Boo! After 20 years, Frightland still thrills
When a newspaper photographer heads out for a shoot, the only bodily fluid they expect to encounter is perhaps a little sweat -- and it's usually their own.
That wasn't the case last weekend when The News Journal stopped by Frightland, the terrifying haunted attraction near Middletown that's celebrating its 20th anniversary as a scream-starter.
Sure, our photographer saw plenty of fake blood as he hid in the shadows waiting to get the perfect frightful photograph. But he wasn't expecting the handful of people who either vomited or, um, wet their pants.
The word "fright" is in their name for good reason, and it's why Frightland is still Delaware's go-to haunted attraction, drawing up to 20,000 people each fall.
"If that happens, we know we've gotten to them pretty good," says Frightland co-founder and co-owner Nick Ferrara, whose family owns the 1,300-acre plot that includes the 80-acre Frightland site. "Our goal is not to scare you to death, but it certainly is to scare the crap out of you."
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Security workers are lurking in the darkness, along with 53 video cameras that capture any and all incidents. So when a teenage girl got sick last weekend, workers were able to sweep in for mop-up duty to ensure the next guests didn't enter a real horror scene.
In addition to Frightland's own eight attractions, there are plenty other haunts in Delaware angling for your boo bucks. (Don't laugh off Halloween as a big business. The National Retail Federation reports that Americans spent about $6.9 billion in total on the holiday last year.)
Upstate, smaller haunts include the Hockessin Haunted House (Oct. 21-Oct. 29) and Ghosts in the Graveyard at Wilmington's Old Swedes Church (Oct. 15-Oct. 22) with limited openings available for Fort Delaware State Park's Paranormal Adventures.
But downstate is where the real action is.
Georgetown's Screams at the Beach, Wyoming's Wicked Woods and Laurel's Slaughter House Farm and Nightmare's Haunted House are all up and running this weekend with Laurel Volunteer Fire Department's annual Cemetery House opening its doors for the first time next Friday.
At Frightland, some of the scares aren't the only things that are new.
The attraction, which looms over Del. 1 thanks to its iconic skull silo, has unveiled its first-ever VIP season Frightpass. For $149, freaked-out fans can visit Frightland any night they are open and stay as along as they please. (Or until they need to change their Pampers.)
Debbie Hall, Frightland general manager, has been there since its "peaceful" opening year when she worked as a greeter. Now the Smyrna resident hires and manages the 200 to 250 "ghouls" and staff that allow them to pull off the site's controlled chaos.
Even though she has 20 years of experience, each year there is plenty of new blood on staff (pun intended), making each year a new adventure.
"I'm surprised we pull it off every year. Especially with the new hires, I'm thinking, 'We're not going to make it. It's not going to work,'" says Hall, who sometimes works more than 70 hours a week on peak weekends. "And then we open and it's amazing how they all pull together."
Good luck trying to categorize the thousands of monsters, ticket takers, parking attendants and security personnel that have worked at Frightland over the years. Each year is a new Halloween hodgepodge.
"They come from all walks of life. Some are here because they are into the horror genre and some are here because they have no place else to go," she adds. "We have professionals, we have non-professionals. We have young ones who just got out of school and don't have a job and we have old guys like me who are hanging around for Christmas money."
Speaking of money, plenty of it goes to charity each year. It's been part of the Frightland mission from the beginning.
In their first year, a portion of the proceeds went to the American Cancer Society. But when Ferrara's daughter Natalia was diagnosed with leukemia as a young girl in Frightland's second year -- she is now 22 and cancer-free -- he founded the Leukemia Research Foundation of Delaware. Now, a portion of all ticket sales and 100 percent of parking proceeds benefit the foundation.
Over its two decades, Frightland has donated at least $500,000 to fight cancer in the state, estimates Ferrara, who lives nearby in Middletown.
Frightland exploded in popularity and morphed into arguably the state's finest haunted attraction after Frightland co-owner Richard Piendak befriended Phil Miller, Frightland's creative director, at the annual TransWorld Halloween & Attractions Show -- the industry's largest convention.
Soon, the handyman, known as the MacGyver of Frightland for his uncanny ability to fix and create just about anything, was in Delaware working his magic.
More time and effort was put into the project and word-of-mouth led to not only more customers but more publicity. And not just here in Delaware. The Travel Channel did a report from Frightland, which has drawn write-ups from Forbes magazine and The Huffington Post over the years.
Miller turns his back on already-established Halloween characters like Freddy Krueger or Rick Grimes from "The Walking Dead." For him, it's all about originality, and coming up with new concepts. "We try to make them come true," says Miller, who lives in New Jersey.
While Millers' intricate haunts survived last week's wet preview weekend, all eyes are on this weekend's official opening.
For the Frightland crew, they are a little less worried about their ghosts than Matthew -- Hurricane Matthew. The storm is barreling north along the East Coast, meaning a wave of rain and wind could be headed for the screamatorium.
"We'll be watching that real closely," says Frightland marketing manager Kyle McMahon.
Just this past summer, storms ripped the roof off a side building, blowing it hundreds of feet away into a cornfield, and also took down a tree in "Ravenwood Cemetery."
As Matthew creeps around the corner, guests and Frightland organizers alike will be holding their breath and facing their fears.
Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).
IF YOU GO
What: Frightland
When: Select days starting Friday and running through Nov. 5
Where: 309 Port Penn Road, near Middletown
Cost: $20-$149
Information: frightland.com
DELAWARE HAUNTED HALLOWEEN CALENDAR
Nightmare's Haunted House, 10912 County Seat Road, Laurel. $13. Through Oct. 31. nightmareshauntedhouse.info
Paranormal Adventures, Fort Delaware State Park, 45 Clinton St., Delaware City. Runs through Oct. 29. destateparks.com/park/fort-delaware
Screams at the Beach, 22518 Lewes-Georgetown Highway, near Georgetown. $25-$35. Through Oct. 30. screamsatthebeach.com
Slaughter House Farm, 32076 Gordy Road, Laurel. $10. Through Oct 31. slaughterhousefarm.org
Wicked Woods, 2621 Sandy Bend Road, Wyoming. $15. Through Oct 30. wickedrwestern.com
Opening Oct. 14. Cemetery House, Laurel Volunteer Fire Department, 205 W. 10th St., Laurel. $10 or $9 with a canned good. Through Oct. 29. facebook.com/cemeteryhouse
Opening Oct. 15. Ghosts in the Graveyard, Old Swedes Church, 606 N. Church St., Wilmington. $10 ($6 students). Runs through Oct. 22. Reservations required via 652-5629.
Opening Oct. 21. Hockessin Haunted House, 19 Nathalie Drive, Hockessin. $5. Through Oct. 29. hockessinhauntedhouse.org