How to Run a Haunted House Fundraiser for Your Theatre Program

Creating a haunted house fundraiser is one of the most exciting student-driven events a theatre program can take on. It brings together performance, design, creativity, and community involvement, and it can generate significant fundraising revenue with very little overhead. An inclusive, low-pressure way for all students in your school to participate in the arts!

Why a haunted house?

A haunted house can be both nostalgic and practical: It uses theatrical skills, draws a wide audience, and can become a high-impact annual fundraiser. Students love it, families show up in droves, and the school community rallies around the event.

This step-by-step guide walks through the process from concept to execution based on a real-world model in a secondary school theatre department that successfully welcomed more than 500 guests in a single evening, while spending almost nothing.

The key principle to the event is to make it student-driven. Students are going to create and build the haunted house, perform in it, manage it, and tear everything down. 

Students plan it; adults guide it!

1. Start early, but let students lead.

Preparation typically begins three to four weeks into the school year. The first phase is brainstorming:

• Let student leaders discuss themes and decide on room concepts.
• Have volunteers identify necessary roles and responsibilities.
• Adults serve as approvers and supervisors, not micromanagers.

Key principle: Students plan it; adults guide it.

2. Choose your location wisely.

When selecting your location, there are lots of things to think about: 

• How will guests enter and exit your haunted house? Does your location have clear pathways?
• Can you control the lighting in your chosen location?
• How easy and quick will it be to set up? How easy and quick will it be to clean up afterward?
• How easy will it be to get approval from faculty and administration?

Here’s an example using school science labs as the location:

• Tile floors allow for easy cleanup of fake blood and paint.
• Two doors per room create a natural flow for guests.
• The space is controlled, contained, and easy to supervise.

Plan your location and layout early—especially how guests will move through the space.Everything else becomes easy once the flow is established.

3. Secure administrative and staff support.

Make sure there are no surprises for your admin. You want to be able to explain what you want to do, why the project is safe, and how you plan to execute. And have it all in writing! Put together a document that shows: 

• A clearly written plan from setup to take down.
• An explanation of all safety measures.
• How the event will be monitored.
• Suggestions for collaborations with other student groups (like student council).
• The event is framed as a community-building opportunity for the school, not just a fundraiser.

4. Recruit volunteers (expect a LOT). 

Haunted houses are a great event because for the most part, everyone loves them and they’re a fun experience for all students, not just your drama students. It’s a fabulous opportunity to build within your community. Have an open volunteer policy to allow students, teachers, and parents to see what you do! It will also encourage school-side ownership. Aside from participating in the haunted house itself: 

• Have student officers act as managers/security.
• Use parents as additional monitors.
• Ask your fellow teachers to help supervise rooms.

5. Marketing: Let students do the work.

You need guests for your haunted house. The more word of mouth you have, the more traffic you’ll get, and the better the experience will be for everyone. Keep the student ownership going with student-led marketing. 

• Brainstorm with students possible marketing ideas and how they would execute them. 
• Have students post on social media. Create a trailer and reels.
• Offer a prize for the class that has the most post engagement.
• Ask the art department to create posters and flyers and have students put them up around your school and community.

6. Consider multiple experiences.

If you want the community to attend your haunted house you have to consider opportunities for different audiences. This will maximize attendance, and revenue! For example: 

• A “big kids” haunted house ($5 admission)
• A “little kids” Halloween playhouse ($3 admission) with pumpkin-decorating, coloring, and crafts

7. Keep costs low—or zero!

Remember, this is a fundraiser. Brainstorm with students ways to keep costs low. For example: 

• Make a donation signup list for materials.
• Have each participant bring in at least one needed item.
• Use in-house props, costumes, and lights as much as possible.
• You don’t need to buy fake blood. Have students research the ingredients and make as much as you need. 

8. Create room concepts (but keep it lightly structured).

You’re looking for a mix of structure and flexibility in the planning and execution of your room concepts. You want things to be both organized and fun!

Structurally, your haunted house will be set up, run, and cleaned up in a single day. The event itself should run for about two and a half hours (e.g., 6:30pm to 9:00pm on a Friday or Saturday night).

Consider a haunted house that takes about 10 minutes to go through and has 10 different “rooms.” Divide your drama students into room teams and have each team develop: 

• A theme (e.g., asylum, clown room, mask room)
• A list of props and materials
• A number of actors
• Costume expectations

The room team will assign roles and actions, but beyond that, rooms are improv-based. 

9. Debrief and improve.

After the event, unpack the experience with your students. Discuss what went well and what can be improved upon for next time. Continuous refinement will keep the event smooth and staff supportive. For example, 

• Do you need to add more adult supervision?
• How was the communication with teachers whose rooms were used?
• Were expectations of the event clear?
• How was the audience’s experience?