"Home Is Where The Haunt Is" An Interview With Steve Hickman Of The Terror Syndicate
By Rick Whitlow
Home Haunts - Usually referred to as a display
where a person decorates their yard, or their house, sometimes even creating amateur "haunted houses"
at their estates.
One man is setting a new standard in 'Home Haunts'. Steve Hickman, of Terror Syndicate Productions
has created many elaborate and original props
for his home, and even
creates a haunted house each
year at his home entitled, "Dark Works". He puts alot of effort into his creations, and it shows.
Recently, I had the chance to ask Steve some questions regarding the Terror Syndicate, it's
beginnings, and the current works of this talented people who work together to
bring 'Dark Works' to life.
Read on and you'll discover how Terror Syndicate came to be, as well as
get a chance to see many of the props they've built over the years.
HauntSearch: First, what is it that your group 'The Terror
Syndicate' does? Terror Syndicate: The Terror Syndicate is home haunting at its extreme.
Dark Works is much more than a yard haunt yet not many
steps below a commercial attraction. We have also
written a series of Home Haunter's
Prop Building
Handbooks, created a new how-to video series, composed
2 Dark Soundscape cds and operate GraveStalkers. HS: How many people are involved in 'The Terror
Syndicate'? TS: That a hard question to answer. I do most of the
production work year round. When the season gets
closer I have a number of people who help build.
When
Dark Works is running a crew of 5 people operate
it.
HS: How many years have you been operating the 'home
haunts'? TS: This will be our 4th year as a walk-through style
haunt. Before that it was smaller displays only on
Halloween night. HS: What interested you in building props, and creating
a
'home haunt'?
TS: I started when I was a kid living at home with my
parents. My dad and I would set up some really cool
scares. Now being married and in my own house the
madness just went wild! The Internet sparked the old
but not forgotten memories of Halloweens past. It's an
addiction!
HS: How long did it take you to refine your skills in prop
making? TS: I am always learning but being creative and artistic
from the start helps. Not to mention a remodeling
contractor. HS: Monster Mud, a mixture used all over the industry
now, how did you come up with that, and what does it
consist of? TS: It all started when we met the strange souls at The
Haunted Chamber and Castle Blood! There it was lurking
in the dark, the first joint compound/paint and burlap
prop we ever saw. It was then that the "creative
beast" was unleashed that now terrorizes The Terror
Syndicate.
When we first named the joint compound/paint mixture
in '98 everybody was in awe of the whole concept. But
"Monster Mud" has been used for many years by pro
haunts and also widely used in the remodeling
industry. It provides a great medium for sculpting
cloth over prop forms and adds interesting texture to
walls, ceilings, columns, posts and more. Nothing can
be easier and give such great results for a low cost,
locally found material, that you can mix yourself. HS: For those who don't know,
you create your own 'home' haunted house every year using many fo the props that you build. Where is your 'haunt' located? TS: We are just outside of Pittsburgh, PA HS: Do you charge admission? TS: No and never will as long as we are a "home haunt". HS: What have some of your previous themes been? TS: We never do themes. Dark Works is just what is says a
collection of dark works. Style wise though we stay
away from guts and gore and steer more toward death
and decay.
HS: How early in the year do you begin planning for the
upcoming season? TS: Planning starts around December through February.
Building runs from March Thru Sept. HS: How much is spent every year building props approximately? TS: I try not to think about it. I know its several
thousand. HS: How long does Dark Works take to set up? TS: 3-4 months is normal. I like to have the walls up
early and pay more attention to prop building and
placement.
HS: Where on your property is the haunt setup? TS: The past three years we set up mainly under our large
deck. This year we are building Dark Works as a free
standing modular haunt on our concrete driveway. HS: How many people on average go through Dark Works
each
year? TS: About 250 or so. I like to keep Dark Works low profile and
keep the neighbors on my good side. I try to avoid
local news coverage like its the West Nile Virus! HS: How long does it take to go through the haunt? TS: Average time depending on the guest, 3-5 minutes.
HS: You also offer unfinished foam decor pieces for
making
any room a little bit creepier...would you like to
elaborate on that? TS: Our GraveStalkers product line started when we where
pouring our own urethane foam skulls. Local haunters
where buying them like crazy. We designed 6 addition
profiles and created the GraveStalkers division of
TerrorSyndicate.com. The product line later increased
with our Fog Heads and Prop Hands. HS:What are some of the most popular props, according
to
your visitors? TS: Everyone loves the Monster Mud props! Some of the
static Monster Mud props located inside the haunt look so live
like people think they are live actors. HS:Do you ever sell completed props, or make custom
props
for clients? TS: Sure, I do both all the time. I sell off props each spring
from the previous season to make room for new designs.
HS: What are some of the new props, if any for this year,
can you say? TS: Wow! There are some very cool ones. Four new pneumatic
props, more gargoyles, new corpse props, new MM props,
Dark Works itself is now longer and more complex. HS: In the next 5-10 years, do you think TSP will still
be
doing elaborate yard/home displays, or do you think
there's a possibility of going one step higher and
getting a building and becoming a full scale
professional haunted attraction?
TS: The possibility is always there. It's a matter of
whether the money will be! I would love to own a
building to setup Dark Works as a pro attraction. Work
on it year round, have private tours off season, and
open all of Oct. The question is do I want to be
bothered with the insurance, advertising, permits,
inspections, etc.
HS: What advice would you give to someone who wants to
start building props and/or start a home haunt? TS: Start small and add on each year as you learn and get
more comfortable. It's better to build only a few new
props paying attention to detail, than to rush through
too many props just to fill space. -[HS]-
For more information on Terror Syndicate, please visit their website at www.terrorsyndicate.com
