The Flow of a Haunt

A few years back, I created my own model for what the flow of a haunt should look like, in other words, the ordering and purpose of certain scenes. Now, I've gone back to that model and beefed it out to include more specifics to better describe the process. As always, remember there is no right or wrong when it comes to haunted houses; haunting is an art first and a science second. So be sure to read what I'm writing with a skeptical attitude and form your own opinions on the subject.

To get us started, here are my 6 basic stages of a haunted adventure:
1) Detailed opening scene
2) Disorienting scene(s)
3) The meat (body) of the haunt
4) Climax
5) Relief
6) Final scare

Now let's zoom in and take a closer look at each of those.

1) Detailed opening scene

At the beginning of just about every successful haunt in the world is a high-detail entry scene, acting either as the first room of the haunt or as an interactive queue line. The purpose of this set is to establish setting and storyline before guests get into the meat of the haunt. But what does that even mean? Well, looking at a haunt as an adventure film instead of a horror movie (because haunts always have happy endings) in which guests overcome a great evil to get that huge endorphin rush, we need to take the time to establish their enemy before their heart rate gets racing to the point where they can't think these things through. So with this first big scene, our goal as designers is to tell guests as much of the story as we can to ensure that they go into the rest of the haunt knowing they'll be facing a grave danger.

2) Disorienting scene(s)

As soon as possible after the opening scene, our goal is to disorient our patrons and get them completely and utterly lost in the haunt's hostile environment. When I go through a haunt, I find myself considerably more lost in the settings when I can't figure out in what direction the haunt's entrance is. I think this comes from the primitive notion that if you know where safety is you can eventually reach it. But when you're disoriented to the point that you cannot name the direction you came from, you're completely immersed in the environment. So as haunters, we should strive to achieve this state of disorientation as early in the experience as possible. Some of the easiest ways to do this are to implement lots and lots of dark twists and turns and to make corners that aren't at 90 degree angles. This stage of your haunt is also an excellent time to use effects such as vortex tunnels, claustrophobia tunnels, and laser vortexes. Remember, the goal is to immerse guests in our world, so anything to take them out of their comfort zone aids in that purpose immensely.

3) The meat

This is the body of your haunted adventure, where 70-80% of the action happens! This area is comprised of a series of buildup, payoff, and relief cycles, each cycle usually taking one scene to play out. Now, let's take a more in-depth look at these cycles:

1. Buildup is the increasing tension in a scene of your haunt. The music is pumping, the lights are dim, and it's about time for something to move in the shadows. During this stage, guests' adrenaline is pumping; they are primed for fight or flight and now their reaction to that actor in the corner isn't going to be a flinch, it'll be a full-blown scream.
2. Payoff is the scare itself, in which the actor(s) pounce upon the guests! There is a ton of info to talk about with the startle, so rather than trying to cram it all into a small paragraph I'll just refer you to my post about startles.
3. Relief is the state in which a patron is able to let their guard down, if only just for a minute before the next scare hits them. On a side note, this is where it comes in handy to incorporate empty hallways into your haunts rather than just room after room after room. Just as a movie has rising and falling action, this stage is absolutely essential to maintaining the cycle of a haunt; without it, patrons become numb to the screams of the monsters and never experience the true release that a haunted house offers.

Throughout the meat of your haunt, thoughtfully incorporating this cycle into your design can allow for a much higher scare factor for your guests.

4) Climax

When haunters take surveys of their patrons, time and time again they find that the most memorable scenes in their haunts are their first and their last. This is why, as you've seen, I devoted a section entirely to the opening scene, and is also why, as you'll see, I'm devoting three to the finale scene.

Just by glancing at the titles of these final three sections, you may be wondering why I chose to separate them. Isn't climax and relief just a bigger version of the buildup, payoff, and relief cycle? Well, to an extent, yes. But when that chainsaw final scare comes blaring out, you want your guests to have something big and memorable to back it up.
          "How was the haunted house?"
          "They had a chainsaw at the end."
          "So nothing special?"
          "Yup. Nothing special."
Don't get me wrong, a chainsaw is an amazing final scare for any haunted house, but what it isn't is a climax. Don't waste your chance; give people something to talk about!
          "How was the haunted house?"
          "Oh my God! They had this crazy chick come flying out over us on a zip line, I thought she was gonna land on us dude! There were zombies crawling out of everywhere! This wall started falling towards us and a semi truck charged out from behind a corner and stopped right in front of Corey's face!"
          "Wow! So it sounds like you had a good time!"
          "It was so awesome dude! You need to go some time."
Here's the point to remember: give them something big before the chainsaw, or you're losing a key opportunity for word of mouth. Every haunted house has a chainsaw at the end. Make your haunt into something special.

5) Relief

So now that you've got your climax, it's time to let guests think it's over. Bigger than any of your relief stages in the meat of your haunt, this is the time when guests are able to see the outside world and believe that they've reached safety. Remember, your final scare will only be as effective as your relief stage before it.

6) Final scare

So you've given guests a memorable finale, gotten their guard down, and now it's finally your chance to break out the chainsaw! The purpose of this scare is not to be memorable, it is merely to scare guests one last big time. I've been referring to this as the chainsaw scare, but in reality any scare, no matter how small, can be an effective way to take advantage of guests' perceived safety at the exit of the haunt. In 2009, back before I used saws in my haunt, I would often leave my post as the greeter actor, go stand beside the exit door, and bang a shovel on the wall as guests left the haunt, and this worked brilliantly for a quick and easy last scare.