Theatre, terrors join forces

Gravestone Manor brings stage elements to charity haunted house

Kelly Clisham Weekender Correspondent

For most of us, these four little words conjure up delightful images of beautiful princesses, brave princes and talking animals romping through an enchanted forest on their way to living happily ever after. But for the folks at Gravestone Manor, fairy tales are no mere child’s play. For these ghoulish types, “Once upon a time …” is just the beginning of a dark and twisted journey, a journey whose end can only be found through the anxious titters, frightened screams and abject terror of the unsuspecting men, women and children who dare approach the Manor’s door. But before you condemn these sinister specters and their dark ways, you must know that they, themselves, are under a spell. Once October hits, these spirits are controlled by two demented geniuses with a nefarious plan to separate the innocent from their money and their wits.

Believe it or not, the tale of Gravestone Manor is not as terrible as it sounds. For nine years, this haunted house with a theatrical bent has opened its doors for anyone who wants to come in for a scare. The event is entirely staffed by volunteers, including head haunts Ray AnnHaigh (project coordinator) and Rob Padden (director). And while there is no doubt this menacing duo will demand cash (or major credit card) to ensure your safe passage through Gravestone’s halls, the money all goes to a good cause – in those nine years, the event has raised more than $100,000 for the United Way of Wyoming Valley.

Both AnnHaigh and Padden can trace their love of haunted houses back to their childhoods, with small-scale attractions pulled together in basements.

“I remember thinking at the time that I’d love to do this as an adult with a little bigger budget and a lot more room,” says AnnHaigh. “I had this haunted house dream my whole life.”

With that in mind, when their employer, Sallie Mae, was looking for a way to increase its United Way contribution, AnnHaigh pitched the idea for Gravestone Manor. While some had their doubts about this atypical fundraiser, Sallie Mae backed the idea and the first Gravestone Manor opened its doors in 1998 in the company’s cafeteria.

Gravestone Manor outgrew its humble beginnings, moving from the cafeteria to vacant office space on Public Square. Now, for the second year running, the haunt’s final resting place has been Trion Industries on Route 315 in Plains, which AnnHaigh says has been the best spot so far due to its convenient location and ample parking for plenty of victims, uh, guests.

With Trion generously providing year-round use of the space, Gravestone is no fly-by-night operation. Each January, the production team has a writers’ conference, with staff members pitching story ideas for the upcoming year. Once the staff chooses one, the other ideas go into a file to be saved in case of future writer’s block. With a storyline in mind, design work begins and construction starts in March or April. Padden typically holds auditions and starts rehearsing in August, getting Gravestone ready for visitors by late September.

Part haunted house, part theatrical production
While the idea of scripts, storylines and auditions may seem incongruous with a haunted house, that’s exactly what sets Gravestone Manor apart from other attractions. From the beginning, AnnHaigh was determined that the Manor would be populated by more than chainsaw-wielding madmen. So Gravestone is part haunted house, part interactive theatrical experience, with guests getting bits of the story on each stop of a 30-minute tour.

In the past, Gravestone has been home to a museum of scares, a murder trial, the American Institute of Parapsychology and a killer clown. This year’s tale invites guests into the home of frustrated children’s author Jamie Calderline. Calderline recently passed away and the guests at his funeral are mysteriously transported into his unfinished work.

“They’ll meet some old favorites from their childhood stories and some that they wished were still only in the book,” says Padden.

Though the Gravestone gang will be exploring children’s tales, guests definitely shouldn’t expect the Disney versions. The writing staff took their cues from the original work of the Brothers Grimm.

“We immediately realized we didn’t have to do much to make them really dark and really twisted,” says AnnHaigh. And far from providing a cut and dried, happily-ever-after ending, this year’s Gravestone ponders some tough questions.

“When the flesh and blood that is a man leaves this world, do his dreams die with him? Has his dream taken some sort of dark, twisted form because of his frustration?” asks AnnHaigh. “One of the biggest mysteries is what happens after we die, and we get to play with that.”

Though Gravestone Manor has been highly successful over the years (including hosting more than 700 people this past weekend), AnnHaigh finds that this combination of stage play and haunted house makes marketing the event difficult. He likens Gravestone to an “extreme Poe reading” and says that people really don’t know what to expect when walking through the door. And while Gravestone welcomes anyone who wants to haunt the halls, he feels that people who just want to show up to act crazy and bounce off the walls are missing important elements of the story.

In order to help get the word out, this year Gravestone Manor, the Haunted Woods and Night Terrors are teaming up, offering $1 off the price of admission to any guest who has visited one of the other attractions. Gravestone has also joined Brokenhart’s Asylum on the Web site www.nepahaunts.com, which features a variety of haunted attractions in the area.

Will it ever die?
And the Gravestone ghouls have already started thinking about next season. In honor of Gravestone Manor’s 10th anniversary, they are planning a writing contest and the publication of a book featuring 13 supernatural short stories by local writers.

For Padden, a theatre veteran, this unique blend of stage and scream provides its own set of challenges. Since the set is composed of nine different rooms, he can never see the whole stage. It’s his job to help the actors prepare to interact with an audience, and it’s nearly impossible to predict what people will say or do. Then there’s the issue of multiple personalities.

“One of the toughest challenges is having to direct multiple actors playing the same role,” Padden says. “This year I have nine actors playing the lead tour guide, and each of them looks at the role differently. My challenge is to make sure that each of the nine versions is within the guidelines of the main character and the most appropriate version for the actor.”

Though Gravestone is an extremely time-consuming, year-round endeavor, for the moment, Padden and AnnHaigh can’t see an October when they’re not in the Manor.

“I’m sure there will be one in the future, but I have a hard time imagining what it will be like. I imagine I’d have a big Halloween party or really decorate my yard for the season,” says Padden.

Driving home after doing set construction until midnight, AnnHaigh thought, “I can’t imagine that this will go on forever, but I can’t imagine not doing it either. It’s so much a part of my life. The four seasons are winter, spring, summer and gravestone.”

Since these two ghouls spend so much of their time creating great scares for a great cause, is there anything that chills their spines?

“Like I’m going to tell you? But going on stage and forgetting my lines comes close,” says Padden.

As for AnnHaigh? He quickly admits his fear.

“There are less than 365 set construction days before Gravestone 10 has to open. That scares me.”

 

What: Gravestone Manor

Where: Trion Industries,

1095 Route 315, Plains

When: Weekends through October 28

Hours: Fridays and Saturdays, 7-11 p.m.,

Sundays 7-9:30 p.m.

Tickets: $8

(Visa, MasterCard & Discover accepted)

Info: 570.821.6500,

www.gravestonemanor.org

(Family-friendly, but not recommended for children under 8 years of age)