I love monsters and scaring people- always have. I’ve been around haunted houses since I was a kid in the 3rd grade. My first one was back in the mid seventies in the basement of a Mormon church in Utah- I was Dracula, a very short and blond Dracula.
Since then I’ve volunteered at a few Jaycees haunts around Memphis, gone on tours of haunts across the country, and even helped teach a few seminars on haunting at HAuNTcon one year.
I also helped start a haunt here in Memphis, TN with some fiends– uh, I mean “friends”. It started off as Nightmarez…On The Square and was located in Overton Square in midtown Memphis back in 2001.
My friends and fellow Ronald McDonald House volunteers Todd Patton, Patrick French and I had been part of the RMH’s special events crew (also known as “The A-Team“, fool!) and had helped to put on events like The Big Scoop Ice Cream Festival, Radiothons, and Oscar Night America Parties. Todd had done haunts before with the local Moose Lodge and wanted to do one as a fundraiser for the kids and families staying at the Memphis Ronald McDonald House.
Patrick and I were immediately on board, and we went about recruiting more RMH volunteers, friends, co-workers, sponsors, and Moose Lodge members to join in. The haunt (and first Kidz Day -a less scary version of the haunt for kids to Trick-R-Treat in) were a hit and was able to raise just over $20,000 for the RMH, even in spite of the 9/11 tragedy just a month prior.
The next year in 2002 it moved across Shelby County out to Bartlett, TN on Stage Road and became Nightmarez…STAGE FRIGHT!. The haunt went from being around 2000 sq ft to about 7000-8000 square feet with an additional 2000 sq ft for a lobby, which was nice for the crowds on cold and wet nights, or for having radio folks broadcast from live.
I did an art show for the lobby featuring some of my “Monsterpieces” that year and the following year when Nightmarez moved into an old Walgreen’s location a mile or two up the street and added 3-D effects and glasses to it’s mix I got to try my hand at 3-D art. It was a blast! In 2004 the haunt moved to a new location just up from the 2003 one and stayed there for the next two years. It was in the same shopping center and the haunt increased in size (and donations) again, but stayed close to Stage Road and kept the Nightmarez…STAGE FRIGHT! name. 2004 also saw Youth Villages become the haunt’s charity and has been ever since. A couple of free mini comic cons called “TIMMYCON” were held there, as well as an expanded Kidz Day. CBS even came out and filmed a football TV promo at the haunt while it was at this location.
2005 was the last year for Stage Fright and their yearly Kidz Days, and there was no haunt for the group in 2006. Todd had moved to Chattanooga (and later ran the Ruby Falls Haunted Cavern and Con Nooga) and Patrick went up to Lebanon, TN (near Nashville) to run a haunt there. That year for the first time in a few years I actually went out for Halloween with some friends to tour Elmwood Cemetery here in Memphis. (I’ll have to blog about that place sometime!)
In 2007 Patrick and his scare crew were back in the Memphis area, but this time they were located in the Trinity Commons Shopping Center on the very busy Germantown Parkway in Cordova, TN (a suburb of Memphis). It was an old Malco movie theater location and the haunt was renamed Nightmarez Haunted Attraction /Nightmarez Haunted Houses. The movie theater had moved up the street and the space had been gutted and turned into a couple other shops, but a 13,000+ sq ft section of it in the back of the shopping center was a great big empty box just waiting to be filled with spooky stuff.
The new location proved to be a good move. In 2008 the haunt remained at the same Trinity Commons location, but got a new name and website- Haunted Web Of Horrors. Being in the same location for two years was not only helping grow their customer base, but was also helping to keep costs down- and donations to Youth Villages up.
The new location and name stuck. The haunt also started adding outdoor entertainment and scares for people waiting in the ever growing queue lines.
Back in 2007 the haunt’s new Germantown Parkway location was big enough to house 2 separate haunts, and that’s just what Haunted Web did- one gory asylum haunt called Tormented and one 3-D attraction called Dark Matter.
If you love blood and guts and not knowing what is waiting around each corner then Tormented is for you, ya sicko!
Tormented starts off as a visit to the doctors office (Dr. Hacker’s office), but ends after a “Wrong Turn” into the bayou and a tour of a cannibal family’s shack where you are not only their guest for dinner, but you ARE dinner! This family will make you want to skip eating in and make a run for the exit!
But try not to run- it’s dangerous and you’ll miss all the good stuff! Take your time and look around at all the detail the Haunted Web scare crew has put into the haunt- it’s amazing how much work goes into making something look so neglected!
In Tormented, the doctor will kill you now!
Want scary, but with less blood and an added dimension..? Step right up into the 3-D experience of Dark Matter!
Once you enter the vortex tunnel and start to explore your new 3-D environment, Dark Matter may seem like all fun and games, but looks can be deceiving- and very dark!
Things start to deteriorate rather quickly and before you know it you’re surrounded by killer klowns!
But it’s all in fun and for a great cause- Youth Villages. Proceeds from Haunted Web go to benefit Youth Villages in Memphis, and as a bonus, Youth Villages has a grant from the Day Foundation that will match all of the proceeds raised from the Haunted Web Of Horrors!
Last year Patrick and the Haunted Web Scare Crew donated $78,000 to Youth Villages and plan to it (or more) again this year. With the crowds I saw opening weekend they’re on track to do it!
The lines can get long so wear comfortable shoes and clothing, bring some friends, and get their early- or try buying your tickets on-line.
Don’t want to wait your turn? Then try one of their R.I.P. Passes and skip the lines! ( R.I.P. fast passes will be sold at the haunt only- not available online.)
But be warned…some nights there are some surprises waiting for you in the queue line!
Hope to scare you there!
Limb
HAUNTEDWEB OF HORRORS
*Voted Best Haunt in Memphis in 2010!*
Dates and Times: October 7-8, 14-15, 20- 22, and 27-31, 2011 Doors open from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weeknights and 7:30 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.
Admission: $10 per haunt or $18 for both haunts. R.I.P. Passes cost $30 each and allows you to move to the front of the line at both haunts! (R.I.P. Passes not available online.)
Description: The Hauntedweb of Horrors attraction serves up two separate haunts: Dark Matter – This visual thrill of darkness and light, coupled with 3D glasses, is designed to frighten you out of your mind. In Tormented you’ll enter Dr. Hacker’s twisted insane asylum, then get discarded into the Dark Bayou where you must escape a hillbilly nightmare.
Web Address: www.hauntedweb.com
