My Haunted House Expert - Chris Stafford

Summary

Tosh Show Episode Summary: "My Haunted House Expert - Chris Stafford"

Release Date: October 22, 2024
Host: Daniel Tosh
Guest: Chris Stafford, renowned haunted house architect and industry expert

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1. Introduction to the Guest

[08:50] Daniel Tosh: "Paw Show My guest today, his maid is living lurking in the shadows, speaking in whispers and blurring the line between nightmares and reality with several insanely successful haunted houses nationwide. May God have mercy on his soul. Please welcome the architect of fear, Chris."

Daniel Tosh welcomes Chris Stafford, a prominent figure in the haunted house industry, setting the stage for an in-depth conversation about the art and business of creating fear-inducing experiences.

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2. Chris Stafford’s Background and Journey

[09:14] Eddie (Chris Stafford): "Originally from upstate New York, Rochester."

Chris shares his origins from Rochester, New York, and discusses his current residence in Denver, along with his extensive work across Los Angeles. He highlights that his company operates 18 haunted houses across 12 different markets, proudly stating, [10:31] Eddie: "As far as I'm aware, we are the largest Halloween live event company in the world."

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3. The Haunted House Business Landscape

Chris delves into the intricacies of running haunted houses, emphasizing the blend of passion and business acumen required. [13:57] Eddie: "You got to have both sides of it. You got to have passion for the product, but you also have to have a business acumen."

He discusses the industry's growth, particularly in California, attributing it to the region's strong fandom and the presence of theme parks that facilitate alternative entertainment options.

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4. Operational Challenges and Solutions

Parking and Safety:
Parking emerges as a significant challenge, especially during peak weekends. Chris notes, [19:28] Eddie: "Depends on the venue, but definitely pretty true. Because, you know, everybody wants to go on the weekend." To mitigate safety concerns, the company maintains strong relationships with local fire marshals, ensuring compliance and safety without stifling creativity.

Managing Fear and Guest Reactions:
Chris explains protocols for guests who become too scared, ensuring their safety by having trained staff ready to assist. [18:04] Eddie: "They can identify that and ask them if they're okay and escort them out through an emergency." Fortunately, there have been no fatalities, though some guests have fainted or passed out.

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5. Innovations and Technological Advancements

Video Moments:
Instead of traditional photo ops, Chris introduces a new video recording feature using RFID tags to capture guests' reactions at various scare points. [24:04] Eddie: "So we don't have a photo moment, but we are currently experimenting with a video moment."

Makeup and Special Effects:
The haunted houses utilize airbrush makeup techniques for efficiency and effect, allowing actors to quickly transform into their eerie personas. Chris outlines the balance between visible prosthetics and subtle makeup to enhance the haunting experience without overburdening the actors.

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6. Adapting to External Challenges

COVID-19 Pandemic Response:
The pandemic posed significant challenges, but Chris and his team adapted by implementing social distancing measures, limiting group sizes, and ensuring safe interactions. [23:26] Eddie: "Haunted houses are still a pretty, pretty good value as it comes to live entertainment."

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7. Personal Insights and Anecdotes

Childhood and Family:
Chris shares personal stories about his son's initial fear of Halloween experiences, leading to a nuanced perspective on creating haunted attractions that balance fear with fun.

Halloween vs. Christmas:
Contrasting his love for Christmas with his professional focus on Halloween, Chris remarks, [11:10] Daniel Tosh: "To me, the best thing about Halloween is getting ready for Christmas."

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8. Future Plans and Expansion

International Expansion:
While currently operating nationwide, Chris expresses interest in expanding internationally, particularly into Europe and Asia where Halloween is growing in popularity. [31:28] Daniel Tosh: "I bet you could do some Weird stuff in some of these Asian countries."

Technological Enhancements:
Continued innovation is a priority, with plans to enhance guest experiences through advanced technology and interactive elements.

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9. Closing Thoughts and Final Remarks

Chris emphasizes the importance of creating entertaining and socially engaging haunted house experiences that offer a respite from daily stresses. [37:43] Eddie: "Creating unique events that people can share together socially is really what we're all about."

[30:34] Daniel Tosh: "Do you believe in ghosts?"
[30:40] Eddie: "I want to believe in ghosts, and I feel like I should believe in ghosts, but no, I don't believe in ghosts."
Their lighthearted exchange wraps up the episode, blending humor with insightful industry knowledge.

---

Notable Quotes

• Chris Stafford on Passion and Business:
  "[13:57] Eddie: 'You got to have both sides of it. You got to have passion for the product, but you also have to have a business acumen.'"

• On Managing Fear in Haunted Houses:
  "[18:04] Eddie: 'They can identify that and ask them if they're okay and escort them out through an emergency.'"

• Emphasizing Entertainment Over Pure Fear:
  "[37:43] Eddie: 'Creating unique events that people can share together socially is really what we're all about.'"

---

Conclusion

This episode of the Tosh Show provides an in-depth look into the haunted house industry through the expertise of Chris Stafford. From operational challenges and technological innovations to personal anecdotes and future expansion plans, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to craft unforgettable and spine-chilling experiences. Chris's insights highlight the delicate balance between creating fear and ensuring guest safety, all while navigating the business landscape of live entertainment.

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For those intrigued by the behind-the-scenes of haunted houses and the art of instilling fear, this episode offers both entertainment and education, making it a must-listen for Halloween enthusiasts and aspiring haunted house creators alike.

Transcript

[Daniel Tosh]

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[Daniel Tosh]

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[Chris]

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[Daniel Tosh]

Haunted house and all of a sudden like I go into one around a corner and I'm walking in like three inches of muddy water, that would infuriate me.

[Eddie]

I don't like some haunted houses incorporate water effects. I'm not a big fan of those.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, I don't want to get wet. Yeah, I don't want to feel moisture.

[Eddie]

Exactly.

[Daniel Tosh]

Ever. Deji in a dark room. Posho Posh show. Posh show. PA Show. Hello and welcome to Tosh Show. I'm your host, Dan Tosh. Eddie.

[Eddie]

How's it going? Tosh, man.

[Daniel Tosh]

Man, it's long and plump and ready to pump.

[Eddie]

Okay. Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

Huh? You ever say that one back in high school?

[Eddie]

Never said that. That one must have slipped through the vernacular.

[Daniel Tosh]

In my school, I used to say that. I used to say it every day. My teacher be like, how you doing? I'd be long and plump and ready to pump and she'd be like that's my boy.

[Eddie]

To adults.

[Daniel Tosh]

That's crazy. Oh, man. Good times. At astronaut high school. I'm in a good mood because I've almost fulfilled all the horrible parent obligations for Halloween. There's just one more. I just have one more to do, and that is trick or treating. Which I always thought was the only thing we had to do, you know, then I had a family and my wife's like, you know, we got to go to Underwood Farms. Oh, what is that? It's a place about an hour away. Pumpkin patch. They got some rides, if you call them rides, a slide. You feed a couple animals, you give them way too much money for gourds. You sweat. The temperature of my house. Nice. 70 degrees. Get there. 92. Lovely. Speaking of that. Yeah. We were up in Tahoe the week before and my wife's like, oh, let's go on over to this place called Apple Hill. They've got tons of fall festival things going on. You get apple pies, there's an orchard, you walk around. First of all, I go, okay, how far away is it? Oh, two hours and ten minutes. What? Basically went to Sacramento. Fucking horrible. How do you know you don't live in Tahoe and vacation in Sacramento? That's absurd. But we did it. We drove there and sure enough, it was boiling 98 degrees out. Oh, this is super fall. I bought a turnover, had a turnover and two apple cinnamon donuts. That was all right. Then we just hopped around from Bad Orchard to Bad Orchard. There's a bunch of old obese. No, I mean, I, I shouldn't care about the size, but they. There was just a lot of old obese people. And me and my young family just, yeah, we're here too. Made no sense. Bees, yellow jackets everywhere. Just. I'm like, this is awful. Well, let's get back in the car. That two hour drive back to the beautiful place we live. So you're four and a half hours in the car that day. So go get a turnover. I don't know. I don't get it. What's the next thing I did? Knights of the Jack. That's up in Calabasas. Yeah, that I don't mind. It's at night and you get a. There's a bunch of food trucks and then you walk a mile and a half loop in this park and they've set up all kinds of Halloween lights. Kids seem to enjoy it. I don't mind it because I get to eat. As long as I'm eating, I'm happy.

[Eddie]

Seems like that's the key.

[Daniel Tosh]

You. You like Halloween, don't you, Eddie?

[Eddie]

I do like Halloween.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah. Because you sold your soul to the devil.

[Eddie]

I sold my soul to the devil.

[Daniel Tosh]

Do you dress up?

[Eddie]

I don't dress up. I do like a, you know, decorate the house.

[Daniel Tosh]

You decorate the house. You, you. But you hand candy out.

[Eddie]

Hand out candy? Yep.

[Daniel Tosh]

Are you proud of the candy you give or do you not care?

[Eddie]

No, I do. I, I get five nice bags at Costco. Good sized candy bars. We have a ton of people come through.

[Daniel Tosh]

My manager, Christie Smith, just loves to brag that I give out whole bars. Last year I gave out 374.

[Eddie]

Wow.

[Daniel Tosh]

Who cares? I turn the lights off at our house and we go to another neighborhood where it's more congested and you knock it out. You do one street, you hit 300 homes. I've never once been home to hand out candy.

[Eddie]

You don't understand this side of it.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, I don't get it. I don't get it and I don't care. Anyway, my son's good for about 45 minutes, maybe an hour of actual trick or treating and we started at 5 o'clock and by 6 we're done. Now he, he likes to be scared, but you know, five year old scared where I hide in the house and he comes running around a corner and I scream and he almost falls over. I don't think he's ready for like a severed head to be thrown at him. Like today's guest. This guy, this guy is cashed in on America's love affair of being terrified. Enjoy the flavor, the tradition and the.

[Chris]

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[Daniel Tosh]

Paw Show My guest today, his maid is living lurking in the shadows, speaking in whispers and blurring the line between nightmares and reality with several insanely successful haunted houses nationwide. May God have mercy on his soul. Please welcome the architect of fear, Chris. Chris, thank you for being here.

[Eddie]

Yeah, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

[Daniel Tosh]

Where are you from originally?

[Eddie]

Originally from upstate New York, Rochester.

[Daniel Tosh]

Rochester. You know, Rochester gets a bad rap sometimes.

[Eddie]

I think it does, yeah. I agree.

[Daniel Tosh]

You give me a choice of where to live, Rochester or Buffalo. I'm taking Rochester every time.

[Eddie]

I agree, hands down. I think lately it's gotten some press for great places to live or something like that.

[Daniel Tosh]

That's nice to hear.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

I just want the people of Buffalo to know that their place is horrible. All right, so now you live in. You live in Denver?

[Eddie]

I live in Denver, yeah. My wife thinks I live here part time, but I live in Denver.

[Daniel Tosh]

You do a lot of work in Los Angeles?

[Eddie]

Yeah, yeah. We have four events here in LA now. So I'm out here a lot.

[Daniel Tosh]

Talk to me about Sean Payton. Were you happy with that decision?

[Eddie]

Yes, I was happy with that.

[Daniel Tosh]

And then you knew that the writing was on the wall for Ole Russ.

[Eddie]

It sure looked like that right away.

[Daniel Tosh]

Do you blame John Elway?

[Eddie]

I think John Elway just came out and blamed himself. Actually.

[Daniel Tosh]

John Elway, though, maybe he's just trying to cement his own legacy by never letting someone better than him become a quarterback in Denver.

[Eddie]

That would be a conspiracy. But I could get behind it.

[Daniel Tosh]

Does he still have all those dealerships everywhere?

[Eddie]

He does, yeah. Yep.

[Daniel Tosh]

Is there still one down in South Bay, Eddie?

[Eddie]

Yeah, I think I bought a Toyota from him a while back.

[Daniel Tosh]

You bought a Toyota from John Elwick? Good on you. How many haunted houses are we looking at now?

[Eddie]

Yeah, we have 18 and 12 different markets.

[Daniel Tosh]

Are you the biggest company that does this?

[Eddie]

As far as I'm aware, we are the largest Halloween live event company in the world.

[Daniel Tosh]

And you had a haunted house called 13th Floor?

[Eddie]

Yeah, it started in Denver originally.

[Daniel Tosh]

What floor was it on?

[Eddie]

On ground level, but. So the backstory is that the 13th floor is hidden underground so that they can. They can hide it because it's absent in so many buildings.

[Daniel Tosh]

Did you ever hear Mitch Hedberg's joke about the 13th floor?

[Eddie]

No.

[Daniel Tosh]

He had a joke about if you kill yourself on the 14th floor, you're going to die sooner.

[Eddie]

You're losing me on this one because they don't.

[Daniel Tosh]

They don't have the. It's actually the third. The 14th floor is always the.

[Eddie]

Gotcha.

[Daniel Tosh]

You know what? I probably didn't do the joke. Did I do the joke right?

[Eddie]

I gotta look it up.

[Daniel Tosh]

It's something like that. Doesn't matter. Who cares? Now I'll be honest with you. My favorite holiday is Christmas and my second favorite holiday is Christmas Eve. To me, the best thing about Halloween is getting ready for Christmas. Now it's acceptable to start celebrating.

[Eddie]

Well, now it's Christmases in the stores before Halloween even kicks off. It's pretty crazy.

[Daniel Tosh]

Are you one of these people that Halloween was always your favorite holiday or no?

[Eddie]

Probably, yeah. I mean, Christmas is pretty close. But Halloween I think was, you know, it was. It was fun being involved in haunted houses. It's a very unique way to celebrate the season. And you know, I like the fall a lot, so just kind of tied together.

[Daniel Tosh]

I do like the fall. You say fall over autumn.

[Eddie]

Yeah, I do.

[Daniel Tosh]

I do too. Now is it just October or your year round?

[Eddie]

No, it's year round. We're already working on next season right now when this season just. Just kicked off. Really?

[Daniel Tosh]

So favorite a horror movie. Do you have any that you liked?

[Eddie]

You know, I grew up with the classic slashers. I grew up in the 80s, so, you know, Freddie, Jason, Michael. Those are kind of my go tos.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, Nightmare on Elm street as A kid that scared me.

[Eddie]

Yeah, it did.

[Daniel Tosh]

You really. You play to the one thing that's the worst for a kid. Like, you can't fall asleep. If you fall asleep, you're gonna die. Did you like to be scared as a child?

[Eddie]

Not really, actually. And wasn't really a big horror fan. But when I was a teenager, I was 15 years old and a friend of mine called me up and said, hey, do you want to go scare some people tonight? And I said, well, are we going to get in trouble or arrested or what's. His family owned a local haunted house. And that's where I got started. Went out there, started scaring people, got bit by the haunted house bug, and have been involved in one way or another for my entire life. We started our first professional haunted house in 2002.

[Daniel Tosh]

Okay.

[Eddie]

But from 98 until 2010, I had a career in banking.

[Daniel Tosh]

And how did your wife handle you saying, listen, I really want to knock it off with the banking and just go full time. Haunted house?

[Eddie]

Yeah, yeah. I went to her in 2006 and I said, hey, I think I can scale this haunted house business. She said, let me get this straight. You have a great job, you have an awesome work life balance, they pay you well, you like what you do? She's like, I'm not saying no, but I think you should really think about this. But then in 2008, when the financial crisis hit, my job became super unfun. Overnight we were doing land development and construction lending, which overnight was kind of a mess. So she said, hey, it's time for you to go do what you want to do and have some fun.

[Daniel Tosh]

You know, they say happy husband, and they don't say anything because they don't care if the husbands are happ. There's no saying for happy husband. Just go to work. Were you terrified going into this, like.

[Eddie]

Diving in a little bit, you know? And it's funny, I hadn't thought about that in a while, but in 2008, I remember when I was like, all right, this is. This is what we're going to do. And I was like, man, I hope this works out.

[Daniel Tosh]

Is it more passion or, or, or is it profit at this point? Like, you know, cash cow, it's equal.

[Eddie]

I know that sounds like a PC response, but like, you got to have both sides of it. You got to have passion for the product, but you also have to have, you know, a business acumen. You got to market it, you got to finance it, you got to, you know, do all those other things. And I Think that successful attractions blend both of those together.

[Daniel Tosh]

They say fear is aphrodisiac. Is this whole enterprise rooted around kink?

[Eddie]

No, no, not at all.

[Daniel Tosh]

What's the best state for enthusiasm for all the haunted houses?

[Eddie]

Honestly, California, la has an incredible fandom over haunted events. Like nothing I ever see in any other market.

[Daniel Tosh]

Because they're.

[Eddie]

God, I don't know. I think.

[Daniel Tosh]

No, that's impressive. I mean, there's a sheer numbers thing, though.

[Eddie]

There is, yeah, there's that, but I think it's a little more than that out here. I think maybe having the theme parks out here kind of facilitated that. And now I think they're seeking out alternative events to the theme parks as well.

[Daniel Tosh]

How's that hayride doing?

[Eddie]

Hayride's awesome. Hayride's like, great to be in la, but get transported to, like, you know, it feels like the east coast vibe or a Midwest vibe.

[Daniel Tosh]

During Halloween, can you rent out your own hayride? A private ride.

[Eddie]

You can rent a private hayride trailer. Yep.

[Daniel Tosh]

And just go solo.

[Eddie]

You can go solo if you want. Most people will bring a group, sit.

[Daniel Tosh]

There.

[Eddie]

Worry about you, you know, I think you'd trip out the actors if you did that, if it was just you by yourself.

[Daniel Tosh]

Can you eat while you're on the hayride?

[Eddie]

Not on the hayride.

[Daniel Tosh]

Ah, it's a shame.

[Eddie]

Yeah, I like that. A burger on the hayride.

[Daniel Tosh]

Well, I mean, I don't know. I just. I always like to be eating now. What's pulling these hayrides?

[Eddie]

Tractors. Like actual farm tract.

[Daniel Tosh]

Do you own them?

[Eddie]

We do, yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

How many do you own?

[Eddie]

We own 11 of them, I believe.

[Daniel Tosh]

What brand are we looking at? Are they deers? Are they John Deere's?

[Eddie]

They're not. They're not red.

[Daniel Tosh]

They're okay.

[Eddie]

I don't know the brand.

[Daniel Tosh]

I'm in the market for one that doesn't run anymore.

[Eddie]

What are you going to do with it?

[Daniel Tosh]

Put in my yard, like as a pretty look at.

[Eddie]

Yeah, your neighbors love it.

[Daniel Tosh]

I. What do I care about them? I just want. I just want an old tractor, but.

[Eddie]

I think old John Deeres are pretty. Pretty badass. It'd be cool.

[Daniel Tosh]

The problem is they don't. They don't. People, they keep restoring them. They're like 1940s and they're still running.

[Eddie]

There's a lot of people that collect them now.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, I don't want to spend a lot. I just want an old junkie tractor to put in the yard. Seems like something fun to climb on and get, you know, get A big old rust cut. What about the boat? What's the ship thing?

[Eddie]

Dark harbor in Long Beach. Yeah, I mean, amazing old haunted ship. We do haunted mazes on the ship. There's three on the ship and then there's two in the harbor that are adjacent.

[Daniel Tosh]

What's the ship do the rest of the year?

[Eddie]

It's a hotel. They also have restaurants.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, that.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

You ever been on that ship, Eddie?

[Eddie]

I have been on it.

[Daniel Tosh]

You have?

[Eddie]

Yeah, I've been to this event.

[Daniel Tosh]

Of course you have. Oh, man. What's the scariest thing, you know, every year? Are new things being invented or is it still just, like, jump out and startle people?

[Eddie]

When people say they're getting scared in a haunted house, it's usually they're being startled. So a loud noise, a loud effect, you know, something like that. Lighting changes. It's really hard to scare people, you know, on the emotional aspect of scaring people, but it's easy to start. And that's mostly what people are looking for, I think, when they go to a haunted house.

[Daniel Tosh]

Why do you think people like being scared?

[Eddie]

I think when people are scared, it's the same type of chemical release in your body. Like when you're happy or you're excited. I think they go to see their friends be scared. I think they go in a group of people with someone they know is going to be scared so that they can watch and see what that person's reaction is.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah. Are you into the gore and those type of stuff or.

[Eddie]

Not so much, really. I like the psychological stuff better. I think it's a little scarier as far as films go.

[Daniel Tosh]

Okay, forget films. But I mean, are your guys, like, walking around severed arms and all that stuff and.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

Are they. What about torturing each other? They doing that stuff?

[Eddie]

No, not torturing each other. But, you know, everybody likes something different in a haunted house, and there are certain fans that they want to see the gore. They want to see things that, you know, look real that aren't real. So, yeah, we have a lot of that in the haunted houses.

[Daniel Tosh]

What is the protocol if somebody gets too scared?

[Eddie]

Usually the actors or sometimes we have event staff in the attractions and they can identify that and ask them if they're okay and escort them out through an emergency.

[Daniel Tosh]

I don't want to be escorted out by like.

[Eddie]

Well, and that's why we have to have event staff there as well, because the last thing you want to do when you're terrified is have a monster come up and find out if you're okay.

[Daniel Tosh]

You Ever have someone have a heart attack and just die?

[Eddie]

No, nobody died.

[Daniel Tosh]

Nobody stroked out in the middle of one of these things.

[Eddie]

We have had people pass out and have it be a little too much for them. Sure.

[Daniel Tosh]

I've had that at a show before. I thought my jokes were just doing real well, then turned out it was really bad. You ever get scared walking through your own haunted houses?

[Eddie]

I don't get scared in haunted houses. For me, it's the dark. Right. It's like the fear of the unknown to me is way scarier than what. What you might see in a haunted house.

[Daniel Tosh]

You're just saying in the. Just general. In darkness. You don't like it?

[Eddie]

Yeah, I don't like darkness. Not a big fan.

[Daniel Tosh]

All right.

[Eddie]

Scared of the dark, I guess. Do you like haunted houses? Do you go?

[Daniel Tosh]

No, no, no, no. The thing is, if I went, I would love it.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

But I'm also okay with. Well, I didn't go. And that was really lovely. Not going out.

[Eddie]

Yeah. All right.

[Daniel Tosh]

That's where I'm at on most things.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

You really have to persuade. I mean, my, My whole day gets ruined when I find out my wife has set up an activity. I'm like, oh, no. Honestly, the real nightmare of all these places is the parking. True or false?

[Eddie]

Pretty true. Depends on the venue, but definitely pretty true. Because, you know, everybody wants to go on the weekend. It's the only time that all their friends are available. So, you know, it's not. Not nasty to park if you come on a Thursday or a Sunday. But if you're going to go on a Friday and Saturday, it's at a premium. For sure.

[Daniel Tosh]

You always have to do it at night. That's a problem for me with the Halloween stuff.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

I'm not. Ah, I wish we could do. There was like a matinee showing. Just not as scary, though. That's the problem now it's.

[Eddie]

It takes the sun going down for people to get a little in the. In the spooky mood. I guess.

[Daniel Tosh]

The bathroom situation, that's the nightmare at all these places.

[Eddie]

Yeah. It's a lot of work to keep those clean and ready for use.

[Daniel Tosh]

Oh. Because you have to deal with the worst group of people on the planet. Has to be like 12 to 16 year olds. Just dealing with them constantly. Yeah, they're just monsters.

[Eddie]

Yeah. I'm not sure I should comment on that.

[Daniel Tosh]

No, you can't. But I mean, I see it. I go to a local fair every now and then. I'm just like, look at. And then they dress like whores. You're just like this. This is awful. How's a fire marshal feel about adding tons of walls and trip hazards to a dark room?

[Eddie]

Yeah, I mean, they're. They feel great about it. It's wonderful.

[Daniel Tosh]

Do they actually, like, go, guys, you can't do this.

[Eddie]

Yeah. Most of our fire marshals, we have a great relationship with. We haven't really ran into anybody that is anti haunted house or Halloween. They just want to make sure it's safe, and we want to make sure the same thing. So having an open dialogue with them is always really helpful as well.

[Daniel Tosh]

What can't you do? I'm just trying to think of things that I would hate if I was in a haunted house. And all of a sudden I go into one around a corner, and I'm walking in 3 inches of mud water. That would infuriate me.

[Eddie]

Yeah, I don't think I'd want to do that either.

[Daniel Tosh]

Are you allowed to do that, though?

[Eddie]

I think we would be allowed to do muddy water, but I don't. I don't think that you want to.

[Daniel Tosh]

You want to really upset people.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

They go out in their sneakers.

[Eddie]

I don't like. Some haunted houses incorporate water effects. I'm not a big fan of those.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah. I don't want to get wet.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

I don't want to feel moisture.

[Eddie]

Exactly.

[Daniel Tosh]

Ever in a dark room. What about smell? You mess with smells.

[Eddie]

We do mess with smells.

[Daniel Tosh]

Oh, man.

[Eddie]

Yeah, I know. And there's. There's a company out there that sells disgusting smell you can put in the haunted house. The problem with those is, as much as you might want to use them for the guests coming through so they catch a quick smell of that. I just feel terrible for the actors that are stuck in there with that smell the whole night.

[Daniel Tosh]

I mean, there has to be a pecking order with your actors. And I feel like, you know what? You mess up a couple times you're on the stink gun.

[Eddie]

Or you get to graduate from smell to non smell.

[Daniel Tosh]

Maybe that's what you could do. You could have some weird dead woman with a bottle of perfume. Like she's at like a Macy's at the holidays spraying people, and she just comes up to you and sprays you, and then you're just covered in stink.

[Eddie]

Yeah. And that stuff does not go away.

[Daniel Tosh]

No, that's not good. What's the age range? What's the lowest age. That can not.

[Eddie]

You know, it's determinant on the kid. I've seen kids as young as five and six have a Great time.

[Daniel Tosh]

There's no rule.

[Eddie]

There's no rule. We tell them when they show up that, that we don't recommend it for kids under 12 and we tell them that it's ticket booth.

[Daniel Tosh]

Oh, 12, okay.

[Eddie]

But you know, it's kind of parents discretion. I think some of them make good choices cause they know the kids and some of them make bad choices cause their kids shouldn't be there, but they are.

[Daniel Tosh]

You're a responsible drug dealer.

[Eddie]

Yeah. I think the core age though is you're preteen to twenty something. But that's starting to skew older, I think haunted houses, the production value has gotten a lot higher and now it's more about a whole night of entertainment. So older people are starting to stick with. With haunted houses a lot longer than I think they used to.

[Daniel Tosh]

What do ticket ranges prices range from.

[Eddie]

You know, on average right now they're about, you know, $35 for kind of your base ticket to get you in the door. And that really hasn't changed drastically. When you look at inflation over the years, over leaving the last 10 years, haunted houses are still a pretty, pretty good value as it comes to live entertainment.

[Daniel Tosh]

And you handled Covid without any major wax.

[Eddie]

Covid was rough, but the nature of what we do in haunted entertainment is we social distance. Like you don't want to be more than six feet from the group in front of you. So there was a lot of educating to the people in charge to say, hey, we can open this safely and we can keep people apart from each other and keep them in their family groups.

[Daniel Tosh]

Cha Ching is what I heard.

[Eddie]

Yeah. Or just trying to lose less money that year?

[Daniel Tosh]

I mean. Yeah, but at least you weren't in the concert business.

[Eddie]

Yeah, exactly.

[Daniel Tosh]

Do you guys have a thing where like at a big scare moment that there's a photo taken of them that they can buy later?

[Eddie]

So we don't have a photo moment, but we are currently experimenting with a video moment. So we have a RFID tag. They go through the haunted house and there's five different scare points and it records like a couple seconds before they go into the room until a couple seconds after. It's pretty cool.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah. I don't want you leaving money on the table.

[Eddie]

Yeah. Try not to do that.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got a gift shop there too?

[Eddie]

We have big gift shops now. Yeah. People love buying spooky things.

[Daniel Tosh]

For Halloween, you sell a faulty pregnancy test in your gift shop.

[Eddie]

Oh, no. That might be a big, big seller though. It's a good gag.

[Daniel Tosh]

Put those in there. That really scare some people. What's it cost to run one of your attractions?

[Eddie]

You know, I. It depends on the venue. On the low end, multiple of hundreds of thousand dollars. On the larger end, in the millions of dollars to run the different events.

[Daniel Tosh]

Do you look at your daily. Oh, man, this. This is what we're spending so much money on every year.

[Eddie]

Payroll. Yeah. Actors, staff. I mean, that's the number one expense, hands down.

[Daniel Tosh]

And the amount of actors that you have, you audition these id?

[Eddie]

No, I don't personally audition anybody anymore, but we do have auditions and usually for the more specialized roles, more acting.

[Daniel Tosh]

Intensive roles, People are just screaming and running up to me. Are they allowed to touch you?

[Eddie]

No, we don't touch. No. It's kind of an unspoken rule. A lot of people say, oh, I was touched in a haunted house. But it's usually the actor. They're in a dark space, they'll bump into you, you know, run.

[Daniel Tosh]

I was touched in a haunted house too. But that's for my therapist to figure out. What's the oldest person that you guys hire?

[Eddie]

I don't know officially the oldest, but all of our attractions. I always see an old actor. That makes you question. It's amazing how many different people from different professions just want to do it for fun.

[Daniel Tosh]

You use children actors ever?

[Eddie]

We do not.

[Daniel Tosh]

You're not allowed to. We do because I find kids just terrifying.

[Eddie]

So we.

[Daniel Tosh]

You put a kid in there.

[Eddie]

We actually have some actors that are child sized.

[Daniel Tosh]

Uh huh. I like what you're saying.

[Eddie]

Yeah. And when they're made up, you would swear they're a kid, but they're are, you know, legal adults.

[Daniel Tosh]

Uh huh. All right. Loopholes. I love it. What kind of background checks are you doing on all these employees?

[Eddie]

Everyone gets a background check before they become an employee. Everyone.

[Daniel Tosh]

I mean, I don't want to talk about worst case scenarios, but are you guys prepared for all that stuff?

[Eddie]

Yeah, no, we stay very diligent.

[Daniel Tosh]

Actual real crazy.

[Eddie]

Yeah, we stay very diligent in keeping the actual crazies out of the haunted house.

[Daniel Tosh]

Those makeup artists, the amount of time it takes. Is there a sped up version that you guys are doing with all these actors?

[Eddie]

Yeah, a lot of the makeup artists use an airbrush makeup so they can move really fast, so they can draw in different details and.

[Daniel Tosh]

But they're putting like gels and flesh.

[Eddie]

Not everyone, you know, so different levels of actor depending upon how visible they're gonna be in the haunted house. So the ones that are gonna be more visible might have like a prosthetic treatment like you're talking about, but a lot of them are airbrushed and with shadows and things, they can do some really cool makeup with airbrush.

[Daniel Tosh]

You ever put a mask on and scare people?

[Eddie]

I did. I mean, that's how I started when I.

[Daniel Tosh]

No, but I mean now, now, like Undercover Boss style.

[Eddie]

It's been about eight years. And I think the last time I did it, I was absolutely exhausted after about 20 minutes. So I gave. Gave that up. Hung up the mask. That's a misconception with people. They all think they want to work in a haunted house, but it's hard work. You're, you know, you're in a mask or a hot costume. You're in a dark, cramped space, and it's hard jumping out, doing the same thing repetitively, you know, for over like a five hour night.

[Daniel Tosh]

What do you think about these Gen Zs? How's their work ethic?

[Eddie]

Different. Questionable, maybe. I'm trying to stay correct here. I got a lot of Gen Z actors. Look, you know, I mean, you're really in it. Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

You really can see every generation go, oh, this is awful.

[Eddie]

Yeah, I think the one upcoming is pretty good. I think the next one up is gonna be good.

[Daniel Tosh]

I can't get my kid to do anything. There's good luck with a boss telling him to do something. I loved working as a kid.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, just because I. That was the only way I was ever going to get money or get to do anything.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

Like, my parents just didn't care. Like, yeah, no, we're not giving you anything.

[Eddie]

Yeah, no, that's changed a lot. I have two kids at home that I'm like wondering when they're going to get kicked out of the nest and.

[Daniel Tosh]

Oh, would you kick them out? Would your wife let you kick them out?

[Eddie]

Probably not. Nah.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, that's all right. There's worse things to have in your house. Your kids are what?

[Eddie]

My kids are 18 and 20. My son actually turns 21 on Thursday this week.

[Daniel Tosh]

You're kind of an empty nester. Is that even a thing anymore? Because it seems like kids just stay with us forever.

[Eddie]

Yeah. They have not left the nest yet. Failure to launch, for sure.

[Daniel Tosh]

Did your kids, did they like Halloween as a kid?

[Eddie]

They did not like it as young kids up until the time they were about 12. In fact, when my son was really young, he used to be excited about the different catalogs and things that would come in the mail. He'd say, I wanna look at the spooky stuff. But when he was five, my stepfather decided to scare him when he was over at his house. And from the time he was 5 until he was about 12, he wanted nothing to do with.

[Daniel Tosh]

It really scarred him.

[Eddie]

I think he just figured out what fear was, you know, he figured out. He didn't. He wasn't jazzed about that. So.

[Daniel Tosh]

Smart kid.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

What do you do personally at your own home On Halloween?

[Eddie]

When my kids were young, my wife would get crap from the neighbors because she said, they're. Your husband is Mr. Halloween, and your house is the most boring house on the block.

[Daniel Tosh]

You tell your neighbors if they shell out 50 bucks, you'll up the game.

[Eddie]

Because I was working, you know, I was out, you know, and the kids weren't old enough to be celebrating. But once my kids were old enough, I did start decorating the yard. And I would take things from the haunted house. Fog machines, speakers. I did projections in our windows, different props. And you would think I created the most incredible haunted house at all time. My neighbors are out there with their phones out, and I want to say to him, I'm like, right down the street, there's a place we invested millions of dollars in that. People are still going through and coming out the other side going, eh, it was okay.

[Daniel Tosh]

Are your kids going to take over your empire?

[Eddie]

You know, I did not push either one of them to get involved in any way, but they both are involved now. They both work at our location in Denver. My daughter's an actress, and she also does some makeup there. And then my son is more on the tech side, so kind of the behind the scenes. But I felt like I didn't want to push them to be involved. I wanted it to be their own choice to be involved. But, yeah, they're both involved, and I see them growing with the company and probably taking on more responsibility.

[Daniel Tosh]

How do I forget this first question? Do you believe in ghosts?

[Eddie]

You know, I want to believe in ghosts, and I feel like I should believe in ghosts, but no, I don't believe in ghosts.

[Daniel Tosh]

Because you've seen behind the curtain too much.

[Eddie]

Exactly.

[Daniel Tosh]

That's a shame. That's a sh. I really wanted you to believe in ghosts. The people that care about Halloween too much, do they freak you out a little bit?

[Eddie]

I think anybody that cares about anything too much is a little scary, but fair enough. But, you know, I don't know.

[Daniel Tosh]

It's like those Disney adults that have to Disney constantly. What about international? Have you put one overseas yet?

[Eddie]

We're not open overseas yet.

[Daniel Tosh]

I bet you could do some Weird stuff in some of these Asian countries. Oh man, they're probably into some freaky scary stuff.

[Eddie]

Yeah, I might not be tuned into the Asian horror scene quite yet.

[Daniel Tosh]

Oh, but I bet I'm talking about money on the table.

[Eddie]

Yeah. I mean Halloween is growing fast in other parts of the world. It was always traditionally more of an American thing, but now I don't even know it.

[Daniel Tosh]

I don't even know that that's true. It was. It's basically an American holiday.

[Eddie]

Yeah. And now it's growing fast in Europe, Asia, the Middle East. People used to ask me, where are you going to expand to? I said take Denver. Draw about a two and a half hour flight radius. That's a pretty safe bet.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah. You got one in Aspen yet?

[Eddie]

No, no, I don't think it'd work out up there.

[Daniel Tosh]

What other cities? Well, you got Colorado Springs. Those people are talk about scary. The people in Colorado Springs. There's a bunch of loonies over there.

[Eddie]

Aren't there great people in Colorado Springs? They love driving to Denver for the haunted house.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, good. What about those. The things where I hear of people being completely actually paid to be tortured basically. I don't know exactly what I'm talking about.

[Eddie]

But not haunted houses is my big statement on those.

[Daniel Tosh]

Right.

[Eddie]

It's like, you know, to your point, it's like a simulated abduction or a simulated torture. Not what we do. And you know, it gets a lot of press around Halloween. But I don't think anybody that really just wants to celebrate Halloween is into that stuff, you know, I think that's more of a unique person.

[Daniel Tosh]

Seems like a fun date and night. Come on, honey. If we can make it til sun up, we get $100,000.

[Eddie]

Yeah, there you go.

[Daniel Tosh]

Everybody that's on my show gets a gift. And it's just stuff that I have around my house. So I was like, oh, I don't know what to give you. But then I thought of something. I got you. I've never used it, not one time in my life. Got you my chainsaw.

[Eddie]

Oh my God, this is awesome. I don't think I've ever had my own chainsaw.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, I figured. I was like, well I don't need this. Look at it. I hate even. I even have all the stuff because I'm like a. They're like, oh, you're going to need barn oil cleaner and you're going to need all. Whatever this is low smoke.

[Eddie]

What was the plan for it when you got it?

[Daniel Tosh]

Like, because I was a man and like I have a House. And they're like, well, you need a chainsaw.

[Eddie]

Well, this is, this is part of the man card. Now I have one. I haven't had one before, so this is good.

[Daniel Tosh]

And then you're supposed to sharpen a chain.

[Eddie]

All of it just seems like sharpen this thing.

[Daniel Tosh]

You're you don't they like have a file that goes in between. Single. No, I, I listen, it's never been used as a 16 inch chainsaw. That's a Craftsman.

[Eddie]

I appreciate it.

[Daniel Tosh]

That two year warranty has got to be void.

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

That thing has been sitting in my garage.

[Eddie]

The box is discolored on the top. So it's been here. It's been here a while.

[Daniel Tosh]

Oh, it's been there many, many years. Never, never thought to use it. All right. Get that off my desk, please. This is my mask that I. I've done a bit. My old. I had an old TV show and I did a bit and it was.

[Eddie]

Oh, yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

I love this baby.

[Eddie]

I know the artist that made that.

[Daniel Tosh]

You do?

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

Big ass baby.

[Eddie]

Yeah. His name's Landon.

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, Landon. Landon did good work.

[Eddie]

Because this Creepy as hell.

[Daniel Tosh]

Oh, I know. Yeah, it's the right. It's the right amount of cre. I'm not giving it to you, but I just, I wanted to bring it. This is the worst thing in the world.

[Eddie]

That is the worst thing in the world. 100%.

[Daniel Tosh]

My wife bought that and goes. I go, what are you talking about? That is pure shit.

[Eddie]

Yeah. You cannot carve a pumpkin with this.

[Daniel Tosh]

Do you carve pumpkins?

[Eddie]

I do.

[Daniel Tosh]

I finally go ahead and get that off my desk.

[Eddie]

I finally stopped carving real pumpkins and now we have these forever pumpkins. So if you carve your design into it, at least you can keep it year after year now that the kids are old.

[Daniel Tosh]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You blew my mind. Forever pumpkin.

[Eddie]

It's a foam pumpkin.

[Daniel Tosh]

And you cut it.

[Eddie]

Yeah. And you can cut a design into it just like a regular pumpkin.

[Daniel Tosh]

Is it hard to cut like a real pumpkin to where you will slice yourself yourself? I like that.

[Eddie]

Yeah, it is. The nice thing about it is once they're carved, you can keep them every year and just kind of keep adding. You don't have to run out and get a live pumpkin.

[Daniel Tosh]

Every year we get pumpkins, lots of them. I never knew that, that. I always thought you bought one pumpkin. My wife, we go to a pumpkin patch and she's getting gourds and pumpkins and she gets like 10 to put next to each other.

[Eddie]

By the end, all the different colors, all the different.

[Daniel Tosh]

And then we don't carve a single one?

[Eddie]

No.

[Daniel Tosh]

How come I don't have the answer to that? It's just, like, they just look nicer.

[Eddie]

Maybe when your kids are a little older, they're gonna want to carve.

[Daniel Tosh]

Maybe they'll wanna carve one. I don't. I hope not. Cause I don't wanna do it.

[Eddie]

No.

[Daniel Tosh]

You guys decorate your house for Halloween?

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

You do?

[Eddie]

Yep.

[Daniel Tosh]

What do you put up, Eddie?

[Eddie]

I do that. You know that glass garage door? I do a projection from the inside.

Nice.

So, like, it's like a skeleton dances around and there's all kinds of stuff.

[Daniel Tosh]

Could you just play something?

[Eddie]

Yeah, you could just play a movie. Yeah, I could just.

[Daniel Tosh]

Oh, yeah. Why don't you put. Why don't you just put, like, this Saw Anthology up? You're not allowed to. You can't play those type of movies, right? I think so. The neighborhood would shut that down.

[Eddie]

Yeah, I think the neighborhood would be upset about that one.

[Daniel Tosh]

My neighborhood, they used to just do one section of the street, and people would go crazy and do all kinds of things and then just. You know, recently, a few neighbors have moved and they drop the ball. It's no longer exciting. Yeah.

[Eddie]

I remember when I was a kid, it was like Halloween and trick or treating was huge. Especially back, back East. People would stop by your house and you'd welcome them in. But now it's like people come and ring your doorbell. You don't want anything to do with them, so.

[Daniel Tosh]

I never went into a house, though. You went into house as a kid. That's dangerous.

[Eddie]

No, no, no. Just ringing the doorbell.

[Daniel Tosh]

Okay. All right. Anybody says, come on in, it's like, oh, we gotta get here.

[Eddie]

Don't go to that house.

[Daniel Tosh]

What's your favorite candy given out at the Halloween.

[Eddie]

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Peanut butter cups.

[Daniel Tosh]

Not Reese's Pieces.

[Eddie]

Those are good, but. Peanut butter cups?

[Daniel Tosh]

Yeah, Peanut butter cups. I'm not liking that. They've tried to div. This one has extra peanut butter. This one is twice as thick.

[Eddie]

I saw one with potato chips in it or something.

[Daniel Tosh]

Don't need that nonsense. No, you guys protected it a long time ago.

[Eddie]

That's right.

[Daniel Tosh]

Just knock it off. What's the best store to go to for Halloween decorations?

[Eddie]

I like spirit. I think it's fun, you know, I mean, for what it is. You know, the prices are pretty low to do something fun at your house.

[Daniel Tosh]

I can't do those with where you step on the buttons and the kids. It's too much for them already. I bet I've already found that I've gone too far.

[Eddie]

Least favorite holiday probably Labor Day because it's so close to our season. And once Labor Day hits, I'm like, oh, crap, here it comes.

[Daniel Tosh]

I mean, it's kind of nice, though, that it's truncated into October, really, isn't it?

[Eddie]

Yeah. I mean, for us, it's like mid September now through mid November. Is our season.

[Daniel Tosh]

Is your goal to become the scariest, or does that not?

[Eddie]

I think my goal is to become the most entertaining. You know, it's like, you know, nowadays we all live our digital lives where you know what your family's doing, you know what your friends are doing, you look at your phone. But creating unique events that people can share together socially is really what we're all about. So. And not everybody likes. Likes to be terrified. Right. So we like to add the scary elements, but also add elements where people can just hang out and have a good time and celebrate Halloween.

[Daniel Tosh]

Are you happy or sad that you're right before the election?

[Eddie]

I think people need a diversion, so I think.

[Daniel Tosh]

Of course they do.

[Eddie]

Yeah. I think people want to get out and not think about things. And ultimately, that's what we provide. You know, if we give you 30 minutes where you're not thinking about anything else while you're in a haunted house, I think that's.

[Daniel Tosh]

You think people are prepping for the civil war that's coming?

[Eddie]

Oh, God, I hope not.

[Daniel Tosh]

All right, Chris. Well, I know you have to get back to work.

[Eddie]

I know. I'm gonna bring my new chainsaw. Get back to work with it.

[Daniel Tosh]

Thank you for being on the show.

[Eddie]

Yeah, I appreciate it.

[Daniel Tosh]

Thanks, man.

[Chris]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Daniel Tosh]

I want to thank Chris for being on the show. That was delightful. Yeah, I'm not into being scared. Speaking of things, I don't enjoy Nazis. You see a swastika and you know that is bad, right?

[Eddie]

Yep.

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

Where are you guys at on the rising sun flag? The wartime flag during World War II? From Japan, correct.

[Eddie]

Mm.

[Daniel Tosh]

I don't ever trust anything that I say, but I'm told that some people, you know, view that similar to a Nazi flag. And I was unaware of that. And then the other day I was organizing my belt drawer. Do you have a belt drawer? Doesn't matter. And I see this belt that I own and I'm like, is that the Rising sun flag on my belt? And I never knew about this. Is that what that is?

[Eddie]

Sure looks like it.

[Daniel Tosh]

Sure looks like it, right?

[Eddie]

Yeah.

[Daniel Tosh]

So I'm like, I can't wear this belt. And whose fault is this? Carrie. Carrie, my stylist, she buys all my stuff and she's buying me basically a Nazi belt. I had no idea. Are you guys aware of this or not? I was not aware of this. You're not aware of it? I'll tell you the real irony here. The back of this belt, I don't know if you can zoom in on that. Says Made in China.

[Eddie]

Wow.

[Daniel Tosh]

You telling me that the Chinese people were making this belt going, these assholes really rubbing it in our face with all their war atrocities. Anyway, I'm not gonna. I'm just gonna get rid of this belt. I'm not gonna give it to anyone. I'm just gonna throw it away. Now. I don't know why I didn't flag it, pun intended, the first time I saw it, and put it in my drawer. But, man, you know, that's one of the things where I stroke out and die or something. And then people come through my stuff and they say, well, look at this collector.

[Eddie]

Well, looky here.

[Daniel Tosh]

By the way, I could be completely wrong. And that flag's not offensive, but I just, you know, I like to err on the side of what the fuck and just blame Carrie. Anyway. All right, it's time for some plugs. And we got some good plugs now. You ready for this, Carl? Boyswearpink.com toshowstore.com get your tosh show merch and then get a free tickle. If you see me in the streets, go to eddie gosling.com, check out his tour dates. Go to danieltosh.com to check out our tour dates. Come on. Come see us do standup. It is really fun. Fun to watch me live. You just learn so much about me and my wife and how strong our relationship is that she can put up with my shit. Okay, now for our new segment. Not so new. It's been like a couple months, right? The free plug. Hit the free plug music, Eddie. Oh, look at this. I didn't know the music was going to change ever every week. I like it. I might need my glasses for this. Today's free plug is for those of you in Oscoda, Michigan. October 26th at 7:00pm is opening night for the Shoreline Players production of the Addams Family, a new musical comedy. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students, which seems like a steal. $10 to see the Addams Family, a new musical comedy? Well, let's just say you live in a Tawa City or Saginaw. You can't make it up to Oscoda for opening night. Don't worry. This production is going to run through November 3rd down at 6000 North Skeel Avenue in Oscoda, Michigan, right across from a Robert J. Parks library. I don't know what the parking situation is going to be like there. I'm sure on the opening weekend it's going to be a cluster. Head on over to shoreline players.org yeah, they'll straighten it out for you. I don't know, maybe the parking situation's great there. That's always my fear. Where do we park? You think they have valet? I'm guessing they don't. You like valet? I always prefer not to valet. I always like to get places early, you know, find some street parking and then just walk in. And then I take that $5 savings, you know, put that in a jar and I save that jar. And then one day I'm going to give that jar to whichever kid I like the most and say, this was for all the times I didn't use valet. Now go get yourself something. Carl, what do you think of that idea? You dying over there? Your hair looks cute, you little top pony. All right, guys, we got to get out of here. See you next week.

[Chris]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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