Building Impressions of Fear to Create Unforgettable Moments
By Ted Dougherty
On July 30, 2018, Gantom hosted its second annual Leadership Symposium for Seasonal Attractions aboard the historic and haunted Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Crafting memorable first impressions using the key elements of elevation, insight, pride, and connection was the touchstone for presentations at this event.
Ted Dougherty’s presentation was titled “Impressions of Fear: Creating Positive Memories Through Fright.” Today’s visitors to haunted attractions desire a more personalized experience. Evoking thrills, laughter, and fear increase the odds that customers will leave with a desire to return to your attraction. Ted talked about his own experiences—three of which are presented in this article—of how practical knowledge combined with insight into what guests want can be the best tools for creating memorable and frightful entertainment at your attraction.
“I’m the type of person who wants to know why certain creative decisions are made early on in the production process. I’m going to share with you some of the details about how and why certain decisions I’ve been involved in were made and how these achieved a positive guest impression. I believe many of our artistic decisions are derived from our roots and our experience. We all stories, and I’m going to share a couple of mine because they serve as a foundation for what I was a part of later,” he explained.
It All Began with a Little Kid Scared Out of His Wits
“All of us are here today because we became passionate about some aspect of this industry. For me, I’ve always loved Halloween. I’m infatuated with werewolves, monsters, horror movies, and Stephen King. I’m sick and twisted that way. Being raised in Southern California, I was obsessed with theme parks—Disneyland, Knott’s, Universal, Magic Mountain. When I was a teenager, I discovered Knott’s Scary Farm, which I imagine many of you have discovered, too. The first time I walked through the main gates of Knott’s Scary Farm and into the darkness and fog of the Ghost Town scare zone, I was overwhelmed by the sliding monsters hurling themselves at me. I was so petrified; it took a while before I got up enough courage to run and hide inside the Ghost Town General Store to escape from those monsters. I’d never seen anything like it, and I was scared out of my mind, but I loved it. It had everything that thrilled me: It was a theme park, it had monsters, it had Halloween. It was perfect,” said Ted.
“I began going every year, religiously, to study and analyze it. Even years later, I’d look back and dissect what it was that so enthralled me about this event. Moreover, it’s not just me; there are millions of people that love these events. What is it about these events that leave such lasting impressions?” he asked.
A Mission to Discover How to Impress Guests Using Fear
“My passion and curiosity pushed me to become one of those sliding monsters in the Ghost Town scare zone. This gave me the opportunity to look deep into guests’ eyes and make that connection. I was engaged in on-the-job training, night after night after night, to study human behavior for these types of experiences on a massive scale. I was in the trenches with these people to scare, hunt, prey on, slide, entertain—whatever you want to call it. I began a mission to discover what it would take to entertain these people at different levels and what they’d respond to,” Ted explained.
“In addition, repeat guests would come out and visit me every year to interact. You know the type. We love them. They’d seek me—or my character—out to say hello and take a picture. I wanted to know what I was doing—and what the zillion other scare actors were doing—that compelled these people to take time out of their night to seek me out every season. The answers I came up with help build the foundation of what it takes to create a lasting impression.”
Scare Philosophies
Concurrent with his employment at Knott’s, Ted began working as a producer for a subscription-based video magazine called Haunted Media Magazine that covered haunted attractions. As part of this job, he traveled the country to research, film, and interview owners of some of the top Halloween events nationwide. “I was exposed to different demographics and saw how guests’ reactions and impressions were changing in different regions, which furthered my education in managing guest impressions. By becoming more aware of what guests in these different regions wanted, we were able to manage their impressions and build memorable experiences by using immersive media and technology like virtual reality,” said Ted.
Fear VR: Using Cutting-edge Technology to Create an Immersive Terror Experience
Ted co-wrote and directed ‘Fear VR,’ produced by Hollow Studios and Knott’s Berry Farm. Fear VR was the first 4D, virtual-reality horror experience at a major theme park. It involved a filmed, live-action, 360-degree virtual reality that was synchronized to physical 4D effects (the fourth “D” being the sense of touch). The experience revolved around a research facility whose telekinetic test subject becomes demonically possessed and escapes.
“There was an initial moment of guest connection as they watched the video preshow together and witnessed this creepy story unravel,” said Ted. “The guests were then separated from one another, isolated in a cubicle, and strapped into a wheelchair with headsets and VR goggles placed on their heads. They, themselves, became the test subjects, trapped in this research facility with all these creepy demons all over the place. Since this was a 360 world, just like in real life, we purposefully included elements to make the guests feel surrounded, so no matter where they looked, they felt engaged,” he said.
“Early on, there’s a moment in the VR experience in which one of the staff members sticks a needle into the guest’s arm. That moment was synchronized to a tactile effect rigged into the arm of their chair. That type of effect had never been done before in this type of experience, and the intent was to create a memorable impression for these guests.”
Hobb’s Grove: Guests Working in Teams to Create Memorable Experiences
“I’m a strong believer that when you bring together a group of strangers to work with one another to accomplish an entertainment-based task, that has the makings of a memorable experience. Hobb’s Grove (Central California) is where I worked this past season. For many years, Hobb’s Grove had three main attractions—a haunted house, a haunted hayride, and a haunted forest. This past season, they brought in Dave Enlow from CC Productions to create a fourth experience called The Portal. The Portal was a pulsed experience where groups of guests were armed with laser guns and sent out into the darkness of Hobb’s Grove to destroy live, invading aliens. As guests proceeded through the attraction, the barrage of attacking creatures grew more intense. Guests were forced to form a team to try to survive. We created a need for guests to uncover keys along the way to enhance the interactivity. Once all of those keys were gathered, they unlocked this crazy climax in which there were aliens everywhere,” he said.
“People came out screaming and laughing, having had a wonderful time inside The Portal. That’s what we want from our attractions. We want our guests leaving on a high note. I’d duck into the shadows and hang out near the exit of The Portal to watch these people running out. I’m sure many of you do this at your attraction. It’s the same sense of victory as in gaming and sports when a team works together to accomplish a task. They felt empowered and bonded. Fifteen minutes previous, they were strangers, and now they were laughing together, giving each other high fives. They’re going to remember that experience,” he emphasized.
Murder Co.: Not Just an Escape Room, an Escape from Reality
“Escape Rooms are a great example of interactivity and necessary teamwork. However, guests usually don’t repeat the escape room experience, because once they solve the puzzle, that’s about all there is to it. We addressed this issue in an experience I directed and co-wrote with Jon Cooke,” stated Ted.
“I worked with him on his Black Market Escape Rooms’ attraction, Murder Co. Murder Co., which is dark and violent, is the first R-rated horror escape experience. It’s a permanent installation, theatrically driven, and high on interactivity.
“Murder Co is a high-society, underground, black-market sports ring that allows its voyeuristic club members to view, for entertainment purposes, live murders. Our guests play the role of those club members, and they do, indeed, see a live murder. When guests first arrive, they must choose, by unanimous vote, which of four murderers will do the killing. They must also choose what weapon will be used to do the deed. Each of the murderers has a separate show—guests want to see what’s going on in these other shows, because they’re just as sick and twisted as we are,” Ted pointed out.
“Once the escape experience begins, we implement several little victories to engage guests immediately and pull them deeper into the story. The theatrical elements are spread throughout the experience as guests are thrown into these dire dilemmas that utilize touch and interactivity. Some of these folks begin to question their morality—and that’s right where we want them. They aren’t thinking about their day jobs or what bills need to be paid. They’re only thinking about this one crucial moment, right here, right now. They thought they were getting an escape room, but we gave them an escape from reality. The escape from reality is what great attractions have the power to do with compelling storytelling, and it doesn’t matter what the content is. It doesn’t matter if it’s horror, action-adventure, family-friendly, or a unicorn fantasy. The foundation remains the same, no matter the content,” he said.
Engagement and Empowerment are the Keys to Creating Memorable Guest Experiences
“These three attractions that I’ve discussed included the key elements of elevation, pride, insight, and connection. We can help elevate our guests’ experience by presenting them with experiences they haven’t seen or felt before, bombarding their senses with VR or unique twists on 4D effects,” noted Ted.
“We need to include elements of guest insight, allowing them to feel a sense of accomplishment at having discovered answers for themselves. Insight makes the guest feel engaged and empowered by their sense of adventure. Then there’s the shared struggle, which connects guests in amazing ways. Guests have a desire for more immersive experiences that are hands-on. Being cognizant of how to best provide that experience is of paramount importance in discovering and delivering new ways to create memorable experiences.”
Terror is a Business and an Art
“The creative approaches for coming up with these things must be deliberate to help grow the business, because it is a business. It’s also art, and we have to be methodical about creating that, too. This reminds me of a quote: ‘Any great artwork revives and readapts time and space, and the measure of its success is the extent to which it makes you an inhabitant of that world, the extent to which it invites you in and lets you breathe its strange, special air.’ That wasn’t said by some theme park guru, Halloween guy, or filmmaker. That’s a quote from one of my idols—the famed composer, conductor, and educator, Leonard Bernstein.”
In conclusion, Ted said, “This, as artists, is what we’re trying to do. We’re in the entertainment business. We create experiences with the intent that our guests explore our worlds and then want to return. In this way, a tradition is born. At the heart of these scary attractions that I work on is my desire to make people feel the way I felt all those years ago when I was terrified beyond belief, cowering in a store and hiding from the monsters waiting for me in that fog. Each one of you has your own stories about how you’ve sculpted guest impressions based on experiences you’ve had and attractions you’ve worked on. Maybe it’s good to revisit those now and then. Maybe there’s something in there that will help with a future decision. If we’ve done our job right, it’s not only about presenting a positive first impression. Even more important is creating a positive lasting impression, so guests want to return time and time again.”
Key Takeaways:
- Crafting memorable impressions comes from working elevation, insight, pride, and connection into your attraction.
- When you bring together a group of strangers to work with one another to accomplish an entertainment-based task, that has the makings of a memorable experience.
- “Fifteen minutes previous, they were strangers, and now they were laughing together, giving each other high fives. They’re going to remember that experience. It’s the same sense of victory as in gaming and sports when a team works together to accomplish a task. They felt empowered and bonded.”
- The escape from reality is what great attractions have the power to do with compelling storytelling, and it doesn’t matter what the content is.
- Guests have a desire for more immersive experiences that are hands-on. Being cognizant of how to best provide that experience is of paramount importance in discovering and delivering new ways to create memorable experiences.
- If we’ve done our job right, it’s not only about presenting a positive first impression. Even more important is creating a positive lasting impression, so guests want to return time and time again.
The Leadership Symposium for Seasonal Attractions
The Third Annual Leadership Symposium for Seasonal Attractions will be held on December 9, 2019, and hosted by “Christmas at Gaylord Palms” at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida. Register at: leadership-symposium.org.
About The Author:
Ted Dougherty
Ted Dougherty is a writer, producer, and director, and has worked with Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm, Hollow Studios, and Cedar Fair. Most recently, Ted co-wrote and directed Murder Co., the nation’s first R-rated horror escape experience.
Before authoring the award-winning book, Knott’s Halloween Haunt: A Picture History (the first comprehensive history of Knott’s Scary Farm), Ted scared thousands of guests as a slider monster in Knott’s famous Ghost Town scare zone during Halloween Haunt. A crazed aficionado of the macabre, Ted uncovers innovative ways to terrorize through themed entertainment.
