Not Everyone knows that for that short amount of time you spend in a haunted house, it takes months of work or more to prepare the scares. Those that prepare the haunts often spend part of the time visiting shows to either purchase props or to gather ideas that will later be put into the show. If they succeed, the people who end up visiting the haunts will either be scared stiff or at least feel the fun of being a kid again.

Not only do you get the thrill of seeing the new and outrageous haunted ideas at a show like the St. Louis Haunt Show, you also tend to run into some interesting people there. Talking to these people about their haunts can be even more exciting. At the same time you are surrounded by the sights, sounds and sometimes smell of the whole business, you are hearing about their events. The important thing to remember here is that the owners of the haunts come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them look like your average business person while others are really enjoying the moment and can even come to the show dressed in costume.

Gus has been managing and acting in his own haunt house in Grafton, Ohio for the past two years. He was walking around the Haunt Show convention in a costume he created. He looked like something that had just stepped out of a swamp with eyes that seem to be missing. You could almost see the child inside him laughing, having fun and playing pretend. He carried a small spray bottle of Miracle Grow that he attempted to spray on people he thought needed a boost.

Matt Kemp started doing haunted houses at the age of nine. Nine years ago with the help of Phil Granger, he started 31 Ways To Terror which was located in Henryville, Indiana. Now, Matt is basically at The Haunt Show in St. Louis to work on ideas for his Psychomania haunt in Clarksville, IN and relax.

Chad Kern an actor and prop builder from Clarksville, IN. went to St. Louis to learn more about the behind the scenes aspect of  haunted house construction. He also tried on the latest masks at CFX. The silicone rubber masks they create form to your head and look much better then latex because they move with your mouth movements and expressions.

Bloody Mary, a.k.a. Bobbie Weiner is a make-up artesian and child at heart. You may have seen Bobbie’s work in the Oscar nominated film Titanic. She was the special effects make-up artist who transformed hundreds of actors into blue-lipped icicle covered corpses. She is more then welling to talk to a fan, and doesn’t mind autographing a comic book or two. Bloody Mary is also a huge name in the haunted industry, supplying make up to numerous haunted houses. In St. Louis, she is here to show off the company’s new line.

A group from Little Rock, Arkansas was also at the show to work on new ideas for their Haunted Cathedral. This is the second year they have attended the show in St. Louis and they were pleased with all that they saw at the convention as each turn brought new ideas for their haunted church.

The show floor was full of props of all shapes and sizes. Even with all this distraction however, you definitely can’t miss the larger than life props of The Scare Factory. A special section of the Haunt Show is left dark every year so you can see the props in an environment they are typically used in. This section is called The Dark Zone and Scare Factory loads this area up with their wares. Jeff, has worked for Scare Factory for 6 months doing tech and building pneumatics. At this show, he is handing out catalogs of the company’s new additions. One of neat things they have on display is a hearse that has pneumatics built into it. When activated, a grime reaper unexpectedly leaps out of the hearse roof top. They also have a shifting hall and a skeleton riding on a vacuum.

Those who attended St. Louis this year will definitely be back. Nick Fisher and Angie Hernandez from Dungeon of Doom in Zion, Illinois said they loved it and would return. The two dressed up like a nurse and patient from hell were dripping with blood and responded “it’s great, now would you like to come back to our hospital?”

Submitted by Tracy Thomas

For more information on The Haunt Show visit Transworld Hauntshow