“Darkness and Claustrophobia are Your Friends” – Leonard Pickel

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“Darkness and Claustrophobia are Your Friends” – Leonard Pickel

by Sweiskloss
October 24, 2024

Creepy ghouls and goblins, spooky skeletons and frightening jump scares may sound like just some Halloween fun – but designing a truly scary haunted house is serious business. According to the Wall Street Journal, “haunted houses are a $500 million industry” visited by 46.5 million people last year in the U.S. If you are interested in getting in on the haunted house action, we found some advice for you. The most important thing to keep in mind when designing a haunted house is the objective: TO SCARE PEOPLE. Hauntreprneurs.com attraction designer, Leonard Pickel explains that “good attraction design starts with what will scare the guests and uses the attraction design to maximize the effectiveness of the scares” (hauntedattractionnetwork.com). Design each room around the scare. While you can’t scare them all, Pickel recommends designing your house for the hardest person to scare, (in his mind, a 21-year-old male) by doing the unexpected – a sudden movement of a prop, a burst of sound, an actor appearing out of nowhere. “The true key to designing a good startle scare is that the visitors don’t see it coming,” explains James Travis, technical director of Philadelphia’s Terror Behind the Walls. Misdirection is a useful tool, frightening people from an unexpected place and from an unexpected source. Be sure to keep mixing up the types of scares.

Photo courtesy of hauntedattractionnetwork.com

When it comes to scares, remember: the classics never go out of style. Chris Stafford of Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, the creative force behind LA Haunted Hayride and The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, always includes some classical scare elements such as the chainsaw. Let your guests’ imagination run wild. “People aren’t afraid of the dark; they’re afraid of what might be in the dark,” explains Lionel. “Darkness and claustrophobia are your friends” (hauntedattractionnetwork.com). Think small, dark, narrow spaces with low ceilings. By lowering the light you’ll also need less details in the room. Shorten the sightlines with twisting paths, obstruct views with tall props, and hang elements from the ceiling that guests must push through. “Not only is that helping block the line of vision, but it’s also providing a tactile sensation” (Fast Company). Flickering lights and fog also create a spooky ambiance. These techniques will increase the anticipation, disorient the guests and give places for actors to hide. And always scare from the back, side, top or bottom, never from the front, to keep the flow moving forward.

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Think of your haunted house as if it were a movie or play with a storyline to keep your guests entertained and moving along. The story will help form the structure of your design and prevent you from purchasing unnecessary decorations and props that detract from the theme. That scary clown has no place in your Walking Dead themed haunted house! Don’t forget to give your guests a bit of a break between scares. Allowing them to catch their breath, laugh or let their guard down a little will make the next scare even more effective. Whether you create your own or visit one of the many… BOO! (See what we did there?!)… haunted houses out there, have a Happy Halloween!