High tech haunted house takes scares to new level with personalization
Social media adds to the scare factor
PHOENIX - We're hurtling toward Halloween, and the screams can be heard all over, especially at these infamously scary haunted houses that rise each October.
The scariest of scary haunted houses include the Beast Haunted House in Kansas City, MO with five stories of fright and a massive werewolf forest, the Haunting of Lemp Brewery, where guests travel deep into the caverns and caves of an abandoned 1880s brewery, and the Headless Horseman in upstate New York, where a haunted hay ride takes a murderous turn.
Then there's The Nest in Chandler, Arizona. The house tells the story of the state's most notorious serial killer Jacob Kell. Kell was a teenager who butchered more than 30 people during the 1940s. He's said to still haunt the grounds today.
Inside, you'll roam through the house where he grew up and the slaughterhouse where he worked.
"We recreated every room inside that house," said Creator Glenn. "We had to make it just the way we thought it would be."
But this year, Rea puts you in the middle of Kell's 50,000 square feet of fear like never before.
"It's really gory, really scary, really advanced," Rea said.
For the first time, the Nest is using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which allows each guest to have a completely different experience that is so personalized, the ghosts call you by name.
When guests first enter, they are given ID tags.
"A teleprompter pops up your name and so we can talk to you as you're going through the haunt by name," Rea said.
With dozens of cameras and multiple control rooms, Rea says it's the first haunt of its kind in the country to provide this high-tech experience.
"Everybody in the room, it will throw different pictures from their Facebook and throw them up," he said.
And when you creep into the graveyard?
"Depending on how you sign in, it will actually use your birth date and today's date as your death date," Rea said.
He says you'll find five or six scares in each room, and they're not for the faint of heart. Bringing Kell's hell to life can be just as intense, even for the 120 actors involved.
"I've been hit quite a few times, punched in the face, pushed," said Andrew Rountree, who has spent years working at haunted attractions. "To me, it's telling me I'm doing my job."
A job that keeps the public screaming for more.
"You would think that if people were that easily scared, maybe they wouldn't want to do something like this," Rea said. "They love it!"
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