What stands between a rowdy haunted house guest from bumping back at the things that go bump in the night?

A well-trained, observant and experienced staff, according to Larry Belair owner of Victorian Park’s Haunted Mansion.

Violent or physical incidents between guests and employees – like the one at Charmingfare Farm’s haunted hayride in Candia on Friday, Oct. 17, which left a scare actor with a bloody nose after being struck in the face by a patron – are not unknown, but they are rare, Belair said.

“We’ve had a couple of those incidents over the 13 years that we’ve been there at the haunted mansion,” he said. “Every once and a while you get some wacko who thinks he entitled to hit some kid who provides entertainment. What do they think when they come into one of these houses, that they’re not going to have someone jump out at them?”

Line teasers – employees in costume who both entertain guests waiting in line to enter the haunted mansion and keep an eye out for any potential troublemakers – keep rowdy or intoxicated patrons from ever entering the house.

A second line of security in the lobby of the haunted mansion is designed to pick out anyone the line teasers may have missed during their rounds.

“We have a young lady that’s been there for 13 years who spends a moment or two looking these folks over and talking briefly with them, and if we really think someone is going to be a problem, we refund their money and ask them to go away,” Belair said. “We have some walkers that are all dressed in black and you don’t even know they’re there and we put a couple in front of anyone we’re concerned about. We’re there to remove somebody from the place if they become problem.”

A system of catwalks above the pathway of the haunted house allows a team of spotters to keep a close eye on the guests passing through the haunted mansion. With his employees connected by head-set, there is constant communication between his staff and a quick response should a problem arise, Belair said.

Though some members of his staff have upwards of 15 years of experience in the haunted house business, Belair said his employees get together before the start of the season each year to go over what situations could arise and what do to in each when something goes awry.

At Canobie Lake Park’s Spooky World, employees go through an orientation program and specialized training to minimize the chances of something happening. According to Chris Nicoli, the theme park’s marketing manager, the training stresses keeping the actors at a distance from the guests.

A number of signs warning against touching the actors as well as a visible security presence has kept any problems from popping up so far during the park’s first year of organizing the Halloween event, Nicoli said.

While Belair attributed keeping the number of incidents down to only three or four over the 13 years he has operated the haunted house to the training and preparation his staff go through beforehand, he said he had also been lucky so far. The chances of somebody wandering off the specified path or to getting a little panicky was always there.

“You are in the business of frightening people and scaring people,” he said. “There’s always the potential for someone to behave in away that isn’t anticipated.”