How to Start and Run a Haunted House, From the People Who Build Them
Half of new haunted houses cost less than $100,000 to open, according to HAN's 2022 benchmark survey, conducted with the Haunted Attraction Association. The average haunt took in $105,501.52 in 2025, and marketing has passed staffing as haunters' top problem, HauntPay's 2026 Haunt Industry Report found. The guides below cover each part of the job, from planning and design to actors, safety and marketing.
In this guide:Start a Haunt
In the 2022 survey, 60% of haunts owned their property, 19% rented year-round and 21% rented short-term.
Start here:
Planning Your Haunt's Success
Scott Swenson's advice for anyone thinking of opening a haunt, from the first concept and the investor pitch to the post-season review.
The Four Levels of Haunt
Swenson on building a haunt for one of four audiences.
From a Boathouse to Best First Year Haunt
Conner Beets waited three years after buying his Kilgore, Texas, building to open Imminent Doom, which won the 2026 OSCARES Award for Best First Year Haunt.
Design and Build
Three in four haunts in the 2022 survey made a significant investment in new or upgraded attractions every year, and the most common walk-through ran 5,001 to 10,000 square feet.
Start here:
Designing a Fright Attraction from the Inside Out
Leonard Pickel of Hauntrepreneurs, whose background is architecture, designs each room around its scare.
The First Room, The Best Room and The Last Room
A three-part series from the Haunt Weekly podcast on the rooms guests remember.
- Haunt Hacks 2021: Brick Stamping
- Haunt Hack for Using Rubber Stamps
- Haunted Attraction Easter Eggs, the How and Why
- Mash Up Story Elements and Location to Re-invent Your Haunt
- What Makes a Good Villain? We Are the Monsters.
- Novel Ways of Telling Our Stories: Scare Differently This Year!
- Bootstrap Your Haunt: A Guide to Saving Time and Money
- Engaging Fear for Your Haunted Attraction
- Shopping for Your Haunted Attraction Year Round
- Make It Cheap
- Learning from Ren Rats and Fairie Folk
- 10 Horror Games for Haunters
- Break Your Own Rules and Surprise Guests to Create Lasting Memories
- Crafting Memorable Moments in Your Haunt Using Engaging and Iconic Characters
Lighting, Sound and Effects
Four lighting designers and Scott Swenson explain lighting, strobes and sound a haunt can do with gear it already owns.
Start here:
How to Get Away with Lighting in Your Haunt
Four lighting designers, from Lightswitch, freelance and Gantom, on lighting a haunt with what you already have.
Strobe Lights Tips for Haunts, Dos and Don'ts
Why to use strobes sparingly, from Julia of Gantom Lighting & Controls.
Audio Haunt Hack 2021
Swenson on affordable sound design.
I am CEO of Gantom Lighting & Controls, and Gantom staff wrote or contributed to six of the seven guides in this section.
Actors and Crew
Haunts in the 2022 survey averaged 45 seasonal actors. Among haunts that paid actors in 2021, 40% paid $10 an hour or less and 43% paid $11 to $14. Haunts paying $15 to $18 an hour retained 68% of their seasonal actors, against 53% for haunts paying $10 or less.
Start here:
How to Become a Scare Actor
My 2026 guide to getting hired, from the owners and casting directors HAN has interviewed.
Auditions and How to Survive Them
Swenson on making a good first impression at an audition, from casting the Vault of Souls.
The Care and Feeding of Actors
Swenson on why actors make or break a haunt, and how owners should look after them.
- Haunt Hack 2021: Picking Masks
- Staff Recruiting and Retention Post-Pandemic
- Keeping Your Haunt Makeup Room Clean
- The Power of Diversity in Your Haunted Attraction
- Training Haunt Actors in Interactivity
- The Director Is the Lens, Not the Sun
- The Overlap Between Haunted Attractions and Theater
- The Basics of Actor Intake
- Shining a Light on Teams That Last Through the Season
Safety, Rules and Access
Insurance averaged 4% of revenue for haunts in the 2022 survey, and 45.7% of haunts in HauntPay's 2026 report use no waiver at all.
Start here:
How Much Is Too Much?
Swenson on where an extreme haunt crosses the line, and when gore belongs.
ADA Tips for Haunts
Swenson's steps for making a haunt work for guests with disabilities.
Marketing and Money
Haunts in the 2022 survey spent an average of 12% of revenue on marketing, more than twice the 5% the survey cites for family entertainment centers. Guests spent an average of $34.63 per visit.
Start here:
Marketing Your Haunted Attraction
My 2025 Haunter's Toolbox masterclass on haunt marketing, summarized.
Marketing Monsters
Swenson on sending costumed monsters outside the haunt to market it.
How to Host a Media Night
Tori Elder of Victori Solutions, whose clients have included the Queen Mary's Dark Harbor, on bringing press through a haunt.
- Theme Park Trends That Can Transform Your Haunt
- Mind Games Productions: Expanding Your Season
- Haunt Pay, Scary Simple Ticketing
- Savvi Offers Packaged Interaction
- Haunt Hack 2021: Spotify Ads
- Affordable Media Outreach for Your Haunt
- Live Scare Cams
- Email Marketing Isn't Dead and You Should Be Using It for Your Haunt
- Mid-Season Marketing Checklist
- Use Mobile Horror Experiences to Expand Your Haunt Brand
- Why You Need a Gift Shop at Your Haunted Attraction
- Transitioning Your Haunt to Christmas
Running the Season
Two in three haunts in the 2022 survey were open 20 days or fewer in 2021, and 59% ran something besides the Halloween haunt, most often a holiday event such as Christmas.
Start here:
How to Make It to the End of the Haunt Season
Swenson's case for consistency through the last night.
Balancing Immersion with Throughput
Ken Parks and Jon Cooke's 2017 Haunted Attraction Symposium keynote on immersing guests while moving more of them through.
Talks and Interviews
The First Seven Seconds
Swenson at the 2018 Leadership Symposium for Seasonal Attractions aboard the Queen Mary.
Empower Your Haunt's Audience
Ricky Brigante at the 2017 Haunted Attraction Symposium.
Creating Terrifyingly Brilliant Guest Experiences
Phil Raybourn's IAAPA Expo talk on using fear in a year-round attraction.
About the Numbers
HAN conducted the 2022 benchmark survey with the Haunted Attraction Association. It drew 240 responses about the 2021 season, 178 of them from revenue-generating haunts. It is not a scientific sample, and "new haunts" means those open less than three years when surveyed. HauntPay's 2026 Haunt Industry Report drew more than 1,000 responses from haunt owners, staff and volunteers about the 2025 season.
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