An attraction is most effective when it follows a path, when it takes guests on a journey. The story determines an attraction’s physical layout, character development, and technical design. It also points the way for clever marketing, merchandising, and branding. This book gives you the tools to develop a story and to use that story as a blueprint for your attraction’s development.

As a scare actor and a long-time haunted attraction enthusiast, there’s nothing I enjoy more than instructional and informative works on the design and behind the scenes considerations which go into creating haunts–which is why it’s a shame that there are so few resources which are easily accessible to home haunters and other amateur designers, especially in print. Follow the Story (Scott Swenson) goes a long way towards making the thematic design of haunts and immersive attractions more digestible and systematic– it’s a solid how-to guide for integrating narrative into your haunt which touches on everything from general flow to correctly distressing costumes and sets. Chances are, this book will be an indispensable reference for many,  if not because it shares anything particularly groundbreaking than because it significantly condenses useful information and presents it in an easy to understand and applicable way.

What jumped out most to me is the inclusion of real-life examples and the detailed hypothetical concepts on display. The way these are presented makes the growth of the example themes feel organic, as though the reader is being allowed to watch a professional designer’s stream of consciousness.  I think these examples and anecdotes may have also been the strongest argument for developing the story in your haunt, as the context they provide for certain ideas really sells the value of that integration, not only for the sake of convincing design but for merchandising and other forms of marketing.

My only real criticism of Follow the Story is that I wish it was just a little bit longer. Clocking in at under fifty pages, the length is both a blessing and a curse. I don’t necessarily think that there needs to be more informational writing, as Swenson very competently packages the relevant information, but I would have loved to see even more anecdotes and examples of the lessons being taught. With what is easily one of the longest and most decorated resumes in the haunted attraction industry, I’m sure that Scott Swenson could fill another two hundred pages with stories about developing stories and I’d be one hundred percent there for it.

Additionally, while I wouldn’t consider it a criticism, this book’s mileage may vary– if you’re already a long-time designer or if you study attraction design extensively there may not be all that much information here which is new to you.  That said, with contributions from Ted Dougherty, Philip Hernandez, and cover art by Doug Schaefer, I’m fairly confident that the majority 0f enthusiasts will find value here.

Follow the Story is available digitally and in paperback here