Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
This is Chris Redgrave for Zions Bank Speaking on Business.
Get ready for Halloween with Castle of Chaos, one of Utah's most well-attended haunted attractions. They've been featured on the Travel Channel as one of America's Scariest Haunted Houses. Since that program aired, they've more than tripled in business.
James Bernard is in the business of screams. As the founding owner of Castle of Chaos, with three locations along the Wasatch Front, he's good at what he does. Castle opened a new mega-haunt in Orem last fall, which had over 18,000 visits last October alone. He's smart to tap into this market since the Halloween industry adds $10 billion into the national economy every year and over 70 percent of Americans will participate in the holiday, according to 24/7 Wall Street.
You may not realize it, but running a haunted house is a major production. Each Castle of Chaos requires a team of around 100 actors, both employees and volunteers, every night. James offers actor training with classes, and they do rehearsals for a few weeks before the haunted house opens to maximize the scare factor. Why not when he anticipates 65,000 visitors will come to Castle of Chaos this season including people from Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada?
Castle of Chaos specializes in reduced tickets for groups, schools and businesses looking for fun incentives or just a screaming good time.
In addition to being open from mid-September through Halloween, Castle of Chaos opens for Scream Break in the spring and on every Friday the 13th.
For Zions Bank, I'm Chris Redgrave, speaking on business.
Castle of Chaos With locations in Riverdale, Taylorsville and Orem info@castleofchaos.com www.castleofchaos.com
