Around Halloween time in Southeastern Massachusetts even the real estate is scary.
This year a Fall River factory, a Lakeville house, and a Taunton family manor all host frightening but fun haunted tour events, well known for their quality and popularity.
Ghoulie Manor will open for its second year at the Taunton Galleria Malls starting September 27, but it has been a popular Halloween-season event for the last 20 years.
Operator-Director Victor Bariteau said the manor opened at a home behind Fairhaven High School every Halloween season until its popularity grew too big for that venue. "We did something every year and it grew from just our front yard, then the driveway to the garage," Bariteau said. "Our last year there, we had 2,000 visitors come just within three days."
As seen on national TV
In 2012, when the manor made the transition from a home haunt to a professional haunted house, it was selected as the feature haunt for a documentary filmed by Magic Stone Productions for NBC Universal. Over 400 home haunters from across the country submitted applications for a chance to show off their haunt on national television. "Ghoulie Manor" was the ultimate winner, and the resulting documentary feature aired on the Chiller TV network.
This year's 38-room manor within a former storefront near the Regal Cinema will again represent the haunted Victorian mansion of the Goulet family, aka the “Ghoulies.” Each actor within the manor portrays a family member or someone who works for them.
"What makes us different is that we are more theatrical," Bariteau said. "We have more actors per square foot. They have lines to say, sometimes improvised."
Its features include a graveyard, a taxidermy display, a music room, a seance room and a library. Bariteau said eight rooms and two new crypts have been added this year and a “cool” new grand finale he wants to leave as a surprise.
Bariteau further sets the mood for his event with his answer to the commonly asked question as to how long the “tour” takes. "How long depends on how quickly you can run," he said.
The manor is open September 26 and 27, and October 4, 5, 11-13; 17- 20 and 24 - 30. Its opening hours may vary so it’s best to check at www.ghouliemanor.com.
First haunted house
A few miles away is the oldest of the region's haunted real estate attractions, the Lakeville Haunted House at 28 Precinct St. in Lakeville. It will open for its 22nd season, on a tour that takes visitors through dark woods to a haunted cabin at Ted Williams Camp.
Haunted House Committee Chairman Glenn Eddington said this year's event will feature new sound and three-dimensional special effects and will be open an extra weekend, earlier in October.
This year features improvements to the event's unique reception area for visitors awaiting their turn for the tour and a newly renovated commissary building where snacks and other refreshments are availables.
Eddington said the returning features among its 30-room tour will include the scary clown and Texas Chainsaw Massacre scenes, a corn maze, a vampire room and its black-out maze.
Since its first year of operation, Eddington said, it has served as a fundraiser for the Lakeville Park Department that oversees the camp and other town organizations. Last year, it drew approximately 3,000 visitors and raised $28,000 for the town and another $10,000 for scholarships.
This year's event will be open October 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26. Tickets will go on sale from 6:30 p.m.to 10:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $15 per person, with no refunds! For more information its web address is www.lakevillehauntedhouse.com.
A factory full of fright
In nearby Fall River, the Factory of Terror, 33 Pearl St., which opened in 1996, is another haunted real estate tour well-known to visitors from as far as Boston, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire.
Its background story is that it is a factory that's been idle since 1856, when 113 members of the graveyard shift died in a murderous massacre. It is actually three attractions in one. First is “Bloodsworth Dungeon", the name given to the area of the factory where the murders occurred. Second is the "4D Blackout", a frightening, darkened underground. Third is "Phobia Manor", where visitors, according to the factory web site, "will see why the relentless screams that were heard coming from the Factory weeks and months following the massacre forced the city to board up and close this massive haunted factory."
The Factory's 30 rooms of creative spookiness will open September 21. This year, it has spawned another terror factory in Worcester that also opens on the same date.
The Factory's dates open are September 21, 27 - 29 and October 4, - 6, 11 -14, 17, 18 - 20, 24 - 27, 30 and 31. "Flashlight Fright Nights" are 10 -14, 17, 24 and 31. Check the website, www.factoryofterror,com for hours and other details.
Lights, camera, vampires!
In addition to all the ghostly goings-on in the haunted houses of the region, Fall River is slated to be the location for a movie to be shot in October at the Lizzie Borden House. The movie has met with a great deal of support from the city of Fall River, including donating the use of an abandoned school for use as a set.
The move, titled “Origins,” tells the story of a 4,00-year-old vampire named Arius who is on a revenge-fueled quest to find his maker and the killer of the woman he loves. Written and directed by Sharmane Franklin Johnson, it is a prequel to a feature-length script. The produce/executive producer is Christopher Tobiaz.
The whole project is on Facebook; have a look at www.facebook.com/OriginsShortFilm.
