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The making of fear: Inside the prep of haunted house attractions

Nightstalkers.jpeg
Nightstalkers Haunted Trail is located in West Jordan, Utah. Nightstalkers is one of the well-known haunts in the Utah area. (Josie Outen)

Fear is a feeling most people avoid, but when October rolls around, many seek it out. Haunted attractions deliver fear, but how do they prepare for the delivery?

According to AmericanHaunts.com, more than 1,200 professionally run haunted houses operate in the U.S. While attending these haunts is fun for thrill-seekers, the work that goes into them is extensive. Three individuals who understand the inner workings of haunted houses shared what goes on behind the scenes.

Racheal Gough, a Southern Utah University student, has worked as a haunted house manager, makeup artist, scare actor and set designer.

“It’s a pretty long, but pretty fun process,” Gough said. “I would say most haunted houses — depending on the professional level — begin about three to four, even six months before the season opens.”

Holly McLaughlan, manager of Insanity Point at Cornbelly’s in Lehi, started as a scare actor and worked her way up to managing the attraction. She plans events, schedules actors and ensures everything runs smoothly at Cornbelly’s.

“We start planning months in advance. We start planning probably as soon as February or March for the upcoming haunt season,” McLaughlan said.

Ethan Campbell, a BYU student from North Dakota, works in several roles at Cornbelly’s, including helping set up Insanity Point.

“Set up and tear down take as long as we’re actually open for, which is kind of crazy,” Campbell said.

When asked what makes a good haunted house, Gough provided some insights.

“You have to start with a general theme that you can build stories, sets and everything around,” she said. “If you can understand the story, a lot of times that makes it scarier.”

Each room, Gough explained, is built around its characters.

“Most haunted houses will do different characters,” she said. “Then you just build the set and the story that you want to tell around those characters.”

Once the storyline and actors are determined, Gough said the next steps include working within a budget to set up rooms and design makeup. Then, it’s time for training.

“Depending on the haunted house and the professional level of what’s going to be going on, you'll have anywhere between two hours of training to 50 hours for your scare actors,” Gough said.

After training, dress rehearsals take place, and the scares begin. When asked what makes a haunted house scary, Gough identified three key elements: narrative, actors and cohesiveness.

“I think it’s all about quality,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how much budget you have. If you have a really fleshed-out story, that’s going to be scarier because if you can understand what’s going on, it feels more real.”

Campbell, however, emphasized different aspects of a successful haunted house: decorations, ambiance, animatronics and actors.

“I think I’m generally really cheap by nature. I don’t like spending money, but if you want to have a good one, you have to not be afraid to spend a little bit of money,” he said.

McLaughlan revealed that about $9,000 to $10,000 was spent on the 2024 Cornbelly’s haunt.

“I’d say that’s probably about average,” McLaughlan said. “Makeup is probably one of our biggest price tags.”

There are many components involved in a haunted attraction. The planning starts months in advance, and executing it is an intense and expensive process to create an immersive experience.

“Having the sound, visuals and props all work together is key,” Gough said. “The more cohesive it is, the more immersive the experience — and the scarier.”

Campbell agreed, adding that ambiance plays a crucial role.

“Even if you have great actors, animatronics, and decorations, if you don’t have good music, fog machines, and lights, it just doesn’t feel the same,” he said.

“It’s a big production, and it’s a lot of work,” McLaughlan added.