School of Shock
How do you take a nice, normal soul and turn her into an other-worldly scoundrel? Why, send her to Scare School, of course!
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First rule of Scare School: Don’t touch anyone.
Second rule of Scare School: Don’t say “BOO!”
Those who practice the art of scaring live and breathe by a different set of rules. Good thing that for the launch of Festival of Fear, Wet ‘n’ Wild Hawaii’s allnew Halloween experience, they called in the experts.
“People all think that they know what scares people, and what’s really ironic is that the thing that they think scares the most is what scares the least,” says Lynton V. Harris, chairman, CEO and creative director of The Sudden Impact! Entertainment Company.
Harris and his company are known as the best in interactive scare attractions, including Madison “Scare” Garden in New York, Vegoose music and art fest in Las Vegas, and live experiences based on the movies Saw, The Mummy, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Terminator, Night at the Museum and Van Helsing that have toured in Australia, the UK, Malaysia, Mexico and Shanghai.
“When we first started out (in 1996 with Madison “Scare” Garden), I went all around the U.S. and looked at haunted houses to figure out something that’s different, cool, better. And one of the things I learned very early on is that you can’t scare everybody. In fact, you probably have more of a chance of looking stupid than you do of being successful,” Harris says.
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For this newest project, Harris brought in trained actor Dominic McChesney, who himself is fresh off another scare show in Montreal. After sending out a local casting call, McChesney put 48 fresh victims from all walks and ages of life through their paces in a one-week crash course on proper fright etiquette.
“We just teach them how to know themselves and their performance so they know how to give the right amount,” says McChesney about the fine line that separates the petrifying from the pathetic. “For instance, if a child is crying, it’s pointless trying to scare them. All you’re going to end up with is an angry parent. And don’t always assume that the person who’s going to scream is the little girl. Sometimes it can be the big guy - I’ve seen enough big guys running screaming and enough little girls shrugging their shoulders unfazed.”
Every night one week prior to the first show Scare School students endure three hours of boot camp, learning tactics that will enhance their fright powers. Drills include weaving in and out of crowds without touching a soul; walking inside a circle of people with eyes closed and reacting to whomever crosses their path; projecting their voices to achieve maximum shock value and, Harris’s favorite technique, being scary without saying a word.
“All of sudden you’ve got this experience that’s very hard to describe. There’s nothing gory, there’s nothing touching you and there’s no audio. It’s surprising to people that that could make you jump,” he shares.
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“Scaring is fun,” agrees Ronney Reddig, one of Scare School’s scholars. Originally from Los Angeles, Reddig grew up around the many theme-adventure parks of Southern California. He’s even worked as a clown for Knott’s Berry Farm’s annual Knott’s Scary Farm event, an experience he says left him a little skeptical of signing up for Scare School.
“There, you don’t go through a school. They tell you this is where you’re going to work, you come up with your own scares and that’s it,” he explains. “But here, they teach you the different skills to use to scare someone, and it’s great.
“The whole school in general has really brought everyone together. We’ve come from all different places and have formed new friendships to become a family, and now we’re gonna scare together.”
The cousin Marilyn of this Munster clan is veteran actress Laura Hammond, better known as “Ariel” to her classmates. You see, Hammond is a former Disney princess, having performed as Belle, the Little Mermaid and Mary Poppins at Walt Disney World Orlando and Disneyland Hong Kong for seven years prior to moving to Hawaii earlier this month.
“I’m used to being happy and smiling and taking pictures with people, and now I’m going to be scaring people, pale and bloody,” the Illinois native says with a glint of nervousness in her eyes. Or is that a hint of twisted glee?
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“It’ll be so exciting to see people’s reactions, because they’re all going to be different,” she continues. “That just makes me want to perform even more, to find out what kind of reaction I can get out of this group.”
Another student ready to put his knowledge to the test is Liavaa Atuatasi.
“To have the opportunity to scare my dad ... it’s gonna be on!” says the local boy from Kahuku. “It’s gonna be hard, though, he doesn’t get scared. He swims with sharks. Go figure.”
Atuatasi is one of many in this cast of characters who has no formal acting experience to speak of. His expertise is on another stage, the sports arena, having played football in high school, college and professionally for the San Diego Shockwaves arena football team. He returned to Hawaii at the start of this year and found work as a lifeguard at Wet ‘n’ Wild Hawaii.
“Tell you the truth, this is harder than football practice,” he admits. “Also, in football we get pads on; nobody can see you with your helmet on. Here, they’re going be able to see my face, even though I get makeup on. The most rewarding part of it is gonna be when we get our first scare.”
“And once this is all over, you’re gonna be waiting 11 whole months to get it going again,” Reddig promises.
Judging by the shrieks from the unsuspecting Festival of Fear guests at a sneak-peek showing Oct. 9, they’ll be baaaaack next year.
“It’s spooky, it’s artistic and then quiet, but it’s very scary. I think it’s totally different, and it’s nice to be able to provide a product that’s completely unique to Hawaii,” says Takuya Ohki, general manager of Wet ‘n’ Wild Hawaii.
So come one, come all to the Festival of Fear, now open to the public from 7 to 11 Friday and Saturday nights through Halloween. Those brave enough can make their way through three spine-tingling attractions. Water rides Tornado, Island Racers and Raging River also will be open for nighttime riding, and Scare Zones will be positioned throughout the park to keep hearts pumping.
“You want to entertain, you want to get a few scares and have a bit of a laugh,” warns Harris with a grin. “We’re the custodians of this event - to start it, to launch it - and it’s not a responsibility that we take lightly ... Not to mention we’d love to come back to Hawaii anytime!”
For tickets, group discounts or more information, visit: www.wetnwildhawaii.com.
Admission is $24.99 general, $19.99 with discount coupons available online as well as at Burger King and KFC Hawaii restaurants islandwide. A buy-one-getone-free entry will be available during college night Thursday, Oct. 29.
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