right after we visited the two largest haunted attractions in the New Orleans area: The Mortuary Haunted House and New Orleans Nightmare. So what did we think of these haunts? Did they help us find our Halloween spirit? You'll have to tune i…

This week on Haunt Weekly, we're doing the news. As the 2023 haunt season gets underway, we have a LOT of news to go through. We have a major announcement involving an event to honor Raven's Grin Inn, an Omaha haunt shutting its doors, haunters that are courting controversy and much, much more. So sit back, relax and enjoy all the haunt news that i…