Spooky World Is a Bright Spot in the Scarey Economy

Litchfield, New Hampshire is home to about nine thousand people.

There’s not much industry here. A couple of pumpkin farms. A few pizza joints.

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But this year a local Halloween attraction merged with another well-known haunt to become New England’s largest Halloween theme park,

Bring up ScaryMusic.

The place looks like a Hollywood set of a terrifying B-movie.

It’s the second Saturday night of the month and Halloween is still three weeks away.

Bring up Crowd Noise2.

The air is chilly, but that doesn’t stop some 3500 people from getting in the spirit of haunting.

Most are teens and young adults like Justin Moore from Hudson, New Hampshire.

Moore: I like the adrenaline rush, the not knowing what’s coming next. (group laughing)

The owners of Spooky World expect more than 70 thousand visitors this month.

Tickets are between 30 and 50 dollars.

The attraction brings in good revenue.

And it brings jobs to people who need it.

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Marc Dahlquist has a bashed-in forehead and blood running down his nose. He wears green contacts that make his eyes look like those of a snake.

Dahlquist: I’m dressed in a strait jacket. It’s awesome. (laughs)

Dahlquist stands in the makeup room getting ready to frighten the crowd.

Dahlquist: I just finished schooling for being a personal trainer and I can’t find work in the field. At all. Luckily enough, it was around October, the holiday season, so I had the opportunity to jump on board here. And I love it.

Dahlquist works in a spooky house with sophisticated animatronics and the piped-in smells of decay and mildew.

Fade up Zombi-killingCrew: You can join the zombie-killing crew right inside

Fade up CrowdNoise. Hold through Meyer bite.

:05 Meyer: It takes a lot of hands, a lot of brains and a lot of effort to get something like this off the ground.

:08 That’s Jayson Meyer. Last July he was laid off from his construction job. Now he builds the sets and hidden doorways that zombies jump out of.

Meyer: I’m actually a husband and father of two. And being that I have a newborn at home, my wife is also out of work. Being able to support my family, Spooky World has helped me out tons.

Spooky World hires about 300 people for the season. Everyone from makeup artists, wardrobe helpers, plumbers and electricians.

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For five weekends in October, those bloodcurdling shrieks change the character of Litchfield, New Hampshire.

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For one thing, cars are backed up for miles.

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Keith Vessels owns Romano’s Pizza down the street.

Vessels: I’ve never seen this road as busy as it is on the Fridays and Saturdays leading up to Halloween. I think it’s getting the town a lot of exposure. I think the town’s a little bit overwhelmed because they’re not used to this kind of thing.

:30 Romano’s is getting some new customers. But Vessels says it’s often at the expense of the regulars who may have to fight the traffic to pick up their orders.

But the disruptions might be worth it.

Owners of Spooky World say they’re paying out close to four hundred thousand dollars in salaries.

For those who’ve been struggling to find work in a frightening economy, that’s a nice holiday boost.

For NHPR News, I’m Sheryl Rich-Kern.