Thread: Yard to Garage Haunt Question

Tweet

Ok so I have put on a spooky yard haunt for a few years now. I have pneumatic props as well as many other animated and static ones plus I run a 32 channel light-O-rama system with about 800 watts of sound and a tone of flood lighting. My 2008 video clip is featured on the home page of Halloween Network check it out its cool.

My question is: I was thinking of opening the garage and building a walkthrough this year 2009. It’s a two car garage so it wouldn’t be the biggest thing in the world but I know I can make is freaky as hell. Could I charge a small fee maybe like $3.00 to the people that would like to take the tour? Is that tacky or do others do this?


Thanks All

First, check with your local officials to see if that would even be legal.

Chances are you'ld need a liscence, and that means you'll need to be inspected and comply with a host of regulations.

Also, check with your homeowner's insurance. Different states and different insurance companies have different regulations on opening your house to something like that. You want t make sure you're covered -- just in case.

My two cents; keep it free. It's a home haunt, not a pro set-up, even though I'm sure you put on an awesome show. People go out on Halloween for a good time, and a free one. Start charging and you may notice a drop in your numbers next year, in addition to the potential problems of charging a fee mentioned above. Another option would be to simply takeup a free will donation. Be sure to put a sign up indicating what the money is for. If it's to fund future improvements to the haunt, be sure to specify that, but again, bear in mind it may turn some folks off. For the past few years as our own haunt has expanded from a front yard display to a rather elaborate walk through with multiple scenes, a lot of folks have suggested we could charge admission. To me it's all about doing it as a labor of love, even though some extra cash would be nice to offset costs.

If you charge any money, you most likely will run into insurance problems - most homeowners insurance will not cover you at all.

You also may run afoul of your neighborhood association as you will be operating a business out of your home, and a slew of other problems pop up. (Operating a haunt that charges means you'll even be inspected by local fire department and such)

There have been other discussions on here (do a search about charging or donations) and in general as long as you aren't setting a fee you should be fine. Donations can be asked for (most of the time it's for charity - like canned food and the like) but outright charging, and you won't be covered and could be inspected and fined or shut down (or both).

Just put this sign up:

The Following Donations are accepted:
Pink/Blue Styrofoam
Chicken Wire
PVC
two by fours
Newspaper
Latex
Glue
Drywall Mud
Gray and Black Latex Paint
Drylock
LED Spotlights
Wire
Air Compressors
Extensions Cords
Corn Stalks
Beer
128 channel lightorma system

add to the list as you see fit

Originally Posted by Scatterbrains

Just put this sign up:

The Following Donations are accepted:
Pink/Blue Styrofoam
Chicken Wire
PVC
two by fours
Newspaper
Latex
Glue
Drywall Mud
Gray and Black Latex Paint
Drylock
LED Spotlights
Wire
Air Compressors
Extensions Cords
Corn Stalks
Beer
128 channel lightorma system

add to the list as you see fit

Hilarious. Well put.

Yes indeed. If you were to charge admission you would be opening a HUGE can of worms. For us, we simply ask for a certain donation per person. Our first year we tried this I asked for a $2.00 donation from each person who entered. We had many compliments and people told us we should ask for more. So last year we asked for $5.00. We had 1,000+ patrons last year and made around 3,000+ so not everyone donated, but it sure helps!

If you have any other questions feel free do PM me or e-mail me at frontyardfright@msn.com. I'd love to help ya out! Oh, and you can check out my site at Front Yard Fright - Waverly's PREMIER Haunted Attraction! and read up on my haunt and see how I run my show.

Good luck!
.

Last year I remember thinking it was such a drag when only 60 kids showed up. Normally I get 200+. I can't say I go to the extremes of what some people here do but in my area my yard is the best. I really thought it was all for not. I mean all I wanted was a crowd.

So a few days later I was cleaning up my display area when a lady pulled up and said she and her husband really enjoyed my display. She went on to say they found 2 foggers by the side of the road froma forclosed property and asked me if I wanted them. I said SURE!

From what I can tell they're pretty good. One is not working right now but it may be clogged. The other puts out a lot of fog and fog juice was included(crate of juice).

So some people do appreciate the effort we make. I've always considered it to be a community service.

Print up some business cards with your web page thanking the TOT'ers for their patronage. Maybe some parent will see it and think wow he really went to a lot of effort to entertain our kids. Maybe they donate some materials suggested above? Maybe they contract you to build them some props?

I still love the free home haunts.