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March 19, 2010

Scream break: Raycliff Manor’s spooks return for spring fling

By Joe Hadsall

jhadsall@joplinglobe.com

The ghouls and ghosts who haunt Raycliff Manor every Halloween return in March for a final spring fling. “Ghouls Gone Wild” is a one-weekend spring break event at the haunted house. — an encore performance of last year’s haunting season.

But for the actors who dress up, it’s sort of a family reunion.

“We have school teachers, firefighters, employees of Leggett & Platt, you name a background, we have it,” said owner Kelly Allen of the actors who portray our worst fears and nightmares. “We bring a group of people together who probably wouldn’t ever cross paths and build a family. You wouldn’t believe some of the connections we have.”

For those who haven’t walked through the dank halls and rustic rooms of the manor: The story deals with Dr. Raycliff, owner of the old mansion. The mad scientist found a way to extract fear from his victims and display them as trophies.

A second attraction takes place in the nearby Raycliff Carriage House, where Professor Walter Widget stumbled on the equipment that Dr. Raycliff used in his experiments.

Cast director Becki Gooch said the two are high-startle, low-gore attractions — meaning that the cast knows how to scare the tar out of you without showing you a lot of hacked and slashed bloody bits.

“Most around us use gore,” Gooch said. “We’re able to scare without a lot of guts. We rely on our actors.



Scare school

In fact, in addition to all the safety procedures actors consider, they have to deal with two big rules: No “boos,” no “rawrs.” Allen said he can’t stand to hear those two things come from actors.

Actors go through a lengthy training program before they take the “stage,” Allen said. They review safety procedures, but also study the art of the fright.

Everything is covered, from the way scares are initiated to a fright’s method of escape. Actors are taught how to size people up as they approach — some might call for laying it on harshly, others might need to be handled with kid gloves (participants can ask for a toned down version, in case they are too nervous).

“Our training program guarantees actors’ safety and the safety of people going through,” Allen said. “It delves into the whole psychology of fear, how it works and the type of deliveries and reactions, which are up close and which are more distant.”

Actors have to be 18 or older to work at Raycliff Manor, Allen said.



Next season

The spring attraction is in its third year, Allen said. Previously named “Scream Break,” Raycliff Manor changed it to “Ghouls Gone Wild” after a similarly named haunted house in Utah issued a spooky cease-and-desist order.

The spring event serves as an encore performance of what the attraction featured last Halloween. After that, staff members get busy planning and renovating the manor for next year’s screams.

“This is for people who didn’t make it last year, or those who want to see it again,” Allen. “This is their chance to see what we did last fall, then we change it up.”

Cutting-edge equipment is used inside, including CGI effects and animatronics.

Every room is elaborately decorated to painstaking detail, Allen said. The living room looks like a living room, the kitchen looks like a kitchen -- it’s like patrons are on the set of a horror movie, he said.

Gooch said such a similar, high-end haunting experience can’t be found until you travel to Kansas City or St. Louis. The manor provides a unique, theatric experience that’s fun for participants and actors.

“There’s nothing else around here at our level,” Gooch said. “I do a lot of community theater, and that is all scripted. This is improv, and rather than getting applause, we

get screams.

“Those are different reactions, but just as rewarding to the actors.”





Want to go?

Raycliff Manor will be open from 7 to 11 p.m. today and Saturday. It is located at 4706 Gateway Drive in Joplin, about 3 miles south of I-44 on Range Line Road.

Cost: $15 for admission into both of the manor’s attractions, Raycliff Manor and Carriage House.

Details: 417-624-1414.



Got blood?

The spooks at Raycliff Manor say they are a high-startle, low-gore kind of operation. However, there is a little blood involved.

People who donate blood at the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks’ Joplin Donor Center, inside Northpark Mall, receive a $2 discount on admission to both Raycliff Manor attractions.

Details: 479-253-7887, 417-626-8323.

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