Haunt Review: THE SCAREHOUSE

It all started yesterday, on the way in to visit my mom at for the weekend in Pittsburgh, PA. My dad and I left early, but he didn't say why...when I saw my mom, she told me why - we had gotten VIP tickets to Pittsburgh's biggest and baddest haunted attraction - THE SCAREHOUSE!!!!!!!!

After washing down my excitement with a bottle of blue Mountain Dew (drink of the gods), We drove to Etna, PA, home of Scarehouse. The building was something to be seen: a tall, Greco-Roman style building lit with purple and green lights. We wound our way around the block to the back of the building to the entrance, were entertained by the crazy actor dressed as Steampunk transvestite (a very fun concept for a haunt actor) and got to the front of the line (a perk of getting VIP tickets), and after watching old '70's horror and exploitation movie trailers playing for the queue line, we entered the Mouth of Hell!

The first haunt was more of a creepy, subtler haunt, with no consistent theme called "The Forsaken" (my favorite haunt of the evening); each scene was different there was a dark carnival, a ruined church, a swamp, backwoods butcher shop, and a haunted mansion.

Next up was the wacky "Delirium 3D". For those who don't know, a 3D haunt is where they put blacklight paint of the wall, and you wear special glasses to the paint look like it's coming off the walls. Unlike your typical 3D haunt, which is clown themed, "Delirium" had a insane nightclub theme, with some of the best SFX I saw all night.

Finally, there was the gory, Steampunk-themed "RAMPAGE"! We found ourselves plunged head first into a futuristic totalitarian society during a rebellion. The rebel soldiers kept trying to recruit us to join the fight against the "DieRector" and the gun-totting, gas mask-wearing "Daphne". The final scene of RAMPAGE (and the whole attraction) was pure insanity. There were machine guns, chainsaws, robots, cannons, mutants, and lots of strobe lights! Finally, we were spat out back onto the street and into relative saftey. We picked up some souvenirs, and headed home.

Now, I have to say something - I LOVE SCAREHOUSE!!!!!! This place rocks, and generally kicks ass. If your are in the Western PA area in October, you've GOT to check out Scarehouse! As for souvenirs, I got a killer rabbit t-shirt, and the official soundtrack (yes, the haunt actually write their own music!) and it has some cool industrial/dance tunes that I'm gonna use for my party. Overall, great haunt, great actors, and very nice staff. Kudos to you, ScareHouse!

Oh, and those pictures above are cell phone pics of me and my mom with killer rabbit and the Steampunk transvestite.

Scarehouse Official site

Step Right Up (or, A Really Long Post)

Like I said in an earlier post, I've modified the exact theme of Troupe Macabre ever so slightly. The original theme was simply "carnival"; I thought it would be more interesting to focus on a part of carnivals that isn't really done in haunts: Sideshow! Granted, I'm on a budget, so I can't very well hire a bunch of performers to wonder around doing their stunts, like sword swallowing, the Human Blockhead, fire-eating, and all other forms of extreme entertainment (it's neat idea, though). So what I'll be doing instead is turning my sidewalk into a midway, and my front porch into a circus freak museum. Instead showcasing "freaks" which would have people more ticked off than scarred, MY museum would display creepy "artifacts" like shrunken heads, the Fiji Mermaid, the Mummy, and much more! Now for the real meat of my post today: the biggest influence over my haunt this year, the Carnival Diablo Circus Sideshow!!!
This sideshow has a long and interesting history. It's run out of Toronto Canada, by owner Scott McCelland, AKA "Nikolia Diablo" who performs as head freak and Ringmonster of the show. It originally opened as a tourist attraction in Calgary, but became so popular it took to the road. Scott apparently got his inspiration from his grandfather, who owned Canada's largest traveling carnival, which ran from 1920 through 1968. This sideshow is different from the usual fare because it takes a theatrical approach to sideshow, instead the more common "Hey-look-what-I-can-do" approach. Also, it doesn't hurt that the whole show is done in the style of old fashioned horror movies. To give you an idea of the show, There's a video of the show below, but be warned: the video contains "Graphic and Unusual Performances" and keep in mind, NO SPECIAL EFFECTS HERE! It's all real. So please, don't little any little kids be watching this. It's, well, freaky:



Now for some more lighthearted fare: Scott also owns a traveling museum, called the Carnival Diablo World of Wonders. Here's a video of Scott, in character as "Nikolai" performing as the barker. Don't worry - this one is kid-friendly:



Both barker's spiels in the videos have given me inspiration, as I'll be playing the barker at my haunt. Well, gotta run. For those interested, here's the Carnival Diablo website:

CarnivalDiablo.com

WARNING: Long Post!

Well, I've got some good news, some and bad news, and a haunt review! First the bad news: I won't be going to the Great Lakes FrightFest this year. Suffice to say, things just didn't work out. This is a pretty big bummer for me, as I was really hoping to go see the entire event this year. Oh well.

Good news (though some might consider this bad news): Remember how I said that for 2010 I was going to do a atmosphere-based haunt, themed to the "creepy house on the corner"? Well, to help me focus my energy and what little money I have on the 13th Street Morgue walk-thru for 2011, my step-dad Ben volunteered to take the reigns of the haunt in Pennsylvania for 2010. I consider this good news because it takes some weight of my shoulders. I guess I'll to put the "creepy house" theme in the recesses of me fiendish noggin for another time.

Haunt review: The Radley Haunted House (pictures above). I recently discovered this ultra-creepy haunt via another haunter's channel on YouTube. This is an INCREDIBLE home haunt, the likes of which I've never seen before. This sets look REAL, the soundscape gives you the chills, and the atmosphere is dead on! I've done some digging and found some stuff out about this haunt; It's in St. Petersburg Florida, and was orginally themed as a tribute to Disney's haunted mansion, but the year after became the haunt it is today. I highly recamend you check out this guy's Youtube channel - you won't be disappointed.

MstGracey's Channel

Well, that's all I've got! But to work, you freaks! ;)

Carnival Haunt & Prop favorites

Well, I'm all geared up to do a Gothic Carnival this year, and so I've been searching the forums, Google, YouTube, and other sources fir inspiration for the carnival. I decided to share one of my favorite carnival haunts, and one of my favorite carnival props.

#1: the Pivnik Haunt 2009:
OK, so this is another haunt that isn't the world's greatest. But I like how they avoided cliched "evil clowns" for the most part. They used some cool effects to provide a Carnival-type atmosphere, instead of doing a stupid "Funhouse of Fear" theme, where they just painted striped walls and had guys in clown masks jumping around corners. They set design isn't the best, nor is it ultra-scary, but it looks fun and very much what I hope to achieve. Here's a link:

the Pivnik Haunt 2009 YouTube


#2: Oszlar the Magnificent prop:
this is an awesome high-tech prop, and cool variation on your average "Fortune Teller" I found this just after joining the GOE Network, and I love it! It's given me a real kick in the @$$ to improve my witch and turn her into a skull-faced Fortune Teller, like in the movie Big. Definitely check this out:

Oszlar the Magnificent on GOE Network


Well, I hope this is inspiring to readers who hope to do a carnival theme one day. As for me, it's back to work!