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TOPIC: Hundred Acres Haunted House · Pittsburgh Sunday Morning

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  Speaker 1: Once again, you're listening to a public affairs program shining
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  Speaker 1: the light on the interest and issues of the greater
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  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh area. I'm your host, Johnny Hartwell, now let's talk
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  Speaker 1: Haunted houses. CEO Ted Sobeck of the one hundred Acres
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  Speaker 1: Manor Haunted House, Ted, good to see you again. How
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  Speaker 1: are you.
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  Speaker 2: I'm great? How are you today? All right?
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  Speaker 1: So, it's scar season. It's coming here before you.
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  Speaker 2: Know it, it's coming up fast.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, September eleventh, which is less than two weeks away.
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  Speaker 2: That's our opening day. Yes, it is all right.
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  Speaker 1: So all right, for the people who are very familiar
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  Speaker 1: with what your Haunted House is, tell us all the
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  Speaker 1: information they need to know when it starts, when it ends,
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  Speaker 1: and how to get tickets.
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  Speaker 2: Well, one hundred Acres Manors starts September eleventh during the
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  Speaker 2: month of September. We're open Friday, Saturday, Sundays. In October
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  Speaker 2: Thursday through Sunday. You can go online and get tickets
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  Speaker 2: at scare Pittsburgh dot com. And we also have three
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  Speaker 2: kids days this year, Okay, September twentieth, and every two
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  Speaker 2: weeks after that. Okay, I think it's October fourth and
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  Speaker 2: October eleventh on Sundays.
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  Speaker 1: So, for somebody who's never been to the one hundred
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  Speaker 1: Acres manor, what are they walking into?
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  Speaker 2: They're walking into sixty thousand square feet of haunted attraction.
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  Speaker 2: It's the largest walkthrough in western Pennsylvania.
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  Speaker 1: And it's brand new. It hasn't been here and it
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  Speaker 1: hasn't met a Pittsburgh tradition at all, has it not?
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  Speaker 2: At all? This is our this is our first year, right,
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  Speaker 2: this is our twenty second year as one hundred acres manner.
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  Speaker 1: But you started way before that. Yes, you had the
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  Speaker 1: Phantoms in the and I helped start Phantoms of the
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  Speaker 1: Park in nineteen ninety two. That's probably older than most
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  Speaker 1: of your listeners.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and Terraced by the Lake in North Park in
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  Speaker 2: ninety five six or somewhere like that.
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  Speaker 1: So you have scared pretty much every single individual in
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  Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh area.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and also owned to Haunted House in Kassimi, Florida.
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  Speaker 1: Oh really, that's amazing all right? So for those who
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  Speaker 1: aren't familiar with the Haunted House, tell us everything we
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  Speaker 1: need to know about this year events, because you always
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  Speaker 1: are introducing something new. So what's so tell us about
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  Speaker 1: the event, and then tell us.
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  Speaker 2: What's new. Well, a lot of things are still secret.
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  Speaker 2: You know it's going to be coming out opening day
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  Speaker 2: and you'll see our secrets, gotcha. But the newest attractions
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  Speaker 2: are we're working in our Midway. We're beefing up our Midway,
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  Speaker 2: which is in front of the Haunted House. It's a
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  Speaker 2: free to get into the midway. There's lots of games,
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  Speaker 2: there's lots there's a maze. There's a lot of great
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  Speaker 2: opportunities there to have fun, have a beer, have food.
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  Speaker 2: We have Cinderlands doing our beer tent. We have Franken
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  Speaker 2: Food truck doing burgers, chicken, lots of great scary food
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  Speaker 2: to eat, and we have some surprises too.
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  Speaker 1: All right, nice again, If somebody wants tickets, where do
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  Speaker 1: they go?
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  Speaker 2: They can go to scare Pittsburgh dot com.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So what makes a great scare? All right?
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  Speaker 1: So what if somebody sees what what is about to happen?
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  Speaker 1: What's what makes it's a go good scare?
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  Speaker 2: It depends on the person, the individual, the culture. I've
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  Speaker 2: been doing this for a long time, and traditionally a
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  Speaker 2: jump scare, where someone comes out of a place that
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  Speaker 2: you're not expecting them to come out, is the biggest
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  Speaker 2: scare and how people react is different based on male
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  Speaker 2: female genders. It's amazing you just it's it's a science
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  Speaker 2: onto itself.
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  Speaker 1: So when you come up with an idea, how do
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  Speaker 1: you test the idea? Do you run it by somebody
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  Speaker 1: or do you just build it and then see how
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  Speaker 1: it works.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm the financial guy, so I have I look
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  Speaker 2: at it from a thirty five thousand foot level. I
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  Speaker 2: have very talented and creative individuals that really get into
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  Speaker 2: the nitty gritty of how to scare, what the scene
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  Speaker 2: looks like. And we're always big into quality of the scene,
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  Speaker 2: almost universal or Disney like scenes, with our animatronics, with
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  Speaker 2: our props, with our sets, then layer in the scares
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  Speaker 2: into these sets. So how do you approach a scare?
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  Speaker 2: You don't at times you want you want different things.
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  Speaker 2: You want someone coming out from the front of you,
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  Speaker 2: you want someone coming out from the side of you.
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  Speaker 2: And that suspense and not knowing where it's coming from
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  Speaker 2: is where truly the scare comes from.
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  Speaker 1: A right you're up and running September eleventh, Yes, do
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  Speaker 1: you have all the characters in order? Are you still
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  Speaker 1: looking for volunteers? Are you still looking for workers. We're
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  Speaker 1: always looking for workers. You know, you do have high
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  Speaker 1: turnover rate because we run September and October, so we're
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  Speaker 1: always looking for good individuals that have some talent, that
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  Speaker 1: are good customer service people, that are good security people.
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  Speaker 1: You know, with today's day and age, you have to
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  Speaker 1: have security, which we do have metal detectors, we do
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  Speaker 1: have the county police that patrol our sites. So security
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  Speaker 1: is paramount in running an event like this, and we
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  Speaker 1: take it very seriously. Imagine, let's talk about the actors.
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  Speaker 1: Do you teach somebody to scare people for a living?
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  Speaker 1: Is that I personally do not teach the scare. We
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  Speaker 1: do have very high quality individuals that understand the scare
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  Speaker 1: and they do bring in people to try out, so
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  Speaker 1: to speak, and see how they react. So, Johnny, if
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  Speaker 1: you want to come and help with the scare, you're
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  Speaker 1: more than welcome. I'm scary without any kind of makeup.
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  Speaker 1: You've got like five different themed attractions stretching nearly a mile.
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  Speaker 1: How long does it take to build and prepare the
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  Speaker 1: one hundred acres manner each year?
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  Speaker 2: Well, we've been We started back in June, so it
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  Speaker 2: takes you're looking at three four good months. We plan
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  Speaker 2: all year long, so you're buying props, you're buying animatronics,
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  Speaker 2: you're buying products to put into the haunt, and then
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  Speaker 2: you use you three are good three or four months
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  Speaker 2: to set things up, get it working proper, really and
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  Speaker 2: getting ready for the season.
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  Speaker 1: Well, speaking of the season, you've been doing this a
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  Speaker 1: long time and there's there's a reason for the season.
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  Speaker 1: There's a charity aspect to it, so let's.
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  Speaker 2: Talk us about that. Well, hundred Acres Manor is a
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  Speaker 2: five oh one C three corporation, So we're a charitable
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  Speaker 2: corporation and all of our proceeds, our net proceeds benefit
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  Speaker 2: for great charities, primarily Homeless Children's Education Fund, Animal Friends,
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  Speaker 2: Light of Light Missions, and a group called Tech twenty five.
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  Speaker 1: And tell us you know the reason why you've chosen
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  Speaker 1: these four particular charities.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it started off with homeless Children, so I was
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  Speaker 2: on their board at one time. And also Animal Friends.
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  Speaker 2: We have good friends that were on the board of
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  Speaker 2: Animal Friends, so we wanted to raise money for these
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  Speaker 2: two worthy causes, and as time grew on, we found
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  Speaker 2: other worthy groups that are in need of cash. So
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  Speaker 2: we are primary where your goal is to provide cash
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  Speaker 2: into these groups.
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  Speaker 1: Over the years. How much money do you think you've
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  Speaker 1: raised for these particular charities.
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  Speaker 2: I would say somewhere. I don't have the exact number
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  Speaker 2: with me at this moment, about two point five to
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  Speaker 2: three million dollars over the twenty two years.
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  Speaker 1: It's a lot of money, good discons and you scared
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people to do it.
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  Speaker 2: We have.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, isn't it amazing people want to be scared a
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  Speaker 1: little paid to do it.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, that does surprise me.
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  Speaker 1: You're the money man. I heard you talking to somebody
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  Speaker 1: and say, you're not a particular person who's You're not
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  Speaker 1: in favor of horror.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not a horror person per se. From the financial
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  Speaker 2: end and from where I started back in the eighties
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  Speaker 2: with the JCS. Wow that I find that people love horror,
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  Speaker 2: love the Halloween season, and it can generate a lot
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  Speaker 2: of money. So it is the second biggest holiday in
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  Speaker 2: the United States. It's pushing Christmas, unfortunately, but it's pushing
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  Speaker 2: Christmas as far as dollars spent in the United States
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  Speaker 2: for Halloween. And there's a lot of great haunted attractions
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  Speaker 2: throughout the United States. And you have one of the
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  Speaker 2: best and we're friends with them all.
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  Speaker 1: And truly it's becoming, or it has become a Pittsburgh tradition,
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  Speaker 1: hasn't it.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely No matter where you travel in the country, if
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  Speaker 2: you're from Pittsburgh, you're here of one hundred acres manor Yes,
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  Speaker 2: we've been there.
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  Speaker 1: That's a little source of pride, right, Yes it is.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you've heard of that.
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  Speaker 1: Huh I haven't you? All right, so we got about
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  Speaker 1: a minute left. Tell us everything we need to know
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  Speaker 1: about one hundred acres mayre well come.
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  Speaker 2: To hundred Acres matter. We have five great attractions. They're
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  Speaker 2: all fresh and new this year. We have some new
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  Speaker 2: animatronics that's going to scare the bejeeber's out of you.
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  Speaker 2: We have a screen bar sponsored by cinder Lands, which
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  Speaker 2: has some great home brews and you'll enjoy hanging out
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  Speaker 2: at the Cinderlands Bar. We have Frank and Fruit fried
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  Speaker 2: truck that's going to serve Burger's chickens so you can
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  Speaker 2: come and eat. And we have a great midway. The
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  Speaker 2: midway has a lot of games, a lot of new
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  Speaker 2: things that we can't talk about right now because they're
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  Speaker 2: going to be surprises for opening day. And we have
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  Speaker 2: a maze out in the in the midway. Also we
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  Speaker 2: have three kids days. Come for Kids Day if you
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  Speaker 2: have some young younger ones. We put the lights on
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  Speaker 2: it down a little bit, tone it way down. We
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  Speaker 2: give away free gifts and prizes and a touch of truck.
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  Speaker 2: We have fire trucks there, we have police vehicles there.
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  Speaker 2: It's a great kids day event. It's held Sunday afternoons
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  Speaker 2: starting September twentieth. But you can go to our websites
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  Speaker 2: scare Pittsburgh dot com to find out the exact days
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  Speaker 2: and tickets are available right now. And the Haunted Traction
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  Speaker 2: is sponsored by Deal Automotive and they've been a long
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  Speaker 2: time sponsor for one hundred acres manner and I can't
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  Speaker 2: speak enough about Deal Automotive group.
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  Speaker 1: That's awesome. Well, and of course ultimately it's a good
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  Speaker 1: cause too. It's a fun a good cause.
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  Speaker 2: It is a good cause and that's why we do it.
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  Speaker 1: That always a pleasure, don't forget. Kicks things off in
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  Speaker 1: just a couple of days September eleventh, So best a
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  Speaker 1: luct to the season.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you sir.
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  Speaker 1: As always, if you have any comments, a concern, or
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  Speaker 1: an idea for a future program, please email us from
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  Speaker 1: this radio station's website. I'm Johnny Heartwell, thank you so
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  Speaker 1: much for listening.