DOW — “R” Acres of Terror has transformed “R” Pizza Farm into a hotbed of ghouls and ghosts.
Entrepreneur Ron Root — the “R” in the title — welcomes horror-loving guests for the fourth year in a row at his father-in-law Walt Gregory’s 57-acre farm.
The Halloween attraction opened last weekend and will be open from dusk until “the last victim enters,” every Friday and Saturday in October, including Halloween. Root parked a big yellow school bus at 25873 State Highway 3 so people cannot miss it.
“We start off light and then get hardcore, but it’s good wholesome Halloween fun. There’s nothing satanic out there,” said Root whose two young sons participate in the 8-acre, 15-scene haunt.
Root refused to divulge all of the thrills and chills of his attraction but gave up a little. He took the “haunted woods” idea and ran after people with it after seven years of thought and careful consideration. This year though he emphasized the concept of a haunted farm more than ever.
“We’ve added a lot of buildings, new scenes and use the farm more,” he said. “Think buzz saw, splitter, tractor, silo, blood and guts.”
The first path meanders through a hedgerow lit by low-wattage landscape lights. The whole haunt takes about a half hour to walk through and is full of night creatures, snipers, creepy hillbillies, witches and zombies.
“Teenagers will cry,” said Root’s son, Greg, 9.
Root also uses multiple soundtracks to create murmuring, whispering ghosts in a cemetery and bluegrass music a la “Deliverance.” Root utilizes nature along with carefully selected props to create an atmosphere of terror.
“Actors jump out and scare visitors,” said Root’s older son, Brandon, 12.
Among the 30 to 40 volunteer actors is the Uphold family of Bethalto. Cecil Uphold, a friend of Root’s father-in-law, has been working with Root since the beginning, in Litchfield. Now Uphold’s four children are involved each year and have grown up working with Root over the last several years. The Uphold children are Michael, 14, and Sarah, 16, both are students at Civic Memorial High School, and Civic Memorial graduates David, 19, and Randy, 20.
“He plopped me into a scene and said run with it,” said Cecil about the first year he was involved.
It hooked him. Now Uphold not only acts but creates props and scenes for the attraction.
Root’s wife, Diana, learned to do theatrical and cinematic makeup through a course by Wolf Bros., a company known for doing Hollywood makeup.
More than a thousand visitors show up each year to “R” Acres of Terror. Root embarked in the haunting business in 2004 where he opened his first attraction at the Honey Bend Resort in Litchfield.
“I got into this with my brother-in-law and my friends,” Root said. “We wanted to have fun and make a little money, too.”
He said he is just starting to break even but enjoys creating and working the haunt. A lot of time and materials are donated including all of the mulch on the entire length of this year’s haunted trail. Nelson Tree Service of Godfrey donated the mulch.
Root attends numerous conventions and seminars that include ideas based on the psychology of haunted attractions.
“You try to get people’s attention on one thing,” explained Root, who also acts in scenes. “While they’re looking at that, I’m right behind them. And we’re just body parts all over the place.”
But there are more sedate sights. Gregory’s farm, which has on its property “R” Pizza Farm, a franchise owned by Gregory, combines agricultural lessons with pizza parties. A giant circle of land, in front of the pizzeria, of different pizza ingredients such as tomatoes, is planted in triangular shapes to create the circle. The pie shape will be lit all around during the weekends that “R” Acres of Terror is open.
Also, being a parent himself, if parents request for the scary moments to be toned down, Root will accommodate the requests for younger guests. Food and beverage concessions also will be available as well as working, permanent bathrooms.
Admission costs $10 for adults and $7 for age 12 and younger.
Call the “R” Acres of Terror Hotline (618) 779-2891 or visit www.racresofterror.com for more information and directions.
Source - www.thetelegraph.com
