Nightmare Factory: The Oregon School for the Deaf's annual haunted house in Salem is back
A masked man sends sparks flying as he drags a chain-wrapped metal bat across the concrete floor. Another pulls cockroaches, a flap of facial skin and a foot from a bag as he breathes down your neck. A clown with bright orange hair laughs maniacally as he runs through the dark corridors.
Walls are covered with bones, horror film posters and taxidermy. Hanging vines, strobe lights and thick mist fill your line of sight. You hear screams as someone rattles cage bars, another crashes into the wall and a butcher slams down a cleaver.
After being closed for two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, Salem's premier haunted house is back.
The Nightmare Factory at the Oregon School for the Deaf was established in 1987 and spans two sections throughout a 13,000-square-foot space. About 80 people — including OSD students, alumni, staff and community volunteers — are behind the magic.
But the Nightmare Factory isn't any ordinary haunted house. It also serves as a learning opportunity for students and a key funding source for the Oregon School for the Deaf, the only dedicated school in the state for students in kindergarten through age 21 who are deaf or hard of hearing.
It's also a chance for the students to entertain hundreds if not thousands of community members every night.
As Jan Sykes, the lead dorm counselor for OSD, put it: "It shows they can do everything but hear."
Students get ready for their first season
Sykes was backstage during a dress rehearsal in September. She showed the students the wall of masks and racks of costumes for them to choose from, saying everyone gets to dream up their own character.
"Scare to the side or behind," Sykes told a student, signing as she spoke every word.
Sykes, affectionately called the "Haunt Mom," explained that if the actors scare in front of people, they naturally jump backward, which backs up the line.
"Never touch," she continued with the student. "That's the number one rule."
Sykes said most of the student actors, typically ages 14-18, are "newbies" to the Nightmare Factory this year. Because of COVID-19, only a couple have done it before, and even they had to remember the flow.
Mason McConkey, 16, is one of the few students who acted in the haunted house before COVID-19. He's still waiting this season to see the numbers ramp up to pre-pandemic levels. But Sykes explained it's still early in the month.
McConkey said his favorite part of doing the haunted house is seeing people jump.
His advice to new actors?
"Just scream," he said as Sykes interpreted. "Move. Don't let people see you until you're in their face."
Sykes and co-director Ed Roberts started the haunted house in the late 1980s with modest means. Sykes remembers keeping the money they earned in a coffee can.
That first year, Roberts previously told the Statesman Journal, his goal was to raise enough money to buy clothing and other items for students in need.
In 2010, the OSD boys' dorm above the haunted house was redone by the celebrity design team of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." They also fixed the seismic structure of the haunted house, replaced the floor and amped up the fright factor with training, decorations, costumes, robotics and props.
The haunted house has been a core funding source to keep OSD running, paying for everything from drinking fountains and computers to reading and math programs over the years. Sykes said they are now the longest-running and biggest haunted house in Oregon.
People 'get hooked and keep coming back'
The students don't just prepare for the haunted house come spooky season.
Throughout the school year, Sykes said, students learn set design, makeup, woodworking, welding and more to bring new and old elements together each time. The bone wall catacombs, Roberts said, took him and the students about four months to build.
And because of COVID-19, they've had more than two years to fine-tune and add to it further.
Gabe Havran grew up acting with her family in the haunted house. Her mom, Sharla Jones, is the director of the Oregon School for the Deaf. Now, as an adult, she continues her participation as a volunteer actor.
"For the deaf students, they don't usually control their vocal cords," Havran explained. "Their screams are unusual and it makes it extra scary."
With groups shuffled into the house one minute apart, the actors have to be ready literally every minute to scare. A late September rehearsal allowed the actors a chance to practice with friends and family as their targets.
It's a lot of work each night. The actors arrive on site no later than 6 p.m. to get ready. They leave, Havran said, often still in their makeup, by midnight.
Still, Sykes said, a lot of people get hooked and keep coming back.
Kivo LeFevre, co-director of the Nightmare Factory, has worked at OSD for 22 years. But he's been a part of the haunted attraction for more than 30 — since he was a student actor at age 12.
LeFevre is in charge of the clown portion every year. Why? Because he loves clowns, he told the Statesman Journal via sign language interpretation. He laughed. "I think they're creepy."
One volunteer who works the VIP line said he's volunteered with Nightmare Factory for 13 years. Another line actor volunteer, whose character name is "Kimbooly," has been with the haunted house for five years. She said she moved from Alaska to be part of it.
"It's so rare to find a group of people who are so dedicated to a project like this," Havran said. "Everyone loves the students. Everyone loves the school."
If you go
Where: The Oregon School for the Deaf, 999 Locust Street NE, Salem.
When: October 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29, 30, 31; 7-11 p.m. weekends, 7-10 p.m. weeknights.
Note: It can take over an hour to get through the line before entering the haunted house itself. Those in the general admission line will get their share of entertainment and fright as they wait, complete with concessions, a fortune teller and other new features.
Cost: Ticket prices are per person. Tickets can be purchased online or at the on-site box office. VIP pricing allows you to skip the general admission line. There can still be a wait for VIPs. However, it will always be much shorter than the general admission line, according to event organizers.
General admission: $20
VIP: $30
Get involved: To volunteer in future years, go to osd.k12.or.us/nightmare-factory/home/volunteer. Performers must audition for Nightmare Factory staff. It's preferred volunteers know or have a basic knowledge of ASL to communicate with all the performers. And, of course, they must be able to scare!
Natalie Pate covers education for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at npate@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6745. Follow her on Twitter @NataliePateGwin.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: The Oregon School for the Deaf's Nightmare Factory is back
