Spookers to open in Australia using Kickstarter.
The Watson family, owners of Spookers in Auckland, is turning to crowd funding sources to open their first haunted
Australian attraction in Queensland.
Spookers directors, Andy, Beth, and Julia Watson have decided to appeal to the Spookers community of over 41,000
facebook fans along with the thousands who subscribe to their newsletters and twitter, in the hope they will embrace
this project to take Spookers to the Aussies. 10% of Spookers facebook fans, and 9% of visitors to the attractions are
from Australia, giving a great initial platform. Australia is a huge untapped market for Spookers, with the potential to
open in several cities with populations much larger than Auckland.
When asked about why Kickstarter was appealing, Beth Watson noted, "The ability to spread the word quickly online to a
lot of people, and keep them updated on the status of the project is invaluable." An added advantage for Spookers is
Kickstarter's worldwide reach which enables their project to receive funds from anywhere in the world. As 24% of
Spookers NZ visitors are from overseas, this has a significant influence.
In line with Kickstarter.com guidelines, Spookers has a set number of days to raise all the funds, or the project receives nothing. Spookers
Australia has a 30-day fundraising window, from start to finish. If the allotted budget ($200,000) isn't raised then all
pledges are cancelled and Spookers Australia will not be funded.
The Spookers team have been running Haunted Attractions since December 2000 with Spookers Auckland opening in the old
Kingseat Psychiatric hospital for Halloween 2005, all year round, every single week. Spookers has been part of the
Haunted Attraction industry association in USA for 14 years, and Beth Watson has been on the board of the American
Industry Association for 9 years. Spookers has diversified by adding several different products to the mix including
medical moulage work with the NZ Defence force, and Business Studies programs for years 12 and 13 where students come to
Spookers for attractions, a meal and a talk about running the business and employment issues. This program has been
developed to comply with the NZ secondary school curriculum.
Spookers New Zealand is a very successful Auckland attraction with the systems in place to be replicated in several
different markets. New Zealand has limited potential for further development for Spookers due to the limitations in
population, so we are looking towards Australia which has 5-6 cities with a large enough population to support a
profitable business. After 2 years of searching for the perfect site to launch Spookers Australia we have found an ideal
1st location area to be in Queensland, around Brisbane.
If Spookers Australia Kickstarter is successfully funded, the Watson’s expect to be able to open Spookers Australia
within a year. Several sites in Queensland, near Brisbane have been identified, and the negotiation process to develop
these is progressing well. Spookers is fortunate to have the support of Richard Taylor from Weta Workshop, and his
specialist technicians will be ready and willing to build the most exceptional sets possible.
The haunted attractions and entertainment are designed for ages ranging from R16 age restricted offerings to family
attractions that are suitable for children 8 years and older. Spookers Australia will follow the New Zealand model and
initially be open 2 nights a week for the R.16 attractions, always Friday and Saturday nights, plus Halloween, leaving
the potential to open more nights a week as demand develops. There are additional nights for special events such as
Murder Mysteries, Creepers, and Pitch Black Panic Attack. It will also open Saturday and Sunday, plus every day of the
school holidays for the R.8 family attractions.
To learn more about the project, readers can visit the project's pitch page here:
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