The United States now has over 2.2 million cases of COVID-19 with no signs of slowing. As guidelines from the CDC and WHO continue to evolve and states continue to shift orders based on the outbreak, you can’t help but wonder what the 2020 Halloween season is going to look like due to the pandemic. We know it will be different, which is why efforts like the Halloween Fun Pack Project are so important, but what impact will COVID-19 have on home and professional haunts?
While the Halloween season is still four months away, now is the time that most haunters really dig in and start planning and building for the season. I recently surveyed 30 haunt owners from around the country to get a sense of how COVID-19 might impact their operations and the theme of change and uncertainty is definitely lingering over the industry.
Home Haunts Transitioning to Yard Displays
In the home haunting space, many home haunters shared that they will be shifting from a walkthrough experience to a yard display due to COVID-19. Diane Meyer, the owner of Rotten Apple 907 in Burbank, CA first made mention of this during Midsummer Scream’s 2020 Haunt Forecast live stream and it’s a sentiment many home haunters seem to be echoing.
“With things so uncertain I’d hate to build it and have someone get sick,” said Tim Fowler who runs The Farm out of his home in Castaic, CA. Fowler and many other home haunters have said that they will be modifying their haunts to be elaborate yard displays that patrons will be able to view from a distance instead of a traditional walkthrough experience. This ensures limited contact between the homeowners and patrons, while still providing some sort of themed experiences for the Halloween season.
Social Distancing and Virtual Queues
Haunts that do plan to remain open in spite of COVID-19 are focusing heavily on social distancing to limit contact between guests and scare actors alike. To accommodate this plan, haunts are considering not only limiting capacity, but also various queuing strategies. While some haunts are considering marked queues that space patrons six feet apart, others are toying with the idea of virtual queues that would allow guests to sign up online for a specific time slot to experience the haunt instead of physically queueing up at the location.
Inside the haunt, scare actors may also be partaking in social distancing with some haunts planning distance scares, which would limit the contact between patrons and scare actors. Del Amo Scary Walk in Compton, CA is even considering putting scare actors behind protective glass.
New Sanitization Practices
With hundreds, or sometimes thousands of patrons making their way through a haunt each night, haunt owners are also considering new ways to limit physical contact and improve sanitization practices for those surfaces that guests may come in contact with.
Many haunts said that for 2020 they will be removing commonly used hanging fabric or curtain barriers that separate rooms in a maze. These of course come in contact with the face or hands of each person that walks through the maze and have the potential to transfer germs from one guest to another as they walk through a haunt.
Mason Legerski of Corona Haunt in Corona, CA says that for 2020 they will be sanitizing high touch surfaces every half hour during operation. Other haunts are going as far as setting up hand sanitization stations for both guests as well as scare actors. All Saints Lunatic Asylum in Apple Valley, CA are also considering the use of antibacterial fog machines to disinfect their haunt.
Terror in the Trees in Lucasville, Ohio is actually going as far as removing the maze element completely from their haunt. When they open for the 2020 season the haunt will be an all-new trail through the woods without any enclosed structures. The haunt is using the COVID-19 crisis as a way to revisit their beginnings. Owner Steven Johnson says the change will allow them to “get back to our roots of nyctohylophobia the fear of the dark forest at night.”
The Monsters Won’t Be the Only Ones in Masks
Perhaps one of the most polarizing topics in America at the moment beyond politics is the wearing of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and like it or not, it looks like it’s likely going to be an aspect of this year’s haunt season. Many haunts who responded to my survey said they are considering making guests and staff wear masks for safety.
Troy Yu, the founder of Gothic Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA, says that masks are something they are seriously grappling with when it comes to their 2020 plans. “We are very concerned about the irrational emotional reaction people are having to being required to wear masks and want to avoid conflict…There have been so many confrontations over masks, we have no interest in risking the safety of our volunteers to enforce that.”
In the event Gothic Hills Cemetery does decide to make guests wear masks, Yu has a rather creative idea to encourage participation: Giving out prizes to guests with the coolest mask. This not only creates an incentive to wear a mask but also makes doing so fun.
The True Impact Might Not Be Felt Until Just Before the Season
While many haunts have already decided on their fate for 2020 due to COVID-19, there are still many that are holding out as long as they can before making a final decision. A number of haunters said they were still undecided on whether or not they plan to open, but could wait until as late as August or September before making a decision.
Many of those making decisions are also relying on state and local officials to give further guidance that will help them determine if they are even allowed to open during the coming haunt season, which can start as early as September for some haunts.
Even the fate of major haunt events like Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm, and Six Flags Fright Fest is still up in the air, as California theme parks are currently closed due to COVID-19 and Florida parks are just beginning to re-open.
While a lot of what’s happening due to COVID-19 continues to drive uncertainty, one thing is clear, the 2020 haunt season will be unlike any we’ve experienced in the past.
Out of my own curiosity, I want to know, will you be visiting any professional or home haunts this Halloween season, or are you going to stay home amidst COVID-19 concerns? Let me know in the comments or on social media!
