Gingersnap
10-06-2010, 10:07 PM
Behind the Screams: The Weird World of Haunted House Operators
Updated: 5 hours 15 minutes ago
Tony Deconinck Contributor
AOL News
(Oct. 6) -- They plan this all year, you know. They stay up at night, staring at the ceiling, dreaming up new and more diabolical ways to give you nightmares.
What they crave is this time of year -- when the darkness comes sooner and the chill of night creeps into your bones -- because that's when they finally get to unleash their horrors upon you.
Their reward is your terrified scream.
Their faces and names are relatively unknown; most people only know the darkened, terrifying worlds they have created with names like Erebus, Netherworld, The Beast, and The ScareHouse.
They are members of America Haunts, a brotherhood of 18 of the most elite haunted houses in the nation.
Though they are billed as some the scariest people in the country, most members of America Haunts don't consider themselves particularly odd.
"I think that's hilarious; people are so disappointed when they meet me and my wife," said Scott Simmons of The ScareHouse in Pittsburgh. "They're expecting Marilyn Manson and the get this dorky suburbanite, instead."
Still, many admit that being in the business for as long as they have has left them a little twisted -- not surprising considering they're constantly trying to find new and novel ways to freak people out.
"We've been thinking about it for 30 years," said Ed Terebus, who runs the famed Erebus haunted house in Pontiac, Mich. "How can you not be a scary person if you live, eat, sleep and drink haunted houses?"
All of them arrived in their current profession from different starting points. Thirty years ago, Amber Arnett-Bequeaith's mother and grandmother performed plays for tourists at an outdoor theater on their family property. Today, everybody who wants to be a performer at the The Beast and Edge of Hell -- two horrifying destinations operated by Arnett-Bequeaith -- has to audition for their part.
"They have to show grit, determination, and stamina," said Arnett-Bequeaith, a quiet mother of four. "I tell them that the screams are their applause."
Read more - if you dare!
AOL News (http://www.aolnews.com/article/behind-the-screams-the-weird-world-of-haunted-house-operators/19657747)
Updated: 5 hours 15 minutes ago
Tony Deconinck Contributor
AOL News
(Oct. 6) -- They plan this all year, you know. They stay up at night, staring at the ceiling, dreaming up new and more diabolical ways to give you nightmares.
What they crave is this time of year -- when the darkness comes sooner and the chill of night creeps into your bones -- because that's when they finally get to unleash their horrors upon you.
Their reward is your terrified scream.
Their faces and names are relatively unknown; most people only know the darkened, terrifying worlds they have created with names like Erebus, Netherworld, The Beast, and The ScareHouse.
They are members of America Haunts, a brotherhood of 18 of the most elite haunted houses in the nation.
Though they are billed as some the scariest people in the country, most members of America Haunts don't consider themselves particularly odd.
"I think that's hilarious; people are so disappointed when they meet me and my wife," said Scott Simmons of The ScareHouse in Pittsburgh. "They're expecting Marilyn Manson and the get this dorky suburbanite, instead."
Still, many admit that being in the business for as long as they have has left them a little twisted -- not surprising considering they're constantly trying to find new and novel ways to freak people out.
"We've been thinking about it for 30 years," said Ed Terebus, who runs the famed Erebus haunted house in Pontiac, Mich. "How can you not be a scary person if you live, eat, sleep and drink haunted houses?"
All of them arrived in their current profession from different starting points. Thirty years ago, Amber Arnett-Bequeaith's mother and grandmother performed plays for tourists at an outdoor theater on their family property. Today, everybody who wants to be a performer at the The Beast and Edge of Hell -- two horrifying destinations operated by Arnett-Bequeaith -- has to audition for their part.
"They have to show grit, determination, and stamina," said Arnett-Bequeaith, a quiet mother of four. "I tell them that the screams are their applause."
Read more - if you dare!
AOL News (http://www.aolnews.com/article/behind-the-screams-the-weird-world-of-haunted-house-operators/19657747)