September 2007 Archives

A while back we asked Pete from Niles Haunted House located in Cassopolis, MI, for an interview.

First we must apologize to Pete for being so tardy.

Now without further delay, here is our interview with Pete:

Why did you first become interested in the Haunted House/Horror Business?

When I was about 12 years old, I grew up in southern New Jersey just across the river from Philadelphia. Every Saturday night I watched a show called "Dr. Shock." This show featured classic horror movies and was hosted by a nut case known as Dr. Shock. Ever since that time I have been hooked on Halloween.

What previous jobs have you had?

Every since I graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1980 I always have been a lawyer. That continues to be my "day job."

What job do you do right now? Is the Haunted House/Horror Job your full time gig?

Although I do my best to operate my law office on a year-round basis, the haunted house business consumes at least one-half of my time. I have given myself the title of "Park Manager" and am responsible for all business aspects of the operation of the Niles Haunted House Scream Park.

There's a new DVD hitting the shelves today. It is released by Dimension/Extreme and it is called BROKEN

When you see the cover art you begin to wonder how gory it's going to be:

Now, I'm not a big fan of gory movies. So of course when I saw the box I went "Oh great, what did I get myself into." But then I sat down and watched the movie.

The first thing that struck me was when the movie said "based on a true story." My mind flashed back to the box art.

I must confess that I started watching Ghost Whisperer because of its paranormal aspect. I've been a "watcher" of James van Praagh and what he does interests me. And with Jennifer Love Hewitt as the lead role, what white blooded male couldn't watch it? :)

And while the first season was good, I thought to myself "if this is all it's going to be then I don't see it going much past the second season." Thankfully, the shows producers made some changes for the better in my opinion.

Yet another missed post....

Sunday morning, the group met at the local park for a dimmer box Make-and-Take where everyone who wished to could construct a dimmer box. After the boxes were done and tested, we adjourned to Applebee's and had a nice lunch before going to a local thrift/antique/furniture shop where we scouted out bargains for new prop-building supplies like old dresses, milk cans, Dougie's, and the occasional cauldron. Saying goodbye is always the harderst part, but we know we'll see our friends again at next year's Kreepfest, if not before.

Another missed post - again with apologies here it is:

Saturday's Kreepfest, held in Harrisonville, Missouri,began with the gathering of friends both old and newly made. The ice breaker game started the festivities, followed by a detailed coffin building demonstration. Darkman showed us how to create a full size coffin from one sheet of 4'x8'plywood, a few 1'x2's and a piano hinge. The coffin then became one of many door prizes that would be given away at the end of the night. After Darkman's sawdust was cleared, it was time for the BBQ. Burgers, Hot Dogs, Smoked Sausages, and Hot-n-Spicy sausages were donated by Stonegate Cremetorium, and thanks to the visitors to Kreepfest, there were salads, chips, cookies, cake... no one went hungry. As our food settled, we began everyone's favorite game, "Pagan Idol". A Karaoke contest to make a straight song spooky. The Farmer in the Dell became "The Bodies in the Well" for example. Once we'd crowned the winner, Miller's Paranormal Research arrived to speak to us all on haunts they have visited and the things they have seen. Door prizes were given away and no one went home empty handed. We adjourned to go dress for Zombie Prom. The Celebration Deck never knew what it was in for! Dancing, drinking, laughing, and, of course, scaring the straights, we laughed into the wee morning hours. Only when we absolutely had to did we creep off to our beds to slumber and wake anew for Sunday's make-n-take day.

My apologies to all that were expecting to see this sooner. Somehow it slipped through the cracks.

I am posting it now:

Friday afternoon, the guests began to arrive. From all across the Midwest they came and gathered to laugh and enjoy the company of friends they'd grown to miss since last they could speak.

A group lead by Pickleman took a trip up to Big Lots to go through all the newly arrived Halloween merchandise and find a few bargains before they returned for dinner at The Best Burrito and a screening of Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.

Though many thought this would be a dull film, as it was in black and white and the worst feature was the singular use of the word Jackass, they were pleasantly surprised and laughed all through it. At midnight, everyone slipped away to return to Kreepfest on Saturday where the fun REALLY begins!

I was watching a program this morning that briefly discussed how horror as a genre almost died out in the 90's. That's because up until the "Blair Witch Project" there were fewer and fewer horror movies out there.

But that got me thinking along a different train of thought. What ever happened to truly creepy horror movies? It seems like nowadays horror movies are more about the shock factor - lots of blood and guts.

I liked Blair Witch because it was creepy as opposed to gory. Why has gore become so prevalent in today's horror movies? Do we need that much gore or can we go back to simply creepy where your mind fills in the gore for you.

For example, I remember watching the original "Amityville Horror" when I was a lot younger. It scared the crap out of me! To this day I still haven't been able to watch the whole movie or even the remake because the thought of sitting through it still freaks me out.

Yes it seems to me that horror movies of the 70s and 80s were better than the ones today, but that's my opinion.

What about you? Do you think today's horror movies are more about the gore? Or is that just the way the genre has evolved? And if so, could we go back? Do we even want to go back?