BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Walking through one of these haunts there’s a lot to lookout for. Fortunately everything scary about these places is by design.
- Local haunts like Binning Manor and Noble Manor prioritize safety while providing free Halloween entertainment.
- Many of the safety measures are just like what you’d find in California Fire Code: like having clear walkways and sturdy walls, to strong power cords dispersed across the haunt to minimize any fire risks or power outages.
Walking through one of these haunts there’s a lot to lookout for. Fortunately everything scary about these places is by design.
“Most people go in and scream the whole way through and they come out smiling because they loved it in the end," said Andrew Binning.
Binning has been putting on Binning Manor — his own local haunt — for a decade now. Over the years, he’s honed his skills in scare and safety tactics.
“One of the things I try to do is most of my corridors are all three foot wide, just to make sure they're easy to navigate, especially when people are scared they're not thinking very clearly.”
Building his haunt takes a lot of time and planning. Binning said they have to consider every aspect of safety.
Many of the safety measures he takes are just like what you’d find in California Fire Code: like having clear walkways and sturdy walls, to strong power cords dispersed across the haunt to minimize any fire risks or power outages.
“We have a fire extinguisher in our control room, which is a central room that everyone can access very quickly," he said. "And I have exits pretty close to pretty much every room."
Another popular haunt in town, Noble Manor, begins setting up their haunt as early as September. That's because setting up takes quite a bit of work to ensure each of their 14 rooms is perfectly safe, no matter how frightening.
“In our case, now we're running out four different circuits so we don't risk tripping a circuit and causing it to go dark in there," said Curtis Noble.
Noble has been running Noble Manor Haunt for six years. He said during that time they’ve learned a lot of lessons.
“Distance is a big thing that we've learned. When you talk about lessons learned. We've learned distance is good, because some people, they just cause a problem and maybe push somebody, or it's just they get scared and they hit somebody.”
Both Binning and Noble said while they’re not required to meet specific requirements — since they don’t charge or serve food — they do spend money and time educating themselves in all the best practices.
“We go to a convention called the Midsummer Scream. It's the biggest haunting convention in the country," Binning said.
“They have different panels you attend based on it could be safety, it could be acting. It could be scares. How to build on a budget,” said Noble.
Ultimately all this work is worth it though.
“I do this so the teenagers can have somewhere to come and act and have a great couple of nights because who knows what else they’re going to do on a Halloween night otherwise," Binning said. "Something for the kids to do who don’t have the money they can come here for free.”
While many of our local haunts don’t charge the do accept donations especially of the candy variety.
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