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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2017)
4A ● APPEAL TRIBUNE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2017 Life in the Valley y sanews@salem.gannett.com 30 YEARS OF SCARES Nightmare Factory returns with ‘event’s scariest experience’ The Nightmare Factory takes place at the Oregon School for the Deaf. PHOTOS BY ANNA REED / STATESMAN JOURNAL ABBY LUSCHEI STATESMAN JOURNAL All Ed Roberts wanted to do was raise money for the Oregon School for the Deaf. His creation, the Nightmare Factory, turned into the longest-running haunted house in Oregon and the premiere scare-experience in Salem. “When I started (Nightmare Fac- tory), I had no idea that it would go on for 30 years and be as big as it is now,” Roberts explained. That first year, his goal was to raise enough money to buy clothing and oth- er items for students in need. Now, they are buying new drinking fountains, gym floors and computers for the en- tire school. Raising only a couple thou- sand dollars the first year, the Night- mare Factory has generated more than $100,000 since its start.. “The money that we raise is sub- stantial and greatly benefits the school,” Roberts said without giving an exact figure. “It has such a positive impact in more ways than one.” Nightmare Factory is not just a haunted house. It is a teaching opportu- nity, a way to keep the Oregon School for the Deaf in the public eye. “This is a job that supports and real- izes that this is more than just a haunt- ed house. It is an opportunity for the community at large to see that deaf can, they can do whatever they want,” he said. To keep the experience from becom- ing stale, staff and students come up with new ideas, characters and scenes to keep the scare-factor from fading. “Kids always want clowns because they know a lot of people are afraid of clowns. So we will set up a clown area,” said Kivo LeFevre, co-director of the Nightmare Factory. “We play off of people’s phobias.” LeFevre was in middle school when he volunteered for the opening year of the Nightmare Factory and has been on staff since. He is most proud of how drastically it changes each year. To commemorate this 30-year mile- stone, Roberts and LeFevre say staff and volunteers put together the event’s scariest experience. The specific de- tails are being kept secret. However, Roberts and LeFevre did give away that an addition to this year’s Night- mare Factory draws inspiration from the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” If a trip through the improved Night- mare Factory is not enough, there are two more frightening ways to experi- ence it. Don’t want to walk? Get strapped into a wheelchair in “Mr. Booger’s Wild Ride,” where the character Mr. Booger will take you on an extra-terrifying adventure through the factory. “Blackout” will be Nov. 3-4, where Mr. Booger’s Fun House is part of the Nightmare Factory, which will be open into the first weekend in November. The Nightmare Factory Where: Oregon School for the Deaf, 999 Locust St. NE Time: 7 to 10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 7 to 11 p.m. on Fridays-Saturdays Date: Friday-Saturday and Oct. 20-21 and 25-31. Blackout is Nov. 3-4. Cost: $15, $25 for VIP (shorter line), $10 in addition to ticket price for Z-Tag Live Zombie Infection, $10 for Scare Again (same night only), $40 for Mr. Booger’s Wild Ride. $2 off the price of a general admission ticket for groups of 20 or more. Information: Call 503-378-3825 or visit the Nightmare Factory website, nightmarefactorysalem.com participants have nothing but the dim light of a glow stick to guide them through the factory. Email Abby Luschei at alus- chei@statesmanjournal.com or on Twit- ter @abbyluschei Guests can expect to find all kind of frights inside Mr. Booger’s Fun House.
