Hey Reader,

Uh...quite a weekend for news headlines, huh?

I worked at a haunted house.

Not the "a Victorian child died in this bedroom and now haunts the darkened halls" kind of haunted house, but the "jump out, go boo" kind of haunted house. Here's a picture:

I still work in haunted houses. In fact, I'm leading a seminar about marketing for haunted house owners at the Ohio Haunters Convention in May. That's not what this week's newsletter is about, but there's my proof of rapport.

There was another haunted house.

It was much older and well established than the haunted house I worked at. The other haunt was also more "extreme" than our haunt. In this case, "extreme" meant the actors would grab, pull and push you. They featured more realistic gore and stronger language than we allowed and the themes of their rooms were...dark.

There's nothing wrong with any of those things! "Extreme" haunted houses are commonplace in the haunt world and some people really love them. I've met plenty of haunted house enthusiasts who feel that these "extreme" haunts are the only ones worth going to. That said, "extreme haunts" are not for everyone.

The other haunt in town, while very popular and well attended, had a habit of burning out potential customers for other haunts in town. Because this other haunt was the oldest attraction in town, it became the default recommendation for those looking for a Halloween fun. The problem is: most people asking for a haunted house recommendation are not haunt enthusiasts.

Every year, I'd encounter dozens of people who had visited the more "extreme" haunt as their first ever haunted attraction. These patrons were often horrified, upset and downright traumatized. Most of the time, I'd discover someone's experience at the other haunted house when I invited them to visit ours. They'd say things like, "I'll never go to another haunted house again. I had XYZ thing happen to me at the "extreme haunt" and now I won't go to any haunt because I'm afraid that's what they'll all be like.

But we weren't "extreme."

The haunt I worked at was actually relatively tame compared to other haunts in the area. Sure, it was scary, but we weren't shoving people around or leaning too hard into realism. Unfortunately, when I invited someone to check it out, I had to push past their mental road blocks put in place by the "extreme" haunt. I had to put in the effort to convince these people that our haunt was not going to be the same, that they would enjoy it.

I didn't like the things that happened at the "extreme" haunt, but they never misled anyone as to what they were doing. Their advertising was always clear. Their marketing was always straight forward. They billed themselves as an "extreme" haunt from the first impression through the final room of the haunt. Often, though, the first time visitors would ignore the warnings. For one reason or another, they put their money on the table and paid to have a bad time, even though it was clearly explained.

These people drove me bonkers. I worked on the marketing team for our haunt and was always frustrated to that another potential visitor's interest in haunted houses had evaporated. How could I get someone to a haunted house that didn't have any of the things they hated if they wouldn't even accept the initial invitation?

You've got to hold their hand.

People who went to the "extreme" haunt and hated it felt like they had been burnt. They cautiously tried something and it was much different and worse than they expected. Was it their fault for not heeding the warnings of the "extreme" haunt? Maybe, but assigning blame certainly wasn't going to make them more likely to try out my haunted house. Was it the "extreme" haunt's fault for being too "extreme?" Maybe, but I couldn't care about the other haunt when I was trying to get patrons to mine.

I ended up putting in a great deal of work to introduce our haunt to folks as a better "beginner" option. We worked with local TV stations to feature our attraction on family-friendly morning news channels. We reached out directly to colleges to invite a younger crowd before they went to the first haunt Google suggested. I gave lights-on tours to friends and acquaintances to quell their initial anxiety. We attended community events in costume to meet people where they were instead of forcing them to come to us.

It took a lot of time and effort, but every time someone would tell me, "I never thought I'd go back to a haunted house, but I had a great time tonight," it was all worth it. I was still perpetually annoyed by these dweebs who would go to "the most extreme haunt" in town for their first experience, despite everyone telling them not to, but at least now they were buying tickets to the haunt that mattered to me.

-MC

p.s.

• This newsletter is about those who may feel disillusioned by the American government launching another war.
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Magic the Gathering and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I had a crazy week and was only able to post one TikTok. When that's the case, I always prefer to post a video that will continue to bring in views and engagement for a few days. Magic the Gathering TikTok is an opinionated place and I had a feeling that commenters would rush to tell me how I was wrong. My assumption was correct and I reaped the benefits in views and comments. That's the social media game, baby! Watch the Video

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