SO YOU WANT TO HAVE YOUR OWN HAUNT ?
Here are some tips !

Location

Does location really matter when it comes to seasonal haunted houses? I believe it does, but only in extreme cases. If you hold your event in the middle of your local slums, you will surely notice a difference in your attendance (not good).

At the same time, if you hold an event in your city's most populated area, you will also see a difference in attendance (this is good). On the average, most people are willing to drive the distance to visit an attraction if it at least meets their personal standards. (And of course, the attraction needs to be good) Use a familiar area for your event and always have security on site. Have a well-lit area with close (free) parking to the event. Offer on-site restrooms or food if they are not found near by. Does your facility even look haunted? Consider "spooking it up" with a haunted facade.

Haunted Themes

Is your haunted house a horror house, or does it focus more on realistic haunting? A theme will help you maintain a certain spooky atmosphere for your haunt. I first started my haunted house various gags and assorted terror. This included horror movie characters and lots of chainsaws. It was not until a local newspaper review pointed out that a certain haunted house had no plot. "A plot?" I asked. "Who needs a plot?" The paper was right though; they did need a theme. Since then, our house has been running on a legend that its dead owner, Allistair Crowley, has returned to reclaim his house. It really gives the audience something to focus on. The entire attraction revolves around this one story, so chainsaws and movie characters are limited.

Create a spooky character for your haunted house. Robin Graves, Harry the Haunted, etc ... Develop a haunted story or legend about your haunted house. How did it get haunted? If you use a theme, stick with it! Do not give up half way in it and start adding in clowns!

A Floor Plan

Is your layout a safely planned "one-way" path? Walls, ramps, and other areas are all very important issues in a haunt. You always want to give your audience a smooth tour without having to "back track" over them, or having to ask them to hold on while you make sure that it's clear for them to proceed. Signs, tour guides, and recorded messages will help you keep the tours flowing right. Get the most out of your facility by sectioning it off into several small staging areas. Consider using guides to stand to the side and quietly show the way if needed. With a "one way" path, anyone could tour the house and still find their out with no direction.

Ghostly Scenes

Should you use walk by scenes, or use interactive actors and creeps? You're scare factor is most affected by your scenes, so incorporate your audience as much as you can into them. I prefer NOT to use handrails in my scenes since it tends to separate the audience from the horror. The guests need to be a part of thrill and not just on-lookers. Simple walk through haunts is good for younger audiences, but tend to bore the older ones. A good haunt should use both walk by scenes AND short acting skits.

Consider using doors that the audience must open in order to exit the room. Involve them! Always plan to scare your audience forward (this means "getting them" from behind). In every room, use a focal point that they are attracted to first. This could be a body, a table, or whatever. As they are looking at it, the creep comes out from behind. It works every time! Be sure to move around the scenes each time so the audience is left wondering what will happen next.

Music

Are you looking for some really good haunted house music to play this year? Almost every costume shop or Wal-Mart (only during the Halloween season) has a great spooky music cassette or CD. "Horror Sounds of the Night" and "Haunted Horror Sounds" are CD's that I prefer. I have also found that movie tracks work good too. Check out the CD entitled HALLOWEEN: The Best of John Carpenter.

Advertising and Promotions

I am a firm believer in effective advertising. Even if your haunted house is not the best this year, you still need to promote it like crazy. You can use flyers, posters, radio and TV commercials, free public service announcements, direct mail coupons, billboards, newspaper ads and free articles, publicity stunts, and even merchandise. No matter you do to promote the event, WORD OF MOUTH will always be the best! This comes from having a great show, and tons of exposure.

Safe Lighting

Number one on the safe lighting chart is the subject of seizures and strobe lights. From my knowledge with haunted houses, seizure activity is brought on with EXCESSIVE usage of strobe lights. This would include a constant strobe flash, and/or directing the light source into the eyes of the audience. The strobe lights in our haunt are only directed on fixed objects like our electric chair and etc. No matter what you do to prevent harm to guests, it could always happen. Post "strobe light warning" signs as we do, and at least cover yourself this way.

Another tip would be to ALWAYS have back-up lighting in your haunted house. If something were to go wrong, you could turn on these lights quickly. We have overhead lights with emergency switches, and use individual safety lights in each room. They consist of simple clamp-on lights.

Dark is good, but use it wisely. Perhaps place small candle fixtures or blacklights to lead the way. In our darkness parts, we've added boarded windows. A regular (or fake) window is covered with pieces of painted scrap wood. Under the wood is a hidden light source that shines through the boards in the dark. Red, green, and even blue work great!

Tunnels and Ramps

You should NEVER require anyone to bend over, jump, or crawl in a haunted house. They should always tour in their normal standing position. Sorry, but save the tunnels for the playground. There is too much risk for anyone having to crawl in an attraction, and there would be no way to regulate the safety issues on this either. On top of all of this, tunnels do not even fit most haunted house criteria. In my opinion...too dangerous, not scary, and not worth it!

Plus, it's always nice to have your haunt "handicap accessible" so that a person with a prosthetic leg, a wheelchair, or even a kid with a cast on his broken leg and crutches can navigate your haunt. Boasting that your site is "handicap accessible" is good public relations. Remember to test it out yourself first, grab your hands on a wheelchair and test your haunt. If you can't navigate it, how can someone else do the same ?

As long as your ramps are built safe, I see no problem. Ramps add a special feel as you tour a haunted house. I have one ramp (incline) that levels off into a flat platform. You then exit down from the platform around a downward (decline) ramp. They are built sturdy and safe for even the biggest person. The great thing is that you hardly notice you are on them until you reach the top. (A cheesy white stone paint job looks great under blacklight.)

Haunted House Supplies

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." My favorite haunted house items were bought at my local Salvation Army and Goodwill Thrift Stores. Lights, pictures, dummy clothes, and loads more of CHEAP stuff can be picked up here! Visit your local thrift store today, and you will not be disappointed. Yard sales also fall under this category. If you have to buy at regular price, then Home Depot (also Lowe's, Builder's Square, Hechinger's) are great places to shop. These large warehouse stores carry almost everything for haunted houses except actual bloody props. The main advantage of shopping here is the low prices and convenience of a "one stop" shop. Radio Shack is a great place for red LED lights, mini-bulbs (for eyes), circuit boards, and all of the other nick-knacks for building detailed haunted house figures. You could also run into specials on radio speakers and alarms. Also check out American Science and Surplus for tons of useful leftover parts and accessorie.