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Nightmare Factory, Salem, OR

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Availability:	Open to the Public
Filed Under:	Conventions/Festivals/Events > Haunt Industry Conventions/Trade Shows Halloween Events > Haunted Houses/Hayrides
Added By:	TheCabinet
Added On:	October 17, 2010 - 09:04 PM UTC
Last Modified:	October 17, 2010 - 09:04 PM UTC
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Average Rating:	0 (0 ratings)
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Address
999 Locust St NE, Salem, OR 97301, USA (Salem, Oregon)

Information
Nightmare Factory This Halloween haunted attraction in Salem, Oregon has been extracting screams from its guests for decades. It is housed at the Oregon School for the Deaf (OSD) and serves to raise money for the school and its students. In 2010, OSD and Nightmare Factory received some national recognition and help when the ABC series, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, showed up in town and pitched in to revamp the haunt. The haunted attraction first got its start in 1987 when the idea hit dorm counselor, Ed Roberts, that a Halloween haunted house might be a good fundraiser. Armed with only $400, Roberts transformed an unused wing of the boy's dormitory, Lindstrom Hall, to bring his creation to life for a four-night run. OSD students got involved in the act as well and helped set-up and even comprised 90% of the actors inside. After the crowds had passed through the first Nightmare Factory and the group had counted their earnings, they found that they had pulled in $4000 - ten times what they had put into it. The haunt was off and rolling. For the next year, Roberts and the students were given access to an unfinished basement of Lindstrom Hall, which allotted them more space to work with. In addition to expanding their haunted attraction, Roberts and several of the students began to attend national haunted house conventions looking to hone their skills and learn more about the trade. In a 2009 article by Salem-News.com, Roberts talked about the value of learning such skillsets as "...a great vocational training tool. Kids get to learn theatric skills, lighting skills, disguising and construction skills." OSD is also proud to point out that Nightmare Factory is one of the only two Halloween haunted attractions held at schools for the deaf. The other haunt is located at the St. Rita School for the Deaf in Cincinnati, Ohio. The haunt has continued to grow and prosper over the years (which necessitated taking one year off to do a full remodel of the attraction), ultimately expanding to 12,000-square-feet and 40 rooms by 2009. That same year saw over 8,000 people walk through Nightmare Factory. That $4000 profit in 1987 had also ballooned to $72,000 by 2008. Inspired by their success, Roberts and the staff/students of OSD decided to try their hand at another trade and launched the West Coast Haunters Convention in May 2010. West Coast Haunters Convention The idea first hit the folks behind Nightmare Factory to hold a convention after seeing the lack of such shows on the West Coast. When the state of Oregon decided to cancel out-of-state travel for state schools, the group suddenly did not have the ability to visit other conventions in the Midwest or East Coast. Instead, they decided to bring the conventions to them and the inaugural West Coast Haunters Convention kicked off in May 2010. Aside from providing workshops and a networking outlet, OSD decided to emphasize Nightmare Factory as a way to teach other schools for the deaf to learn how they too can create a profitable haunted house. The event drew in over 200 haunters from around the nation and its success has driven OSD to make the West Coast Haunters Convention an annual event for the foreseeable future. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 2010 turned out to be a busy year for the folks behind Nightmare Factory. In addition to running their first convention, the haunt and OSD were paid a visit by the hit ABC reality television series, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in September 2010. The students were surprised at their annual back-to-school picnic and were told they would receive a new dormitory, as well as extensive renovations to their annual haunt, Nightmare Factory, which desperately needed renovations to keep it safe. Around 120 students, staff, and family members were sent packing for a vacation at the Starkey Foundation in Minneapolis, Minnesota while the show's cast, crew and volunteers went to work. They returned a week later to find a new energy-efficient dorm and a transformed Halloween haunted attraction. For help with the Nightmare Factory renovations, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition turned to Columbus, Ohio's David Fachman. His company, Scare Factory, creates, manufactures, and sells props, costumes, and animatronics to haunts around the nation. Scare Factory donated around $100,000 worth of skills and products to upgrade the technology behind Nightmare Factory. The design team worked with Roberts to make sure that they left sections of the haunt for the students to design and build, allowing them put in their own personal touches. Director/musician, Rob Zombie, even stopped by OSD for the filming of the episode to meet the students and donate his own handiwork in the form of a "special project" for the haunt. The renovations done by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to Nightmare Factory debuted to the public on opening night, October 8, of the 2010 season (after a sneak peak was given to around 250 people who forked up $50 each to tour the haunt the night of the show's "reveal"). Word of the show's involvement generated a lot of interest throughout the community and lines started to form two hours before the box office opened, attracting hundreds of patrons for the opening night. While the rest of the world had to wait until the episode premiered on Halloween night, October 31, early reviews of the renovations from those patrons were more than positive. The Attraction The staff and crew behind Nightmare Factory find a way to reinvent the haunt each season by introducing new elements, while hanging on to what has worked in the past. The attraction is a barrage of lighting and special effects, 30 or so costumed monsters, and scares designed to exploit the fears of their guests. According to Roberts, the group does their best to avoid borrowing material from films and/or television, as it would be too easy to go that route. And now thanks to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Scare Factory, and the many businesses and volunteers (many of which returned to get involved in the haunt), Nightmare Factory now features the latest in cutting-edge haunted house technology and scares. Information All of the proceeds generated by Nightmare Factory go straight back into OSD and the students. In the past, the school has used the money to purchase school materials, build playgrounds and kitchens for the residential halls, sent the students to space camp and other field trips, renovations to the school gym, and more. The students have even given back to the community by donating money they earned from the haunt to Louisiana and Mississippi following the damage left behind by Hurricane Katrina. For more information, including the dates and hours of operation and ticket prices, please visit their site below.

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Related Sites
Nightmare Factory The official Web site for the Halloween haunted attraction, Nightmare Factory, held annually at the Oregon School for the Deaf in Salem, Oregon.
West Coast Haunters Convention The official Web site for the annual haunted house convention, hosted by the Oregon School for the Deaf in Salem, Oregon.

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Images

Photo of the entrance to Nightmare Factory in Salem, Oregon from the nearby street in November 2010.
From: TheCabinet

Photo of the banner outside Nightmare Factory at the Oregon School of the Deaf in Salem, OR - 11/10.
From: TheCabinet

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The above content is for informational purposes only. Before making any travel arrangements, it is highly recommended that you contact those in charge of the property to check for updated availability and hours of operation. While we do our best to keep this information updated, we cannot guarantee that it is completely valid and up to date. Any destination marked "Closed to the Public" is marked that for a reason and we discourage any visits or attempts to gain access to that facility. Similarly, take note of any "Travel Advisory" that may be associated with a destination. Finally, treat any location and its local residents with respect. Any vandalism and/or unruly behavior is completely despicable and only ruins the experience for future visitors.

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