Hauntspace Goes Dedicated!

Nearly every week the social networking website MySpace manages to make the news, and generally it’s not in a good way. With shows like Dateline NBC doing the “To Catch a Predator” series with a special focus on how real monsters use this site to find their “prey”, it’s no wonder someone dedicated to haunting and family safety like Pete Henderson of HauntSpace.com created this new social networking site. If you’re a Halloween or Haunted House fan or owner and you happen to be tired of slogging through all the extraneous distractions on MySpace or the other independent site SinisterSpace, which is less moderated and not solely focussed on Haunters, and you’d like a safe, moderated social networking site to hang out with other Halloween and Haunted House nuts then HauntSpace is the place for you. A family friendly site dedicated to keeping the usual risqué and non-Halloween content off, HauntSpace is strives to be the ELITE worldwide Halloween, Haunted House Social Network where comprehensive Halloween, Haunted House enthusiasts emerge to teach, share ideas and submerge themselves into the Haunted Attraction Industry. This past week HauntSpace.com announced a monumental move to dedicated hosting to clear up many of the issues members were having with slow or no access time. To mark this occasion I caught up with Pete - A.K.A. Screamhaunt on the Halloween email lists - to check his thoughts on haunting and the future of his family of Halloween websites.

Barrow-Wight: So Pete, where this obsession and love of all things Haunted come from?

Pete: Halloween was always a family ordeal for me. I took a liking to it at a very young age. At age 7 I had a Haunted House in my basement. I created the props, lighting and sound effects. A sad ending came after a disagreement I had with my step father. As punishment, the Haunted House was taken down, most of the creations were thrown away. As a child, I didn’t understand this, but as an adult, I can understand the rationale. The sad thing is that it was one of the things in life that took a toll on the relationship between myself and my family. A child never forgets. At age 30, I decided to host Halloween parties on our farm. Presently, at age 36, I have become known for having one of the best Halloween parties from a peer standpoint. We do this on a yearly basis. Approximately 4 years ago, I decided to take my Halloween passions to the web, hence HauntersNetwork.com was created.

Note: since this interview was done Pete has decided to take down HaunterNetwork.com due to its redundancy to features of Haunt Space and costs.

BW: Sounds like a rough bit in your relationship with your step father. So what was your biggest influence in this genre?

Pete: My passions were intensified after I become familiar with and absorbed by the Halloween L email list. I have to say, this is by far one of the best email lists I’ve come across and still belong to it. The Halloween L is inhabited by some of the brightest folks on the earth. The members come from all walks of life and combine knowledge and experience to such a degree, that a member can get an answer to just about anything pertaining to Halloween props and creations.

BW: So what finally prompted you to create your family of Halloween Networking sites - some dark and twisted dream?

Pete: HauntersNetwork.com was created for the Haunters. I envisioned a forum that had zero tolerance for the things we don’t want to see on a Halloween website and geared itself more towards the season in general. The web-site was set up for anyone and everyone, offering areas where members could communicate without having to sift through topics they weren’t interested in. A web-site where all members would have a place and feel welcome based on their particular interests. At one point, the web-site took off like wildfire, but it became apparent that the members could be better served by a social network platform. There’s just much more to offer and networking become easier when the members have more features. HauntSpace.com was born. HauntSpace grew rapidly and although the web-site isn’t profitable, providing the very best to the people I care for became my mission statement. Although there are many wonderful web-sites out there industry related, I stood firm on many aspects, such as the safety and protection of youth. As most know, HauntSpace has strictly enforced terms of service. This is essential to keep the serious members on and the people that offer absolutely nothing off the site. HauntSpace is there for the folks that want to learn, teach and share. We also strive to keep the drama off of the site. It’s tough at times, because members become very attached to a web-site and develop close friendships with one another. At times, it’s difficult to refrain from every day chatter, even for myself. All in all, I’m very satisfied with the outcome of HauntSpace and it seems to be gaining the respect from serious Haunters and Halloween enthusiasts. HalloweenTrade.com was also launched, a nicely decorated auction site, where members can create their own online stores, auction their products and services and interact from a merchant customer standpoint. A forum was place in effect for that purpose. The idea behind that site is to get the Haunters together where they could get what they needed without having to sift through the rubble. Members can also develop positive relationships with merchants and have the ability to rate and score the folks they shop from. This helps to protect the consumer. Unfortunately the web-site was recently placed under construction because of a glitch. We’re in the process of working on these issues. Generally speaking, I took a little bit of everything I liked about specific web-sites and tried to plug them all in on our web-sites. Good web-sites go hand in hand with good members. I feel very blessed that I’m somehow connected to the members of HauntSpace. A fabulous group of people to say the least.

BW: So what’s next? Where’s all this going for Pete?

Pete: There are two additional web-sites that will have a home on our server in the future. One of which is an online newspaper that the members will have some control over. All Haunters will have a home there, as long as their content is quality. The other web-site will not be announced for a couple of months. I also plan on hosting HauntCamp, which will be a gathering like no other. The gathering will be in a thick wooded area of Pennsylvania offering many of the things that other gatherings offer, but with it’s own uniqueness. Attendees will be able to camp out, have their vehicle parked in an area they can see from the gathering location and create a visitor decorated trail. Upon completion, the members can see the fruits of their labor, offer items for sale and relax by a bonfire. There will also be a local hotel for the folks that don’t like sleeping in the great outdoors.

BW: Sounds like the call of the wild is itching to get into your haunted visions - perhaps some recessive werewolf ancestry I think. So for this business of Haunted Attractions, and with recent articles in both Haunted Attraction Magazine and HauntWorld on the subject, what do you think the future holds in store?

Pete: Without a doubt, Haunted Attractions have graduated from simple layouts and detail to comprehensive decor and realism. I’m still fond of the basic Haunted Attraction but since some high profile Haunters, such as Leonard Pickel and Larry Kirchner have broadened the industry by creating Haunted Attractions that make you feel like you’re a part of your background. As the industry improves, the customer will have higher expectations. Like anything in life, there is always room for improvement. The patron will always want more and the people in the business will give them just that. On the flip side of the coin, I’m sure that Haunted Attraction owners are discouraged by the high price of insurance and the civil liability of owning a pro Haunt. I’m sure that everyone will agree, that although Haunt owners have to be responsible for the safety and protection of their patrons, insurance pricing is out of control. I feel that the insurance companies and courts of law need to gauge liability more appropriately. Gross negligence is one thing, but someone who hurts his or herself in a Haunted House probably had more culpability than the Haunted House owner in most cases.

BW: Now we know where you think it will go, but if you had your druthers where would you like to see the Haunted Attraction business head?

Pete: I’m fond of the fact that there are many enterprises and vast amounts of web-sites, groups, gatherings and conventions. The more the merrier. There are many people out there that have incredible talents. A Haunted Attraction just may be their niche. What a great world it would be if everyone could have a job and absolutely love doing it on a daily basis. I would like to see continued improvement and new innovative ideas hit the market. I would also like to see increased marketing resources and a little less inflated costs. Some of the retail outlets have gotten a little out of control when it concerns re-sale pricing.
As far as the HauntSpace, HauntersNetwork and HalloweenTrade web-sites, time will tell. I’ve always said that I would rather have ten good members than 1000 folks that have no direction. Hopefully, like many rungs in the Haunt ladder, I’m hoping to be one of the many positive fixtures already in place.

Thanks for being so candid Pete. If you boils and ghouls would like to see a little more into this haunted mind his profile can be found at http://www.hauntspace.com/Pete. While you’re at it check the Raven’s Barrow profile out too. Until next we meet good night and sleep warm.

July 27th, 2007