Delaware's FRIGHTLAND

BYLINE: David Stewart

The most common question a resident of Delaware is faced with is "What State is that in?" Second only to Rhode Island in brevity of acreage, Delaware is not a region that springs to mind when one is contemplating visiting a Haunted Attraction. But that was beforebefore October of 1998 heralded the inaugural season of, Delaware's largest Halloween event. And haunting in the "Constitution State" may never be the same!

This story began with a chance meeting at the 1998 National Halloween, Costume and Party Show. George Long and Richard Pendiak of Idalia Farms in Delaware's Southern New Castle County, and Aven Warren and Phil Miller of Haunted Hollow in nearby Bridgeton, New Jersey, bumped into each other while walking the trade show floor of the Chicago convention. One thing lead to another and before long the Haunted Hollow crew had been hired to produce the Idalia Farms hayride for 1998.

An actual working farm, Idalia Farms is located only miles from the historic Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Along with partners, Robert Dudzieck and Nick Ferrerer, Long and Pendiak had been operating a daytime hayride and pumpkin patch at the farm for the past few years. The farm had attempted a small Halloween event in '97, but was disappointed with large cost overruns and less than spectacular attendance. It was felt that the successful Haunted Hollow crew had just the experience needed to turn the farm event around.

The Haunted Hollow was a fairly large and successful event, consisting of a 20 minute hayride and a 2,000 square foot Haunted Barn walk-through. The show was in its fourth year in 1997 and Warren and Miller had big plans for expansion 1998. Initially, Warren was hesitant to devote such an effort to an outside concern when they had a large amount of work to complete on their own attraction. The money from working on the Idalia Farm hayride would make the expansion, but pulling of two hayrides in one year while maintaining their attraction, and working their "day jobs" would be a daunting task.

After much soul searching and heavy negotiations, it was decided that Haunted Hollow and Idalia Farms would merge the two events into one, more formidable event. A partnership was formed, the Haunted Hollow equipment was moved to Idalia Farms, and Delaware's worst nightmare was born. They named it Frightland!

Open every weekend in October, Friday through Sunday, Frightland walked the tight rope between being an adult and a family event. Nighttime shows were adult all the way with a high scare factor, while Saturday and Sunday afternoons' non-threatening ride and pumpkin patch for the younger patrons. Frightland is Delaware's only multi-element Haunted Event, with three walk-through attractions and a hayride, not to mention an overwhelming choice of concessionaires, full size carnival with rides and games of chance that would rival any of the local county fairs.

While there is little doubt that Frightland is a 'for profit' business, the partnership felt a need to give back to the community. So a large portion of the events proceeds are donated to local charities. In 1998, Frightland donated a total of $30,000 to four local Volunteer Fire Companies and the Delaware Leukemia Society. With a few exceptions all of the 75 actors required to man the attractions are volunteers garnered from the local teenage population.

Despite or perhaps because of excellent planing on Warren's part, the lines at Frightland are often considerable. Even in the cold rains that plagued Delaware's early October, patrons flocked towards Frightland en masse. Warren ensures all visitors are continually entertained, even while waiting. The queue lines are entertained by a Disc Jockey, playing a large assortment of tunes, and local show bands were hired to play for the crowds. Roaming cast members wondered through the queues to interact and startle waiting visitors. Celebrities were brought in each weekend for publicity and to sign autographs. The most popular of which was Michael Berryman, made famous for the 1977 movie, The Hills Have Eyes. "We located the celebrity table about mid way through the hayride queue line," stated Warren, "People just love to talk to this guy, and it made the one hour wait seem shorter." A local radio interview with Berryman, which was slated for 30 minuets, lasted an hour and a half. Which was great publicity for the event, and the turnout to see Berryman, who has little name recognition, but great face recognition, was very surprising.

Several price plans were available, and ranged from the "Fright Pass" for $20.00 which allows access to all of the attraction's dark entertainment, to a $13.00 passes which allow visitors to either ride the haunted hayride, or visit two of the three walk-throughs that grace the event. Discount coupon were also available through area merchants.

A visitor never truly knows what to expect once they enter the grounds of Frightland. After purchasing tickets, most patrons are directed towards the haunted hayride, which loops through the northern end of the property. During the 20-25 minute ride, patrons are treated to an eclectic bounty of scenes ranging from a life-sized Tyrannosaurus Rex to a truly hilarious spoof of the classic shower scene from Psycho. Working with volunteer actors can be a problem due to the fact that you never know how many will show up. The hayride is designed to operate with 33 actors, but the show is expandable on nights that extra actors volunteer. The scale of the hayride scenes are on a grand scale, and the Frightland Crew use some impressive special effects to please the crowd. Including a full size jeep that rolled into the hay wagon and exploded, and a full size spitter head pop-up that would actually spit water on the patrons in the wagon. "They loved it. Early on we had the water turned up high," recalls Warren, "as it got cooler I had Phil <Miller> cut the amount of spray back. That same night I had people that had gone through the week before actually say they liked it better when they got soaked so I had Phil crank it back up." With safety as a main concern, Warren has even canceled the hayride when the October rains have rendered the course too muddy to safely operate the 25-30 person hay wagons.

After exiting the hayride, visitors are directed to the queues for one of the "haunted houses." Idalia Manor, the smallest of the three walk-throughs at 5,000 square feet, is the only heavily themed element of the venue. Based on the "Legend of Idalia Manor," the house and its denizens are the result of Dr. Idalia's metaphysical research into realms best left alone. Maddened by his unholy research, Dr. Idalia took an ax to his family and servants. Both the mad doctor and the spirits of his unfortunate victims reside deep in the Manor. Despite this gory history, Idalia Manor itself is relatively low gore. "Idalia Manor was designed with an adaptation of the Pickel Theory of Haunted Houses," Explains Warren, "The high-startle, low-gore attraction is based on a triangular grid system and low actor count, with a central character recurring throughout the show."

The Pickel Theory

High-startle and low-gore concept with 'scare forward' underpinnings, are the trademarks of a Haunted House design style developed by Haunted Attraction Magazine Editor, Leonard Pickel. It was developed in the mid 80's when Pickel was a volunteer chairman for the March of Dimes Haunted House, in Dallas Texas. "A no frills approach to haunting , The Pickel Theory uses as few actors and as little theatrics as needed to facilitate the Scare!" Using the "Field Theory," a tool used by Architects as an underlayment for wall locations, Pickel developed the "triangular grid system" for maximizing the space required for a maze like layout. This grid system, based on the 60-degree triangle, and has become very popular with haunt designers in the last few years, because of its strength and flexibility.

The host character of Dr. Idalia, is played by Steve Gomolski, a member of the original cast of the historic Brigantine Castle attraction. Brigantine was one of the pioneers of the Industry, a summer seasonal attraction which once sat perched on a pier on the nearby New Jersey Shore. As the greeter of Idalia Manor, Gomolski's exceptional acting ability is used to set up the reoccurring character style of the show, and patrons are treated to Dr. Idalia popping out everywhere such as medicine cabinets, a disturbed refrigerator, and even a secret door inside a book case.

The other two walk-throughs, Ripper's Barn and the Barn of Horror, are more traditional in their approach to fright, with little theme or storyline. The largest of the "Haunted Houses," the Barn of Horror, is a disorienting trip through Warren and Miller's dark minds and is twice the size of Idalia Manor. The host character and greeter for the attraction is "The Butler." Patrons navigating through this disturbing experience of strobes and fog encounter actors, which fade in and out of view. Along the way, scenes involving live rats, a toxic flying crank ghost, (adapted from Doug Ferguson's video), and an excellent use of "Singing Christmas Tree" technology are used. (See article by Jim Kadel, (Haunted Attraction Magazine Issue #11/12 ) the Frightland crew built a robot-looking-insane-truck-driving animatronic. Who just drove his semi through a wall, insulting patrons as they pass with quips like, "If you don't like the way I drive, then get off the sidewalk!"

Ripper's Barn, delivers its frights with an eclectic menagerie of scenes. As with the other attractions on site, the approach is high-startle and low-gore, but the greeter and host character for this attraction is the "Bloody Bride." Actors in this quick paced amusement pop out unexpectedly around corners in quick succession. Expect the unexpected in this walk-through, where the scenery is sometimes secondary to the scares, and beware of 10-foot tall clowns looming in the darkened hallways of this barn of fright.

Each of the individual attractions includes some real treats for those patrons who enjoy the detailed haunt, however, some scenes in the 150 year old barn buildings were so creepy in their natural state, that Warren decided to leave well enough alone. All of the walk-through tours are unguided and the group sizes are kept to an intimate four to eight patrons. While this does decrease the throughput that a 'cattle call' approach might fix, smaller groups increases the effectiveness of the shows and allows for a much more enjoyable haunt experience.

With one season under their belts, the Frightland creative crew has even bigger plans for 1999. Each of the three Houses will be expanded by 25%, utilizing some available second floor space, and using ramps and stairs to add to the patron disorientation. A "Black Hole" type illusion is already under construction for this October's run, as are ideas for a children's "Not Scary At All" walk through to be housed in a trailer. The most ambitious plans for Frightland will be an attempt to tap into other Holidays for additional revenue. The first of which will be Easter!

According to Warren, "The plan for whatever holiday is to provide visitors with the best entertainment value for their dollar." A task that Warren, Long and crew met admirably with Halloween '98. The Delaware New Journal picked Frightland as the "Delaware's Hottest Haunt "and The Brandywine News said " Frightland is something you have to do!" This attention to the desires of the patrons, and the Frightland crew's obvious love for what they are doing, is likely to insure the longevity and popularity of Frightland for years to come, cementing the state of Delaware firmly on the Haunted Attraction map!

David Stewart is a career Paramedic/Firefighter in Harford County Maryland. A great fan of Halloween, he lives in Newark, Delaware with his wife Becky and new baby Liam. He can be reached at David251@aol.com

FAST FACTS:

1998 AttendanceOver 20,000

Hayride 1.5 mile trail

33 actors in

8 Wagons

13 Haunts based on current & classic horror movies

Idalia Manor ..3200 Square Feet

8-10 actors

12 rooms plus winding hallways and secret passages

Barn of Horror 10,000 Square Feet

20 actors

2 Rooms plus hallways with an attached swamp and cemetery

Rippers Barn ...2100 Square Feet

12 actors

14 Rooms

General

4 Roaming Characters

3 Host Characters