Nashville haunted houses are open to give you a fright amid the pandemic but with special precautions in place to keep everyone safe.
The Halloween industry is a huge industry in the United States. Not only do people spend money on Halloween decorations and costumes, but they also spend money on haunted house tickets. In fact, Hauntworld.com estimates that Americans spend between $300 and $500 million each year on haunted house tickets. While the haunted attraction industry may look different this year, especially with a pandemic preventing people from going outside, owners of haunted houses are determined to continue the tradition of giving guests a good scare.
Last spring, when COVID-19 forced many businesses to shut down, employees of haunted houses feared for their jobs.
“None of us knew if we were gonna open. Like we thought COVID-19 was going to destroy seasons from seasons of the haunted house. We didn’t know if they would even allow us to open,” said DJ Williams, 21, who works as a house manager and a clown at the Nashville Nightmare Haunted House in Antioch, Tennessee.
Nashville Nightmare Haunted House first opened back in September 2011 and is now Tennessee’s biggest haunted house. The 70,000 square feet of space consists of six different haunted houses with highly detailed scenes, state of the art animations and special effects, and talented actors. Nashville Nightmare Haunted House also has an outdoor area complete with concessions, a bar, games, and photo booths.
Kynzie Fly, 19, a clown for four years at Millers Thrillers Haunted Woods in Columbia, Tennessee, said that the pandemic would keep the seasonal attraction from opening.
“This is what I look forward to every single year, like this is what drives me, this is one of my biggest passions, and I was so scared that we weren’t gonna be able to do what we
all love,” said Fly. “This is not only just a little extra side pay for me, but we have special needs people who come out and live in group homes and this is one of the only places that they get to go and so it’s literally home for everybody who works there.”
Millers Thrillers Haunted House is owned by David Miller, a Halloween fanatic. Miller opened Millers Thrillers Haunted Woods back in 2007 with a goal of bringing entertainment to the public.
Fortunately, after several months of quarantining, Tennessee lifted restrictions and began allowing businesses to reopen back in May. Fly said it was July before the owner of Millers Thrillers Haunted Woods told them that the business would be operating come fall.
To ensure everyone’s safety, haunted houses in Nashville have implemented special safety precautions. According to Williams, Nashville Nightmare Haunted House take COVID-19 seriously. Employees have to get tested for COVID-19 every week.
“It’s kind of like a corporate policy. If one person is caught with it, then we have to shut down for like 14 business days and that’s gonna hurt the company so we’re staying with the guidelines,” said Williams.
Besides being tested every week, Williams said actors have to wear two sets of masks—a costume mask and a covid mask under it. They try to stay six feet away whenever they pop out and scare people and there are workers at the entrance who check every guest’s temperatures.
Madeline White, 20, who recently visited Nashville Nightmare Haunted House, said that the employees tried to follow the social distancing protocol by separating people by their group while waiting in line. White also said that the employees did an excellent job in making sure everyone wore a mask. “They were strict on keeping your mask on and having it cover your nose,” said White.
At Millers Thrillers Haunted Woods, Fly said she and her co-workers are required to wear masks. “A lot of actors will wear masks that just cover the mouth. You know, like the one with a spooky smile on the mask and we have actual latex masks,” said Fly. Guests are also encouraged to wear masks.
Both Millers Thrillers Haunted Woods and Nashville Nightmare Haunted House do not allow actors to touch guests.
Purchasing tickets online is highly recommended. According to Williams, Nashville Nightmare Haunted House is only allowing 400 guests each hour and people who buy their tickets online are given top priority. General admission tickets at the Nashville Nightmare Haunted House range from $25 to $30 depending on the day of the week. Guests can upgrade their tickets to Slash Pass, which reduces their wait time in line, and Skip the Line, which lets them skip the line completely, for an additional price.
With Millers Thrillers Haunted Woods, however, while Slash Pass tickets ranging from $35 to $65 are sold online, tickets for the haunted woods, which is $40, have to be purchased on site. Fly said there is a protective window at the ticket booth to keep the germs away.
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