The haunted house scene in the area came crashing down in 2020, with most not operating, and some closing permanently. 2021 had far fewer haunts operating than earlier years, though it did see the addition of Scare DSM. This year saw the addition of Adventureland’s new Halloween themed event. Even with all of this, the market is still way down compared to “the before times.”
That said, with fewer choices, and an audience returning to wanting to do these things, that should mean that the remaining haunts get a larger slice of the haunt visitor pie. Without having access to business records of the various haunts, all we can really say is several did report nights when they operated at capacity (though we don’t know if they are operating a full pre-pandemic capacity, or still at some reduced level).
As far as this website, it saw a 41% increase in visitors in 2022 compared to 2021. With the trajectory is headed back up, so let’s hope for an even better next year.
Maybe I’ll even resume doing video interviews, though the landscape in 2023 is very different than what it was like when I first started this site. I think posting 15 second TikTok videos or someone screaming when they see a clown might get a larger audience than interview videos 😉
Happy thanksgiving!
