HAuNTcon 2020 – a Weekend in New Orleans
Seminars, a Panel Discussion, and Chats With Folks From Dark Woods and Raybourn Creative I recorded Episode 39 of my A Scott in the Dark podcast at the most recent HAuNTcon, which took place in New Orleans on January 17-19, 2020. This year, there were all kinds of new additions to the show because, as […]
7 Things We Wished We Knew About Haunting
Jonathan and Crystal Discuss Lessons Learned Over Years of Running a Haunt This blog is based on Episode 186 of our Haunt Weekly podcast, which was titled, Seven Things We Wished We Knew When We Started Haunting. The name kind of says it all, and Crystal and I are going to share with you our hard-learned lessons over […]
Why You Need a Gift Shop at Your Haunted Attraction
Jonathan Offers Six Plus Two Rules for Creating a Successful Gift Shop at Your Haunt. It’s Jonathan and Crystal here again, and this blog is based on episode 190 of our Haunt Weekly podcast, in which we were talking about gift shops. Our goal in focusing on this was to elevate haunt gift shops. I want to […]
Engaging Fear for Your Haunted Attraction
Making an emotional connection through fear is the key to creating a powerful and memorable experience for guests. By Phil Raybourn For haunted attractions, emotions, especially fear, create a profound connection with our guests. We will talk about fear and how attractions can go beyond the usual maze and scare areas to create a heightened […]
A Visit to the 2019 IAAPA Expo
Discovering What’s New and Trending in the Haunt and Theme Park Industries Episode 38 of my A Scott in the Dark podcast was recorded at the 2019 IAAPA Expo, which is sponsored by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, and is the world’s largest trade show for the attractions industry. The Expo is […]
Transitioning your Haunt to Christmas
A Haunter in Christmas Town: How to Do a Changeover from a Halloween to a Christmas Event This blog is based on Episode 37 of my A Scott in the Dark podcast, which was broadcast as I walked around Christmas Town at Busch Gardens in Tampa. Christmas Town, for those of you who don’t know, […]
The After Party – Bringing Haunters Together All Year Long
by Scott Swenson This blog is based on Episode 36 of my A Scott in the Dark podcast, which came right on the heels of Episode 35. I wasn’t planning on another episode so soon, but I wanted to talk about the after party following Halloween. You know, everybody wants to start singing, “The party’s over,” and […]
The Power of the Paranormal — A Chat with Jill Witecki of Tampa Theatre and Jeremy Rettig of Genesis Paranormal Services
This blog is based on Episode 34 of my A Scott in the Dark podcast, entitled “The Power of the Paranormal,” in which I had the great opportunity to look at how interest in paranormal research has worked its way into the entertainment field—especially the haunted-attraction realm. There are many haunted attractions out there that […]
‘Tis the Season – Summer is the Time to Start Preparing for Halloween
Listen Now: This blog is based on Episode 33 of my A Scott in the Dark podcast, which was called, “’Tis the Season.” This wasn’t a Christmas episode. No. It was summer, which is the season when we start preparing for haunting. By this time, all of the major theme parks and scream parks have […]
Planning Your Haunt’s Success
Tips and Lessons for Folks Who Think They Might Want to Create a Haunt by Scott Swenson This blog is based on episode 31 of my A Scott In the Dark podcast, which was titled, Hey Gang, Let’s Put on a Show. This was geared toward folks who think they want to start a haunted attraction. First, a […]
