Haunted attractions draw crowds but few profits
Madworld Haunted Attraction and Zombie Shoot is a seasonal business, but for owners Joseph Thompson and Tim Thompson, it represents a year-round commitment, backbreaking labor and – so far – very little financial payoff.
But for the Thompson brothers – lifelong horror fans and haunted house connoisseurs – creating their own attraction and seeing people’s reactions to their vision makes it all worthwhile.
“People love being scared,” Joseph Thompson said. “It’s an adrenaline rush, like a roller coaster. It’s great seeing people so scared they are laughing themselves silly, or crying. There’s nothing like seeing people get scared.”
Halloween is a high-earning holiday for business, with nearly 158 million consumers spending approximately $75 each on decor, costumes, candy and events this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Spending Survey. Consumers are expected to spend $2.6 billion on costumes and $2.08 billion on candy.
Haunted houses are making up a growing portion of those revenues, with more than 1,200 haunted attractions charging admission, each bringing in an average of 8,000 paid guests, according to the Haunted Attraction Association, a trade group. With ticket prices averaging $13 each, the haunted attraction industry generates between $300-$500 million in annual ticket sales.
At Madworld, off I-85 in Piedmont, attendance is higher than ever, with customers paying $15 for the haunted attraction, $15 for the Zombie Shoot or $25 for both. But despite growing popularity, the Thompsons expect to put most of what they earn back into the business as they gear up for next year.
“Whatever we make, we put back into the haunt,” Joseph Thompson said. “We want to give the customers something totally different each year.”
Memorable marketing
For some haunted attractions, the benefit goes beyond dollars and hinges on the marketing value of the event. Hawk & Tom’s New Nightmare on Pendleton Street opened Oct. 4 and has drawn steady crowds, offering publicity for radio station B93.7’s Hawk & Tom morning show, according to Roy Hummers, promotions manager for Entercom Upstate.
“It gives us a lot of exposure,” he said of the haunted house that the morning show has sponsored for six years. Many people in the station’s young demographic not only attend the haunted house, but post about it on social media.
The attraction cost about $30,000 to open up this year, said owners Rocky Elrod and Robert White. They must apply for a new business license every year, as well as an admissions tax ID number, they said.
Hummers said the ticket price went up from $13 to $15 this year to cover staff and costs, but the goal is not to make a large profit. “It’s all about attaching the Hawk & Tom name,” he said.
Thompson has seen steady growth since opening Madworld three years ago. Despite setbacks, including the recession and a theft that forced the company to repurchase many supplies, Madworld has carved out a niche for families in addition to typical haunted house customers in the 14-25 age range. They also create a festival atmosphere by offering food like doughnuts, funnel cakes, coffee and hot chocolate.
“It’s good, but it’s extremely hard to profit at this point,” Thompson said. “It’s going to take some years.”
Fright risk
Some who try the haunted attraction business find that the difficulties outweigh the payoff. In 2009, John Walsh and some friends decided to create the Haunted Hayride in Simpsonville, but discontinued it after one season.
“It was constant work and a huge disappointment,” said Walsh. “It rained most of October that year. And the liability insurance was very steep.”
Insurance is an important factor for haunted houses, said Beverly Duvall, commercial producer for Herlong Bates Burnette. She recommends seasonal attractions purchase a special events policy that protects against any injuries or issues with the attraction.
“The underwriter would make sure there are enough exits for safety, and make sure staff is not touching the public,” she said. “They will make sure the house is up to code. If they think it is too high of a risk, they will not cover it.”
Walsh said their insurer required that they raise the rails on the side of their hayride to prevent people from falling out.
“It was actually easier for us because we didn’t have a building,” he said. “With a building, you have so many more codes.”
At Hawk & Tom’s New Nightmare on Pendleton Street, owners Elrod and White had to add sprinkler systems, fire alarms, exit signs and emergency lights to adhere to the 2012 International Building Codes.
The fire alarm cost $8,000 and the sprinkler system $16,000, they said. In the case of an emergency, the alarm turns the music off and the lights on.
The House of Horror on Calhoun Memorial Parkway in Easley does not require sprinklers because it is in a tent, not a permanent structure, said manager Victoria Collins. But the attraction in required to have fire extinguishers, exit signs, damp wood shavings on the ground and walls that can be pushed through, she said. An off-duty first responder, whom the House of Horror must pay, must also be standing by.
Madworld has visitors sign a waiver before entering the attraction, which Thompson said serves two purposes: “It’s a liability issue, and it creates a fear factor in people.” He and his team start in January making sure the attraction adheres to Greenville County’s code for special amusement buildings and training the staff of 85 how to properly interact with guests.
Despite difficulties, Thompson is encouraged by the growth of the business. Though he declines to give actual numbers, he has seen attendance double each year and said halfway into this year’s season, “we are getting record numbers by far. The weather is holding out great, and that’s a huge factor.”
Both Thompson brothers run other businesses, but hope to eventually focus solely on Madworld.
“There have been times we wanted to give up, but we didn’t,” Joseph Thompson said. “Each year we fortify ourselves to become bigger and better.”
Jeanne Putnam contributed to this article.
