HaunTopic Radio: Haunted Attractions | Haunted Houses | Hallow...

In this one hour audio podcast episode, you will learn haunted house scare acting ideas from Darryl Plunkie (my co-host and scare actor at Dedmonton House) and pick up a few tips from (me) Brian Foreman on Managing the Dead Factory Haunted House in Mexico, Missouri.

Scare Acting Stories and Ideas from Deadmonton House

Darryl Plunkie, co-host of HaunTopic Radio and Haunted House Scare Actor at Deadmonton House-Canada, knows his way around a Haunted Attraction. Passionate about Horror and Halloween most of his life, he has helped many themed events prepare before the big show by decorating and filling the rooms with a warm body whenever Scare Acting duty calls.

Darryl believes in not just scaring the patron walking through the Haunt but to ENTERTAIN the patron. "People are either paying with their money or their time....sometimes making them laugh can get them off guard just enough and sets them up for the next scare. If you can't scare them, make them at least remember you."

Darryl also throws in Things to Say as a Scare Actor, What to do in an Emergency, and Scare Tactics You Can Try.  

Managing the Dead Factory Haunted House

I have been doing this thing called 'Haunting' since I was a teenager but didn't really know it was a thing until around 2004. I started out as a volunteer Scare Actor helping my brother at a local area Haunted House. When that place closed down, we decided to build an outdoor haunt behind my brother's property called Backwoods Terror.

That lasted a few years until circumstances led for us to shut the doors on that haunt venture. I moved on to decorating my garage for trick-or-treaters (called Home Haunting) and practiced my decorating and scaring techniques for a few more years. This all led up to The Dead Factory in Mexico, Missouri. This is where I am Co-owner, manager, decorator, and wear many other hats as a Hauntrepreneur.

I go over Staying Flexible as a Haunt Manager, Where we are spending our budget next year, and a peek behind the doors of my Haunted Attraction- The Dead Factory.  

Bonus Material in this podcast

• Marketing ideas from Tyler Barnett and Phillip Hernandez (Marketing Monday-Haunted Attraction Network)
• A sample soundtrack from inside The Dead Factory Haunted House.
• 3 NEW Haunt Happenings from within the Haunted Attraction Industry

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HAuNTcon is a traveling Haunted House Convention that chooses a new city each year so that you have  a chance to attend and so that new Haunted Attractions can be explored. With it's Haunt Tours, Educational Tracks, and Networking possibilities; HAuNTcon is a valuable resource for any level of Haunter.

    In this podcast episode, we chat with HAuNTcon Speakers Scott Swenson (Scott Swenson Creative Dev.) and Todd Patton (Fear Connection) about their personal experiences at HAuNTcon conventions in the past and how HAuNTcon is a different show than many other haunt conventions.   Plus, we deep dive into creative ideas around Scare Acting, Haunt Marketing, and Local Competition.  

HAuNTcon 2017: Haunted Attraction National Tradeshow & Convention (website)

• Where: In Nashville, Tennessee on January 26th through January 30th, 2017. At the Sheraton Music City Hotel and Conference Center.
• Haunt Tours: Haunted Hell, Nashville Nightmare, Slaughter House, The Haunted Hospital, Raven's Cross Haunted Village, Skeleton's Lair Scream Park, Devil's Dungeon, Clarksville Zombie Hunters.
• Educational Tracks: Actor Training, Haunt Business, Creative, Escape Rooms, and Live Demonstrations
• Other Events: Costume Ball, Garage Sale, Trade Show, Networking

Haunted Attraction Tips Inside this Podcast:

• Why local Haunted Attraction competition is a good thing for your business.
• What benefits can be gained from attending Haunt Conventions and Shows.
• Marketing ideas for your Haunted House or Halloween Event.

More about our guests:

• Scott Swenson: Writer/Director/Producer at Scott Swenson Creative Development LLC

• Todd Patton: Director/Designer/Manager at Ruby Falls Haunted Cavern & Fear Connection

  If you can't make it to HAuNTcon, search your area for local gatherings and meet-ups. There may be a local Haunter Group in your area. There may also be another Haunt Convention near by. Just get out of your Haunt, go take some educational classes to improve your Haunted Attraction, and meet other like-minded individuals like yourself. We're sure you'll find something great. We always have a great time at each convention we attend.  

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Expect great things for HaunTopic Radio in 2017! Behind-the-scare interviews with professionals in the Haunted Attraction Industry, helpful advice to grow your Haunt from other Haunters, and a brand new website focused on those who want to start & grow their haunted attraction business.

Man!! What a crazy Haunt Season! How was your October?? I had planned to release more podcast episodes in September and October but the Dead Factory grabbed a hold of me and didn't let go. What started as a few small additions to our Haunt grew into over another 1,000 square feet of spiders and cemetery. We built more wall panels, added an effective spider area, and turned our small cemetery scene into a small indoor corn maze.

Now the Dead Factory is over 7,000 square feet! What originally started out as an idea quickly grew into a huge addition to our 20 minute walk-through. But we will have more episodes on that coming soon. As well as stories and highlights from our co-host Darryl Plunkie's adventures up there in Canada. Stay tuned for those podcast episodes coming soon.  

What's NEW for HaunTopic Radio in 2017?

  Audio Episodes focused on starting and growing your Haunt:  Whether you're a Pro Level Attraction searching for new ideas to take your Haunt to the next level or a Home Haunt that would love to be a bigger Haunted Attraction one day; you'll find some nuggets of wisdom inside our podcasts.  

A NEW website focused on Starting and Growing a Haunted Attraction:  I started HauntersToolbox.com last year and realized building this vision in my head was going to take a lot longer than I thought. This vision will be complete in 2017! This website will include a free membership for you if you want access to our Haunt Video Library and include a free Haunter Dashboard. This website will also have a paid membership feature that will grant you instant access to all of our Haunt Video Training Seminars, Live Training Seminars, and discounts on Haunt supplies and events. (Coming Soon)  

An update to our email newsletter:  Well...it's a bit more than just a newsletter. Once you sign up for our free newsletter, you get some of our favorite articles and podcasts that we have hand selected for you. You also get all of the new podcast episodes we release. We will also be adding newer articles, more helpful resources, and revamping most of our material. We are trying to add the most value to you- the Haunter that wants to instant results and guidance along the way. Email me at any time by replying to any of these emails. I will respond. You can subscribe for free here.   We are looking forward to helping you be the best Haunter that you can be. And we thank you for sticking with us through the years and being a loyal listener to over 100 podcast episodes! You rock!!  

3 Christmas Tracks from Midnight Syndicate in this podcast!

Keeping the sound contained in the rooms of your Haunt is a challenge. But with one simple material and a few tweaks to your layout, you can almost soundproof your haunt by absorbing lots of the noise. We say 'almost' because it's impossible to seal in all the sound but you can reduce noise overflow between areas. Listen to this podcast episode to learn more.

  We all want our customers and attendees to experience an immersive environment when they walk through the mazes and rooms in our attractions and haunted houses but getting the atmospheres from blending together is a skill. We either use one soundtrack through the entire haunt and use smaller noises within each room or we try to create unique sounds for each area without blending the noises.

Ken Webster, from Sinful Audio (a sound design studio for haunts), explains that with a few simple design principles you can improve the sound experience in each of your rooms. And not spend much money doing it.

Here are 5 things you can try to help soundproof your Haunt:

• Position your speakers up high and pointed down toward the center of your area. This helps shoot the noise to the center away from your exits.
• Design your haunted attraction with angled walls. 90 degree angle walls are the worst for sound bouncing off of them. If possible, design walls or just one wall at an angle to deflect sound.
• Hang pictures and add furniture. The more soft objects to absorb the sound the better.
• Create sound absorbing panels with a fireproof insulation like Roxul or other sound deadening materials.
• Add solid ceilings where possible. Without blocking sprinkler systems and still staying code compliant.

Listen to this episode where Ken explains ways to help soundproof your haunt.

Roxul Panels built by Ken to help soundproof any room.

Creating Low Frequencies that you can feel.

You can also use audio in your attraction that is such a low frequency that it can be felt and give your customers an eerie experience that they won't forget. This is called "Infrasound": which is sometimes categorized as low-frequency sound or signals that are lower than 20Hz in frequency. This also means that it is below the standard threshold of human hearing which is 20Hz – 20kHz. Read Ken's article on Infrasound here.  

Final Thoughts:

Experiment with different layouts with your rooms and areas. Set up your speakers, add furniture and sound panels, and test. Reposition walls if you need to. Set up your speakers a different way. Add more soundproofing panels. Maybe just turn down the volume while leaving the sound still effective.

We're pretty sure your attendees will still have a great show.

We made it to EPISODE 100! Thanks for being a loyal listener! In this podcast episode, we discuss our four years as podcasts hosts, what we have learned, and how you can use our past episodes as an extensive learning library.

We interview Philip Hernandez from the Haunted Attractions Network & Haunt Journal about how his free monthly digital Haunted Attraction magazine provides value to Haunters from beginners to experts. Including new phone apps, a new website, more podcasts, and the purchase of Haunt Nation Magazine. In Issue #5, Philip includes the article he wrote about my Haunted House the Dead Factory and what went wrong and what went right in my 2015 haunt season. A must read! Philip is lifting up the haunted attraction industry through all types of media..and it's all FREE. Learn more at HauntJournal.com

We also interview Jennifer Braverman from the Transworld Halloween & Attractions Show on whats new at the trade show in 2016. More vendors, a larger haunt trade show floor, escape room training, and a few more rooms opened up if you need one! Transworld is the industry's largest trade show for Halloween & Haunted Attractions. Learn more at HAAShow.com We play some more tunes from The Night Keep and include Scene 3 of his dark story of Heretica. Daniel's cryptic tunes will definitely get you in the mood to scare. Learn more at NightKeep.bandcamp.com

Thank you for hanging out with us for 100 episodes and we look forward to the next 100!

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