Thread: seeking advice

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It looks like this place was actually IN an episode of Ghost Hunters, and they declared it haunted.

Weston Hospital officially haunted, Ghost Hunters declares - Topix

Touring the Insane Asylum at Weston West Virginia: A Great Destination for Ghost Hunters and Thrill Seekers - Associated Content

Turning this place into a run-of-the-mill attraction would be really sad. I don't actually believe in ghosts (don't shoot me), but the atmosphere would be too perfect for something different. Since the Ghost Hunter thing has been done, you'd want to take things up a notch, but it's doable.

That's a very cool complex. I wouldn't do much to make it into an attraction. Just throw in some lighting, move the interesting cast-offs from the hospital closer to the entrance, have a few actors, and a great story line to tell people as they walk through. I'd stay away from doing things on more than one floor; too much potential for people to "wander away".

In other words, the place is creepy enough that with a good story line, people will be scared enough to not need a maze, dripping blood, etc...

Craig

If this wheelchair is still there somewhere, that would be such an excellent prop!

This is not a Commercial, I'm not trying to drum up business. just want some advice. This is the deal, we are running Friday night ghost tours (a 2 hour guided tour of the hottest spots in the asylum) and Saturday night Ghost Hunts (9pm to 5am overnight stay - still guided but with more freedom to explore).

We run historic tours during the day. 7 days a week. I need to stay away from the stories from the hospital being that they are mentioned in the various tours.

That being said you can see why I want to stay away from the Halloween event that follows those same lines. Don't want anyone to think that we are rigging the building to be "haunted". WE DON'T - this place is creepy.

I've got a few friends that work in hospitals that are trying to gather up some lab coats (the guides and staff outside will wear) and I've bought some scrubs that I'll put the "patients" on the inside in.

I'm not sure how secretive one should be about this kind of thing. I really want people to have a good time without any spoilers.

Last year they (I had nothing to do with it) just had a bunch of volunteers sitting in the rooms screaming and make $20,000 or so. I really thought it sucked! I want something people are going to tell their friends about.

The reason he bought it, hmm, it was cheap. Paid 1.5 million for it, all the buildings surrounding it and 300 acres of land.

I keep getting all these pictures from the people that take the tour. Here's a link to a great looking orb.

Originally Posted by Gym Whourlfeld

Putting in pnuematic displays, building walls?
Since this property is already scary, strange, sad and haunted, (and those real and imagined items are already terrorizing 85% of the people looking at just the outside) putting in those sort of common Halloween displays will tend to give many a reinstated "Comfort Zone". A place where their minds can rest and reassure themselves, saying:It's only a pretend haunt, see those items just like all those tent show and mall haunts have."
Want to really make some deep felt terror?(And maybe you don't?)
Have this place empty and mostly dark with speakers or speaking tubes carrying voices to the far corners of the internal darkness.
Then make only very random, unidentifiable sounds.
Their own imaginations will be working overtime times 3.

I agree. This place dosn't need anything extra like walls or other stuff. I think it would be great just to turn off all the lights and throw people in there with some flash lights. I would put in some actors though. Maybe put in an insane clown or two. I'm not talking about those stupid deformed clowns though, I'm talking about the old style circus clowns like Pennywise from IT that would stay true to the era of the asylum. It's always good to incorparate everyones fears in a haunt. I mean just imagine, your walking through this place, dark, and you shine your flash light in a corner to see a quick glimpse of a clown only to recede behind a wall! It would be great to do quick scares to give the guests the "Did I just see that?" reaction. Like the clown eample from above. The place is creepy enough and its REAL, so you dont need to do to much to it. I would also have a basic path that the guest walk in. Block off places that you dont want them to go like stairs etc. It would also be a neat idea to have a few people willing to pay extra to actualy stay the night in the place. You have a really great place that alot of us would die for! $1.5 million? Usually it's not a very cheap number but I guess for the size of the facility and the acerage it's on, I am gunna say you gotta a pretty good deal on the place!
Happy Haunting!

I'm for the 'Ghost Hunting' theme. I would pay around $30 - $45 bucks to be able to go and explore 'part' of a known haunted asylum!! Limit the areas they can go, lock certain doors, keep it to one floor (no falling down the stairs that way), for insurance reasons everyone signs a waiver, supply flashlights, but bring your own equipment (limited of course due to a time constraint).
Then, if you really want to do the haunted house part, on a separate floor, away from the Ghost Hunting section, you could do a small traditional style Haunted House theme.
If your worried about having to pay actors... who wouldn't volunteer to scare people in a real haunted asylum??!! I would be there in a heart beat!!

If my dad bought this place, they wouldn't be able to keep me away from it. I would quit my job and move in!!

Well the problem with that is that we already offer Ghost Tours (2 hours fridays) and an Overnight (Saturday). This really needs to be something completely different.