|
Ghouls, goblins, mind-altering vortexes and even Freddy Krueger would not be dampened by severe storms in September, said Christy Hudson, the owner of the new Benton’s Haunted Attractions.  Haley Hudson of Alexander touches up her artwork in the clown room of Benton’s Haunted Attraction house at 703 W. South St. in Benton. The haunted house opens on Oct. 9 for $10, is wheelchair accessible and offers a Sunday “light fright” for small children.
Hudson, who will open the doors to the business at 703 W. South St. on Oct. 9, said the haunted house was close to not opening at all.
“Since Hurricane Gustav, we had to tear almost everything out,” she said. “We had three rooms already done when we found it flooded ... up to seven inches in some parts of the building.”
Torrential rains resulting from hurricanes Gustav and Ike worked their way through Saline County in September and caused severe flooding in numerous Central Arkansas areas, including Benton. Hudson said after she rented the building in August, she began planning and even decorated three rooms to open her own haunted house. When she opened the doors in early September, water poured out, carrying many of her decorations, Hudson said.
“Stuff started floating out,” she said. “We worked day and night and put in a lot of work to clean it up. It took a few weeks to dry the floors, clean up the mold and reseal areas.”
Hudson, who recently found out she is allergic to mold, nonetheless bleached the moldy walls and started back on accomplishing her goal to open her first haunted house. The house, which is entirely family-run, was originally scheduled to open Thursday, but because of a death in the family,the opening has been postponed to Oct. 9.
Despite proclaiming that she doesn’t like “horror movies,” she said her love for haunted houses began when she volunteered for the Junior Chamber of Commerce in Little Rock. She then volunteered her time for several other organizations projects or friends’ haunted houses, but always wanted to create her own.
“Off and on I have worked 9 or 10 years in haunted houses,” Hudson said. “When I worked for the Jaycees as a teenager, I loved to decorate and I loved coming up with new ideas. I just always thought it was a lot of fun. I love the expressions on people’s faces when they get scared in a haunted house.”
Safety is another important goal of Hudson. She said it didn’t take her long to contact the Benton Fire Department for an inspection.
“I want to make sure everything is safe,” she said. “[Benton Fire Marshal] Bruce Armstrong came out and told us what we could and could not have. He came back, and I think he was impressed. He has to make one more visit to ensure everything, but we have already been approved. He even said he can’t wait to bring his family through it.”
Her passion and safety concerns are what Hudson hopes will turn her first year into an annual event. With 16 rooms of different “scare tactics” and her family sharing in the passion, she said it should be fun for all ages. Dark tunnels, a funeral, graveyard, a “come-to-life” extreme doll room, a unique “dot” room, clown room, ceilings that drop and a balance-altering Vortex tunnel is sure to please people, she said. Freddy Krueger of “Nightmare on Elm Street” and Jason Voorhees of “Friday the 13th” movies are also expected to “suddenly” appear.
Even Hudson’s mother is set to play a piano left in the building during the funeral scene. Her daughter Haley even gave up her favorite dolls, including a Princess Diana doll, to use in the haunted house.
The cost is $10 at the door, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Mary Williams Masonic Lodge in Little Rock. Benton’s Haunted Attractions is wheelchair-accessible “up to 30-inches and manual only” and will also offer a Sunday “Light Fright” for young children. Business hours are from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Thursdays, from 7 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
More information is available at www.myspace.com/-Bentonhauntedattractions or by calling 920-2677.
|
Razorbacks
