Creature from the Black Lagoon at Illusive Skull
Putting a haunt in your store is a great way to attract more customers, but it’s a complicated process. On Tuesday, NCA members enjoyed a panel discussion called “Building a Haunt in Your Costume Shop” that featured Brian Clark from Abracadabra in New York City; Bernie Garrido from Bernie's House of Fun in Brownsville, TX; Pam and Dennis Markel, retired owners of Illusive Skull in Fairmount, WV; and Julie Sanchez from Scrappy Costumes in Garland, TX.
Here are six tips from the conversation. (To watch the whole event, click here to log into the Member Portal, then select the Resources tab on the left and scroll down to the Webinars link.)
1. Check your local building and fire codes.
When Bernie was developing his haunt, he planned to put it in a large warehouse he has. But the local authorities had other ideas: “The county said, ‘Yeah, you need sprinkler system.’ And I'm like, ‘That's like $90,000.’ And they said, ‘Yeah.’ And I was like, ‘Well, shoot. All right, plan B.’”
2. If you put the haunt in your store, remember that some people get too scared
When Pam and Dennis operated their haunt, it was located right at the front door so guests would have to walk through it to get into the store. But they also had an alternate entrance: “We always had a ‘chicken entrance’ because there were people and little ones that didn’t want to come through that. It always had a character there, but nothing that would scare the children.”
3. Be prepared to deal with unexpected behavior in your haunt
Scary pig man at Bernie's House of Fun
Of course people will be scared, but sometimes other emotions take over. “A few times we had to go in and break up a make-out session,” Pam laughed. “That happened a couple times. The Witches Hut was quite the place to make out, so to speak.”
4. Look for ideas in popular culture
Wondering where to get ideas for your haunt? “We look at all the scary stuff coming out that people are already watching on TV and stuff or in movies and we try to add that because they’re already scared from the show,” Julie said. “So we try to do themes according to what they’re looking at right now.”
5. Learn about products at Transworld and related shows
Transworld is a giant annual haunt show in St. Louis. But there are smaller, regional options as well. “Any of the horror conventions are good places to start if you don’t want to start at the biggest show,” Julie said. “Even local horror shows are good, because it’s pretty interesting to see the local vendors that hand-make stuff.”
6. Don’t wait until October to start working
A spooky scene at Abracadabra
Haunts involve many layers of development, from permits to construction to staffing to promotion, and you can’t hurry that. When asked what he wished he knew when he started, Brian said: “Ooh, I would say allowing yourself the appropriate amount of time. I’ve done build outs in the second week of October while trying to run a store and that’s just a no-no,” he laughed. “Time is key.”
These tips only scratch the surface of what’s in this webinar. To watch the whole event, click here to log into the Member Portal, then select the Resources tab on the left and scroll down to the Webinars link.