Spooky Haunted House

Every fall, local haunted houses -- or haunted theaters, as those in the industry call them -- are becoming big business. Kansas City is home to seven haunted houses. It's estimated that they bring in well more than 100,000 customers a season, which is not dead weight at $10 to $15 a ticket. It's a huge industry, and it started there. Kansas City is the haunted house capital of the world.

When the first 'for profit' haunted houses surfaced in the 1960s, the Jaycees usually ran them as family entertainment. They were low-budget productions known for such frightful things as people running around using sheets to become ghosts. This led to a haunted house craze, with thousands springing up throughout the country. But from the early days, Kansas City's haunted houses stood out. Not only were the houses here larger than anywhere else but operators also took the art of scaring people to a whole new level. The full-sensory experiences incorporated lighting, music, sound effects, elaborate sets and trained actors. And it all took place in spooky, older buildings. Kansas City's haunted houses have developed a cult following of sorts, with locals and people from out of town making the rounds yearly.

Luring people through the door is one of a haunted house's biggest challenges. The volatile customer flow can vary drastically depending on such things as the weather and other events. Average season attendance at area haunted houses can range from 10,000 to 17,000 or more per house. The weekends are the busiest but can be affected by weather. To keep people lining up to have the daylights scared out of them, haunted house owners actively promote and advertise. In the past several years, they even have developed Web sites to help reel in customers.

But the owners readily admit that their efforts never seem to be enough. They say they always could use more people coming through their doors since most of the year their buildings sit empty. Running a haunted house is an expensive prospect. Basic operating costs, such as employing off-duty police and fire investigators, buying insurance and leasing buildings, easily can exceed $100,000 -- and that's before the haunted house even opens its doors. Halloween is the only holiday that doesn't have a scripted story. ... Your imagination can go wild. It allows you to be as creative as you want to be. Most owners try to staff the houses with volunteer actors. The actors have other full- or part-time jobs. They choose to scare people for the fun of it. There are a lot of people making money at this, or they wouldn't do it. This isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. ... You have to be a businessman. But you also have to be an artist and love the art of scaring people, or it doesn't work.