I volunteered with Frightmare in the Halloween season of 2007. I couldn't possibly put into words how dissatisfied I was with the experience. As for those of you assuming that the "donations for volunteers" bucket was a scam, I'd just like to say that we WERE in fact volunteers, and the only money that we made came from the generosity of those who attended (but who can blame anyone if they didn't want to donate, the entire set was poorly assembled, too-well lit to be even remotely scary, not to mention the price of admittance was absolutely absurd, etc.); while I'm at it, at the end of the month and a half worth's of work that me and every other volunteer exerted we each only got a meager 22-ish dollars, mostly in change and singles, so where did the rest of our hard-earned money get off to? Probably into the pockets of the owners.
Also, most of the volunteers (including myself at the time) were in high school, and our participation in the haunted house, and the many late nights that we spent trying to entertain boozed up rednecks from the bar next door normally resulted in a lack of attendance to school, declining grades, substance abuse, you name the vice, it probably went down at Frightmare. Some volunteers even quit their normal jobs with the hope that this could be a unique and rewarding experience, and it turned out to be the complete opposite for me, and I'm sure for many of the others as well.
For my entire life, Halloween has always been my most favorite and cherished holiday. I've spent a lot of time in various "haunts" across NC and bordering states, and the fact that I was one of the actors in the Frightmare at the time couldn't even stop me from realizing that it was probably the worst haunt I have ever experienced. I was so embarrassed by the fact that I worked there that I even told many of my friends and family members to avoid it at all costs. It simply is not worth the money. Before I began working there I was warned by some previous volunteers to "not trust [cast manager's name]" and after it was all through I wished that I had heeded that warning before going through the awful experience.
If you want to go to a quality NC haunted house, I would recommend The Hollywood Horror Show in Snow Camp.
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