Haunted houses are opening for the Halloween season while adapting to COVID-19
(KUTV) — Haunted houses are beginning to open their doors for the Halloween season, but how are they adapting to Covid-19?
“Lot of haunted houses have chosen not to be open this fall. Here in Salt Lake, most of them are," said Rob Dunfield, co-owner of Fear Factory.
That includes Nightmare on 13th, which opens Friday. Jake Mabey, the general manager, said, “You’ll probably even have, I dare say, slightly less contact than maybe even a grocery store.”
Both attractions are implementing timed entry to reduce the number of guests in their haunted attractions at a same time.
Mabey said:
One way traffic, we have timed ticketing this year, so there’s only a limited number of tickets per time slot. So there’s going to be a limited number of people here per half hour.
Both attractions are requiring masks for customers and actors, though patrons might not be able to spot them.
“Actors will have full makeup on with a mask, and the mask will be painted to match their makeup.” Mabey said.
Dunfield at Fear Factory, which opens next week, says this year some COVID-19 restraints will cut into profits.
“This is a year to survive, we’re hoping to put on a great show. Because of the timed ticketing and the spacing, and a lot of the restrictions which we’ve been given, we know that we are limited, he said.
Both attractions say they’ve found a way to stay in business using precautions while also staying true to their intentions - creepy and scary.
“There’s plenty of safety going on here while still having a really screaming good time.” Mabey said.
Both Nightmare on 13th and Fear Factory had a trial run in the spring and summer when they opened briefly, so they have used precautionary measures already.
Nightmare on 13th opens tonight and Fear Factory opens Sept. 18th. Both say they have designated cleaning crews ready to wipe down all high-touch surfaces every evening they are open.
