One of the most difficult pieces of the Haunting puzzle to find is a location for the event. Searching for a building of adequate size that fits the budget, is in a good part of town with high visibility, plenty of parking, a haunted look and an owner willing to rent to you is a daunting task. Frustrated in the search for the perfect location, many haunters have been forced to be more creative and think outside of the normal structure. Haunted hayrides, haunted outdoor trails, open air mazes, and even ghost tours have become a viable alternative to haunting a building, but bad weather can be devastating to a fully outdoor Haunt. Two covered alternatives that some haunters are turning to are semi-trailers and temporary tents.

Some Haunters swear by using trailers for a Haunted House and would never consider using a tent Haunt. Others are sold on the tent concept and would never dream of haunting in a trailer. Some of this is personal preference, but what are the pros and cons of using semi-box trailers versus a tent for a Haunted Attraction, and which is the right decision for your event?

By Leonard Pickel

Is finding the perfect building with the right look, a sprinkler system, plenty of parking, room for expansion, a rent payment you can afford, and in the right part of town proving to be a difficult task? Join the club! Even if you did find such a property, the owner is more likely to let it sit vacant than rent it to a Haunter. Years ago I was deep into rent negotiations on a building in Dallas and drove by the location, only to see a bulldozer knocking down the last wall of the structure!

Be it a bust or booming economy, a building is second only to funding as the hardest piece of the haunting puzzle to find, and for many of us it’s a year-round search! As a volunteer for the Dallas March of Dimes Haunted House, this difficulty of finding a proper location drove the organization to look for alternatives to a building. Borrowing from a sister March of Dimes Chapter in San Antonio, Texas, it was announced that the 1983 Dallas Haunt would be built in a parking lot under a tent. As chairman of the event I was in charge of designing the attraction to fit under the 40' x 60' big top.

Buying or Leasing a Tent
Since our Haunt was non-profit, that first tent we used was donated to the event. A great deal if you can find it, but as we discovered, free is not always perfect. For one thing, the tent was white with yellow stripes; not exactly scary looking. It was also an older, warn out tent that needed patching (It needed even more patching once we were through with it, but more on that later).

When you start looking into tents to Haunt, you will find two main types of “membrane” structures: frame tents and pole tents. Frame tents are clear span and do not have center poles holding up the tent material, but are much more expensive than pole tents. Pole tents have poles at about 10' on center around the perimeter of the tent and every 20' on center down the ridge. If the tent is more then 40' deep, then an additional row of poles may be required half way between the ridge and the side wall on both sides of the ridge. I prefer the 40' tent for Haunted Attraction design; anything wider makes the egress distances difficult to comply with. Also, the center pole of a 40’ tent will be around 20’ tall. The wider the tent, the taller and more sought the center pole will have to be, making storage and transportation a problem. The larger the tent, the more likely you will want someone else set it up, (unless you have elephants at your disposal)! Having someone else set up the tent will remove some of the liability and you can rely on the fact that your tent will be assembled properly and will be safe to inhabit.

You can rent or buy a tent from various companies both local and nationwide. After you have leased a tent for the time required to build, operate and strike the Haunted Attraction, you may be better of buying it. A 40' x 100' pole tent can be purchased new for between $??? and $???.

One thing that I learned the first year that I used a tent is that the typical pole tent has a 7' tall side wall; 12 inches shorter than our walls were at the time. I had already planned to provide an egress corridor around the perimeter of the Haunt plan, but even with this buffer, the top of the 8' panels pressed against the fabric of the tent. Then I learned that a tent moves constantly with the breeze, and anything touching the tent soon wears a hole in the vinyl. We spent a lot of time cutting carpet pieces to place between the tent and the panels to keep from shredding the tent. When you buy a tent you can order taller sidewalls, and I recommend an 8' 6" height to make sure the panels clear the lights and everything inside. This also allows you to run panels from the attraction out to a façade without interfering with the tent or notching the panels.

The first tent Haunt I designed did not have a façade, but it was quickly evident that we needed something to make the tent look more like a rickety old Haunted House rather than a brand new circus tent. Buy year two we had a 2-story Psycho-looking façade in front of the tent; a wall mural or old wooden stockade fence works well to hide any tent that is visible adjacent to the façade.

Color and Material
Flammability of the tent material will be of great interest to the building/fire department, and even though every tent manufactured today must be flame retardant, you will need a certificate from the manufacturer to prove this. I only use vinyl tents, as canvas tents are much heavier, harder to take care of and come in fewer colors.

As I mentioned, my first tent haunt had a yellow and white striped top; not very scary and hard to theme unless you are doing a psycho circus. If you buy a tent, the color options are endless. Your first thought for the color of tent to purchase might be black, and while a dark color on the inside of the tent is great for keeping the light wash down to a minimum, a black tent can be very hot for the construction crew. Black also seems to disappear in the dark of night, and I like for people to see the size of the attraction when they are considering buying a ticket. A black tent is also very hard to rent out in the off- season, and harder to sell in the event that you do someday find that perfect building. Over the years of tent Haunting, I have come to prefer a vinyl that is white on the outside of the tent and royal blue on the inside (they also come in white/black, if black is a must). The blue does a decent job of not reflecting the stage lights and the white exterior catches any lighting effects that I shine on it.

There is also a product called a “black out” tent. These are designed to keep all light from entering the tent, even in full daylight. The black out is done with either a thicker tent material or a separate inner drape. Unless your location has strong overhead lighting that you need to block out, a black out tent is an added cost that is not necessary.

Surface
When looking for a location, I recommend a parking lot rather than a vacant field. Putting the tent on grass or dirt will be a mess when (not if) it rains. Grass will not hold up long to thousands of people walking on the same path, and once the grass is gone, dust will be a major problem. If you have to put the Haunt on bare ground, put down a subfloor of plywood. In either case, look at the slope of the land and pick a high spot for the tent. Some parking lots are designed to hold water for a while after a rain. Look for a place where the water will flow away from the Haunt and not through it. To help keep the panel bottoms in place, I recommend that you lay indoor/outdoor carpet under the attraction wall panels. Carpet also gives the rooms a feeling of being inside a house much more than asphalt and parking lot striping.

The Layout
The next thing I learned about a 40' x 60' tent is that it is not exactly square or exactly 40' x 60'. In fact, if you are not very careful erecting the tent, it can be quite crooked and too small. Once you decide where your tent should sit, use a chalkline to mark the extents of the structure. Then measure out on each side of the tent line the height of the sidewalls and chalk the line where the stakes go. It is this stake line that will make the tent straight and the right size. You may want to hire a tent company to erect the tent for you, but it is not that hard to do after you see it done once. A rented jack hammer, without the chisel, is a must for the stake driving.

One good thing about a tent is that the walls are vinyl, and exits can be placed anywhere they are needed. I try to place the façade of the Haunt on the long side of the tent for the appearance of size, and then enter and exit the patrons through the façade. No ramps are needed, unless your design calls for raised walkways.

Walls and Rooms
Because you want to keep the length of time you are paying rent to a minimum, I suggest that you build the Haunt in a modular panelized form before you erect the tent. The more you can build offsite, the more time onsite you will have to set dress the Haunt. The panels allow you to change the attraction each time that you set it up, so that each year it will be fresh and different. A 4,000 square foot pre-built Haunt can be set up in 7 days with a 5 man crew.

With modular panels, the rooms of your attraction can be any size and any shape. Room placement can be such that the backstage actor areas are combined, allowing one actor to scare the same group more than one time, making it seem like you have more actors than you do.

Power
You can provide electricity for the attraction via a generator (very noisy) or a temporary power pole. The metered power pole is run off the existing city power lines and can be placed at your location for less than the rental fee of a generator, then you pay a power usage fee like everyone else. You will need at least 2 circuits on the pole; one circuit for the stage lights and one for the emergency lights. If the emergency lighting and exit signs were on the same circuit as the stage lights, the batteries would engage each time you turned off the show lights (very hard on the batteries). If you are using a generator, keeping the emergency lights from coming on when you turn off the generator is a problem. You may have to add a switch inline to the battery on each fixture. An additional circuit may be desired for house or work lights, and another for a compressor (which may be 220 volts). To get power to each light fixture, you will need to build an electrical harness. Like a giant umbilical cord for the Haunt, the harness places electrical outlets within reach of the cords from each light fixture, eliminating the need for extension cords. I use a 12-3 SO cord to build the harness; Romex is not allowed for commercial installations and not designed for exposed use, and flex conduit develops shorts after you bend it a few times. A licensed electrician should put the harness together.

Tents and Codes
By building and fire code any “Special Amusement” building is required to had an “automated fire suppression system,” and this includes a tent. However, as with many codes regulating the Haunted Attraction Industry, the enforcement of this sprinkler requirement is all over the board. There is also a size exemption for any attraction less than 1,000 square feet, but this does not always mean that you can get away with a grouping of 999 square foot attractions and tunnels connecting them.

It is my personal belief that when the code writers decided that all covered Haunted Attractions should have sprinklers, they never imagined that someone would try to put one in a tent. If they had, common sense would have dictated they an exemption for these “membrane” structures. For one thing, it is smoke that kills people, not fire. A smoke detection system is designed for early warning and to saves lives. On the other hand, a sprinkler system is designed to fight the fire and to save property. A tent is required to be 50’ away from any vehicle or other structure, and as long as the smoke detection sounds the alarm and the attraction is evacuated of personnel, I think we could live with the Haunt burning to the ground. I am not convinced that there would ever be enough heat built up in a tent fire to activate a sprinkler head before the tent melted away and let all smoke and heat out of the structure.

Using these arguments, I have been successful in having the sprinkler requirement waved in each case that I have been allowed to arguer my position in appeal.

Storage
When November arrives, it is time to put the attraction away until next September. You could haul everything to a storage space, but to keep from having to load and unload every time I move the Haunt, I pack it all in semi-trailers (see the Buying Trailers article in this issue).

Another thing that I realized when I started dealing with tent haunts is how expensive storage is. The panels that we built for the 1983 March of Dimes Haunt were built like a standard wall with 2x4 studs and plywood, making a 4" +/- thick panel. These were hard to carry and took up a lot of storage space. In 1984 we took all of the panels apart and turned the 2x4s flat between 2 sheets of plywood to create a 2" thick wall panel. Now we could store 2 panels in the same space as we stored only one before, and with some tight packing we were able to cram a 4,000 square foot Haunt into one 54' semi-trailer and still have room for the tent.

Advantages of Haunting in Tents
For me the main advantages of using a tent for a Haunt are flexibility and size! I have a wide open canvas (pardon the pun) to work with while designing the attraction, 40' deep by however wide I choose. No 8' ceilings and no existing walls to deal with other than the poles. Rooms can be any size and any shape, and I can arrange the scares in the space so that one actor can scare the same group several times, which decreases the number of total actors that I need to hire and pay. I can use the height in the center of the tent to locate a security catwalk, or create taller than 8' rooms for dramatic effect. I can get a great deal of patron pathway in a very compact space, and with the modular panels, I can have a brand new floor plan each time I set up the attraction.

Disadvantages
No solution is without its drawbacks and a tent is not perfect. For one thing, a tent is not waterproof. Delicate electrical equipment should be protected, and ground fault breakers should be used. Water tends to flow under the tent as well, so keep electrical equipment and power lines off the floor. Another problem with rain is that it will collect on a poorly tensioned (or set up) tent. Soon, large water balloons build up on the poor drainage areas and can stretch the tent so that it will never drain again. A 2x4 or push broom should be kept handy to lift the tent and dump the water. Just make sure no one is standing near the edge of the tent at the time.

Another problem with a tent is wind. A tent is like a giant airfoil or wing, and by design, a strong breeze will lift the poles of a tent well off the ground (Note: Do not do anything that would stop the poles from rising. The poles are lightly attached to the tent and must be allowed to rise and fall. Holding them down will rip the poles from the tent and the vinyl will shred itself on the exposed spikes). This lifting effect means that the tent also needs to be held down securely. The most common way is with stakes driven into the ground. This may or may not be a big problem when discussing location rent. An asphalt parking surface can easily be repaired, but the property owner may not want to damage his new paving. If the parking lot is concrete, you would have to drill the stake holes. One

alternative to stakes are the “Ecology Blocks.” These are very heavy concrete blocks or water filled tanks that weigh down the tent rather than attaching it to the ground.

The biggest drawback to a tent Haunt is security. Anything with a vinyl top can be broken into with as little as a pocket knife. In the old days, I would lock the perimeter emergency exit doors, put a big padlock on the entrance and exit door, and that seemed to work. Most crooks are cowards and a loop tape recoding of a dog barking from the middle of the tent would make them look for another target; a motion detector and digital playback of a chainsaw would help to expel anyone who got all the way inside. For some locations a rented chain link fence might also be a worthy investment.

I still search year-round for that most illusive piece of the haunting puzzle; the perfect Haunt building with gothic windows, sprinklers, highway visibility, plenty of parking, and free rent. In the meantime I will continue to Haunt in the most flexible, affordable alternative to a building that I have found: a tent!

Leonard Pickel is editor of Haunted Attraction Magazine and founder of the International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA). He can be reached at editor@Hauntedattraction.com or by phone at 704-366-0875.

The Inflatable Haunt
Last year ScAir Structures of Simi Valley, California, introduced to the Haunted Attraction Industry a third option in the hunt for a space to haunt. This new alternative uses inflatable technology and solves some of the problems of other temporary structures. Built on the same concept as the traditional “moon bounce” inflatable, these structures have a solid floor and are designed to accommodate a dark attraction. Presently there are two main types of inflatable haunts available from ScAir Structures: the Chamber and the Haunt.

The Chamber is a 30' x 30', 900 square foot clear-span inflatable “tent” that requires one blower (included) and costs around $4,000. It goes from storage to fully inflated in ten minutes with little manpower, compared to the hours and 3-4 laborers that a traditional pole tent requires. The peaked roof of this unit provides some additional headroom down the center of the space for taller effects and helps shed rain. The ScAir Chamber does not have center poles, but there are eight inflated tubes spaced around the perimeter of the unit, one in each corner and one in the center of each side. The doorways on the Chamber’s exterior are designed to link to each other, so if you need more space simply add on an additional Chamber; the doorway becomes a hallway that will lead to the next 900 square feet. The Room is a smaller version of the Chamber, and costs less than $2,000. At 13' x 13', this clear-span space is an alternative to a shack on a Haunted Trail, or can be used to connect to the Chamber units for additional square footage.

Like standard tents, these inflatable structures still require traditional wall panels inside the structure to create the patron pathway. However, the second type of inflatable available from ScAir Structure does not. The Haunt, sells complete for less than $13,000 and is a 32' x 28' x 10', 900 square foot structure designed with 24" diameter interior columns that define a square grid within the space. Using Velcro, vinyl panels can be hung between the columns to define a mazelike pathway through the structure, which can be changed or rearranged in minutes. With this product, an attraction can be set up complete with pathway walls in a very short time. This unit comes in two pieces and requires two blowers to inflate.

When deflated, the structures look like oversized sleeping bags – very heavy sleeping bags. The Chamber is the size of a large trash can, and can be moved by one person and a hand truck. The Haunt is a bit heavier, but comes in two pieces for easier handling. Both pieces and the blowers fit onto a 4' x 4' pallet, ready for the forklift it will take to lift the whole thing at one time for transport.

The Chamber and the Haunt are both 900 square feet to take full advantage of the “less than 1,000 square foot” code exemption for fire suppression (sprinklers). All of the ScAir Structures come standard with “D rings” rigged throughout to attach props, lighting sound equipment, and are made of a “black out” material for daytime use. The base price includes the exterior sidewalls and removable floor vinyl, and each structure has four available exits (one on each side). The base unit is made with black flame retardant material, but can be special ordered in just about any color. An additional feature of all the ScAir Structures is Velcro stripping sewn on the outside of all the exterior walls. This enables you to attach advertising, promotional and sponsorship banners or themed murals to the structures. The Haunt floor plan is also wheelchair accessible.

Haunting Semi-Trailers: or Thinking Inside of the Box!

By  Rick Whitlow

So, you’re planning to open a Haunted Event and you’re considering purchasing semi-box trailers to house the attractions. There are several aspects of Haunting in trailers that you should be aware of when deciding on this course of action: where to buy the trailers and what kind of trailers to buy, how many trailers will be needed and what to look for in a trailer, what to make the walls out of and how many rooms you can get in one trailer, how to get patrons up and down from the trailer level, and how long it takes to set up and take down the attraction.

Buying Trailers
Taking a look at the local newspaper ads, trailer storage yards, and local trucking companies, you will find both new and used trailers for sale. There are even used trailer Haunts available for purchase and companies that will build an attraction in a trailer for you. Prices vary greatly and sizes range from 24' to 55' long, one and two axel styles, with swinging doors or a roll up door (some may even come with a side door). On top of that, there are “storage” trailers and “road worthy” trailers. Storage trailers are typically older, less expensive, and due to faulty breaks or inoperable electrical or lights, must be “towed” rather than “hauled” from place to place. These are designated for use as temporary warehousing and, as the name implies, storage. Storage trailers can be moved with a special license for short distances and within state lines only.

On the other hand, a “road worthy” trailer has working breaks and lights, is up to date with registration and regulations, and can be hauled by any licensed trucker across state lines and even into Canada and Mexico. These trailers are typically newer, larger and more expensive than a storage trailer. You can have a storage trailer repaired and made into a road worthy trailer, but cost is a factor and the trailer should be empty at the time of these repairs.

Unless you plan to haul your attractions over long distances or more than twice a year, you will be looking for storage trailers to buy for your event. Make sure the trailers you purchase have a roof that is in good condition and does not leak. Check the floor as well and make sure it is not rotted away; you can repair the floor of a trailer by covering the existing surface with plywood. Fixing a leaky roof, however, is a bigger problem, so be sure to shop around and compare trailers. Even a 50' long trailer is only 400 square feet, and not really large enough for an October seasonal Haunt. So the first thing you need to do is calculate how many trailers at what size and shape you will require to get the desired square footage.

The Layout
The two most common layouts are the “C” shape (also known as the “horse shoe”), in which the first and last trailers are spanned at one end by a third trailer, and the “O” shape (or “donut”) consisting of 4-6 trailers in a square shape. Both of these layouts create a void in the middle that can be utilized as an open-air portion to greatly increase the size of the attraction. In either layout, you will need a professional truck driver to align the trailers for set up.

The next decision is how to get from trailer A to trailer B. For some connections you will be able to use the existing doors on the trailers (a side door is a big plus here). If the existing doors are not where you need them, you will have to cut doors in the box wall. A good grinder and a heavy-duty reciprocating saw will assist in this project. Try to keep all of the new openings the same size (3' x 6'-8" minimum) to avoid complications. Even if the trailers are right against each other, you will need to make a “bridge” out of plywood to span the gap between trailers. These bridges should be long enough to easily reach both trailers, and at least as wide as the entry. Sometimes, one trailer will be slightly higher than another, which can be remedied by making your bridge at an incline, resulting in a ramp between the trailers. You may also wish to create a ceiling and walls for the sides and top of each bridge to keep out light, rain, and other weather factors.

Entries, Exits and Everything in Between
For the entry and exit of the Haunt, you will need to construct ramps, stairs, or both to get patrons to and from the trailer floor height. Stairs are easier to make and take up less space than a ramp, but may only be practical for the entrance. If your guests are coming out of your Haunt screaming in fear, a staircase could pose a problem. Ramps may also be required at one or all entries/exits for ADA accessibility. An ADA ramp requires a slope of no more than 1:12, (1" of rise equals 12" of run), which means a 4' ramp has to be 48' long with several required 5' x 5' landings (check local code requirements to ensure compliance). The ramps can be made of wood or metal, and the design of the ramp will have to be approved by the building department. Design the ramp to be disassembled easily and stored in a small space. The ramp should be bolted to the trailer to make sure there is no separation during operations.

Emergency exits should be provided at each opportunity, like the back of each trailer that is not butted into another trailer. At the least, a staircase with handrails will be required at each exit.

Power
With the trailers configured and the entrance/exits installed, you will now need a source of power to run things for both construction and operation. Generators run about $500 - $600 dollars each, and you may need two of them to handle your power needs. Calculate your power and voltage need, (some compressors are 220 volts) before buying a generator. If your location has electrical power poles nearby, another option is to have the electric company drop a temporary power pole at the trailer location and operate on city power.

The next step is to decide how the power will connect to each of the trailers. An electrician should be hired to run the power lines and outlets inside the trailers in conduit or SO cord, with twist locks between the trailers for quick connection and strike.

Walls, Walls and More Walls The very basis of any trailer Haunt is the partitions that change the empty box into a scenic masterpiece. Likely, the most expensive thing about building the walls is the sheeting that is used to skin the walls. Use 1/4" OSB (sometimes called wafer board) or 3/8" CDX plywood skins as a minimum. Particleboard is a lot cheaper than plywood and OSB, but it does not take abuse or moisture very well

Building codes will require these partitions to be flame retardant, and may require walls to stop 18" below the ceiling. The construction of the walls is relatively simple, and I recommend that they be assembled as movable panels, rather than built in place like typical walls. It is also a space saver to turn the 2x frame members flat in the walls, to make thinner panels. The panels can be secured to the floor of the trailer by screws or lag bolts.

Rooms
A storage trailers is only 8' wide by 30 - 40 feet in length, which does not allow for large rooms. Nor does it allow much in the way of complex “mazing” between room designs. Each trailer will hold between 3 and 4 rooms depending on the size of the rooms and the length of the trailer, which is the reason that most of these Haunts consist of at least 3 trailers.

While most trailer attractions will use rooms that have a small wall or railing in between actors and the guests, this type of room is not your only option. With a little creativity and imagination, you can create rooms that are not limited by a barrier and have as much impact as rooms inside a tent or building Haunt.

Storage
The good thing about trailers is that you don’t have to tear down all the walls every November. There could be space in the trailers to store queue-line stanchions or other outside equipment or props, but you may need a separate trailer just for the storage of large items such as façade pieces, ramps and exit stairways. An extra trailer also comes in handy during operations for tool storage, office space, costuming, make-up, and an actor break area.

Lighting and sound equipment can remain installed inside the trailers providing the roof is in good shape and does not leak. Latex props and masks can be destroyed by excessive heat and cold, and may have to be stored somewhere other than in the trailers. Be sure to secure the trailers and off site storage areas against theft; too many times I have seen Haunts ready to set up for the season only to find that the trailers had been broken into and important props or equipment stolen or vandalized.

Pesky Critters
Another reason to purchase trailers in good condition is to keep out unwanted creatures. While the trailers are in storage, insects, birds and mice may try to make winter homes in your props, panels and electrical equipment. In most cases this is more of a nuisance than a major problem, but hornets, wasps and bees may build nests under the trailers and mice have been known to eat electrical wiring and latex props.

Advantages of the Haunted Trailer
One advantage of building an Attraction in a trailer is the ability to construct and install sets, props, lighting, and sound components throughout the year, so you can test the room design and effects on patrons before the Haunt is on site. However, the short set up time required to be operational is by far the greatest advantage. Depending on the number of external items (e.g. façade, ticket booth, ramps, outdoor sets) that need to be assembled, the attraction can be ready to open in hours rather than days. This portability could make it economically feasible to allow the attraction to be set up at fairs or carnivals during the summer to bring in additional revenue. In this case you would need to purchase trailers that are “road worthy” and able to easily be trucked across state lines.

As with tent attractions, fire suppression (sprinkler) enforcement for trailer Haunts is all over the spectrum. Many trailer Haunters try to take advantage of the “less than 1,000 square foot” exemption in the building code. By dividing the total Haunt in 999 square foot sections, each separated by 20 feet but linked by open-air bridges, you may convince the local authorities not to require a sprinkler system in the attraction.

Disadvantages of the Haunted Trailer
Because of the need to purchase several trailers to get any kind of experience length, trailer attractions tend to be shorter and smaller than the average tent attraction. Ramps, bridges and stairways are costly and must be structurally able to carry a great deal of weight. Your building inspector may require sealed engineering drawings for this construction, which will be expensive and must be followed to the letter.

The largest drawback for a trailer Haunted Attraction is the restrictive length, height, and width of the trailers. Mazing of the pathway becomes minimal and repetitive. Rooms can be no wider than 8' in one direction, with 4' of patron walkway looking into 4' of decorated room, which can create a “display” style haunt. Overhead and underfoot scares are difficult if not impossible, and tall narrow hallways or wide-open rooms can only be created in the area between the trailers, where weather is a factor. Air circulation is poor in a trailer Haunt, and fans may be required in warmer parts of the country to make the space livable for the actors. There is also very little space for backstage areas, making it difficult for one actor to work more than one scare. This increases the number of actors required to staff the attraction, and decreases the maximum throughput of the Haunt.

The final concern with a trailer Haunt is that it is not really a building, and therefore is regulated by the Agricultural Department of the state government, just as farm equipment and carnival rides are. In some states the requirements for carnival Haunted Attractions are even stricter than those of the building department, such as no wood allowed in the construction of the trailer or walls and no 1,000 square foot exemption from a fire suppression system. (Note: Many one-trailer carnival Dark Rides or Fun Houses carry their own pressurized water tanks to supply fire suppression.) If you are planning to use trailers for your attraction, you would well advised to review your plans with both the building department and the agricultural department before buying trailers to make sure that what you are planning will have their blessing.

There are good points and bad points to using trailers for Haunted Attractions. Sometimes a trailer Haunt can be as scary, if not scarier than any inside of a building. It’s what you make of what you’ve got that will determine whether your Haunt is a success or failure. This article is not meant to be taken as a how-to for starting a trailer Haunt, but rather to give you an idea of what to expect if you choose this avenue for your event.

Rick Whitlow is web master and owner of the web portal HauntSearch.com with 10 years of experience setting up and acting in trailer haunts. You can reach him via e-mail at hauntsearch@yahoo.com, or check out his site at www.HauntSearch.com