# I'm starting a professional Haunt!



## ManorOfTerror (Nov 1, 2012)

Hey everyone I'm opening up a proffesional haunt for the 2013 season and was wondering if anyone knows about insurance or anything along the lines and also anyone who has any pointers on anything !!!! Thanks from Anthony


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## HalloweenZombie (Jul 22, 2007)

Hi Anthony! 
I started a pro haunt this very year. I went through all the bs like insurance, leasing, moving expenses, advertising, payroll, building and fire inspections and everything else that comes with it.
Leonard Pickel gives this advice to people who want to go pro: "Don't!" It's actually sound advice, but those of us who are determined won't take that advice anyway. And once you get past that point he has other good advice. 
The best piece of advice I can give you is that if you don't already know about those things like insurance, then you probably aren't ready. Learn about all those things before you even decide to go into haunting. 
There's a book by Kelly Allen called "So You Want To Be A Haunt Entrepreneur" that will answer many of your questions.
Also, attend the haunt conventions if you haven't already. My personal favorite is the Midwest Haunters Convention as they have the best classes for running a haunt business, but I like HauntCon and National Haunters Convention as well. Transworld is there for pro haunters, but the learning curve isn't as high. You'll find that the information sharing doesn't happen like it does at the other haunt conventions.
And if you haven't already first worked at a professional haunt, do so if you have the opportunity. I worked at SpookyWorld to see the business from the inside. When I saw how much effort it really took I knew I wasn't ready and that I needed more time to learn.
Also, it takes a ton of money. Some pro haunters told me it takes a minimum of $100,000 to start a pro haunt. I shrugged it off thinking I could do it for far less. I was wrong!
Lastly, don't just listen to me. Get advice from as many people who run pro haunts as you possibly can, then go with what works for you.
Oh, and I used Donat Insurance. They are familiar with haunted attractions and will know what you need. I was happy with their service.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

To add to what's been said...
It's a whole lot of work, it's more than just insurance, it's coming up with the property, an ad/marketing campaign, ADA compliance, etc., There was an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times last week that covered the business side of pro haunts. For the serious haunts, it's a full time job year round, there are teams that do nothing but the haunts at Knott's Berry Farm, Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc. That alone should be enough of a hint that this is not something you go into lightly. While you may be saying to yourself that "Well, I'm not trying to compete with those places", don't kid yourself, you are trying to capture the exact same market as those kinds of haunts, which means you have to compete with them on the marketing, theme, actors, makeup artists, props, etc. A FULL TIME JOB, YEAR ROUND.
I'm not trying to scare you away, but you need to realize that it's not something you just casually throw together one weekend and think you are going to make any money at all. It's a lot of research, hard labor, both physical and mental, and lots of time and dollars, and that's not even including having the land to do it on.


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## MurrayTX (Nov 4, 2011)

I have no experience running a haunt. However, like others, I daydream a lot about it. The best way I see it is if you convince an organization to host it while you still do the managing and advertising for a cut. That way you see if you can maybe pull off the challenge before setting up rent, taxes, insurance, etc...


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## ManorOfTerror (Nov 1, 2012)

Thanks for the advice guys but I've got a lot of my stuff done and believe you and me I know it's time consuming its what I love but as far as money if your smart about it you wouldn't come nearly close to numbers that were just shot out there I know three haunts nearby me and have spoken with the owners and all I just wanted some input from others so thank you all very much for that .... And a suggestion from me to others is that you get to know many people and have connections before you go pro cause if you don't you get robbed for your money


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## ironlou (Sep 23, 2012)

Im in the same boat as far as opening my own haunt. However, I have given myself a 2 year window to open the doors. Every payday I will make my way to home depot and pick up a few hundred dollars worth of wood panels and stuff, this way Im not getting slammed with a huge check at the end. I think the key to it all is research and more research. Good luck!


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