CT Horrorfest 2015

CT Horror Fest Poster

On Saturday, July 18th Your Custom Haunted House had the pleasure of attending the 2nd Annual Connecticut Horrorfest horror convention presented by the Horror News Network!

This year’s event took place at the Matrix Conference Center in Danbury, CT and featured horror celebrities like Doug Bradley, the original Pinhead from “Hell Raiser”, as well as horror themed vendors and panels to discuss classic horror films like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

A good time was had by all; turnout was great and convention attendees really got into the spirit of the event by dressing as their favorite horror icons. Your Custom Haunted House got to meet several horror favorites like Sarah Nicklin, independent actress known for such films as “Exhumed”, “Zombie Allegiance”, and the cult hit “Atomic Brain Invasion”; Melissa Cowan, actress best known for her portrayal of the zombie Hannah on season one of AMC’s “The Walking Dead”; and Doug Bradley, actor best known for his portrayal as the original Pinhead from “Hell Raiser.”

Check out our photos from the convention and be sure to mark your calendars for next year’s event!

 

Creeperum is Fast Approaching!

CreeperumWhen last we spoke to you about Creeperum, the new haunted attraction from Chimera Enterprise LLC, back in February we were just entering the pre-production phase. Things are progressing nicely and everything is on schedule for our September grand opening.

The Creeperum website will be up in the next  month and a trailer video for the attraction will be ready in a few weeks. Until then, here are preview art works to give you some nightmares; stay tuned…

Creeperum2

 

 

 

 

CREEPERUM

The Creeperum Gornn

The Creeperum Gornn

The new Connecticut haunted attraction, “Creeprerum”, is now in the basic phase of pre-construction!

This year is starting out on a strong foundation with the new haunted attraction, produced by Chimera Enterprise, LLC, slowly taking form. By this time next month, we will give you a preview of all things creepy and the experience will be open to the public in September 2015. The new Creeperum attraction website will be up and running soon and will give you an exclusive look into what is coming to a neighborhood near you!

The overlord of Creeperum is collecting his minions (staff/crew) as this post is being written and the outcome is going to be frightfully and entertainingly delicious. The overlord is sparing no expense to bring to the public the latest and newest in haunted entertainment.

To show and tell you more now will ruin the surprise, so please stay tuned for more information on the what, where, when and how. Next month we will be posting our first video sneak preview of Creeprum and if you are a lover of “all things Halloween” you won’t want to miss it. Your Custom Haunted House is about to bring a unique haunted experience, the likes of which have never been seen before, here for Connecticut!

See you all real soon…

Angelus Perez

President

Your Custom Haunted House

 

Creeperum Haunted Attraction

Elm Street Haunt 2Welcome to a teaser introduction of a new haunted attraction on the block! Well, not quit yet, but coming soon to a neighborhood near you. Chimera Enterprise, LLC, through the production company YourCustomHauntedHouse.com, is building a permanent haunted attraction in the state of Connecticut in the fall of 2015. The name is Creeperum; keep an eye out for it in the coming months.

Creeperum is the brain child of the staff of Chimera Enterprise, LLC located in Milford, Connecticut. When Chimera Enterprise’s crew were asked why build in Connecticut, the answer was “to create permanent new jobs and to bring badly needed family oriented tourism to the state”. Chimera will still rent out their famous inflatable haunted attractions (which they have been doing for over 11 years), but their main focus will be to create a premier family entertainment center themed specifically for all those Halloween lovers out there.

If any of you have ever seen Chimera’s inflatable haunted attraction, this will be along those lines but three times bigger and on steroids; for those who have not seen their past work, well you are in for a great SHOW! The official website for Creeperum will be up in a few months and that site will have detailed information on the who, what and where of the attraction.

For those interested in knowing more about the Creeperum or wanting to learn more about the possible location, please contact us. All of us at Your Custom Haunted House look forward to seeing and serving you this year, until then have a happy and wonderful new year!

Trans World 062001

One of Our Biggest Clients…

Did you know that back in the mid 2000s, our company was approached by a man who, according to the story, lived in the most infamous and most haunted of all houses…
The Amityville Horror!

Original House

Original House

The man’s name was Mr. George Lee Lutz and Mr. Lutz wanted us to consult, design, build, manage and operate the world’s first haunted attraction with the name The Amityville Horror. Once the attraction was well established, Mr. Lutz wanted to expand it from an attraction to a theme park.

Around 2004 and 2005, Mr. Lutz got the idea of getting into the Halloween haunted attraction business. He attempted to learn all he could about the haunted industry by contacting the owners of this website. Mr. Lutz wanted to create the largest haunted attraction in Las Vegas and theme and brand the attraction as the “Amityville Horror 20 Years Later”. His haunt would be made out of ten trailers, making it massive, and would stand two stories high. He had a story of fiction already written up by the time he came to us: the story was about Amityville that takes place 20 years after the original 1976 occurrence.  While we were in the process of designing his attraction, Mr. Lutz was attempting to sell the professionally written script to Sony Pictures in Hollywood and create a new movie.

The plan was to shot the movie in Canada and once the film was completed, then move the

1st Rough Draft of The Amityville Haunted Attraction

older looking Amityville Horror house facade to Las Vegas; there, it would be placed in front of the haunted attraction. It took six months to finally render the first rough draft of this future haunt.  The attraction was to have 8 1/2 trailers for the main attraction, half a trailer for the onsite office/operation center and one trailer for the actors and staff to change clothing and take breaks. Scenes inside the attraction were to be designed around a story plot of the movie; the rough draft was modeled after other attractions that have been around successfully for years.

By this time, Mr. Lutz had purchased all copy rights to The Amityville Horror, except for the last 28 days that the original book was published in.  This meant that there would not be another like it in the world!  Sadly, Mr. Lutz passed away in 2006 and his attraction and movie was never completed.

Rest in Peace Lee and thank you for giving us the opportunity to work on your dream!

DIY Haunt Tips from Your Custom Haunted House

With Halloween just 25 days away (!), founder and CEO of Your Custom Haunted House, Angelus Perez, appeared on the Cablevision show Focus on Family with Cathy McCarthy to share some tips & tricks you can use at home to add some extra scares and thrills to your haunt.

Enjoy!

Thrill-Seekers Thrive on the Scary

74 days left until Halloween…

Here is great article from WebMD which explains why people love all the thrills and chills (and we’re so glad they do); enjoy!

 

New Haven Parks & Rec (1)

Exploring the ‘dark side’ may be a psychological need that’s met when the scare is actually over.

Virtually everyone knows what it’s like to feel really scared: A pounding heartbeat. Faster breathing. Nervous perspiration. Butterflies in the stomach.

But whether that fright is caused by watching a nail-biting horror movie, listening to a spine-chilling story, or prowling through a dark-as-night haunted house on Halloween, some people actually revel in feeling frightened. They thrive on the latest Friday the 13th movie or Stephen King novel. They relish roller coasters, perhaps even sky diving. They crave having the bejesus scared right out of them.

Of course, for the mere mortals among us who feel that we’re liable to lose our lunch after just a glimpse of a slasher movie, it may seem unimaginable that others actually enjoy panic-button experiences. But experts believe that it’s not uncommon for individuals to push the envelope, seeing how much fear they can tolerate, and ultimately feeling a sense of satisfaction when they’re able to endure the anxiety.

Exploring the Dark Side

What’s the appeal of the fright associated with creepy stories? “There’s a long history of people being intensely curious about the ‘dark side,’ and trying to make sense of it,” says Frank Farley, PhD, psychologist at Temple University. “Through movies, we’re able to see horror in front of our eyes, and some people are extremely fascinated by it. They’re interested in the unusual and the bizarre because they don’t understand it and it’s so different from our everyday lives.”

For more than two decades, Glenn Sparks, PhD, has studied the way men, women, and children respond to terrifying images in the media. “Some people have a need to expose themselves to sensations that are different from the routine,” he says. “While experiencing a frightening movie may have some negatives, individuals often derive gratification because the experience is different.”

Several studies have shown that males like scary films much more than females do. “It’s not that they truly enjoy being scared,” says Sparks, professor of communication at Purdue University. “But they get great satisfaction being able to say that they conquered and mastered something that was threatening. They enjoy the feeling that they ‘made it through.'”

Quite commonly, at the end of the terrifying movie, an individual may walk out of the theater with a profound sense of relief, adds Sparks. “He may just be happy that the film is over.”

“Type T’s”

Farley, former president of the American Psychological Association, has studied people who have what he calls “type T” (thrill-seeking) personalities. These men and women thrive on the uncertainty and the intensity associated with activities that most people consider to be hair-raising — from riding roller coasters to bungee jumping. “Sky divers will tell you it’s the thrill, the rush, and a little element of fear that motivates them to push themselves to the extreme,” he says.

 

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/exploring-thrill-seeking-personalities 

Why Do People Love to be Scared?

With 93 days left until Halloween ( and believe us it will be here before you know it!), what better way to start the blog back than with a post from Remy Melina on why people love a good spine-chilling scare. Read on and enjoy…

 

Chimera actors

Chimera actors

Every Halloween, Americans spend millions on scary fun. From haunted houses to horror movies, teens as well as adults seem to crave a good spine-chilling scare.

“People go to horror films because they want to be frightened, or they wouldn’t do it twice,” said Jeffrey Goldstein, editor of “Why We Watch: The Attractions of Violent Entertainment” (Oxford University Press, 1998) and professor of social and organizational psychology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

“You choose your entertainment because you want it to affect you. That’s certainly true of people who go to entertainment products like horror films that have big effects. They want those effects,” Goldstein told LiveScience, a sister site of Life’s Little Mysteries.

Sinister, but safe, thrills

People enjoy feeling scared and seek the feeling out because, deep down, they know they are in no real danger, according to David Rudd, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Science at the University of Utah.

They understand the real risk of these activities is marginal, and because of this underlying awareness, they experience excitement rather than actual fear, Rudd explained. This is why people enjoy going on terrifying amusement park rides and walking through a Halloween-themed haunted house.

Most adults and teenagers are able to realistically gauge the actual level of threat that scary stimuli pose to them, and, correspondingly, their safety level. For example, watching a horror movie poses no physical threat, with the minor psychological threat being that they might have nightmares as a result of seeing it. Therefore, most viewers feel safe watching such a film, and are excited by it, not truly afraid.

Terror tolerance scale

However, some adults and most young children are unable to correctly gauge a threat, perceiving it to be higher than it is.

“The experience of ‘real’ fear is when the appraisal of threat is greater than safety,” Rudd told Life’s Little Mysteries. “People that are afraid of flying appraise the threat of a crash in an unrealistic and disproportionate fashion, since it’s actually safer than driving. As a result of the faulty appraisal, they experience fear.”

This is why children become scared so much more easily than adults. Having less experience at gauging the safety of the spooky things they see, from a gory monster costume to a talking skeleton lawn decoration. A young child may perceive harmless Halloween fun as a serious threat to his or her safety, and become truly afraid.

“Adults have habituated to risk over time and are far better at appraisal,” Rudd said. “Adults know it’s just a movie; kids can forget that fact. It’s really all about appraisal of risk — adults are much better than children. It’s something we learn over time, its part of what we refer to as maturity.”

This article was provided by Life’s Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience. 

Thank You!

Halloween thank you

Now that we’ve had a chance to catch our breath from the madness that was this past Halloween season, we want to thank everyone for all the support shown to YCHH!

This year was one of our busiest years and we want to thank everyone who booked us for haunts, props, and consulting. Thanks to everyone who visited and liked our page, and though we may be quiet for a while know that we are already starting to prepare for an even bigger and better Halloween season next year.

Stay scary my friends!

6 Tips To Get Into the Halloween Spirit Without Breaking Your Budget

With 16 days left to go til Halloween, some people are still scrambling for costume and decoration ideas. Here are 6 tips for getting into the Halloween spirit without breaking your budget:

Tip #1

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The first tip comes from blogger Kendal Perez of HassleFreeSavings.com: Off-price retailers like T.J. Maxx, Ross, or Marshalls present spooky decor in the housewares section. You can even find costume accessories and trick-or-treat bags from these retailers.

 

Tip #2

dollar store halloween

If you want to decorate on the cheap, there’s no better place to shop than the Dollar Store. In addition to skeleton cutouts and pumpkin lanterns, you can stock up on Halloween decorations and toys for parties and goody bags.

 

Tip #3

Pinterest logo

DIY decorating: If you want some great ideas on Halloween decor look no further than the collecting website Pinterest. There you can get ideas on inexpensive and creative decorations along with instructions on how to create them.

 

Tip #4

closet door

To save on costumes explore your own closet, basement, or attic. You can re-purpose existing clothing and accessorize with inexpensive extras like costume jewelry, masks, and/or makeup.

 

Tip #5

thrift store halloween

Reuse or swap costumes. Try consignment shops for gently used children or adult costumes. You may even be able to exchange your old costume from last year for credit towards your new purchase. Think about swapping with friends or family for no-cost costume options.

 

Tip #6

Halloween-Candy-Buy-Back-Dentists

Wait until the last minute to pick up Halloween candy. Though the best prices can be found after the 31st, some supermarkets start marking down candy a few days before Halloween to clear out inventory; sometimes it pays to procrastinate.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!