“It’s a mad-scientist-gone-wild kind of room,” said Nate Barnum, one of the dozens of volunteers working on Frightfest, which opens Friday.
Barnum was painting the mad scientist room Tuesday morning. He called himself a “Halloween geek” and said he’s previously worked in Phoenix on Alice Cooper’s Nightmare – “The best haunted house in the world,” he said.
Barnum is also the grandson of legendary entertainment promoter P.T. Barnum, and it may be that showmanship has been passed along the bloodline.
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Frightfest 2011 at Santa Fe Place Mall When: Friday 4 p.m.-Midnight Saturday Noon-Midnight Sunday Noon-6 p.m. Monday (Halloween) 4-10 p.m. Cost: $6 ($3 for Kiddie Haunted House) Thursday 7:30-11 p.m. Friday 7:30-11 p.m. Saturday 3-11 p.m. Sunday 3-11 p.m. Monday (Halloween) 6-11 p.m. Cost: $7 |
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As he led a brief tour of the gutted future Frightfest, Barnum (whose many tattoos include a spider on his throat) entered what will by Friday be known as the Zombie Room.
“The eyes will focus here,” he said, motioning toward the wall across from the doorway to the Zombie Room, “so the best scare area is here.” Then he backed into a corner beside the entrance. Anyone who steps through the threshold, in other words, is going to be so focused on the zombie they can see that the zombie behind them will come as a shock.
All the items at Frightfest are donated from the Santa Fe Opera and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees 480, a union of professional movie workers based in Albuquerque. The stage employees union is helping with setup, and some of its members will spend hours applying makeup to actors during each day of Frightfest.
Between 15 and 20 volunteers will fill the space as actors for each shift of Frightfest. Though they aren’t allowed to touch anyone, they’re under orders to be as scary as possible.
“Once you’re in character, you’ve got to stay in character and keep going – unless someone’s having a heart attack and it’s a medical emergency,” Barnum said.
On the other side of town, in the Coronado Center next to Furr’s Family Dining on Cordova Road, Henry Urioste took a break Tuesday morning from setting up another haunted house: The Portal of Fear, sponsored by Vietnam Veterans Santa Fe Chapter 996.
“This is going to be the scariest haunted house,” Urioste said.
One thing he has on his side, that Frightfest so far lacks, is vampire zombie babies whose red eyes light up while their heads spin 360 degrees. Portal of Fear sports big, gothic monstrosities on its walls, which were donated from the set of the remake of “Fright Night,” filmed in Albuquerque and released this year (the film is about a teenager violently feuding with a charming vampire who moves in next door).
Those creepy walls are decorated with holographic portraits that change from typical (smiling woman) to terrifying (bloody skull face) as you pass by.
Portal of Fear will have its own zombie room, also populated by volunteer actors.
“When they get scared,” Urioste said, standing in the zombie room, “they’re going to have to run through here.” He pointed toward a hallway where bloody mummies dangle from the ceiling. Come show time, he said, those mummies with be swinging.
Portal of Fear also takes guests into a room where one man is frying in an electric chair while another is being embalmed.
Back at Santa Fe Place, Frightfest will feature a separate section for children. “Casper the Friendly Ghost-type stuff,” Ruybal said.
Asked whether his haunted house may be too scary for children, Urioste said “Sometimes it’s scarier for the moms.”
The two Santa Fe haunted houses used to be one larger effort, but sides split last year. Proceeds from both events go to charity. Frightfest benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters; Portal of Fear benefits the For Kid’s Sake Project, St. Elizabeth’s homeless shelter, Casa Familia and the Agua Fria Teen Shelter.
Reprint story -- Email the reporter at pparker@abqjournal.com.
