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Sunday, September 29, 2002

By David Templeton, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

When special-effects wizard Tom Savini was offered the former Giant Eagle in the Monessen Shopping Center for his latest house of horror, guess what happened?

	Tom Savini gets "chomped" by one of the frightening drawings in the monster maze at his TerrorMania. (Robert J. Pavuchak, Post-Gazette)

Savini and crew converted it into a full-service Ghostly Store -- a Giant Ogre, a Chop 'N' Deprave, a veritable Rudeland. It's a place where you dare not venture too close to the meat case.

"This is where I used to buy lettuce," Paula Brandt, Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services spokeswoman, said as we walked through the house of horrors and passed a skeleton in jail. I figured the poor thing lost its skeleton key.

Welcome to "TerrorMania! a Haunted Attraction" -- a nightmare that overloads the senses with 17,500 square feet of high-octane doom and gloom.

TerrorMania was constructed with 250 gallons of flat black paint, 600 feet of fencing, miles of wire, 31 circuits of electricity to power 21 animated attractions and 15 actors decked in blood, guts and gore.

Scarefactory -- a Columbus, Ohio, company that manufacturers horror robotics and haunted venues -- assisted with logistics, design and creation of the attraction.

TerrorMania is open at 7 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays until Nov. 3 and offers free parking, entertainment, food and appearances by Savini. The entrance fee is $13. A Web site is available at www.terrormania.net.

TerrorMania is presented by Boss Productions Inc. of Monessen with proceeds benefiting Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services Inc., a health and human service organization based in the Mon Valley Community Health Center.

Those who dare venture inside this haunted attraction should be prepared to tour the underbelly of the human imagination. Dark hallways lead to rooms filled with the macabre. You must roam the haunted underworld, room after room, until you begin wondering if you will escape. The place is as illogical as a bad dream.

Along the way, expect surprises, noises, theatrical sets, stalking cretins, illusions and a few things that make you dizzy.

"I can compare this with Terror on Church Street or Skull Kingdom in Orlando, Fla.," Savini said, standing outside TerrorMania, where his haunting image peers above the facade. "One guy went through and said, 'I flew all the way to Orlando when all I had to do was stay home in Monessen.' "

During a media preview Sept. 19, 10-foot-tall ghouls roamed the parking lot to shake claws with willing victims. The hype was heavy for what promoters predict will be a "monster hit."

"There are the Porta-johns," SPHS spokesman Luther Sheets told the crowd. "If you don't need them now, you'll need them when you come out -- if you come out."

Savini, with his trademark black goatee and enough horror-movie credentials to burst a crypt, barely needs an introduction. Vincent Price should narrate his resume.

	Seldom Seem, David Templeton's whimsical perspective on life and times in and around Washington County, appears weekly in Washington Sunday.

The Pittsburgh native and resident continues working with top Hollywood producers on film and television projects. He directed the 1990 remake of "Night of the Living Dead," three segments of "Tales from the Dark Side" and his own production of "Dracula."

He also did make-up and special effects for 21 horror flicks, including "Friday the 13 th," "Dawn of the Dead," "Day of the Dead," "Creepshow" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre II." He has acted in 11 films, including "Creepshow" and "Dawn of the Dead."

His newfound interest in Monessen is upbeat, not morbid. He teaches the Special Make-up Effects program at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen, a 16-month associate degree program in theatrical arts. Some of his students are involved in TerrorMania.

"Everyone has business and secretary programs, but no one has entertainment," said Jeff Imbrescia, president of Boss Productions and the Douglas Education Center, where 200 students are enrolled, including 90 in Savini's program. Fifty-six more will arrive in October.

But TerrorMania is no education. It's trial and terror.

As a news release states, it employs "theatrical illusions and Hollywood special effects" to direct patrons on a one-way trail "through interconnected haunted rooms, bone-chilling corridors, morbidly fun paths and other ghastly places."

That's what I experienced when I walked through TerrorMania with Brandt. I was never frightened but many times startled, forever alert and always amazed.

"Why people come to these things or horror films is the same reason they go to Kennywood and strap themselves into a roller coaster," Savini said. "It's for the thrills."

The key element of TerrorMania, he said, is misdirection. What you think will scare you, won't. Instead, you must be wary of each ghoul, prop, pneumatic and animatronic device, strobe light and demented artwork. Guaranteed, something will pop up when you least expect it.

A vortex that people must walk through near the end involves such effective illusory motion that Savini calls it "the vomitorium."

But the beauty of TerrorMania -- an oxymoron, for sure -- is that nothing is predictable.

Gory surgery in one room diverts attention while a hoary figure springs from a cupboard. Zap! Pow! Bang! And I won't ruin the surprise awaiting those walking through blackened rooms covered with colorful dots that become three-dimensional under a black light. What happens there is simple and startling.

Nothing touches you, save for a few spider webs. But if this were a game of survival, I'd be dead. My skeleton would be the one in jail. At long last, I survived the ordeal. I traipsed clueless through dark hallways and dungeon-like rooms full of skeletons, monsters, goblins and gore before being spat out a side door dizzy, bedazzled and bedeviled.

And while I saw no lettuce at this ghostly store, I got my fill of mixed nuts.