Festivals of Fright-A Documentary on Haunts
in California
Katherine Woodward
Ranging in size from a small, backyard haunt in a big city,
to a 5,000 square foot haunt in a small town, Festivals of Fright gives the viewer a behind-the-scenes look at a
variety of haunted attractions in the state of California.
As the last scene from the documentary leaves the screen, my
mind anticipates a long list of credits to take over. But what I expect and
what I see are two different things. Aside from a long list of ‘thank you’s,’
credit is due only to San Jose natives Jason
Brickman and Jimmy Ersted of Initial Spark Productions. It was the
two of them who came up with the idea, did the work, and made it happen.
Not
the Average Road-trip
When the subject of haunts came up in a conversation, Jason
and Jimmy came up with the idea to drive around California and experience
different October attractions. The goal of the trip was to have fun, but the
more they thought about it, the more appealing a second goal became. That goal
was to shoot a documentary of their travels. So with some video equipment, an
old minivan, and enough money for gas, they started on a trip that would take
them to five different cities and their respective Haunted Attractions. Both of
them being artists, Jason and Jimmy each had experience in the fields of audio
and video. They even worked on the same television show crew for a few months.
Jason specializes in photography, editing, and graphic design while Jimmy’s
expertise lies in audio and writing.
The
Family Business
The first stop they made was in Fremont where they visited Pirates of Emerson (See HA Magazine
issue #21). In their eighth year of operation, Pirates is continuing to grow
and its number of patrons is increasing with each year. In fact, there was such
a demand for a bigger and better haunt in 1999 that Pirates had to set up a
tented haunt in lieu of their traditional backyard production. Although it is
one of many tented haunts, Pirates of Emerson is especially unique. The owners
are a husband and wife team. Karl and Patty Fields created their attraction
with the help of family and friends. The goal was to create a haunt geared
toward an older crowd and, judging by the long lines, they have succeeded.
Patty believes that there are plenty of haunts around for children’s enjoyment,
but it is difficult to find one suitable for adults. In addition to striving
for sophisticated entertainment, the Field’s also wanted to foster a single
theme throughout the entire haunt. In case you haven not guessed it by now, the
theme of choice is pirates.
The Pirate experience starts out in small groups. Each group
is greeted by a pirate guide who gives instructions on how to proceed. Once on
its own, the group becomes victim to a variety of scare tactics that include
live actors, animatronics, and some advanced computer controlled effects. All
sets are put together by a group of dedicated family members and friends, and
all actors are volunteers.
But being active and involved is nothing new to Karl and
Patty. As parents, they have always been involved in their children’s lives as
den mothers and sports team coaches. According to Patty, “This is just one more
phase of our lives.” But this phase does not seem to be going away. Regardless
of their family’s already busy schedules, Karl says that they want to “make
this their livelihood.”
Quite
the Scare
When Celeste Sagadin
began volunteering her time to work on the Rhonert
Park Haunted House, she had no idea that she was destined to run the
operation just a few years later. As it turns out, the haunt business is right
up her alley! As fellow haunt operator Matt
Riley would put it, “Celeste and I both love to scare people.”
Although scaring people is important to them, helping people
is also a top priority. Proceeds from this special haunt go to a non-profit
organization called We Tip. This
organization allows anyone to call and report a crime in an anonymous setting.
Each night the actors generously volunteer their time for what they believe to
be a good cause. Many are high school students and get credit for each hour
donated to the attraction.
Although many of the effects throughout the haunt are quite
impressive, you will not find animatronics anywhere in the attraction.
Festivals of Fright gives an insider’s look at how Rhonert Park achieves such
success using good actors, a great make-up artist, and effective props.
10
Years of Success
Upon seeing it for the first time, Spooky House appears to
be an actual house, in place for decades, but each year when the haunt ends,
the house comes down and is stored until next year. The outside could be called
a façade, but the inside is another world. It is like stepping into a new realm
where there are no actors, just ghosts and goblins. This haunt sets itself
apart from other haunts of its kind in many ways. They achieve uniqueness
through their special attention to detail, and are notorious for their
excellence in costuming and make-up. As you watch the documentary, you can see
first-hand where this notoriety comes from by witnessing behind-the-scenes
footage and interviews with those responsible for the artistic effects.
One more aspect of this haunt that makes it so popular, is
their ‘non-haunt’ entertainment. Instead of just having a parking lot, ticket
booth, and entrance line, Spooky House has outside entertainment that is sure
to keep patrons coming back for more. “During the day, the crew was busy
setting up and checking the safety measures while the volunteers were getting
ready with costumes and make-up. Basically the whole place was really busy
getting ready for opening time,” says Jason. “But once night fell, the
atmosphere outside the haunt became more festive. People started to gather
around various booths that included one where make-up artists were painting
people’s faces, one that sold corn on the cob, and a radio station that was
playing music. There was even a huge spotlight to attract more patrons.” These
are not, however, Spooky House’s only claims to fame. The attraction is
enhanced by an assortment of innovative scares and an over-all friendly
atmosphere.
Big Business
“Hobb’s Grove
was huge. Everything about it was huge. Did I mention it was huge?” This is the
response I got when talking to Jason about this multi-element event. Unlike
most Haunted Attractions in the documentary, this one has three haunts in the
same location. “From a filming perspective,” explains Jason, “there was a lot
more ground to cover in the same amount of time as the others.”
The first haunt option is the Haunted House. Here viewers get a first-hand look at the two-story,
5,000 square foot house complete with multiple themes and a spinning 3-D
painted tunnel. To give an idea of just how popular this attraction is, one
employee mentioned that they had gone through 10,000 3-D glasses in one night
and were frantically searching for more. The next haunt option is the Haunted Hayride. Here, twenty patrons
are loaded onto a flatbed cart pulled by a tractor and towed into a dark void.
Once on their way, the visitors experience encounters such as a giant spider
that spits its web (silly-string style) at them. The final option is the Haunted Forest where patrons follow a
trail through a brush-laden area and come across several different scares. A
few of these include a cave, a tree house, and a suspended bridge complete with
its cloaked, disgruntled keeper.
Due to such large numbers of patrons, this haunt takes extra
measures to ensure a safe and fun haunted experience. It is the only haunt on
the documentary to employ plain-clothed, armed security. Also, since the wait
time often exceeds one or two hours, a few musicians with guitars are there to
serenade patient customers who also have the opportunity to gather around
ongoing bonfires. To add to the visitors’ comfort, Hobb’s Grove has a
full-service concession stand, an espresso bar, and a gift shop. Owners Mike and Lore Callahan have definitely created a huge success in a little
town.
The
Best Things in Life Are Free
It is hard to
find free stuff these days, unless it is October and you are visiting D&J’s Haunted House. There,
visitors can get scared for about fifteen minutes absolutely FREE! I should
probably mention that operating a Hunted Attraction is extremely costly, even
for a home-based show like D&J’s, who make almost all of their own props.
So why on earth would owners Don Edwards
and Jason Bunnell let visitors
in for free? According to Don, they do
it for the children. With all of the negative press about “Trick or Treating,”
they dedicated themselves to creating a safe place for kids to celebrate
Halloween. Not only do visitors get free admission, there is always a free
piece of candy to go with it.
The haunt itself is quite involved for an amateur
production. Don and Jason use tactics ranging from electronic voice effects to
pyrotechnics, which is always a huge crowd pleaser. In addition to their
impressive technical effects, the personal interaction between the actors and
patrons is also a big hit, and keeps visitors coming in by the busload. Each
year, the public transportation bus for that street makes an extra courtesy
stop for the patrons of D&J’s. Some of the advice Don offers to potential
haunt operators is that you really have to be passionate about the occasion to
take on such a task. Anyone can tell how much the season means to Don and
Jason. When referring to Halloween, Don ads, “My daughter says it’s Daddy’s
Christmas.”
A
Job Well Done
The project was not just about filming each of the haunts. A
lot of the documentary production took place even before the trip. Research was
done to choose a select group of haunts. The Internet proved to be an essential
tool in planning for the project. “All our initial research was based on the
Internet,” says Jason. “We were able to preview haunts and get an idea of what
each haunt was about. The websites we saw played a major role in deciding which
haunts to contact for the project.”
Faced with the challenge
of recording images in very low light, Jason and Jimmy did a remarkable job in
filming this documentary. From a viewer’s perspective, they overcame this
technical obstacle with the greatest of ease. Even more remarkable was their
desire to get an accurate portrayal of the haunt experience. Striving to be as
transparent as possible they wanted to capture the essence of each Haunted
Attraction. They also attribute their non-obtrusive nature to their respect for
the customers. “They paid to get the ultimate haunted experience and we didn’t
want our presence to ruin it,” says Jason. “Our work with the haunt industry is
not over yet. We plan on shooting a new documentary this Halloween season.”
Katherine Woodward is an independent writer and is
currently a student at Santa Clara University. For more information regarding
Festivals of Fright, contact Jason
Brickman and Jimmy Ersted of Initial Spark Productions at fright@initialspark.com or visit their web
site at www.initialspark.com
