This is part of an ongoing series where we interview the people behind the Horror/Haunted Attraction business. This week we speak with David Norton, who is the #1 auctioneer for Theme Parks/Haunted Attractions in the United States. Who knew? His full time job is to go around and liquidate these attractions when they have to be sold. Talk about a niche job!

Explain to our readers what you do for a living.
We sell all types of tourist attractions — amusement parks, carnivals, antique carousels, museums, FECs, haunts, unusual collections — at auction. We perform the auctions on-site. We also do many appraisals of the amusement industry.

Is this your full time job?
Yes, 110%

How did you get into auctioning off Theme Park rides?
I sold a small park in the early 1970's in northern Indiana — Buck Lake Ranch — and the specialty took off from there.

What is the strangest thing you ever auctioned off?
We sold the World's largest privately owned zoo, including a trained elephant act and the oldest Lowland Gorilla. One of our best auctions was the Rocky Point Haunted House.

A small four room haunted mansion scene sold for $44,000, eight framed marquis at $6,300, coffins from $400-1,500, four foam gravestones $1,100, pneumatic headless zombie $2,000, pneumatic leaper $1,650, faux mausoleums from $3,000-5000 each, and a mirror maze was gone at $19,800.

Other prices realized included a WWII searchlight at $18,750, forest maze $4,400, various pneumatic tricks from $500-4,000, Frankenstein table at $7,150, rocking boat captain's room for $7,150, scary carousel at $11,000, asylum facade $4,125, groups of costumes totaled over $10,000, and fog machines averaged $550 each.

How did you start dealing with Haunted Attractions?
Part of our specialty; just goes along with what we do.

What is the highest price you have ever sold an entire Haunted Attraction for?
$375K

What is the strangest prop/scary item you have ever auctioned off?
There are some very impressive haunt props/scenes out there, many of which are pretty strange and scary. It takes special people to come up with the ideas. I couldn't choose a scariest.

Do you attend Haunted Attractions yourself?
Yes, at conventions sometimes. There are no large haunts near my home - mostly smaller-scale and more "kid-friendly," which I do attend with my young grandchildren.

Why do you think Haunted Attractions are so popular?
Many people love to be scared. Many people love gore. Even though they know they are not real, there is still a level of excitement and "the unknown" to look forward to.

Why do Haunted Attraction owners usually have an auction? Is it going out of business or something else?
Sometimes they are going out of business, yes. Other reasons are the loss of leases on building or land, redoing haunts and selling off to build new, and retirement reasons.

When and where is your next Haunted Attraction auction?
Our next Haunt Auction is coming Saturday, June 9th at 11:00 a.m. at the "7 floors of Hell" in
Clevland, Ohio. Check out the brochure .