Fright Night at the Fort
By René Hill
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Come on in: There's always a welcoming face at the entrance to Fright Night.
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Behave or you'll get barred
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Keep smiling: Don't look in the mirror
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Haunted houses are part of Hallowe'en lore.
Tonight, Volcanic Productions and the Chewstick Foundation have teamed up to create such a property, promising residents a frightening experience at Fort Hamilton.
The brains behind the Fright Night celebrations are Volcanic's Jon Legere and Chewstick's Gavin Smith.
The site will be open to youngsters between the ages of five and 12 before the house is made scarier for adults.
"I never really thought why I was so into Halloween maybe I should see a psychiatrist but I think it is [a period] that allows people to really be creative and really free up, to push creativity," said Mr. Legere, who organised the first Fright Night five years ago.
Building the haunted house had been a team effort, he said.
"We spend a week building the haunted house and a lot of people come out, I mean we have 40 volunteers this year Chewstick really did a volunteer push for us this year.
"People that we have never seen before are coming out. Each year there are new faces who just want to pick up a hammer and a ghost mask and scare people."
Killer clowns, an alien room and a Sweeney Todd booth are all planned to scare.
"[Sweeney Todd] is the guy where you go in for a haircut and come out with a mafia smile and the photo is taken," explained Mr. Legere.
In order to find the material for the project, the organisers head off to the East end.
"We go to the [L.F. Wade International] Airport dump and load up a truck. We drop off all the junk at the fort and that is usually the foundation of whatever the haunted house is," Mr. Legere added. "It is a lot of fun."
Fire Rock Dancers will perform and the life of UziMon, gunned down in Manhattan recently, will be celebrated.
"He will be carried out in a coffin," added Mr. Legere although he wouldn't go more into the funeral proceedings.
The band Rocket Queen, a Guns & Roses tribute band, will also take the stage as will The Butcha, one of New York City's top 80s dance masters.
Tickets $50, are available at www.bdatix.com and The Jackson School of Performing Arts. All proceeds from the event will support the Chewstick Foundation, a newly formed charity.
