BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — While the organizers of these free local Haunts understand that people react in various ways to being scared, they said recently some of these behaviors have crossed the line.
- Noble Manor shared on social media that on their opening night, they had several incidents that organizer Curtis Noble said were unacceptable.
- In one of those incidents, Noble said one of his adult actors was physically assaulted.
- While local haunts like Noble Manor and Meadow Rise were able to open for Halloween night, if incidents like these continue to happen, they said the may not continue operations next year or in the future.
"We get people get scared. That's the whole point of it," said Curtis Noble, founder of Noble Manor Haunt. "There's a big difference between that and being dramatic and damaging property."
The last two weeks, local haunts have been open with some getting between 400 to 600 attendees at night. While the organizers of these free attractions understand that people react in various ways to being scared, they said recently some of these behaviors have crossed the line.
Noble Manor shared on social media that on their opening night, they had several incidents that Noble said were unacceptable. He told me they experience everything from items being torn off displays, to people being egged, and even assault.
"They unfortunately assaulted one of our adult actors, punched him hard enough in the face that he had to go inside, put ice on it, and was unable to return for the night to the haunt," Noble said.
Noble Manor wasn't the only haunt that had rowdy crowds causing problems either.
"Cussing this close to your face, just inappropriate little things like that," said Terry Thomas, founder of Haunting on Meadows Rise.
Thomas saidd is in constant communication with the other haunts in town including Noble. He said after that incident, they all grouped together to decide how to move forward and whether or not to open on Halloween.
"It's like, you know, Is it worth it?" he said. "So it puts that shadow of doubt in your mind."
Both Thompson and Noble said their haunts are community and family focused. Many of their actors are teens or young adults, family friends, even their own children.
Thomas said especially at his haunt, the actors are the main attraction. He said over the weekend, he had remove an entire group of young men from the haunt for acting inappropriately and causing concern among the scare team.
"Deeply concerns us, and that's why, immediately after the one incident, we came out, we have a little megaphone," Thomas said. "I personally walked down the crowd and kind of a just addressed, hey, you know, these are the rules that we need to follow."
Noble said in the past they've called law enforcement when an incident starts to get out of hand, but especially on Halloween they worry about the amount of calls already being fielded. That's why they try to use preventative measures to keep people safe and keep the crowds calm.
"You know, we don't want to be a nuisance to law enforcement either," Noble said. "If something is major, we will call and report it. But we know that the timeline of an available officer getting up here versus that issue resolving itself or leaving it's not really worth it at that point."
Noble said after the incident, the upped the amount of volunteer security they had for Halloween. He told me they could begin charging for people to go through the haunt and try to weed out bad apples in other ways like implementing age restrictions or requiring parent supervision, but ultimately the safety of his home and his actors will always be his top priority..
"If one person gets hurt, it's not worth it doing it," he said.
Thomas said he loves his haunt. He and his family have been doing it for 11 years and they see the benefits it's brought the community. However, if physical safety continues to be a concern, it make's him second guess the future.
"Part of the whole thing for this is a safe, fun environment for kids in the community. And if we can't have that, then, yeah, it's time to probably think about different measures, or think about the future," he said.
While local haunts like Noble Manor and Meadow Rise were able to open for Halloween night, if incidents like these continue to happen, they said the may not continue operations next year or in the future.
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