By Dustin Shipman
dshipman@joplinglobe.com
With spring arriving today, Halloween might not be on too many people’s radars yet.
But for those looking for a little spooky fun without the seven-month wait can get their thrills this weekend at Raycliff Manor, 4706 Gateway Drive.
The spookhouse will present the second and final weekend of “Ghouls Gone Wild” today and Saturday in their newly refurbished building located three miles south of I-44 off of Range Line Road.
While the idea of holding a spookhouse in March might seem odd, there’s a method to Raycliff Manor co-owner Kelly Allen’s madness.
“Our target audience has sort of grown and the interest in things like horror and fright has extended itself as well,” Allen said. “People seem to be looking for a release right now. Historically in tough times, people enjoy getting sort of outside of their everyday reality and this gives them that chance.”
Allen said that the look of the haunted house will be different than what visitors experienced on Halloween.
“We have completely revamped the front of the building to make it look like a manor,” he said. “We hired a company that builds attractions, amusement parks and miniature golf courses. If you were to drive by now you wouldn’t recognize the place.”
Allen said the building has been transformed from a castle theme to resemble the Norman Bates house from Hitchcock’s classic thriller “Psycho,” although it is not an exact reproduction.
“This is permanent. We had a crane come in and drop the tower on and put shutters on the house,” he said. “People that went through this last weekend were just raving about it and we have actors moved around and coming from different directions because we didn’t want people to feel like they were going to the same show.”
Even more changes are in store for visitors next Halloween.
“We are trying to take their suspension of disbelief to an all new level,” Allen said. “They are not only entering a manor but they begin to feel as if they have entered the story.”
Along with giving the visitors a good scare, there is also a focus on introducing them to a sense of myth, legend and folklore that is sometimes frightening and sometimes funny.
“We have had people chickening out and it’s not even Halloween season. They walk in the front and come right back out again,” Allen said. “Our philosophy is if you can’t make them scream, then make them laugh.”
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