There were a few things that I knew had to happen with PANIC.
In 2004, we had to give people a haunted house with characters that had never been seen in an attraction before. We had to produce sounds that had never been heard before. It helped tremendously with Jason Sudduth sculpted and provided his custom mask creations to the mix.
We had to take the old MISERY MANOR characters out of the spotlight and replace them with Captain Spaulding, Reagan, the Creeper, the Master Vampire from Salem's Lot, the Friday the 13th pt 2. Jason, and Dr. Satan. I wanted to school people on how important movies like the forgotten "It's Alive" was to American horror. The greenfactory crew grew even stronger that year with the arrivals of Philip, Andrew, and Kristen Elliston, Chris Fallis, Nathan Hedger, and Brandon Fisher. The return of Brandon Wainscott, Nathan Lacasco, and Stella Rose helped solidify the crew as well.
The unmentioned priority that we had to make reality was that the Captain Spaulding character had to not only make a splash….but THE splash. Co-producer, Chester Priest and I worked on the development of the room for months. We agreed on very little. We did however agree that Spaulding's part would be the introduction to PANIC. We spent many nights at the drawing board arguing sometimes to the point of physical violence. What can I say….he had his ideas….I had mine. I compiled what we had written down and positioned the character the way Chet insisted. I put together a soundtrack that activated the room's characters. Chester still thinks the room is the most impressive to date. He says it was God sent. I admit, it was a good room…..but God had nothing to do with it.
In 2004, Unfortunately, greenfactory was not working with the same Jaycee crew as the year before. We were working with a group of people that knew nothing about haunted houses and felt need to question the business aspect of the project. I was urged to increase ticket prices by members that had never attended a planning session or committee meeting. I was asked to fire a veteran greenfactory volunteer. The bottom line was the ticket prices stayed at $5.00, the volunteer stayed. Strike one had been issued.
Contrary to some bad attitudes and plenty of skepticism, PANIC did what it was designed to do. It averaged $1000.00 in sells per night, it was a strong change in style, the characters were fresh and effective, the sound was strong, the lighting was outstanding, and PANIC became the most successful haunted house in Frankfort's history. I attribute much of it's success to Doug Howard. His patience with me was a miracle. I know I was a pain. I had a clear vision and wanted that to be seen (un-altered) by the public!
Still, slightly vexed with the way things went with some fellow members, I removed myself as director for the 2005 effort. Matter of fact, we created a stage name for greenfactory. We called it "A Scream Factory Production." Many of the '03 staff fled the scene as animosity between myself and a FEW Jaycee members continued to escalate. The 2005 event was slated to be called "The Rancid Remix". The name got shot down several times….but we ended up using it anyway (I made the promotional signs).
The remix was directed my Kristen and Nathan Hedger and Brandon Fisher. The haunt took place in an old greenfactory stomping ground…..THE UNDERGROUND. The budget was steep, but necessary for the simple fact that we were spoofing rooms that we had produced for the last 20 or so years. We wanted it to be a greatest hits haunt with a few new ideas.
Nephew Mathew Hoover kicked off the show as Jig Saw. It was a room similar in style to the Spaulding room in PANIC. The whole concept worked. The Remix out sold PANIC by a few thousand dollars. Where was greenfactory during all this? The answer----Right there….making it happen! Nathan Lacasco, Shaun and Willie Harrod, Jay, Brian, Alyssa, Matthew, Kristi, Brandon, Stella, ……they were there!----every night! A new group called the Jayteens showed up and saved the day. With the poor attendance from the group that claimed the name----the show would have suffered without the kids.
Which brings us to 2006. "The End". October 31st, 2006 ended the haunted house's relationship with the Jaycees, and also ended my tenure as a member and President of the chapter. We knew we were leaving…..but we also knew that we were going out with a bang. We threw all conventional haunted house rules out the window and brought the funk. Satan Claws, swinging his axe, the Easter Bunny with his demonic eyes and long claws, the gassy drunk in the reclining chair….. (sometimes throwing-up in chicken buckets), were the reasons we had to take a responsible stand and issue a diluted/censored version of the show. We also added a murder mystery to the attraction that promised a big screen TV to the person who guessed the murderer of the main character.
It went down exactly like we projected. "The End" broke every record from every era. It had most ticket sells, biggest opening weekend, biggest night ever, and graphically displayed the deaths of Baby and Zaggy with the climax being the symbolic death of Michael Myers. It ended…….MY WAY!
So through the years, we have managed to raise tens of thousands of dollars for charity, we have run other local haunts completely out of business, we have been nationally ranked several times as one of the scariest haunted attractions in North America, we have always been classified as one of the finest haunts in Kentucky (many times, the best) ,we have been awarded by numerous organizations, we have managed to fire every civic organization that we've come in contact with.
greenfactory is a legend. The staff has gone through some complicated situations and they have always overcome those situations by being better than the complicated people that manufactured them. greenfactory and the haunted house have served as the foundations for marriages, divorces, life-long friendships, smiles, tears, laughs, cries, and have inspired dirty drawers. greenfactory is where Frankfort's best haunted houses have come from. Don't believe me? Ask our former associates about their haunts without us!
I guess that brings us to 2008. As most of you know, MISERY MANOR has again brought horror and terror back into the community of Frankfort. We have stayed somewhat controversial, we continued to push the envelope, and we have continued to do it our way. 2008 cannot be touched by anything that we have done in the past. It has been a shock to me to see how people have reacted to it. It is the scariest event (by far) that we have ever produced.
It has been a long road getting this one done. I have worked on the sound for nearly two years, we had to raise our own funds over the Summer, we purchased all new stuff, we had to re-capture our old look. WE HAD TO RE-CREATE OUR ENTIRE WAY OF DOING BUSINESS. We have had people quit simply because they are unable to take and/or give direction, we have had people cuss at us for scaring their children, we have been questioned as to why we have dropped partnerships, and we have been questioned about the meaning of greenfactory.
Let's answer the questions and concerns. greenfactory is a great big family of people that chooses to have their family reunion the entire month of October. Instead of bringing fried chicken and baked beans, we enjoy bring latex masks, fog, machines, sound systems, and strobe lights. We do not like talking about former partnerships because we don't like re-hashing mistakes. We will not take on new partnerships because we do not need them (nor will we reconcile with former groups that have disappointed us).
It started in 1984 with family…….and it has become that again. We're going to keep it that way! |
