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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 owner of Castle of Chaos, with three locations along the Wasatch Front, he's good at what he does. Nationally, visits to haunted houses were up in 2011, from 21 percent in 2010 to 23 percent last year, according to about.com.
The latest attraction for Castle of Chaos this year is the new Orem location on University Parkway. It's huge with four separate haunted houses. James has discovered that many people want to be scared close to home, so he's tried to space his haunted house locations to reach as many people as possible.
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?
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
