Articles

The Creation of Charlie “The Janitor” McFree

September 7th, 2009

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by Bud Stross

When we took over the Haunt and gave it the new name and brought the story of The Dent SchoolHouse to life we knew we had to have a character that would encompass the haunt where ever he went. Charlie McFree was the man in the story who killed all the kids so he was our man. I designed him so he would be the Mickey Mouse of horror for the Cincinnati Tri-state. Other haunts in the tri-state had stories and characters but no one brought one to life that could interact with the audience. That’s what makes Charlie so unique.

So, we knew he was an old creepy guy that killed kids but the biggest question was how do you create that in a character that can be good for media relations and photo ops but also scary when put in the que-line? I just decided Charlie would keep the creep factor and mannerisms when out but just had to tone it back when talking to the press.

After a couple years of having Charlie roam the halls of the schoolhouse scaring audiences I knew that we had created a monster. Last year I decided to bring Charlie outside to mingle with the crown waiting in line real quick and set the mood. Once the crowd saw the old killer slowing limping down the steps people were cheering, screaming, running to him, and running away from him all at once. Cameras came out and Charlie had an instant paparazzi! “Why did you do it Charlie?” “Is it true?” “Do you remember me from last year?” and “I am your MySpace friend… remember?” were just a few questions that Charlie got in the crowd (and still gets to this day).

He is a great icon and character because anyone can talk to him or get creeped out/scared from him. The character can be gentle and talk to the most scared guest… or scare the boo out of someone who just looked over their shoulder and saw his wrench pointing at them.

How did I come up with the character? I just thought of that creepy old guy that everyone has on their street… and added some spunk. He is also designed to entertain – that’s what it comes down to. He may have you laughing at him one moment… because a roach was trying to crawl back up his throat and he was coughing all over a customer, but then switches to a hunter and chases a group of screaming girls in a circle while waving a used cleaning brush in their face.

Charlie encompasses The Dent Schoolhouse and is a symbol of fear in Cincinnati!