At Nashville Nightmare in Madison, a classroom door swings open in its “Haunted High” attraction, and an actor mouths the words, “Get to class!” The audio comes from a pre-taped track he triggers.
Owner Brad Webb says he stole the idea from Universal Studios, and the pandemic workaround may become permanent. He likes that no one is losing their voice.
“The actor’s not screaming. Their head’s not hurting. It’s actually really good,” he says.
2020 has been scary enough without haunted houses. But they’re finding ways to open this Halloween season, with modifications. For instance, screaming in anyone’s face is off limits.
In addition, the number of actors has been cut by half, and groups moving through will be kept small and moving in one direction. They’re collecting phone numbers if needed for contact tracing purposes.
Before opening weekend, Webb gave a walkthrough to Nashville’s health director, Dr. Michael Caldwell. Inspectors had requested modifications: lose all the curtains, push-through doors and creeping vines hanging from the ceiling.
“You’ve removed anything that people would normally touch,” Caldwell notes.
Nashville Nightmare has been around for a decade and tries to add new attractions to its old shopping center on Gallatin Pike. But Webb says he had to overhaul the plans to adapt to the pandemic.
“One of them was going to be a virus-type theme, an outbreak. We scratched that,” he tells Caldwell.
“Thank you for thinking of our emotional health,” Caldwell responds, with a laugh.
But ultimately, Caldwell says, attractions like a haunted house could be good for wellbeing — “for those who like these sorts of attractions.” That’s why he found a way for them to open under current local health orders.
He decided to consider haunted houses museums, which can operate at half capacity.
“They don’t want to be viewed as a museum, unless it’s a haunted museum, but I think that’s exactly what it is,” he says.
Blake Farmer WPLN NewsInstead of an outbreak-themed exhibit, Nashville Nightmare opted for an alien invasion.
Around the country, haunted houses are finding ways to work hand sanitizer stations seamlessly into their themes. The Haunted Attraction Association is sharing tips for makeup artists who spend long hours in the face of actors.
They’re taking cues from the country’s largest theme parks which have been able to keep outbreaks to a minimum.
Dr. Marissa Levine is a public health specialist at the University of South Florida and has kept tabs on those theme parks. She says entertainment can’t and shouldn’t be locked down indefinitely.
“I do think it’s a great time for informed people to be creative and innovative and come up with some great solutions,” Levine says. “Part of that is to figure out how we can be socially connected and what are those activities that will keep us mentally well but protect us physically as much as possible.”
Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends this may be a better year to try an open-air haunted forest.
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