Buffalo Behind the Scenes: Frightworld

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — It’s officially spooky season, and for many Western New Yorkers, that means hayrides, apple picking and pumpkin patches. However, for those who enjoy a good scare, a North Buffalo attraction is happy to haunt you.

Tucked into a plaza on Hertel Avenue is a place where your wildest nightmares come to life; Frightworld boasts being America’s biggest and best indoor screampark with five haunted houses.

“Our longest running house is Grindhouse. That’s your backwoods, Texas Chainsaw Massacre style haunted house,” said General Manager, Trevor Feger. “Then we have Eerie State Asylum; that’s an insane mental institution where the patients are running crazy through. We also have Insanity. That’s our most high-tech – it’s a maze – so you have to find your way out through that house.

“Then we have Carnival Boneyard, so that’s basically a graveyard or old remnants of a carnival all put into one attraction. Then, we have Nightstalkers, which is our darkest, scariest attraction where you’re in a basement of an old, abandoned building.”

The screampark is open weekends every year from the end of September to just after Halloween. From the second you step inside, you’re in for a scare – whether that’s thanks to the seven-foot clown wandering around, or the playlist of eerie noises that boom over the speakers.

Planning for this massive attraction happens year-round.

“We start thinking of next year pretty much right now,” Feger said. “When we close the doors for the season, we say ‘what worked this year, and what do we want to accomplish next year?'”

All of the scary sets are built by Frightworld crews, with most of the props made by the detail and makeup teams.

“We really try to do everything ourselves. We are a local business,” Feger said. “Pretty much all of our staff is from right here in Buffalo. We’ve been born and bred in Buffalo, so we’re really proud that we can do all of this stuff in house ourselves.”

It takes an entire scream team to put you in the spooky spirit. Frightworld employs more than 175 people – about 150 of them being scare actors.

“I recently switched over to clowning – this is my first year,” said scare actor, Katie Colby. “I used to be a doll in Grindhouse.”

Colby has been a scare actor at Frightworld for almost 10 years after auditioning right out of high school.

“My favorite part is just being able to scare people. It’s really a lot of fun. You get to act, you get in the moment with adrenaline pumping,” she said. “I really love when I scare people so bad that they domino. You get a big group, and they get so scared that they all knock over.”

It takes time to look scary good. Typically, scare actors arrive about an hour before doors open. From there, it’s what the workers call ‘controlled chaos.’ As some get into costume, others get their makeup done before heading to the blood and dirt corner for final gore and grime. Then, the haunted hours begin.

“A lot of people don’t realize how much work goes into it,” Feger said.

Frightworld started out as a backyard Halloween party more than two decades ago. Each year, it has grown a little bit bigger into what it is today.

“When you think of Halloween, you do think of Frightworld,” Colby said.

And that’s something the screampark is proud of.

“We all love doing it. We all love Halloween,” Feger said. “That’s why we’re here – to bring Buffalo the best show possible, and everyone is so passionate about what they do.”

If you have an idea where we should go behind the scenes next, email us at [email protected].

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Marlee Tuskes is an award-winning anchor and reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2019. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter.

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