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FESTIVAL
of FEAR
Feasterville, PA
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 HauntFreaks
staffers Brian and Vince met up with Doc Fright at his attraction
Festival of Fear, in Feasterville, PA. The attraction had been
located at the Somerton Spring’s Golf Center for the past
3 years but unfortunately this would be it’s last year there.
(Editor’s Note: at the time of this article, Doc has not
secured a new home for his haunt but we are keeping our finger’s
crossed). The attraction consisted of a less scary trail and a
house where the chills were intensified. Designed this way intentionally,
Doc explained. Approached by parents who would want to know if
the house was too scary for their child, Doc would explain “Yes
it is… but you can try the trail, if you survive the trail,
then you can decide whether you want to attempt the house. Most
do not make it thru the trail.”
When asked how he became involved with Haunted Attractions, Doc
explains to the guys that he’d always been involved with
horror stuff in one way or another.
“In 1999 I had done a book, Doc Fright’s Haunted Tour
of Philadelphia, the repeat of a project that had been successful
when I lived in Atlanta, selling like hotcakes for $5 a piece.
The book had not been as successful as I had hoped. At about the
same time I had done a Freddy Krueger for Bucks County Community
College, with a metal hand that shot fire…. Walking down
a hallway I spotted a girl who looked sort of familiar, and she
said ‘Oh Freddy, I’m so scared,’ so I shot her
with a ball of fire. She peed her pants, said her father owned
a haunted hayride and that she had never been so scared. Of course
not, you see a ball of fire coming at your face, you think it’s
over! So I started working at her father’s attraction, ‘Sleepy
Hollow Haunted Hayride,’ in Newtown PA.”
The following year, looking to attempt the book again, he contacted
Somerton Springs about the event they hosted and was told that
the event would not take place that year. Interest peaked, he
asked if they would consider renting the location to someone,
they said yes, and the rest is haunt history.
The building is remarkable in itself, in that it is over 200 years
old. Originally a house, it served as an inn for over 120 years.
In the late 60’s, early 70’s the house was bought
by a family, the Platt’s, and turned into a restaurant and
bar with the mini-golf course added later.
In the late 80’s, early 90’s, the restaurant was closed
down and the building sat empty until the owners decided to utilize
it for their own haunted attraction, 1997 thru 1999 . It was in
2000 that Doc contacted them and the event became “Festival
of Fear.”
The first year the attraction tingled the spines of approximately
3,000 patrons, doubling their numbers in 2001, and this year numbers
had dropped off and appeared to be along the same path as their
first year. Who can guess why the fluctuation... Were people more
inclined to seek out the safe thrill, immersing themselves in
the make believe post 9/11 (despite the vilification haunters
received from the press that year), or was it the rainy weather
that plagued northeast haunters this season, or perhaps it was
a combination of both….
In HF fashion, the guys set off thru the house with a group to
experience the attraction as it was meant to be seen before being
escorted back through for the photo opportunities.
A museum of horrors serves as the waiting room for the attraction.
Featured are items ranging from signed movie props such as a Jason
mask signed by Kane Hodder and a box from the movie “Hellraiser,”
to the Universal Monster beanie collection, to the original aforementioned
Freddy glove .
Entering the attraction, they are greeted by their “host,”
who goes over the ground rules, “Not to touch any of the
actors in a way that you would not like to be touched.”
A way of issuing the warning not to harm the actors, but not drawing
that line of distinction of telling guests that they will not
be touched as many of the attractions do. They also advise no
running, for if you slip and fall, they get to keep you…..The
story behind the house revolves around the character, Doc Fright
and it is a trip into his world, into his experiments on the human
body and psyche, into how much pain can the mind endure before
it finally gives in to the madness.
They then enter the next room, the “Mad Scientist”
room where examples of the doctor’s experiments abound with
live actors and pneumatic props, scenes of electric shock and
reanimation.
Down the hallway past their Vortex, not a walk thru, but one situated
in the wall (very Amityville or Poltergeist) an effect of swirling
fog and red light… and into the kitchen scene where one
can find fried boogers or baked lady-fingers. They entered the
bar where they met the liveliest of entertainers, the Vampire
bartender who leapt onto the bar to greet his guests with a story,
ending with the inquiry if they would like to “drink or
be drunk?” Down thru another darkened hallway, they entered
a room with a “Ghost Board,” a flash of light and
the guests silhouettes remain cast upon the wall…. Thru
several more rooms of various themes until they climbed the stairs
to the funeral parlor, where one is witness to the body in the
casket, bugs crawling in and out of it’s mouth (one of their
more prized effects). Over the jackhammer floor (very load and
vibrating) to the embalming room where small child sized coffins
are staged, and the chainsaw wielding attendant explains that
“sometimes ya gotta cut em up to get em in there!”
The house takes an average of 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
Next on to the Trail of Terror, a 5-10 minute walk thru featuring
themes such as the splatter room (3-D effect, black room with
paint splatters and black light with the attending ghoul dressed
in black spattered clothing allowing him/her to come out of nowhere),
several dark mazes, “Farmer Bob’s kitchen,”
and a cemetery scene…
The attractions are manned by an average of 20-25 paid employees
and 5-20 volunteers (depending upon how many show for an evening),
and the staff is comprised of returning veterans as well as some
startling good rookies. Talking with Chris who aids Tony in running
the attraction, the talent of their staff makes the haunt, they
could not do it without them. Brian and I met up with Shannon
and Chris one evening to “talk shop,” (Shannon was
a very enthusiastic cook in the kitchen scene of the house….
Sparing Brian because “Brian’s don’t taste good).
Look for more from Shannon in an upcoming article on women in
the haunt industry. 
Overall, it was a thoroughly entertaining night. Another plus
for those visiting Doc Fright’s is that while he does not
scrimp on quality, with a talented and enthusiastic cast as well
as custom pneumatic props throughout the house, he does not believe
in the inflated prices many of the houses have begun charging.
At the low price of $10 for a combination ticket, his event is
a bargain. We’ll be looking for Doc this season and we’ll
keep you posted a new location as soon as one becomes available.
Talent for the genre and a true calling will not allow him to
stay far from the scene for long and it’s just a matter
of time before he’ll be out there in the dark again….
Waiting for fresh meat.
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