Into the night: Halloween means haunted houses, where liabilities that lurk in dark corners have many operators running for cover.

In 1994, a woman from Harvey, La., broke her nose at a haunted house sponsored by a local athletic boosters club. She said the injury was caused by running into a wall after a man jumped out in a dark corridor and frightened her.

Just as ghosts, goblins and witches shriek and shrill at nearly every corner inside a haunted house, so do potential liabilities. Operators of haunted attractions aren't taking any chances.

Liability coverage is their biggest concern, particularly to protect against slips and falls and other injuries that patrons may suffer.And as the number of haunted houses across the United States increases, demand for coverage to protect them also is on the rise, said Dave Goodman, vice president of InPro Insurance Group Inc.The Detroit-based company has written liability coverage for haunted houses for the past seven years.

Some of the liabilities that lurk inside haunted houses include the general public walking in dark/strob lit enclosed spaces, younger costumed individuals--sometimes volunteers--working in the attractions primarily responsible for lurching at patrons, and often quickly constructed facilities, said Sean Curtin, senior vice president of HCC Specialty Insurance's events division. Potential liabilities caused the company, a subsidiary of HCC Insurance Holdings Inc., to forgo writing liability coverage for haunted attractions, Curtin said, and concentrate instead on issuing weather insurance protecting such events against reduced revenue because of diminished attendance.

Many haunted houses seek special-event, short-term liability coverage for their temporary attractions held during the peak of the Halloween season. "Haunts often rent space from venues, which require them to obtain liability insurance and name them as additional insureds so they are not on the hook if" someone is injured," said Patricia Sleicher, president of Global Weather Insurance Agency Inc. and vice president of Gold Coast Specialty Insurance Agency Inc. of Great Neck, N.Y. Gold Coast writes more than 100 liability policies, and Global Weather writes about 50 weather insurance policies annually for haunted houses.

A growing number of permanent structures and professional haunters, however, are creeping into the industry, said Ken Donat of Insurance Correlators Inc. and the International Association of Haunted Attractions. "We cover them for general liability/spectator liability for the 17 to 20 days a year they're open, and then also cover their building and props housed inside for the remainder of the year in case of a fire or other unfortunate circumstance," he said. One high-profile incidence of fire loss was the 2002 fire of Wildwood, N.J.'s notorious Castle Dracula.

While liability coverage is required for all haunted house operators, some also purchase accident medical policies to protect against injuries to volunteers who often assist in the operation of the events.

Weather protection is another option. While many haunted attraction operators seek quotes, only a few actually purchase policies, said Goodman. With weather insurance, he said, insureds buy a dollar amount of coverage and bet against a certain amount of rain during specific hours. Policies can be tailored to a specific event's needs. "For instance, if an outdoor event is open in the evening, an insured might wish to seek coverage between the hours of 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. when most people are deciding whether or not to attend the event. If, for example, more than 1/8-inch of rain falls during those hours, then the insured would be paid a certain amount of coverage." In addition to rain, many policies cover other weather perils such as blizzards and extremely cold temperatures.

Few claims have stemmed from haunted houses over the years. In the past three years, InPro Insurance received only one claim for a minor injury in which a prop knocked a patron's tooth loose. Insurance Correlators Inc., which offers $2 million in coverage for haunted houses, hasn't received any claims during its five years of insuring the events.