The House at Haunted Hill

The House at Haunted Hill is a high-tech haunted attraction at a home in Woodland Hills, California. The attraction, technically a yard haunt, showcases a mixture of age-old tricks such as Pepper's ghost, and advanced special effects and multi-channel audio.

The House at Haunted Hill
Jack narrates The House at Haunted Hill.
LocationWoodland Hills, California
Coordinates34.1496373°N 118.5965743°W / 34.1496373; -118.5965743
ThemeGhosts
Operated byMatt Ford, Lori Merkle Ford
OpenedOctober 31, 2000
Operating seasonFall
WebsiteOfficial website

History

The show began as a simple yard display of tombstones and a few yard lights. Beginning in 2001, effects similar to The Haunted Mansion ride from Disney appeared in the display along with many Haunted Mansion soundtrack elements. As the attraction proved popular, the show's producers decided to create a unique story.

Lori Merkle Ford created the basic story line in the spring of 2007, which revolved around a young Hollywood Starlet of the 1930s who had just married a shady Hollywood screenwriter. Ed Valentine, a prominent television screenwriter, was contracted to develop the script, and pre-production began in full earnest in June 2007. Christopher Hoag, an Emmy-nominated composer, joined the production team shortly thereafter, and about a month later the fully developed score and story were finished.[1]

Corey Burton, famous for his rendition of Paul Frees at The Disney Haunted Mansion, came on board to provide the voice of "Jack", who is the main narrator of the show, whose character is manifested as a giant talking pumpkin.

The show was created and produced by Matt Ford and Lori Merkle Ford. Matt Ford is an Emmy winning lighting designer based in Los Angeles. Lori Merkle Ford is a singer, actor and dancer based in Los Angeles. The show will reappear in 2019.[2][3]

The Attraction

The House at Haunted Hill is a high-tech yard haunt at a private residence in Woodland Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The show has run yearly since 2000, usually the last three days of October.

The attraction differs in a few ways from other seasonal haunted attractions. The main difference is the show is a "walk by" haunt. People view the show along the fence-line of the street (the city began closing the street to vehicular traffic in 2009, to facilitate the large crowds). The other difference is the show is scripted but does not use live actors, instead relying on video projections and animatronics. In style, the show is more of a "ghost show", lacking any sort of blood, shock or gore.[4][5]

Technology

The show is a recorded show that repeats every fifteen minutes, similar to many amusement park rides. Instead of live actors, the show uses high-definition projections of the characters to tell the story using several magician's illusions such as Pepper's ghost along with other high-tech projection and lighting methods. The show is controlled by an Alcorn McBride show control system that is synchronized to SMPTE time code. The show control system coordinates the motion control subsystems, animatronics, lighting, and special effects. The show also makes extensive use of Projection Mapping provided by the company Spectral Illusions.[6]

The sound system consists of a twenty-four channel sound track with speakers strategically placed along the attraction.

The lighting system is controlled by a Vari Lite Virtuoso and makes extensive use of LED and ultraviolet lighting technology

Characters
  • Jack - The Narrator (played by Corey Burton)
  • Julietta LaRue, a young Hollywood starlet (played by Heather Marie Marsden)
  • Billy Valentine, her new husband (played by Todd Fournier)
  • Lily, Billy's deceased ex-wife (played by Lori Merkle Ford)
  • Moira, Billy's deceased daughter (played Alexendra Vicich)[7]
  • Snapper Bixby, a Hollywood Paparazzo (played by Neil Patrick Harris)

References
  1. https://www.westcoaster.net/home/2017/11/8/house-at-haunted-hill-2017-review
  2. Whitnall, Rebecca (October 25, 2012). "Woodland Hills Residents Prepare House at Haunted Hill". Woodland Hills Patch. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  3. "Review: The House at Haunted Hill 2012". Theme Park Adventure. December 29, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  4. "The House at Haunted Hill". Hollywood Gothique. 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  5. "The House at Haunted Hill 2013". Theme Park Adventure. December 5, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  6. Collins, Mike; &, E.B. (2010). "Coaster Radio: Show #501 - The House at Haunted Hill". Retrieved September 6, 2017. from 23:30 to 44:30CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. Bartholomew, Dana (October 30, 2009). "Halloween Goes Hollywood". Daily News. Archived from the original on June 21, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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