Creating a Scary Haunted House

Creating a scene that sets the mood for the entire haunted house is very important but there are lots of factors to consider when creating a scary haunted house. At Dr. Haunt's we think we have it down and that's why we been named Top 31 Scariest Haunted Houses in America


First and foremost, you think about the actors and the actors scare because eye candy is important but a room that any level actor can work is a most. To do this we ensure in every scene we have at least four possible ways for an actor to scare the customers. During our first season we learned this lesson. A single scare for a great actor in a room gets kinda of boring after you've done that same scare 40 times in one night let alone 100 times every night for the entire season. So by having a scene with multiple areas/ways for an actor to scare we guarantee our actors have more fun and freedom as well as our repeat customers never get the same scare during the same season. The other reason to have multiple scares is you provide 'boo' scares for rookie actors and allow for scene acting for veteran actors. Our actors is why Dr. Haunt's is the Most Hardcore Haunted House in Dallas Fort Worth

Then after thinking about how the actor will scare in a room then we go about thinking from the customers perspective what do they see, how will lighting play into that, and how can we trick them. Our attention to detail ensures that no one person can take it all in during one visit to our haunted house and this also adds to why so many people come back multiple times during one season. Dr. Haunts Chamber of Fears is the Most Frightening Haunted House for Oklahoma!

Over the years we constantly redesign every room every year so that our customers get something new weget rid of scenes that were not our favorite and expand scenes that rocked. In 2002 our clown room was on fire. In 2003 we expanded it by 400% to really make our customers scream. Then in 2008 we gave the clowns 6,000 sqaure feet of their very own to call home in the attraction Bloody Fun. For the last 7 months we have been working on redesiging Bloody Fun. We have built new walls, worked on new tricks, and most importantly brought in a lot of eye candy for our customers to enjoy!

The Clowns

Have you ever wondered why so many people are afraid of clowns? Maybe it is because I am in the haunted house industry that I have notice this but what's the deal.

As a child people have these at kids birthday parties for entertainment. You go a circus and the clown car gets the most laughs from everyone so why in the world are the clowns also the most feared in the haunted house. The only thing scarier then a clown in the haunted house is a clown with a chainsaw.

You know I can think of scarier things - snakes, death, the grimreaper, a demon, or a person posses by a demon - yet all of these things are known to be scary and never make their way to a kids birthday party and yet the clown does.

For a generation out there known as Generation X - the movie It! is the reason most are afraid fo clowns but for me - it really just scaried me of any person or beast coming up through a community shower. Yes, I was the freak in middle school that did not want to be left alone in the shower room for fear of this scary guy coming up through the shower drain. Most other middle school kids after gym were afraid of their peers seeing them naked in the shower while I did not want to be alone!

Of course, that same generation and the Generation Next also have Krusty the Clown to look to from the Simpsons. A clown that is overweight, smokes, and kinda looks like a drag queen acting to be a guy. Yes, I'll admit that is scary!

So the next time you are at a haunted house and see a clown, just think he's that drag-queen we call Krusty and I bet you will not be as scared. And when you hear that clown music just know that death is waiting for you especially if your at Dr. Haunt's Bloody Fun attraction.

Texas Scariest Haunted House

Best Scares

Every year over 200 volunteers give their hand at scaring the victims that attend Dr. Haunt's Chamber of Fears. Usually their is a process to the madness of scaring inside a haunted house and no it's not like stage acting as our actors only have 5 to 10 seconds to create a character and scare you.

We like to think that we know something about fear and scaring since on a great night we can emergency exit over 100 people (an emergency exit means - I'm too scareed to finish this haunted house)! Heck in 2008 only 75% of customers actually finished all three attractions at Dr. Haunt's while about 25% quit before they got to the Chamber of Fears mental hospital scene (which was a sight to see).

So here's are the best scares in my opinion:

- Imagine a pitch black maze and you and your friends are trying to find the way out. Then a 6 foot man easily weighing over 250 pounds with the hillbilly accent says 'I've got a lighter'. So he pulls out his lighter so him and his friends will be able to see he pushes the started and a flame comes on but the last thing him and his friends see is a clown coming in and blowing it out. The scresams could be heard throughout the entire haunted house and then the clown disappeared into the maze. This scare literally lasted 5 seconds but I guarantee it was 5 seconds that none of the customers will ever forget!

- Then their's always the split personality role an actor can play. There were these two females that had just come out of the clown room and was headed down the hallway. The only was a little scare and calling for an emergency exit. We have one of our safety people ask them if they were okay and the one asked how much longer and we assured the two females that they had been through the worst part and it was almost over... so they decided to keep going and we happily assisted them down the dead end hallway which got smaller and darker until it was pitch black. Right as the two females were feeling around in the dark and turned around. A masked character in overalls came into the room and in a deep trucker voice said 'smile it's the last picture of your life' a flash from a camera went off and the overall trucker disppeared. The next scene that the two females approach had to assist them in emergency exiting since one of the females had a panic attack. Her breathing returned to normal about 20 minutes later.

- the disorinetation room where customers came and could never find their way out was always fun. the room was called the cow room since it was done up in black and white; had non-stop fog; and stribe lights that could make you go insane. This room was funny and scary. For tough boys we would make them do push ups to get out or sing 'i'm a little tea pot'. But the best was to let them try and find their way out and when they give up we would put them to the challenge. It was one of these challenges that was a personal best. The girl entered the room on her boyfriends back and she never wanted to let go. After they tried to find a way out for 4 minutes they agreed to my conditions. The boy and girl must seperate. i brought them to seperate corners and left them alone for 30 seconds. I then went and got the girl and let her out of the room. She asked for her boyfriend and I told her he had already gone ahead. That poor scared girl ran all the way through the rest of the haunted house.

- The alltime classic goes to the boys in the endless hallway. The customers would come through this hallway of doors and have to find the right door. Some doors led to dead ends, others would not open, and only one went the right way. Well a guy and a girl on a date opened a door which led to a bathroom scene which was a dead-end. The actor got the scare of surprise by coming up behind them and the girl was so scared that she jumped back and feel into the bathtub full of blood.

Dr. Haunt's Chamber of Fears cast at the end of each night gathers around to tell stories and give away the best scarer of the night prize. It's fun to set around and tell these stories. Stay tuned for more of Dr. Haunt's Best Scares!

Most people have never been to a haunted place but every person has known fear. It is fear that drives you to be the true person you are. When we are calm we act as our best self, much like we give our best impression on a first date but when we are comfortable in a relationship our true self shows and this is fear... nothing but ourself. When you are afraid do you fight or flee???

In 2003 I came to volunteer at a place called Dr. Haunt's Chamber of Fear, the haunted house attraction had come from New Mexico where it was rated the #1 haunted house in New Mexico. At first I thought it would be fun to be an actor inside this haunted house and so I started volunteering. It amazed me of the number of actors that could literally scare the pee out of customers but the actor was afraid to be left in the haunted house alone. Why was it that even the actors of this haunted house attraction are scared in it. I have found even myself afraid to work alone in this haunted house. During the first season two different volunteers at the haunted house swear they saw a ghost/spirit/ or unknown image. The first volunteer was out working on the lawn when they saw a black image of a person floating above the ground for a short period of time before it disappeared. At first we all thought this was just ghost stories but he was willing to swear on his 'babies eyes' and if your Italian you know that's a big deal. The second sighting came when we were playing a game of sardines. The entire group minus two were hiding inside the safe room when we heard this scream. At first we all laugh because we thought it was funny but then we realize the scream was one of true horror. The two volunteers were togther coming through the haunt when one of them saw a white face in the clown room. We do not have any dummies with white mask and everyone that was in the building was accounted for. Then of course there are the times when you are working in the haunted house and feel a presence or hear sounds.

It was only after the haunted house was hear in Gainesville, Texas for the last 3 years when we learned the reason the haunted house moved from New Mexico to Gainesville was because the New Mexico community forced the haunted house out of town. The haunted house cast and crew were accused of being satanic and a number of mysterious deaths occured involving the haunted house. The local tribal leaders of the indian tribe in Santa Fe believe the haunted house was cursed.

I personally do beleive in ghost but I believe the spirits can be good or bad. One of my friends whose really into the afterlife and spirits told me that spirits and ghost are attracted to our haunted house attraction because they know they are welcomed. I guess we do welcome them as long as they stay at the haunted house and not at my house.

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