Frightworld Pre-Season

Ok, thought I'd make a post about my current major time-consumer, Frightworld. Frightworld is a large haunted house in Amherst, NY that is voted to be one of the best in the country (we actually rank number 7 in the country). Basically, Frightworld (owned by Eerie Productions) takes up a large warehouse (used to be a Bon-Ton) which contains 5 houses. Wicked Woods, the haunted campground, Return of the Mummie's Curse, which is made up of cursed ruins, Carnevil, the killer clown house, House of the Dead, which is a mansion containing a butcher and his victims, and Phobiaz, which is a house dedicated to the fears of people.

After working for Frightworld for one season, I was dually promoted. I will be managing Return of the Mummy's Curse this season, but I am also lead designer for many of the new additions being added to the building. I've spent about a month working on new add-ons, many of which I can not really share yet. This friday (September 18) Frightworld opens, and I will share all of my secrets. Until then, here's something that I'm proud of.

Part of my job as a designer is also a detailer. This means that I focus on little things within houses or other public areas to make them more realistic and just a tad bit scarier. One of my major tasks this year was to detail a large animatronic beast called The Slayer, which was originally designed by Scare Factory. We keep him on the roof right above the entrance to be a terrifying welcome to visitors. The weather has taken its toll on The Slayer, so I had to fix him up. Here's some pictures of my work.

Specifically, my task was to paint the slayer along with repair touch-ups. I did it with airbrushing, and it worked out decently. I put more focus on his bone structure to give him more of an emaciated appearance.

Here's a video of us moving him in the building. He has to be moved with an industrial fork lift because of his weight. He's about 8 feet tall, and has a solid steel frame. He's animated by neumatics in which he takes different positions, moves his head around, and moves his arms.