Haunter Interviews Archives - ScaryVisions: We build your Haunted House

Murder CO & Black Market Escape Rooms with Jon Cooke and Ted Dougherty

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:06 — 68.8MB)

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Black Market Escape Rooms presents “Murder Co”: a R-rated escape experience

BLACK MARKET ESCAPE ROOMS, a new immersive-based attraction company, announces the opening of MURDER CO, a permanent escape experience aimed at turning the attraction industry on its head.

Location: 1220 W 9th St. | Upland, CA 91786 | 909-920-9902

Moonlighting from their day gigs, a handful of theme park professionals have thrown the proverbial gloves off by thrusting guests into an adventure far too severe for the family-friendly confines of an amusement park.

The experience was created by theme park designer, Jon Cooke, who was looking to push the parameters set by the day-to-day requirements in his industry. In response to founding his new side project, Black Market Escape Rooms, Cooke says, “I saw so much potential story and show elements in
escape rooms. I wanted to do something more so I went out and surrounded myself with some of the best experts in the theme park industry and we created this unforgettable encounter.”

Regarding Murder Co’s intensity is attraction writer and director Ted Dougherty, who confesses, “We had to go to some extremely dark places that definitely left a few emotional marks.” Although the attraction may not fall into the category of an “extreme haunt,” it does contain content best reserved for those not easily offended or disgusted.

Expect serious thrills as Cooke is no stranger to terrifying people based on his innovative haunted attraction designs for Knott’s Scary Farm. When conceiving Murder Co, he admits, “It’s what I have always wanted to see and do in an immersive attraction.” A living nightmare is one step away for those bold enough to cross into Murder Co.

JON COOKE has designed, art directed and produced some of the most successful haunted attractions for the world famous Knott’s Scary Farm, including “Special Ops: Infected,” “Paranormal, Inc,” “Shadowlands,” “Trick Or Treat: Lights Out” and “Dark Ride.” As vocalist for the deathcore metal band, Winds of Plague, Cooke has released numerous albums and toured extensively throughout the globe. Taking the two worlds of themed entertainment and live performance, Cooke has melded his experience into creating visionary ways to horrify the masses. www.plagueproductions.com

TED DOUGHERTY is a writer, producer and director having worked with Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm, Cedar Fair and Hollow Studios, including directing and co-writing Fear VR, the first 4-D virtual reality horror experience at a major theme park. www.lunarvisions.com

Listen to our podcast with Jon Cooke & Ted Dougherty here.

Special Guests

Andy Russ and Susan Russ: Dark Forest Creations/ Burn Brae Mansion

National Haunter’s Convention: HalloweenShow.com

Haunter’s Toolbox: Our other website for starting and growing your own Haunted Attraction

The Haunt Rater: How to Take Your Attraction From Good to Great with Robert Nulton

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:02 — 25.7MB)

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In this podcast episode, we talk to Robert Nulton from The Haunt Rater about the elements that he feels makes up a great Haunted Attraction experience and how you can improve your show for next season.

The Haunt Rater has been reviewing and walking through Haunted Houses since 2008. They’ve seen the small town haunts and the nationally recognized ones. They also offer haunt consulting and try to make the haunted attraction industry better through all of their services.

If you want to get these guys to help you improve your Haunt or just reach out and say hi, visit The Haunt Rater website here.

Robert has also starting working on the Haunter’s Association which is still in it’s infancy, but he is searching for like-minded individuals who want to build a community around doing haunted attractions the right way. You can contact Robert at the Haunter’s Association here.

Keeping your Haunted Attraction fresh, safe, and entertaining are just a few things you need each year to provide your customers with a great experience. Getting another experienced Haunter’s point-of-view can help bring a new perspective to your venue, sometimes it takes someone from the outside looking in.

Thanks Robert for taking your time chatting with HaunTopic Radio!

And don’t forget we have our own Membership Community at the Haunter’s Toolbox where we host monthly live online workshops to help you continue to improve your Haunted Attraction.

The Haunter’s Toolbox: You can become a member for FREE here.

Vampfangs: Theatrical lenses, Fangs & Teeth, Makeup, and more with Benjamin Selecky

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:20 — 38.8MB)

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In this podcast episode of HaunTopic, we get Benjamin Selecky on from Vampfangs to discuss:

How to Properly Wear Theatrical Lenses and Why You Need to Choose the Right Ones
Why wearing faux teeth can make your scare character come to life
The new vision he and his business partner, Alexis Abare, have for Vampfangs after their acquisition of the company.
Celebrate 25 years of Vampfangs! (discounts are on their website)
All of the products for Scare Actors and Haunters his company has to offer

Vampfangs Celebrates 25 Years and Announces New Ownership

Vampfangs is excited to announce that after nearly a quarter century, the Salem-born online retailer has changed ownership. Though formally announced in this podcast, the company officially changed hands in July of 2017.

“We are thrilled about our recent acquisition,” commented Alexis Abare and Benjamin Selecky, CEOs of Vampfangs. “It is an honor to be at the helm of such a well respected and established brand. We are excited about engaging with Vampfangs followers and are eager to receive their feedback and input. We are looking forward to bringing the same commitment to quality and personal service to Vampfangs that are at the core of our other businesses.”

“This sale marks one of the biggest milestones in my life. After 25 years, it feels like I sent a child off to college,” said Scott Smiledge, founder and former owner of Vampfangs. “I know that Vampfangs is in the best possible hands I could have ever hoped to find. Alexis and Ben are
great friends with incredible drive, fire, and vision.”

“We are passionate about delivering value to our clients and customers. Our purchase of Vampfangs has created monstrous synergy between all of our brands.” says Abare. “We are committed to creating a phenomenal experience for new and returning guests and are deeply grateful to our longstanding, loyal customers who have made Vampfangs a trusted, global brand.”

Plans for 2018 include expanding their selection of GOTHIKA® Theatrical Contact Lenses to include custom creations as well as toric lenses for patients with astigmatism. In addition to widening the corrective strength options on many popular styles, Vampfangs will also spearhead efforts to educate consumers on contact lens safety.

“Safety of our customers is paramount. We are in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and are proud to be one of the largest sources for FDA Cleared FX contacts in the United States.” commented Selecky.

About Vampfangs

Founded in Salem, Massachusetts in 1993, Vampfangs is a leading online retailer of custom fit vampire fangs, GOTHIKA® contact lenses, fragrances, and apparel. They pride themselves on exceptional customer support and offering unique, personal products. Vampfangs is proud to serve the Halloween, cosplay, vampire, gothic, occult, haunted attraction, and makeup/special effects markets.

Vampfangs is a wholly owned subsidiary of Iron Raven, Inc. and has two sister companies; Haunted Farms of America ( farmhaunts.com ), a service provider and support community for farms that produce Haunted Attractions and Agritainment; and Dark Alchemy ( shopdarkalchemy.com ), a newly launched Occult Lifestyle & Apparel Brand.

For more information on Vampfangs, visit Vampfangs.com

Enter their contest at https://www.facebook.com/vampfangs/

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Support our Kickstarter project at http://scareitbadges.com/kickstarter

Talking Haunts and HAuNTcon with Scott Swenson and Todd Patton

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:38 — 33.5MB)

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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.

(This post was originally created at http://hauntopic.com/hauntcon-2017/)

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 Haunt 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.

Music By Midnight Syndicate: Zombies!!!

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Soundproof your Haunt and Create Your Own Sound Effects with Sinful Audio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:25 — 48.0MB)

Subscribe: Apple

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.