Zombie ballerinas dancing to “Thriller” greet visitors to The Haunting, a haunted house in Phoenix.
A mental health patient with fully prosthetic eye sockets lurks around the entrance to the insane asylum. Down the corridor, Captain Jack Sparrow wanders with guests through scenes from the “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Undergraduate Student Government on the Tempe campus is promoting The Haunting on Bell Road and 29th Avenue in Phoenix through flyers and signs to help raise money for local charities, said Tina Mounlavongsy, USG vice president of services. Thirty percent of the proceeds from the haunted house will go to four local charities.
“We’re not spending students’ money on it, so we thought, ‘Why not help out a good cause?’” Mounlavongsy said.
The house is in its second year in the Valley, and this is the first time it has partnered with Future for Kids, Helping Hands for Freedom, Catalyst Arts Academy and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, said Rodney Smith, the president and founder of Future for Kids.
Future for Kids, with offices in Scottsdale, is providing the promotional materials at ASU, and Smith said the goal is to raise $40,000 to be split among the charities.
Future for Kids provides after-school and summer programs for kids from first grade through high school who spend five or more hours at home unsupervised. The organization has helped about 129,000 kids in the course of 20 years, he said.
Smith said he asked Tempe’s USG for support because of the positive relationship he has had with students in the past.
Through the years, about 60 ASU students have interned with Future for Kids at elementary schools and community centers.
The organization has also partnered with ASU’s sports department and Dennis Erickson, the head football coach, to put on All Star Multi-Sports Clinics during the summer for kids as well.
Helping Hands for Freedom is a Valley organization that supports military families who have lost loved ones in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Catalyst Arts Academy in Phoenix encourages young artists to use their skills to benefit other charities.
The Catalyst Arts Academy coordinated the dancers who performed as zombies from their own studio and from eight others, Smith said.
Helping Hands for Freedom and Future for Kids both provided behind-the-scenes volunteers, Smith said.
Smith said the Susan G. Komen foundation was included because October is breast cancer awareness month and their share of the donated funds will go to the Phoenix chapter of the foundation.
Jess Acridge, owner of The Haunting, said he worked as the general manager for Rawhide, and his experience developing a ghost town there inspired The Haunting, a place that “incorporates all the elements of Halloween.”
He started the house with sets from the Rocky Point Haunted House in Utah, he said. The haunted house in Utah was rated one of the top five haunted houses in the nation until it closed two years ago, he said.
“Anybody can scare you with gore,” Acridge said. But he said he would rather people enjoy the scenes reminiscent of Disney’s Haunted Mansion.
“We’re not going to throw blood in your face,” Acridge said. “But we’re as scary as anyone else.”
Rounding the final corner, even the tour guides flinch at the sound of chain saws roaring in the darkness.
The haunted house hired Dearing Acting Studio to train the cast of 70 volunteers, studio founder Matt Dearing said. Dearing graduated from ASU in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in photography and filmmaking.
Sheryl Floyd, the head make-up artist, said seven make-up artists work for two hours on the cast and dance team of 100 people. She said the haunted house doesn’t use latex masks or black robes.
“Everyone is in full costume,” she said.
The Haunting is open from 7 p.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays. The house has been open since Sept. 24 and will run through Halloween. Tickets are $15 with a Sun Card or for those under 21. It is $18 for those 21 and over.
Reach the reporter at mary.shinn@asu.edu
