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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.