1. It’s Make Believe.

Like it or not, haunted houses are an illusion. This is the most important thing to remember when you’re enjoying this festive night out. Haunted houses are something fun to do with your friends and family during the Halloween season. Of course, every spooky attraction is different, but some things never change. Over the years, I’ve worked in several haunted houses because I love all things fall and Halloween.

2. Haunters Get Cold.

Please remember that, while you can wear a comfy sweater to a haunt and enjoy a nice hot cup of cocoa or apple cider when you’re finished navigating the layer of the serial killer or Dracula’s Castle, the actors who are entertaining you cannot. Haunted houses get very cold. A lot of the time, actors are not allowed to leave their post. If an actor is cold, they cannot run off to a place to get warm. The haunted house sets can be drafty. Please be respectful.

3. No Real Monsters Here.

Another thing to remember is that actors in these places are not dangerous. While most actors put on a good show and want you to be afraid, it’s all fun and games. They don’t mean any harm and they’re not going to keep you forever in their dungeon or turn your severed head into a display on their mantle. Please don’t harm us, we really are decent people who just want to mess with you a little.

4. Health of Costumer is Their Personal Responsibility.

Please be mindful of your own health and/or well-being. While this might seem like a really silly thing to say, I have been in more than one haunted attraction where we have had to stop everything because somebody has a heart condition, epilepsy, or post-traumatic stress disorder, and they’re afraid that what lies beyond the door could be a real threat to their safety. Being afraid is one thing, getting severely injured is another thing altogether. With that in mind, please do not risk your own health to go to a haunted house, it’s not worth it. Your safety should be priority number one.

5. Actor Safety is JUST as IMPORTANT!

Just like your health is important, the health and well-being of actors is important as well. It is true that customers can suffer from psychological, physical, and neurological illnesses. Actors will suffer conditions from these things too. I bring this up because I’ve seen actors be violated by customers, and I myself was a victim of sexual misconduct at the hands of a patron (my old boss thought that this was not important due to the fact that the person paid to come in, so I quit). With that said, what might be a joke to you might actually really hurt someone. You never know if someone’s been a victim of abuse, rape, or trauma, and you could be adding to their pain. Don’t touch people you don’t know.

6. Friends Don’t Let Friends Haunt Drunk:

Please remain sober when participating in the attraction. If you are drunk before participating in the attraction, you could trip and fall over something or do something that has the potential to hurt yourself or someone else. You can be banned from many attractions this way.