Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Grant.
Joshua, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our journey began five years ago when a few of us- not quite an organization yet!- were working haunted attractions around central Florida. Some of us were working with charities, while others were doing home haunts. Chance brought us together and we realized just how well worked as a team. Beyond our passion for the haunts, we also were bound by a desire to be of service to the communities around us. In 2022 we formed, officially, into PhoenFX- a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting smaller local charity organizations, with a focus on youth programs.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not by any means! Haunted attractions are more than just throwing up black plastic and having kids in clown masks jump out and yell boo! Good ones, professional ones- of whose quality we aspire to emulate- take an immense amount of planning to be able to execute effectively. It starts with a story, and then a plan of action, and then funding, and then permission from the municipalities, and then a tremendous amount of labor. Which is all fine when you have the resources of larger, more established attractions! But for a small organization like ours, we can literally be planning the next haunt before the prior has come to a close!
Like with any non-profit, finding donors and sponsors is always a difficulty. But for us, an additional struggle- and probably one of the greatest hurdles- is City/County/Fire statute compliancy. Permitting requirements can be a very complicated and expensive process. Now don’t get me wrong, the need for safety in an environment which is supposed to make people feel unsafe is of paramount importance, and we learn something new every time we go through the permitting process which makes our safety protocols just that much stronger.
Permitting requirements does make finding suitable sites for our haunts far more daunting. Because we strive to stay in full compliance, our choices of sites become far more limited, and again, far more expensive.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My experience working with non profits, in various areas, reaches back to the early 2000’s. Currently, not only am I at the helm of PhoenFX, but I am also the CFO of a national haunt community association called the Chamber of Haunters. I design educational curriculum and teach for PhoenFX and the Chamber on haunt and haunted attraction related topics, as well as write the horror stories and narrate for our Podcast, Fireside Nightmares.
As to what I am the most proud of and what sets us apart? That would be The Lantern Protocol.
Simply put, our Lantern Protocol is a set of Standard Operating Procedures enacted, upon request by the end user, in order to meet the needs of specific underserved populations.
Maybe that wasn’t as simply put as it could have been. Haunters are story tellers, so let’s start with a story or two…
Several year ago we were a part of a fledgling haunt that encountered something we were not really prepared for. A parent came up to the ticket counter and explained that his child was autistic and was sensitive to flashing lights and loud noises. This was also his- the child’s- first haunted house experience. Neither the host organization or ours had encountered this before. But, both the host organization and our rag tag group of altruists were heavily child focused, and we certainly weren’t going to run from a challenge!
We asked the parent to give us a few minutes, we put our heads to together while waiting for the haunt to clear, and then methodically went through and turned off the special effects, turned down the music and instructed all of our actors to take it down to a “G” rated scare. The young man and his father went through the haunt. At the end, he came up to thank us and the young man was all smiles. They went through again the next day, with the same requests, and with Mom in tow.
The next year word had spread about the accommodations we were willing to make and suddenly multiple families with children who had sensory sensitivities- not just Autism, but epilepsy as well- were coming to our haunt. We had to be able to communicate very quickly with the backend of the haunt, and one of the members came up with the idea of giving the individual a Lantern to hold.
This gave the individual ultimate control over their haunt experience. By having the lantern, we – and our actors- knew to take it down a couple of notches (which later refined itself into a “Rated G” scare, a “Rated PG” Scare, and a “Full Scare”) and we also knew that we needed to tone down the effects. Within a night’s practice our team was able to make these changes within just a couple of minutes, and by the end of the season we had a new protocol in place. We didn’t realize at the time how far reaching these accommodations- and our willingness to make them- would go.
And it wasn’t just about sensory sensitivities. Guests who have never been to scarehouse before- old and young alike- would ask for a lantern before returning again to do the full scare. Or sometimes they would simply enjoy the scarehouse at the level they were most comfortable with.
One young man was there with his mother as a part of a much larger group. She very much wanted to go through, but he was reticent about going through. The lantern wasn’t even enough to convince him to go through! Even his group filled with extended family, having all gone through it just previously couldn’t convince him! But mom really wanted to. And so we did something very different with him- we took down the effects, turned down the ambient noise and led him on a backstage tour so he could see how all of the effects worked and meet the actors without their masks and out of character.
What started as a potentially tense situation which would really shape how this young man viewed haunts, turned into a learning experience for him- something he could take with him for years to come!
It took a little extra time, but it was worth it to ensure everyone could have an enjoyable experience at our haunt.
The Lantern Protocol was codified for those very reasons- so everyone, regardless of their individual requirements, could enjoy the haunt to their fullest!
As the seasons came and left, our Lantern Protocol matured into a Standard Operating Procedure, and became part of the regular training for our actors. We still have the Lanterns, but we’ve also added tour guide style headsets so that those who may require them- or who would simply prefer them- could get a guided through the story of each haunt (and make no mistake, our haunts to tend to be story heavy!).
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
I find happiness in being of use. If I can help someone from a rough place, teach them something they need to learn, provide them with something that eases their suffering, bring light to someone’s darkening world, that is when I am the happiest. For me happiness is a byproduct of work well done, of goals accomplished, and of a life lived where people I have had a direct and positive impact on are enumerated beyond my days.
The haunts fulfill all of those requirements. I get to work with a group of highly creative storytellers, bards, and nightmare builders in designing a haunted attraction. I get to work with other community organizations and likeminded, community centered individuals who focus is on helping the youth excel well beyond what they thought was possible. I get to teach others new skills and watch the valley of lightbulbs turn on when something they have learned gets put into practice, and further I get to see those light burn brightly with joy and pride as thy see their creations, and our shared visions, come to life. I get to involve others who get to experience that as well. I get to teach, and to learn, and fully enjoy a job that is not only done well, but doing good.
Pricing:
- Ticket prices for our events can fluctuate depending on the size of the haunted attraction.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.phoenfx.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phoenfxusa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phoenfx
- Twitter: https://x.com/PhoenFXUSA
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PhoenFX
- Other: https://firesidenightmares.transistor.fm
Image Credits
PhoenFX
