Thread: What makes a haunt bad?

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In your opinion, what makes a haunt bad? The actors, the scaretactics, the atmosphere? Post any rants or a things that ruin a haunted house for you.

For me it is too many "jason" figures( dudes with those cheap hockeymasks running around with chainsaws).

Touching. As far as I'm concerned, touching or grabbing the patrons crosses a line. And vice/versa, for that matter, guests shouldn't poke or punch an actor.

I agree with the Jason thing and the people that are mood killers for everyone. Exam

Attention to detail is what makes a haunt good and lack there of is what makes it bad.

The Jason reference is a good example. If they just put some guy in a lame looking hockey mask instead of at least trying to make it look like it does in the movies it really take away from the effect. Or if they have a Michael Myers with a chainsaw instead of a simple knife... that's another example.

Not enough light. Darkness = scary, but if it's TOO dark then you can't see the decorations, the mega-expensive props, etc... dim lighting with pockets of darkness, great, but not the whole thing pitch black.

Chainsaws - enough already!

We have a no touch policy..but we still have people touching and hitting us...so we use a you touch us we touch you..but we only do what little tap or touch heightens a scare factor.

I def agree on lighting...some haunts even pro ones are way too dark in places they need light.

Chainsaws seem played out..but they still work for some reason...it's become a haunt staple I guess.

Too dark. Drives me crazy when I cannot see anything.

Chainsaws. Enough already. We know there's no chain on it. And Jason isn't known for a chainsaw anyway, knock it off.

Crappy static props. If you are gonna have static things that are supposed to move, at least make em look good. Or have the scene as a story and not just some frozen in time fiasco.

A good story. I hate haunts with no overarching theme or story to them. Random collections of scary rooms stop being scary when there is no rhyme or reason to them.

Killer clowns because they are "scary" instead of belonging. I was recently at a haunted dungeon, it's in a real dungeon used in the civil war era. First section? Black walls with neon paint, and clowns. WTF? Really? Clowns?

Patrons showing off how cool they are. Knock it off. No one thinks you're cool. Asshole

Breaking character. In said recent haunted dungeon, in one room after we were all bored to death, a clown jumped out. Raaargh! No one moved. Not scary. Clown removes his mask and says "oh guess that didn't work.". Stay in character, even if you aren't scary!

Too much. Some places try to be just too much. Hayride. Maze. Three haunts. Another maze this one in the dark. Haunted walk. Sometimes it's overkill.

Ignoring your environment. Sometimes the setting itself just gives so much potential. Don't overdo it. Less is more sometimes. We did eastern state penitentiary last year. Scary as hell. The place. The haunt was a little over the top. Detracted from the creepiness of the place itself. Need I mention the clowns? Grr.

Went to two last night....one was too dark and it was basically people jumping out and yelling in your face. The second had better lighting so I got to enjoy the props...however, there were too many mazes with nothing going on

Oh lord-a-mighty.... Where too start.....
*LAUGH*

• I hate the places that say "WE HAVE 15 TERRIFYING HAUNTED ATTRACTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (you know in that really deep, generic scary voice?) and all of them are half-done/just black out mazes with loud music, half assed pop scares, long lines and a steep price tag. Nothing angers me more than paying 30 bucks to get scared and it not happening.
• The 3d gimmick NEEDS to stop. Impressive in the 1990's, TIRED concept now.
• 10 chainsaw guys, in a single room. oooooOOoooOooO Scary!! Oh wait, no ones dying. Fail.
• Random collections of rooms, not scary.
• Haunters forgetting that willing suspension of disbelief MATTERS.
• Half-assed props, If I can do better with no budget, I'm gonna rip it apart.
• Too much or too little light can destroy the best haunted house.
• Actors with no character, they all just default to a bland "monster" archetype, that lacks any scare value.
• Actors that rely on hand props to get the scare.

I could list out a hundred more items, but I'm gonna end it there...
Safe to say, the scariest element that I've experienced in a haunted house this year wasn't the house or the actors or the props or ANYTHING else. The scariest element in a haunted house is another patron or group of patrons who are hostile towards you, and security that just makes it worse.

So BAD security, booze and drugs are the scariest things in a haunted attraction. Those are supposed to be the least of my worries...