Pro Haunting We Will Go!

Hey Frightners!

Well if you haven't heard the news just yet next year I will be teaming up with GhoulishCop and Dr. Death  along with my friend and design genius Johnny Cross to create an all new professional haunted attraction in Secacus NJ, name to be determined.

This will be my second go run at running and producing a professional haunt and the rest of my teams first time doing so and it is very exciting. Probably more so this time around then my first mainly because of the passion each of us bring to the table for this venture which is very infectious...(in a good none zombie virus kind of a way!)

First let me explain how this came to be...

A short time after Halloween my sister in law who works as a teacher in Secaucus High School told me about how their Junior class does a haunted high school fundraiser each year to raise funds for project graduation and prom however, next year the people who normally help produce the haunt will no longer be available to help leaving the Junior class in a bind. The principle of the school wanted to continue the haunted high but with no one with haunt experience on board it seemed to be a great uncertainty if that would be at all possible but it was then that my sister in law asked me if I would be interested.

Naturally I had the instant sparkle in my eye but knowing how much time and energy would be needed to put on a quality show the likes of that they had never seen I wanted to be able to bring a team together with the know how and talent to help make this a success so I put the word out to a few local haunt buddies of mine and formed the team above and now have begun the task of developing an all new haunt for Secacus High!

A little about our team...

I'll start with GhoulishCop. I met Rich when I first attended the NJ/PA/NY Make and Take group a little over a year ago. Rich and I instantly clicked. He shared the same crazy sense of humor as I did and the insane passion for haunting. Like me he can't get enough of watching the endless haunt videos and prop tutorials on Youtube, loves working with paper mache and is a Haunt Vlogger and Blogger much like myself. We have attend a few haunt conventions together and are now working on both of our first 3 Axis skulls. I guess you can say their is a budding Bro-mance there haha! I am happy to have him on board. His skills in mache not to mention fearlessness in trying to build anything will be a great help.

Next up is Dr. Death! I was first introduced to Dave by his fiance Nichole whom I went to high school with. Both Dave & Nichole attended Grimlock Manor when we first opened up and just this past year they reached out to me after learning how close by we lived to one another. I began to learn more about Dave and his insane skill at building animitronic props and prop controllers through his website Pandemic Haunt Production and shortly after that Dr. Death began his very own Vlogs on Youtube where he began to talk more about his haunt and all his creepy creations! Dave's ability to build almost any animated prop will surely lend it's hand to I am sure some pretty intense scares!

Finally, Johnny Cross. Johnny has been a long time friend and past co-worker of mine in the design field. We have worked on many projects before and his design skills and knowledge run deep. Pair that with an insane love for haunted houses and horror and I am sure our marketing material will be both eye catching and fear inducing. With marketing being a key to any successful haunted house I feel confident to have Johnny on board as a key member to our haunt team.

Our first meeting was yesterday and there was plenty to be discussed. We had a few pictures of the space to look over and discuss how to best utilize and their were plenty of ideas put on the table. One of the biggest notions we want to squash is that a high school haunt cannot compare to many of the pro haunts out there. When people normally think of a haunted high school they think of black plastic walls, a million strobe lights and a few cheesy scares. They also think that the only theme will revolve around a haunted high school and teachers yelling at you to get to detention or principles telling you that your expelled but we want to dissolve that way of thinking and provide an experience that no one will expect. Yes this is a haunt taking place at a high school but the environment we will put you into will be anything but a school surrounding with ghoulish teachers yelling at you. We want to create a nightmare that you won't soon forget!

The months to follow will all be exciting as we continue to develop our haunt, create an identity and work towards our opening night in mid October. Be sure to keep an eye out for more posts about our pro haunt developments and for other perspectives on it be sure to check out both Dr. Deaths Youtube Vlogs and GhoulishCops who will both be posting on the subject.

We should be revealing the name of our haunt in time for the HAuNTcon Tradshow this year which we will all be attending so that is the first big date that we all look forward too!

Until then...

Stay Frightful!