Scream at the Beach
Prepares for 10th Anniversary

Halloween is still a few months away, but the Scream at the Beach crews have already spent many weeks preparing for their 10th Anniversary Scare-a-bration.

"We're taking the most popular haunted themes from our first decade, and reworking them into an Alice in Wonderland storyline," explained Henry Miller, the producer of the event.

Since April, carpenters, painters and special effects crews have been busy constructing new sets in preparation for an October 1st opening of Nightmares in Wonderland. They have already displayed these same kinds of sets at the Rose Festival or will soon at the upcoming Clark County Fair in the Feature Exhibit.

Halloween may come once a year, but for the Scream at the Beach crew, it's a year-round activity.

"We start designing as soon as the previous season ends," said Jason Greeley-Roberts, Scream at the Beach's Production Manager. "And yet, it always seems like we can't get everything done in time-we just have too many great ideas we want to try."

Why so much effort? Scream at the Beach enjoys a rare reputation among haunted houses both as a family-friendly but also very scary haunted house.

"We strive to keep the scares appropriate for all ages, so anyone can enjoy our attractions as long as they enjoy scary entertainment," said Miller. "Most haunted houses do just the opposite in making liberal use of an overabundance of gore, violence, satanic references and adult content and language. You don't have to rely on those things to scare people; there are lots of ways to make people wet their pants without needing to offend them."

At full swing, Scream at the Beach has more than 200 people helping to create and staff the haunts. Some monsters from previous years have been cast already into the new roles, while others will be selected at open auditions in late August. These monsters will receive training in Monster College, four weekends of classes and rehearsing within the attractions.

"Some areas are so dark that we all need lots of practice to become familiar with the layout so we can easily maneuver around our guests and taunt them," said Jena Bodell, one of the Cast Directors. "We also like to try new ideas in scaring people."

"Our new sets will be our finest to date; the special effects will employ theme park style technologies, and wait until you see our new Hollywood style makeup applications!" Miller said. Guest reactions to the Scream haunt at the Rose Festival's Waterfront Village were very positive. A quick review of the comments left by exiting patrons (http://www.screamatthebeach.com/news1007.htm) confirms that these are no kiddy haunts.

But at the same time haunted houses enjoy a luxury that movies do not, by being able to tailor each show to their audience.

"We strive to make everything as intense as possible, without crossing the line between entertainment and excess terror," said Bodell. "We train our cast to ramp things up for teens, or down for children, especially if they seem to be having a difficult time."

The theming is amazing for a low budget haunted house, said Phil Morris, an internationally known consultant and supplier for the haunted house industry. He once mistook Scream at the Beach for a fancy themed restaurant like Rain Forest Café-it did not have the look or feel of a typical haunted house, it was just "too nice."

Too nice indeed. Even before the actors slip into position, the atmosphere of this place is very spooky.

"This does not always work the way we want it to," shared Miller. "A group of guests will end up having a pushing fight to make the other ones go first, which causes a backup in the flow of guests through the attraction. Of course, that's also a good sign that we're doing a good job at scaring them so we take it as a compliment!"

In honor of their 10th Anniversary, the crew has decided to bring back their most popular themes from their first decade, giving them a slight twist to slip into the Wonderland story. "For example, evil clowns do not appear in any of the Lewis Carroll stories," said Miller, "but they are so popular that we have to include them. We're creating the Wonderland Carnival and adding all kinds of appropriate touches to blend it seamlessly into the theme."

The haunt includes a maze through the clown tents with blood-splattered carnival games, and the ever-present grinning clowns, intent on making each guest their new best friend. Other areas include the rabbit hole network of caves, the mushroom forest and mad tea party, a hedge maze, Tulgey Woods, the Queen's Castle with its dark dungeons, and the Wonderland Asylum because...well...everyone here is mad, after all.

"We used our wildly popular 2006 Institute for the Criminally Insane for inspiration for that last one," Miller said with pride.

Scenic artist Kyle Paradis helps to age the sets to give them a realistic feel. "We use a lot of theme park painting techniques to age sets, making them feel ancient to add to the illusion," he explained. "This is my fifth year doing this and I look forward to each new season. When we complete each section it's very satisfying to step back and take it all in, knowing that you had a hand in making it come to life."

"This may be our last season at Jantzen Beach Center," explained Miller. "It's been a great first decade and we're looking forward to putting some new plans into place in a permanent location for our second."

If these new ventures are anything like the other projects this team has a hand in, the next ten years are going to be very exciting.