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3D Mummies and their glasses
Today, packaged with the Houston Chronicle was a set of 3D anaglyph glasses. These red and blue viewers happen to be the most original concept for a coupon we have ever seen. With the glasses a visitor can get $2.00 off an adult ticket to "Mummy: the inside story" at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
So with that, we decided to take advantage of this opportunity...we decided to make our own 3D pic to post right here. So we got on the net and Googled "how to make 3D images." We found a site, downloaded a couple of programs, took several photographs, tinkered around a bit and came up with something decent to show you. This is a picture of the computer that puts HoustonHaunts.com together (that head is my door knob cover).
If any of you out there have some extra time on your hands and end up putting together your own "scary" 3D pic, send them our way, we'll see what we can do to post them here. HH |
posted by Michael | 9/29/2005 09:46:00 PM
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Get ready Houston, they're here!
 This is a big weekend coming up for haunted houses in Houston! The Carnage, Castle of Doom, The Haunted Trails, Phobia, The Sanitarium, and Screamworld all kick off the rain-delayed season this Friday, September 30th. Nightmare on the Bayou opens its doors on Saturday, and on Sunday, we get to see the debut of a new haunt...The Mansion. By the way, if you haven't seen their website, you should.
In other news, apparently Stephen King doesn't like Halloween. Who would have figured? We wonder what would happen if King channeled all of that dark creativity into a haunted house. We don't know about you guys, but we would shell out 30 clams or more to venture in. |
posted by Michael | 9/28/2005 10:20:00 PM
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Haunted house closings...
| ScreamWorld has notified us that they will not be open tonight (Sunday, September 25th), but said they will be up and ready to go next weekend. We'll keep you updated here if we hear from the others. |
posted by Michael | 9/25/2005 03:30:00 PM
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Houston & Rita - it's not you, it's me
Well, our relationship with Hurricane Rita was short lived. I stayed up until about 1am Friday night to watch some very powerful wind, fell asleep and didn't wake until 9am the next morning. Sad to see that nothing woke me from my slumber. There was plenty of tree debris litered on most of the streets, but in all honesty, I have experienced worse thunderstorms than this. I went to our FM 1960 perch one last time for a follow up photo.
FM 1960 - Saturday, Sep 24, 9:15am
As you can see, nothing big to show. Through this experience I've thought about one hitting us in the future. I can't say first hand what those out on our highways experienced, but I'm afraid it may convince some who shouldn't stay put, to ride out the next hurricane.
Good luck to those coming home, we'll be here waiting. HH |
posted by Michael | 9/25/2005 11:19:00 AM
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Hurricane Rita is upon us
It's about 9:30 now and we are starting to feel the much-less-than anticipated effects of Hurricane Rita. We are not letting down our guard quite yet though, the bulk of it is still supposed to come. Below are a few more shots of FM 1960. There isn't much to see aside from the dwindling population on the road.
FM 1960 - Friday, Sep 23, 12:15pm
FM 1960 - Friday, Sep 23, 7:30pm |
posted by Michael | 9/23/2005 07:28:00 PM
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The impending doom of Hurricane Rita
"Impending doom." Those couple of words repeat over and over in my head when I think about Hurricane Rita. I find it fascinating that we know that a storm is most definitely coming our way so many days ahead of time. Looking up at the sky, seeing how nice it is (aside from all the exhausting heat) knowing that before long, all of this will change. It really doesn't seem like such a surprise that so many died in the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. One day you have nice weather on the beach, the next day your house is being blown over and then covered in water by a huge storm surge. What a drastic change.
We are sticking it out up here in north Houston, mostly because we are excitement junkies. Secondly, because I think there is definitely something spooky about deserted streets, lightning, thunder, and tornadoes. Thirdly, because I used to want to be a meteorologist, and finally because I didn't want to get stuck in traffic. So, here are some pictures we've taken from the same spot on FM 1960 over the last 2 days. We'll try to show the change...
FM 1960 - Wednesday, Sep 21, 1:00pm
FM 1960 - Thursday, Sep 22, 8:45am
FM 1960 - Thursday, Sep 22, 7:00pm
For those of you who are sticking around, we'll try to get some more updates before we pack up the computer tomorrow. Good luck to everyone and PLEASE be careful out there! |
posted by Michael | 9/22/2005 07:43:00 PM
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Weekend update (or lack thereof)
| Well, after a long day hearing how everybody is getting off of work and school for the rest of the week, it would seem safe to assume that only the dead will be walking the halls of the 4 attractions that were to open this weekend. Of course, we looked at their websites and listened to their recorded phone messages and they gave us no reason to believe otherwise. Any attraction actors or owners out there that would like to give us an update? |
posted by Michael | 9/21/2005 03:48:00 PM
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Calender Update
| The calender page is finally seeing the light of day and we are supposed to have 3 attractions open this weekend. Of course, unless you live under a rock, you also know that we are supposed to have some wild weather this weekend. If we get any new information regarding the haunts and the storm known as Rita, we'll let you know asap. See you soon... HH |
posted by Michael | 9/20/2005 09:20:00 PM
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Keeping up with the joneses
 What is the one candy that makes you think about Halloween? For many, it is those little white, red and yellow striped candies known as candy corn. I can't stand them, but regardless, they have become so engraved into our concept of Halloween that the Jones Soda Company has done something we consider cool but frightening. They went and made themselves a candy corn concoction. At first glance, I felt the urge to barf and gulp one down all at the same time (I am a sucker for new original drinks to drink). I prepared myself a cup with ice and popped open one these shot-sized sodas. What did it taste like? Kind of like maple syrup. And the color? I was hoping they some how magically packaged the soda so that the liquid would seperate out into 3 color bands after pouring, but alas, it was only a single rich yellow color. I can't help but think that kids would profess to love this stuff just because of it's great novelty. Heck, I profess to like the stuff because it's a great novelty, but my taste buds would argue otherwise. HH
Almost forgot, apparently you can only find this stuff at Target. |
posted by Michael | 9/20/2005 12:06:00 AM
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Smarter, bolder, longer
Screamworld attraction better than ever, owners say
Like so many other things on this great, green earth, haunted houses, like wine, only get better with age.
So, it might not surprise you to learn that Jim Fetterly and Mike Darling of Screamworld fame say their upcoming season is smarter, bolder, longer and most definitely scarier than anything they have done in their 16 years of scaring Houstonians with their most genius attractions.
The History
In 1989, Fetterly opened his first haunted house in Houston, Nightmare on Fannin, with competitor Nightmares nearby. However, after two years as Nightmare on Fannin, a legal challenge sent Fetterly into a panic to change his attraction's name, only to find it was one of the best moves of his career.
Calling a colleague from St. Louis' haunted house scene, the scream king asked in desperation if he might use their attraction name, The Haunted Hotel, in Houston. With their grace, a new day was born for Fetterly's product.
"I had my radio advertising about to start, all 100,000 of my coupons printed, and my posters done and I ended up having to change the name and it was the best thing to ever happen to me," Fetterly said. "There is something special about The Haunted Hotel. It has some aura about it… it is incredible."
Joining the ownership team in 1995, Darling helped add to the terrifying threesome the venture had built: The Haunted Hotel One, The Haunted Hotel Two and The Fear Factory.
However, after twelve years in the duo's midtown location, Fetterly said it was apparent to everyone—The Haunted House needed to find a new home.
"Pretty much after twelve years down there, we saw that the writing was on the wall with property values increasing, our parking situation was horrible, customers were out on the sidewalk… it was pretty dangerous," Fetterly said. "We had to rent lanes of the road and we had barricades and police officers there to help control the situation."
The Move
In 2001, Fetterly and Darling found a bank to back the new project and the pair built a new 12,000 square foot facility on four and a half acres. The price: Over half a million dollars.
For months the pair worked to get the new attraction completed, tearing down their old home after over a decade of scares to be moved to the new location. However, Darling says the move couldn't have come at a better time when a huge storm brewing in the Gulf soon turned fierce for many Houstonians.
On June 5th 2001, Tropical Storm Allison made landfall, leading to devastation to the Houston area, flooding out where the great Haunted Hotel once stood, amongst area businesses and homes.
"We are very fortunate because as that took place, we started tearing down the Haunted Hotel and the Haunted Zone in 3-D and we rented four large shipping containers and we had all of our walls and our props in those shipping containers," Darling said. "Then, Tropical Storm Allison hit, and we were very fortunate to be out of there."
Fetterly agrees saying he and Darling were very lucky not to have been hit by such a terrible storm.
"Those buildings ended up with about 33 inches of water down there and we were very fortunate, because we were high and dry here," Fetterly said.
When all was said and done, the partners built a new facility with new goals in mind, new scares and a new name for Houstonians to become acquainted with.
In 2001, Screamworld was born, replacing The Haunted Hotel. Darling says it was one of the biggest decisions the pair made in the move.
"It was hard not to call this place The Haunted Hotel," Darling said. "But, we knew that we had something bigger and better here and we knew the future meant change at our new location."
Screamworld meets public demand
"The biggest complaint we had with the old location is that people wanted to do all three attractions, but they didn't want to stand in line for each location," Fetterly said. "So, in 2001, we said lets put all three attractions in one building and we were able to lower the price by $3 to all three attractions versus the best price you could get of all three downtown."
The new Screamworld debuted to the public in the fall of 2001, featuring one single line for three haunted houses built within the attraction's one building.
Darling says the changed allowed for better customer satisfaction and that they noticed fewer concerns since moving to the new location.
For 2005, Fetterly says visitors can expect a whole new experience with Screamworld, with Darling taking over floor plans and ripping half the attraction down to the ground floor.
"We went down to the cement and Mike did all the floor plans this time, and I was very happy about that… but, he came up with a design for The Edge of Darkness and the new 3-D attraction called Movie Monsters in 3-D," Fetterly said. "The separations are better this year and… it is a longer walk-through, no doubt about it."
Darling says about the ambitious project that a more valuable experience for Screamworld's customers was sought; the owners both agreed that the mission has been accomplished this year.
"That was our goal when we started re-designing these attractions. We wanted to get the maximum walk-through for our customers and we wanted them to, as they left the haunted house, be able to say that we have maximized the walking time," Darling said.
Movie Monsters in 3-D, Screamworld's new three dimensional attraction, boasts the professional talents of artist Christian Navarrete, in addition to the braintrust that customers have come to expect from Fetterly and Darling.
Darling, who is a fan of the oldest films in the horror genre, decided to turn back time when others are flooded with contemporary scream masters of the silver screen.
"I had seen some haunted houses in other states that had done some of the newer movie monsters, like Chucky, the Candy Man and Jeepers Creepers. That stuff works, but I think that this would be something the adults would enjoy," Darling said.
"We meshed the 3-D attraction with movie monsters and it is a nice mesh. I think our older audiences will appreciate it because they will be able to recognize some of the things we are doing in here. There are some contemporary monsters in there, but it is a great attraction dealing with some of the legendary classic monsters."
Of the new Movie Monsters in 3-D, Fetterly says Screamworld will become the place for the best three-dimensional scares in the region, if not across America.
"Visually, I know the 3-D attraction will be one of the best in Houston, if not the country," Fetterly said.
As the season steams forwards towards opening night, the geniuses behind Screamworld say that this year might just be the year they top anything they have done in the past. From ripping the attractions down to bare concrete to heavy research and education on what makes a great scare, the new season is going to be worth the work, Fetterly said.
"I think our customers can expect a longer walk-through, more scares and definitely more clever scares then ever before," Fetterly said.
"It is longer, scarier and better than anything we have ever had. If we were to put a scale on it, last year would have been a seven and this year is a nine." HH |
posted by Brandon | 9/14/2005 10:13:00 AM
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R.I.P. Astroworld
| We just got news that Astroworld will be sold at the end of the year after a 37 year reign as Houston's main theme park. Obviously this means this is your last chance to check out Fright Fest. I feel a bit sad, but then I remember how many times people cut in line in front of me. Then there was the one time when we almost got into fight over it. Oh well, no more violence, rest in peace Astroworld. |
posted by Michael | 9/12/2005 08:45:00 PM
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Haunt veterans detail historic urban legend
| A Houston Haunts Exclusive
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition defines an urban legend as an apocryphal story involving incidents of the recent past, often including elements of humor and horror that spreads quickly and is popularly believed to be true.
From the old woman microwaving her dog, to the tale of the killer calling the babysitter from a telephone line upstairs to the Gang High Beam initiation, urban legends are narratives that are alleged to be true, varies by telling and is usually passed from person to person orally over a great span of time.
For Screamworld's Jim Fetterly and Mike Darling, one such urban legend they have heard constantly over the course of their nearly two decade long reign on Houston's haunted house scene is that of the 'Money-Back Guarantee'. "We are in a one-story haunted house, it may look like one and a half, maybe two stories, but they would walk right up to you at the front door, look up and say, 'I hear if I can get to the top floor... the fifth floor or the thirteenth floor... I get my money back'," Fetterly said. "For three or four years, I would say, 'Well, actually we are just a one story building, so it is not true. You get to the top of the thirteenth floor, I will give you your money back and $100'."
Although heard widely throughout Houston's community of haunted house enthusiasts, the urban legend also covers much of the country, with new incarnations shooting out of the rumor mill each year. While the legend is a myth nowadays, Darling says it is based on an actual hoax in Illinois by a haunted house once concocted to drive more crowds into their attraction.
"There was a haunted house in Chicago where they said if you made it to every scene they would give you a golden token," Darling said. "If you collected all these tokens, it was said you would get your money back and say, $20."
Darling says somewhere along the hallways of this Chicago area attraction, a secret pathway to scenes hidden from the general public made the challenge difficult for people to get all the tokens needed to regain their admission price, and a little extra. "They didn't tell people about those trap doors, and then they told all these people [about this challenge] on their radio advertising..." Fetterly said. "... [It was] very deceiving."
In addition, Darling also points the finger at radio DJs for continuing the tradition of this urban legend that has saturated nearly every town with a haunted house. "The DJs didn't know what they were talking about, so [people] would call the radio station and the DJs would tell the callers all this stuff," Darling said.
Regardless of how much information exists, Fetterly says he expects to continue to hear the tale for as long as he continues to scare the hell out of Houstonians at Screamworld.
"People would say, 'Man, I heard it on the radio... I know I heard it on the radio... I heard it on the Buzz' and we would tell them, 'We don't advertise on the Buzz'," Fetterly said. "And they always reply, "You need to call them because they are playing your spot!' This has happened a hundred times and I am sure it will continue to happen every year we are in business." HH |
posted by Brandon | 9/05/2005 01:59:00 PM
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