Now once again it lay dormant for another year. Lifeless, just some camp cabins that have aged walls and spooky props.

November has always been a sad time for me. The trees become barren, the air turns cold, and I can no longer get away with dressing up as something ghoulish. This year is no different except there is a sence of accomplishment. I also know the amount of work that lies ahead. For the time being though, I am glad to have some time to relax.

We don’t know what we can put out there though that remains with theme and does not involve a ton of REAL expensive animatronics. I would like to use the existing ropes course to have some rappelling or zip lining over head. This does raise insurance cost quite a bit but would be awesome.

Right now the thought is the current military is trying to contain the radiation from the lab as it has leaked after all these years and began infecting locals.

We thought of putting the animal research out there but thought it would involve too much animations or would look like cheap makeup.

Animatronics can never have the timing an actor has. They can also never be able to read people like a good actor should. An animatronic can replace an actor if the space is too unsafe for a human or if it is something mindless (like a wall knocker)

Animatronics are cool to look at and can be used as decorations if they fit your theme. My belief is that their primary purpose is as a distraction for a real scare from an actor. An animatronic can get a startle at best but never get under your skin like an actor can, the kind of scare that follows you home and has you talking to your friends.

We have an amazing acting staff and Toxicity was designed to allow them to do their thing. This reduces throughput but I have heard feedback from a lot of people who said our first year attraction is the BEST haunt they have ever been through.

A startle will only scare someone for a second, true terror lasts long after your patrons have gone home. The way to do this is interaction. Your actors need to be right there with the patrons, no barriers.

For the most part, she is right and if you don’t believe me go to a Halloween store. Most Women’s costumes are slutty to say the least. they are even making kids costumes slutty. If a girl wants to be something scary, their options are mostly limited to a witch or vampire anything beyond that the girl is looked at in a strange way.

In the haunt industry, women are slutty or  class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”or “>teh screaming victim. If they are scary, it is them screaming from a dropping picture. I guess the perception is that a woman can’t scare a big football player and I am here to tell you this is not true.

In the original design of Toxicity I made sure to put women in some of our power positions. We do have one screaming victim, but the others are getting a good scare in. Also people are disturbed when something beautiful is made horrific. Women have a way of turning on a psychotic intensity men just can’t. Think of Lizzy Borden and now give a woman an ax, blood tube, and some crazy hair/contacts.

It is time for the haunt industry to get with the times. I am calling all haunt owners to start putting your women in power positions, you will not be disappointed.

So this guy puts together a glorified backyard haunt and gives his buddys a 6 pack to work in it. These types of attractions hurt the haunt industry.

For many of us first year haunters this has been a life long dream. we have gone to all the conventions, read the magazines, and been to every haunt within a 100 mile radius. We have been building up to this day our whole life.

In our first year we can offer some of our best scene ideas and there will be less people going through meaning you will have a better experience.

Large attractions are great for offering uber expensive sets and state of the art animations but the bottom line is through put. Expect lots of startles and not many real scares.

For this reason I say check out the newer attractions. Other than Toxicity i would recommend the Hustead House of Horrors in Yellow Springs. This attraction is in its fourth year and one of the most genuinely scary things I have ever experienced. You leave feeling mentally debilitated. The sad part is this attraction is in its last season as the building is being torn down. Very sad as this might be the last haunt in the country that has a three story slide (damn all the law suit happy jack asses)

Large attractions need to adapt to a timed ticketing system to get back to the real scary roots. A dropping picture will work one time in an attraction then it is expected. Also they spend so much money on the real details then have monsters coming out of the wall. How real is that?

It will be a long weekend as Saturday is the Black Walnut Festival, we will be there handing out fliers and hope to even be in the parade before heading back to camp for Toxicity.

Sunday is our first night of Patient 0. The staff is excited about it and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. A haunt that is purely up to the actors in near total darkness.

Ghost Hunters, Stargate, Scrubs, South Park, Jackass, King of the Hill, and Family Guy

I think this covers our target market fairly well until the Halloween movies start to air.

of them: 3 were so scared they had to leave after the fourth scene, several were in tears, and one late teen pee her pants in the first room.

I call it a success. We also got most of the bugs worked out to make for smoother operation.

Thanks everyone for your hard work

Hope to see you all this weekend for our grand opening to the public.