HENRICO, Va. -- As Halloween quickly approaches, thrill seekers can expect to see haunted attractions and spooky mazes around town.
CBS 6 walked through the Frightmares in Regency Square mall to experience it for ourselves.
So, just how safe is it for you and your family? Well, that depends on who you ask.
"You want to know like your exits. In case something happens like a fire..you know or if one of the things just blows up or something," said Dominique Mayo.
"That's something that didn't cross my mind because usually they close down a place if it fails inspection," said Brittany Flynn.
Owner David Birindelli says setting this up goes way beyond haunting. And it's no treat.
"If they wanted to shut this down before I ever got started it would've been so easy," said David Birinelli, owner, The Frightmares.
That's because state law has strict rules for special amusement buildings. Owners have to get a building permit.
Go through an inspection to make sure the building is structurally sound, has a working sprinkler system, emergency lighting, and the required number of exits in case of an evacuation.
Birindelli says he worked closely with Henrico's Building Inspector and Fire Marshall.
"We walked through it. We had a check list of some things that we needed to tweak, change, modify," said Birindelli.
Birindelli says most of the hired workers are high school students, with no background checks required.
"No, because it's short term. It was based on my intuition of their personalities and their references. And most of the people have been referred by someone I know," said Birindelli.
And he says there's no threat to the public.
"You have to be at least three feet away from people. There's a lot of buffer zones that sometimes that just can't happen. We're not allowed to touch anyone. That's a strict rule here," said Birindelli.
Birindelli said the biggest challenge for them at Halloween attractions are frantic customers who get a little spooked and attack their employees. But most workers carry two-way radio to communicate when there's a problem.
