Haunted house attractions are big business, raking in $300 million in revenue in the United States alone. Pictured here is the Haunted Overload trail located on a farm in New Hampshire.
Courtesy Haunted Overload
The attraction uses sounds and smells to create truly terrifying experience for its visitors.
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Recently, haunted houses have started producing Hollywood-style sets complete with high-quality sound and visual effects.
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According to America's National Retail Federation the average person celebrating Halloween will spend $74.34 this year. Total spending on the holiday is expected to reach $6.9 billion.
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Haunted Overload's stage manager Tom Sadowski says that one of the most important elements in making an attraction truly terrifying are the actors. "Scare props just don't compare to the interaction actors can have with the patron," he says
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Somewhat surprisingly, a haunted house is a good first date destination, according to Sadowski. "Once people get through the experience of getting scared, they often have a sense of accomplishment and feeling of bonding with anyone they are with," he says.
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Haunted Overload changes the layout of its trail every season. "If you don't change things people get tired of it and you will lose customers," says Sadowski.
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"I think between having good acting and a lot of visual eye candy you are sure to scare," the stage manager says.
