[ WEEKEND ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kelli Mashon, left, and Brandon Thompson delight in scaring visitors at "Shockhouse: Terror in the Mansion."
Holiday scares
at the Blaisdell
The Shockhouse may have finally found a regular space to spook its guests every year.
"Shockhouse: Terror in the Mansion"
Where: Hawaii Suites, first floor of the Blaisdell Center
When: 6 p.m. today through Sunday, and Wednesday and Thursday (repeats next Friday and Saturday)
Tickets: $7.50 adults, $4 children 4 to 12 years of age and free to keiki 3 and under -- available only at the Blaisdell box office, starting at 5:30 p.m. each day of the event
Call: 593-8333
From the Ala Moana Center in 1999 to Aloha Tower Marketplace last year, this third Shockhouse event will take place in the formerly benign confines of the Blaisdell Center. And as the transformation began Tuesday, it certainly looked like it had the potential to be -- yes -- BIGGER and SCARIER!
With a giant, inflated mummy and large masks beckoning people to come inside, the haunted house that promoter Tom Moffatt, Alan Arato and Ric McCall of Act One Theater Design built will boast more technical and lighting effects, set props and designed backdrops and, of course, gruesome creatures to make it an especially frightful Halloween. (The Shockhouse was open to guests starting last evening.)
"The event itself was getting bigger," Arato said, "and with more parking being available and the all-round accessibility of the Blaisdell Center, it was really ideal for us to do it here."
Two additional things will be happening around the Shockhouse: An outdoor "Spooky Scooter Graveyard" keiki photo area to get those always-cherished holiday snaps and, on Halloween night itself, an indoor mega-dance party called "Get Freaky!" will be a-thumping the night away right next to the event, starting at 9 p.m. (Partygoers will be able to take in the Shockhouse as well as part of its own admission price.)
With a larger space to play in, Arato and McCall were inspired to add four more "scare-reas" to the Shockhouse. Now, besides the Gruesome Graveyard!, the Living Dead Lava Tube!, the Mad, Mad Doctor's Room!, the Dungeon of Doom! and Armageddon itself (well, actually a Graffiti Wall of Chaos!), there'll be a Dark Ninja Room, The Underworld, The Swamp and, gulp, The Torture Chamber.
"The Shockhouse is double the size this year," Arato said, "so it'll make for a longer 'ride' through the place."
With a core group of around 25 actors in makeup and costume scaring up the place, McCall promises some "new, gory creations" to interact with.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kelli Mashon at "Shockhouse: Terror in the Mansion."
And Arato promises that the entrance into the Shockhouse "will be more inviting."
"It was so scary last year that people had to be pushed through at first," he said.
But, of course, everyone involved will be mindful of keeping it fun, with the occasional scare.
"It'll be wheelchair-accessible and we'll tone it down for the children -- but, otherwise, we're going to go full-force.
"And we guarantee," Arato said with some glee, "all of your senses will be attacked!"
Eeeeeeeeeee!!
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