PopHorror Let's Get Scared
*In case you’re coming here first, this is the second part of our interview with Haunters: The Art of the Scare creator, Jon Schnitzer. To read part 1 first, you can go here.
Jon Schnitzer: (con’t) There is a therapeutic value of being scared. I call it “scareapy.” Every October, you can see how crazy the world is and how stressed out people are by how well Halloween does. Last year, Halloween broke all the records. The season made the most amount of money it has ever made to date. The season brought in $9.1 billion. That’s $3 billion more than the previous year!
PopHorror: That’s crazy! But it does make sense. Just look at the last presidential election. That whole time was stressful for anyone and everyone on all sides!
Jon Schnitzer: You got it! Everyone’s Thanksgiving was terrible, but everyone’s Halloween was great (laughs). It’s the truth. Halloween started hitting very big numbers following 9/11 in 2001. And then new records were broken in 2008 with the financial crisis. Not a lot of industries were making money during those tough economic times. But the Halloween industry did. Haunters covers a wide range of material. You get to know the individuals featured in the documentary. You explore various types of haunts. And you get to learn about what is going on in the world by what people seek out for scares.
PopHorror: That is very interesting, and it does explain why some people may gravitate to the more extreme haunts. In your personal opinion, do some of these extreme haunts go too far?
Jon Schnitzer: Of course! For me, too far means not having a safe word. You have to have a safe word. There’s a reason why I asked Russ about a thousand times about implanting a safe word at McKamey Manor (laughs). By using a safe word, you’re allowing the guest to stop the haunt if it becomes too intense.
For example, there’s a haunt called 17th Door. What they do is fascinating. They have 17 doors. Door number one is red, and you can’t open it until it turns green. When you open the door and step into the room, whatever happens for that particular room is going to happen to you. It can go on for 1 minute or it can go on for a lot longer! Every room has a totally different time frame, and you have no idea how long each experience will last. Some of the rooms are fun scares, and some of it is very hands-on and extreme. But if it’s too much for you, you can call the safe word. Rather than having to leave the haunt, they stop what’s going on in the room, and they allow you to skip to the next room. The best part about this is that you have the ability to stop what is going on. You have the control. When you have control, it’s empowering because you can see how much you can take. When you aren’t in control and you want something to stop and it keeps going, that becomes a form of hazing.
No one has died in an extreme haunt yet… there was a heart attack at McKamey Manor, but nobody has died. But as told in the documentary, Russ does not test anything out on himself, and he will not go through his own haunt! And Russ doesn’t have a safe word. Blackout is the exact opposite. The creators test everything out on themselves and use a safe word.
It’s interesting to see the reactions of people coming out of McKamey Manor. Some people wanted to do it, because they wanted to do it to other people. Other people saw their own footage. They were horrified, and they never wanted to do it again, because they never would want to do that to someone else. It’s not unlike a fraternity or sorority scenario where people go through hazing. Their lives are hell for a year, and then they get to make someone else’s life hell for 3 years. For some people, there is that appeal. It never appealed to me, though. I never joined anything like that because it’s not for me. However, through this documentary, you’re able to explore some of the most extreme haunts on the planet without having to go through the haunt yourself and have to deal with your own PTSD.
PopHorror: That is a very interesting part of the film. What was it like filming at McKamey Manor?
Jon Schnitzer: It was a trip! The appeal of filming at McKamey Manor was getting to know who Russ is. I was really curious to know what he was doing because his movies he uploads to YouTube of guests going through his haunt are like a Rob Zombie movie being projected on the Titanic (laughs). And then it turns out he’s just this guy in shorts with his little camera, smiling and having a great time. It’s just a real trip getting to see that (laughs).
PopHorror: That’s crazy (laughs). I’ve heard Russ has a safe word now. What prompted him to start using one?
Jon Schnitzer: It wasn’t his choice. He’s in Tennessee now. The local sheriff made it very clear that if he doesn’t have a safe word, they will shut him down and arrest him. I love how he got away with this forever in California, but it’s a different story when it comes to setting up shop in Tennessee (laughs). Now, he has a bunch of rules he has to follow, and he’s very unhappy about it.
PopHorror: So, what is your opinion on extreme haunts in general?
Jon Schnitzer: There are thousands of subgenres in horror, from supernatural to torture porn and everything in between. Now, there are a thousand subgenres of haunts. Some are supernatural themed, some are torture porn and everything in between. That’s why I wanted to show a glimpse of Knott’s Scary Farm. I wanted to show some of Universal. I wanted to show the interactive haunted house play called Delusion. There are Eli Roths of this genre, Rob Zombies of this genre, and there are Tarantinos and Spielbergs of this genre. It’s really cool to see how big and grand a skeleton can be, and how small intimate something else can be… how terrifying and out of this world something can be! I love that there are extreme haunts that exist that I don’t want to go to. I love that they exist because it freaks me out (laughs).
But I understand people being freaked out and against Russ and McKamey Manor. Just look at his YouTube movies. That is what he is trying to do. He is trying to scare the shit out of people. The videos and the experiences are terrifying. So, of course some people are going to react negatively to him. I do find it funny, in a way, when someone who is against McKamey Manor because of the violence reacts violently towards him. It’s just absurd that people will jump at throwing a brick through his window and send him death threats! I mean, there are other ways of communicating (laughs). It’s crazy.
When I announced in early production that Russ was going to be in my film, I started getting late night phone calls and emails from people saying terrible things. It’s insane! Some people just assume that since you point your camera at something in particular that it’s because you love it and support it rather than taking a neutral stance. My focus is to open up a subculture and show the good, the bad and the ugly. I like to have that ability to explore everyone. I want to put everything out there, who these people are, what they do and what goes on at their attractions, and then allow the audience to form their own opinions.
PopHorror: Have you gone through McKamey Manor or Blackout?
Jon Schnitzer: I’ve never had the opportunity to go through Blackout, myself. But after getting to know Josh, I would totally go through the haunt. I don’t know if it would be for me, but I would try it. McKamey Manor? Hell, no! I would never go through McKamey Manor (laughs). I’ll tell you right now, if Russ had gone through his own haunt, then I would have gone through it, too. But there’s no way that’s going to happen! Filming McKamey Manor was intense enough (laughs).
PopHorror: To wrap things up, I’d like to ask you a question that is addressed in your documentary. Personally, where do you think the world of haunts will go from here?
Jon Schnitzer: I think the future of haunts will be more theatrical, interactive haunts with storylines. The only person in the documentary who voiced the opinion that haunts will only get more extreme was Russ. But that is because that is the subgenre in which he works. I think more immersion will take place, but not in the way of extreme haunts. However, I do think traditional haunts will always exist. There will always be boo scare mazes. Always and forever. Because everyone will always need their first haunt, and there will always be people who want to go back and revisit their first type of haunt experience.
PopHorror: Do you have any projects that you would like to talk about?
Jon Schnitzer: I do, actually. There is a virtual reality project that I created, produced and directed called Flatline Experience. It actually simulates a near death experience in VR. Another idea I am pursuing is the possibility of turning Haunters into a series. I originally pitched it as such years ago, but I don’t think the idea was quite understood. So, I decided to make this film. I can’t say much, but with the great response following the documentary, the series may become a reality. With this series, I would like to take an even deeper dive into the inspiring Halloween subculture and the world of haunting, and explore more stories with more attractions.
PopHorror: I would love to see something like that!
Jon Schnitzer: Thank you! This is something I’m very excited about, and my goal is to show just how incredible this subculture of haunting is, as well as my heroes from all the subgenres. I want to visually show haunted house attractions the way they feel when you experience it first hand as you go through it. I want people to be inspired, laugh, get emotional and get freaked out. And I want everyone to find the right attraction for them.
We at PopHorror think Jon Schnitzer has something unique and informative with Haunters: The Art of the Scare. For those interested in exploring this Halloween subculture further, the film is available on DVD packed with 30 minutes of bonus features, as well as streaming on Netflix. These segments include a closer look at attractions such as Delusion, Haunted Overload, Knott’s Scary Farm and the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. Other haunt enthusiasts will also be excited to see footage with Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights’ John Murdy and his first Star Wars themed haunt from 1977. To those who have yet to see this amazing documentary, it isn’t too late! Get inspired and immerse yourself in the Halloween subculture with Haunters: The Art of the Scare!
*To go back to part 1 of this interview, go here.
