Fall is here. Leaves are turning, temperatures are dropping, and across the country, families are planning their annual haunted house visits, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and Halloween events. For many organizations — especially nonprofits and community groups — these events are major fundraisers that run almost entirely on volunteer labor.
But here's the part most event organizers don't think about until something goes wrong: who exactly is working your event?
The Problem With Darkness
Consider the experience of walking through a haunted attraction. You're in a completely dark space. Your pulse is up. You can't see where you're going. And you can't see who else is there. The staff and volunteers around you are masked — anonymity is part of the design. It's meant to be disorienting. That's the entertainment.
Now consider the same scenario from a safety perspective. A guest — possibly a child — is navigating a dark, isolated space with strangers whose faces are covered. The volunteers around them have been recruited informally, vetted only by the word of another volunteer, and cleared for duty with nothing more than a signature on a release form.
The darkness that makes a haunted house exciting is the same darkness that eliminates the natural situational awareness we rely on every day to assess whether we feel safe.
This is not hypothetical concern. A documented incident in Wisconsin involved a registered sex offender who had been working in an isolated room at a haunted attraction with access to children. He had not been background screened. No one had checked. He simply showed up to volunteer and was given a role.
Volunteer-Based Events Are High-Risk by Nature
Most haunted attractions and fall seasonal events operate with a volunteer workforce assembled quickly, often from the same social networks — friends, family members, mutual acquaintances. The informal trust networks that feel comfortable in everyday life don't translate into meaningful screening. Knowing someone who knows someone is not the same as a background check.
The characteristics that make these events vulnerable are structural:
- High proportion of children and families in attendance
- Low-visibility environments where supervision is limited
- Masked and costumed volunteers whose identities aren't visible to attendees
- Rapid volunteer recruitment with minimal vetting
- Isolated areas where guests may be alone with staff
Each of these factors alone is manageable. Together, they create an environment where a registered sex offender or someone with a relevant criminal history can operate without detection — unless you've screened for it.
What the Right Screening Looks Like
Research Services works with nonprofits and volunteer-based organizations year-round — and seasonally for events exactly like these. A basic volunteer screening package typically includes:
- National Criminal Index — covering sex offender registries, Homeland Security checks, and criminal databases nationwide
- State or county criminal search — for the state where the applicant lives or previously resided
Turnaround for most searches is fast. There's no minimum — you can run one check or a hundred. And if you're a nonprofit managing a seasonal event on a tight budget, we can work with you on a package that fits.
Keep your goblins and ghouls safe — and keep your organization protected. Contact Research Services to ask about seasonal volunteer screening.
Screen Your Volunteers Before the Season Starts
Research Services provides fast, FCRA-compliant volunteer background checks for nonprofits and seasonal events. No contracts, no minimums. Ask about our seasonal packages.