[Matt S Drake]

So question for everyone, I had the idea to start doing full on seance meetings wondering if there would be a market for that?

Thinking full on actors, tables moving, ghost effects, ect. Using both the old school techniques as well as some high tech stuff.

The trick would be that I would have to control the entire room, and also be able to load everything in and hide it as needed. And if we do this for the party market that means in peoples living rooms!

But would you pay to have a full on seance in your house (or other location) as an add on for a party, or as a stand alone event? I already do themed events for people and corporations so I think it would fit right in, think something along the lines of a dinner theater or mystery dinner. But I really want feedback on weather something like this could work.

 

[Spooky McWho]

I think it would be a great addition to a party Halloween or not. For me personally I would only want the illusion of a seance I wouldn't want anyone actually trying to contact the spirit world. I could definitely see great potential in this idea, go for it! I just saw that you are in Ohio and that would be awesome for me because I also live in the buckeye state

 

[Matt S Drake]

Yeah it would be pure theater, but would use techniques from the old school charlatans as well as current high tech stuff that we see in current theater and haunted houses. Imagine a portrait that on cue turns ghostly, a table that lifts off the ground, weird sounds coming from around the room, and other such tricks. And of course a really great actor!

So next question how much would you be willing to pay for something like this? Thinking around $500 for a stand alone basic seance. That's a base line cost for most of my small events so I think a good place to start. The cost could go up with the complexity of course, and could go down if included with an already purchased event.

 

[oaklawn Crematory]

I think that would be a great party gimmick.

 

[dawnski]

That sounds fantastic. But if you're bringing all your equipment to someone's house, I guess the concern would be if you might damage walls, how much the person wants to remove their own furnishings/decor for you and the type of clientele in your area. Depending on where you're located, people might think this is fun or "of the devil." Some people are just uptight.

 

[pumpkinking30]

I think it would be cool. Like Dawnski says though, you do have to work around your clients' wants, needs, and issues. If you're wanting to make a serious business out of it (not just working for friends and people you know), you would probably want to consider insurance and the usual business stuff just in case of issues like damaged property, etc... I know there would never be that intention going in, but it's easy for somebody to say that you accidentally broke Great-Great-Grandma's priceless vase while you were moving your equipment. From your posts though, it looks like you're already doing some events, so you probably already have those bases covered anyway, though. It sounds like a great idea.

For a ready-made basic show with all the equipment and actors included, I think $500 is very reasonable.

 

[Matt S Drake]

Yeah I already do events through my company Dragon's Fire Design so I have all the insurance and such already. I even have staff that can operate and act in the event. I really would like to do this and a really looking into setting up a demo unit for October. I work with a Haunted House in Ohio that does tarot reading and thinking it may be a nice addition for a test run. If it works there then I know I can scale it up and down as needed.

Big thing I am thinking about is portability and setup/tear down. Setting up the demo unit would not be hard and can take my time setting it up and making it look good, but moving it from location to location, conference room to conference room, and living room to living room with a setup time of around an hour or two will be the interesting part.

 

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

You can find some seance tricks here.

 

[Gym Whourlfeld]

When Haunted Attraction Magazine began and was still just a folded piece of paper, they had a very good story about a "Show Seance" put together in Key West Florida by two brothers.They ran it for a few years, took a year off, went back and ran it for a few more.
They were showmen. Knew just how to entertain people along such lines. The had 13 seats for sale around a round table. They also had some incredible number of effects that they could do in that 20 by 20 foot room, maybe 185?
Of course they never did all 185 for any one seance and had repeat business booking their show in advance paying $35.00 a person for maybe 90 minutes worth of show?
To be the utmost successful at such a thing you must have some "Time to Burn" to allow those involved to be able to build up anticipation, which they did rather well, according to the article. This can not be like herding cattle through a chute.
Later another man who already had a haunted house decided to emulate their efforts ,holding his show seance in the balcony of an antique theater he owned. He told his Wife:"If I can only do half as good as those Florida Brothers this will be a great success!"
A year or two later as he and his son came through my house again I asked him how it was going? (His Show seance?)
" I quit doing it! I would stress to everyone right upfront that this was just a "Show Seance" not a real one, then afterwards people would say, "I know that you said it wasn't a real seance, but couldn't you JUST ASK my dead Uncle Where He Hid THE MONEY ANYWAY?"
"GGGRRR!"
He said emphatically,that was why he quit.