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.
Article comments
1 - dddfs
cooooooooooool