On Wednesday we broke the story of one of the largest haunts in Utah planning on opening for a two-day event at the end of the month. With that state’s restrictions slowly lifting in regards to COVID-19, businesses are being allowed to begin operating once more under specific guidelines.  Physical distancing is still mandated and masks are strongly encouraged. This left Fear Factory with an interesting chance to see if a haunted walkthrough attraction would work in the age of the Coronavirus.

Reducing the capacity to 25% is only one of the precautions that General Manager, Spencer Terry, and Co-Owners Heidi and Rob Dunfield are taking. They have also reduced the number of actors inside the haunt down to half, all veterans, no first-time haunters will be allowed to perform.

After arriving at the property, each performer will have their temperature taken before being allowed into work. Once backstage the actors will be separated by at least 6 feet of space in the expansive makeup room that normally services up to 100 actors a night, now down to a mere 50.

Training all of these perseverant performers was no small task as Supervisor with a Focus in Training, Scix Maddix can attest. In the interest of full disclosure, Maddix is also a HorrorBuzz columnist and film critic who initially clued us in on what his seasonal employer was planning on doing. While still under stay-at-home orders Scix took on the challenge of training the staff by producing training videos that would cover the basics until they were allowed on site.

Below is my video interview with Maddix on how he is accomplishing the training. If you would like more information about what Fear Factory is doing you can watch the interview we posted earlier this week, or you can visit their website here.

 

Interview with Scix Maddix of Fear Factory
 

About the Author

Norman Gidney is a nearly lifelong horror fan. Beginning his love for the scare at the age of 5 by watching John Carpenter's Halloween, he set out on a quest to share his passion for all things spooky with the rest of the world.