Fright Factory returns for seventh season

By Olivia Biagi
Collegian Editor
October 17, 2007

With Halloween quickly approaching, many Lasallians will be looking for a good scare. Luckily, all they have to do is travel to South Swanson Street and East Oregon Avenue for award-winning thrills at the Fright Factory. In 2006, the Fright Factory, which features three differently themed haunted houses, was named the scariest haunted house in the tri-state area by Fox 29 News. That same year, the Travel Channel named it one of the eight scariest places in the United States.

Fright Factory is run by southern New Jersey natives Aven Warren, Robert Dudzick and Brian Coppin. According to Warren, they began 15 years ago with a haunted hayride and barn in Delaware. Then, about eight years ago, they decided to change locations.

“There were a couple haunted houses in Philadelphia and we didn’t think they were as scary as we could make them,” said Warren. “We were looking to do something inside and we wanted to be in the city.”

The process to get Fright Factory up and running every season takes about eight months. Warren, Dudzick and Coppin, who all work other jobs throughout the year, began in April. “[We start] laying out the new floor plans and designing the scares. In May, we start building the sets and designing the costumes,” said Warren.

Fright Factory, now in its seventh season, consists of three haunted houses. The main attraction is the Asylum, which is about 10,000 square feet. The other two smaller houses, about 3,000 and 4,000 square feet, change themes every other year. Previously, they have been Alien Encounter and Pitch Black. This year, the scares are Horror High and Village of the Damned. The official Web site, frightfactory.tv, offers background stories for each attraction.

While waiting in line outside, visitors are greeted by a zombie wielding a sword, which throws sparks when she slashes it at the pavement.

Visitors are then searched by security guards before entering the building to wait in line for the first house, Horror High. While waiting, a gory video featuring the murder of various cheerleaders plays on a flat screen television. Zombie cheerleaders and cannibalistic lunch-servers pop out sporadically through the walk. Thrill-seekers encounter almost-dead football jocks and zombie prepsters.

Next is the Asylum, a hospital turned deadly when doctors began experimenting on patients, until the patients take their revenge. Visitors are encouraged to discover the secrets of those tortured victims of the Asylum.

Finally, guests enter the Village of the Damned and encounter vampires, werewolves and even Frankenstein.

A word of warning: Characters at Fright Factory tend to be in very close proximity to their victims, and are sometimes invasive of personal space.

Fright Factory is only open weekends for the month of October, Friday through Sunday, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. There will be additional weeknight dates Oct. 25, 29, 30, and 31 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Factory. Regular tickets are $25 and the R.I.P. FAST pass, which allows ticket-holders to skip the initial line, is $35. The entire walk lasts about an hour.

“Come out and get scared,” Warren said.

biagio1@lasalle.edu