Haunted House Information Data About the Industry

Facts from the original

• Over 2,000 haunted attractions in America charge admission fees.
• Over 300 amusement facilities produce some sort of Halloween or haunted house event.
• Over 1,000 charity attractions open one day on Halloween or one or two October weekends.
• A Halloween Attraction includes corn mazes, pumpkin patches and haunted hayrides, unlike a haunted house.
• Halloween Attraction industry estimated at $400 to $500 million with over 1,500 events nationwide.
• Combined Halloween and Haunted Attraction industries gross over one billion dollars annually.
• Typical haunted attraction averages around 8,000 paid guests.
• About 80% of professional attractions have attendance under 10,000 or more than 7,500 paid guests.
• Less than 3% of haunted attractions draw over 35,000 paid guests.
• Mega haunted events attract 40,000 to 80,000 guests, about 1 to 2% of attractions.
• About 10% of attractions average between 12,000 and 20,000 paid guests.
• Universal Studios or Knott's Scary Farm attracts over 300,000 paid guests in October alone.
• Mega attractions can push over 4,000 guests a night; Universal might do over 35,000.
• Early 1990s haunted house ticket prices ranged between $4 and $6.
• By the mid to late 1990s average ticket prices soared to around $13.
• Today some haunted houses charge as much as $25 while most average around $15.
• Major amusement park haunts charge as much as $65 for entry.
• Over 80% of haunted attractions charge less than $15 per person; only 3% charge more than $20.
• Roughly 60% of haunted attractions charge less than $13 per person.
• Tiny Tim married on the Tonight Show at Boston haunt Spookyworld in the mid 1990s.
• Media outlets including USA Today, Wall Street Journal, AOL.com, Time, Washington Post, AP and NFL Films covered the industry.
• In 2006 Yahoo.com listed HauntWorld.com among the best places to find haunted houses.
• The Travel Channel produced a haunted attraction television show that aired several times in 2006.
• National Geographic Channel produced a 2007 documentary 'Celebrating Halloween' featuring The Darkness, St. Louis.
• In 2006 Good Morning America ran a 5 minute piece and the Today Show also covered the industry.
• 'Girls Next Door' followed a girl through the TransWorld show in Chicago, airing May 2007.
• In October 2008 Yahoo reported visiting a haunted house among the top ten most searched things to do.
• The haunted house industry generates between 400 and 500 million dollars in ticket sales.
• Haunted attraction industry generates roughly 300 million dollars; amusement park industry another 150 to 200 million.
• The industry supports vendors supplying effects, props, costumes, masks and animations.
• Haunted houses spend tens of millions on building supplies, advertisement and insurance.
• Roughly 85 million dollars is spent on advertisement of events.
• The HauntShow in St. Louis features over 100,000 square feet of animations, props and special effects.
• Over 100 companies make their sole living selling equipment to Halloween Attractions worldwide.
• Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday in the United States.
• Approximately one hundred countries celebrate Halloween.
• Over seven billion dollars is spent yearly on candy, costumes and activities in the United States alone.
• About 90% of households with children participate in a Halloween activity.
• Most common Halloween season demographics are teens and young adults ages 18-34.
• Research shows people enjoy being scared in safe environments and will pay for the experience.
• Haunted houses are extremely safe due to tough safety and fire codes.
• Indoor haunts require sprinkler systems, smoke or heat detectors, emergency lights, fireproofed materials, industrial electric, easy access doors, panic hardware exits, multiple fire extinguishers and panic systems.
• Most haunts must be ADA compliant with no trap doors or floor items causing trips and falls.
• Over 80% of haunted attractions in America are operated by or benefit a charity.
• The industry raises tens of millions of dollars for charities nationwide.
• Many fire departments or church groups produce haunted attractions.
• Haunts have worked with charities from the Boys and Girls Club to the Children's Miracle Network.
• Corporate America sponsorships in haunted houses reach tens of millions of dollars, including Pepsi, energy drinks, fast food, cellular and Halloween retail.
• A major haunted attraction could attract $10,000 to $100,000 in sponsorships.
• Sponsorships are climbing an estimated 8% per year.
• Some attractions formed national groups like AmericaHaunts.com to attract bigger sponsors.
• Attraction owners spend over 50 million dollars annually with haunted house vendors.
• Vendors have supplied haunted houses at the Playboy Mansion, Universal Studios, Six Flags and Madison Square Garden.
• Over 25 million dollars of haunted house equipment was shipped to other countries, mostly Asia and Europe.
• ExMortis.com did all effects for Rob Zombie's movies Halloween, Devil's Rejects and House of a 1000 Corpses.
• Ghost Ride Productions sold props to Warner Brothers for a Batman movie and to Universal Studios films.
• Patrick Magee (Magee FX) did special effects on the Lions Gate film 'Dark Ride'.
• Much of the data was supplied to the Haunted Attraction Association by Hauntworld.com.