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Haunted houses of all types make being scared fun

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By Mary Foster - Associated Press Thursday, October 13, 2011

NEW ORLEANS — Ross Karpelman smiled happily as he looked over hishuge collection of bloody body parts, large rats, dangling cobwebs, andtools for cutting, slashing and sawing.

Mr. Karpelman , who with two childhood buddies built a haunted housecalled House of Shock, has seen it grow from the likes of peeled grapesfor eyeballs and cold spaghetti for worms into an attraction that’s visitedby 25,000 people annually and rated one of the best of its kind.

Role-playing actors in costume and makeup pose in their settings at the House of Shock, a haunted house in New Orleans. Theattraction w as started by three childhood buddies and draw s 25,000 visitors annually. (Associated Press)

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OtherHalloweenRoss KarpelmanAmber Arnett-BequeaithSteve Joseph

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A scene from the House of Shock, a hauntedhouse, in New ... more >

“None of us can believe it’s grown like this,” said Mr. Karpelman ,referring to his friends and business partners , Jay Gracianette andSteve Joseph . “We had all done haunted houses in our backyards askids and remembered how much fun it was. We just wanted to have thatkind of fun again.”

Halloween -season attractions such as House of Shock are big business.Ranging from haunted houses to former prisons to amusement parksand even farms with haunted barns and hayrides, the haunted attractionindustry is worth $2 billion in two dozen countries worldwide, according toLarry Kirchner , editor of Hauntworld magazine. More than 4,000attractions are listed on the magazine’s website.

“People love Halloween ,” Mr. Kirchner said. “It’s not a holiday you haveto participate in, it’s a holiday you want to participate in.”

Fans pay between $20 and $50 ormore to visit attractions thatinclude such varied venues as theQueen Mary, the storied cruiseship now docked in Long Beach,Calif., which gets a makeover tohost haunted evenings, and RubyFalls in Chattanooga, Tenn., anatural underground waterfall thatbecomes a haunted cavern. Thereare haunted casinos and

cornfields. In Salem, Ore., the Oregon School for the Deaf hosts ahaunted house each year called the Nightmare Factory as a fundraiserfor the school .

What was once a backyard attraction or something set up by a local

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Haunted houses of alltypes make being scaredfun

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Steve Joseph group looking to raise money has become a festival of fright that oftenstretches from September to November. At House of Shock, which runsFridays and Saturdays from Sept. 30 to Nov. 5, with a six-day-straightrun over the weekend leading up to Halloween , visitors pay $25 ($50 tojump the line) and spend 45 minutes to an hour or more going throughthe graveyards, butcher shops, swamps and cult church of the “House.”Many spend hours more outside enjoying the free show, the freaks, andthe bar and food stand.

Amber Arnett-Bequeaith ’s grandmother started a haunted housebusiness 37 years ago in Kansas City. The attraction then, which wasmore like a theater show, was a world away from the Beast and Edge ofHell attractions the family operates now, she said.

“I remember as a little girl picking up any bones I could find out in apasture for props,” she said. “Today it’s all about technology, sounds,sights even the infusion of smells. It’s a full sensory stimulation. I’mamazed at how computers have taken over.

“We work with people’s fears and phobias,” she added. “But it’s a safescare. It’s what people are attracted to on Halloween — fun andexcitement.”

Ms. Arnett-Bequeaith even features a wedding package at Edge of Hell,and up to six actual weddings are performed there each year.

Edward Terebus has been in the haunted attraction business for 32years and he also credits technology for many of the scares in his

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years and he also credits technology for many of the scares in hisErebus Haunted House in Pontiac, Mich. Computers control sounds, floormats, puppets, animatronics and other props. He frequently revamps theshow.

“A haunted attraction is similar to a Broadway performance,” Mr.Terebus said. “The show runs and then it shuts down, redecorates andopens up with a fresh show.”

Although New Orleans’ House of Shock uses some technologicalelements, it bucks the trend by relying on live actors for many of itstheme-driven rooms.

“We have more than 350 volunteers that love Halloween and the chanceto scare someone,” Mr. Karpelman said.

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