Will You Survive The Carnivale?

October has finally approached us. The air is filled with pumpkin spice latte tweets, getting homemade costume ideas from Pinterest and local showings of nostalgic Halloween movies like, Hocus Pocus for the ‘90’s kids or The Exorcist for the vintage folk. Besides looking for an infinity scarf that matches your new Steve Madden boots, the chilly air is perfect for Halloween activities with a group of your closest friends---the classic haunted house.

Behind Metra tracks hiding in a block of storage units is FearCity. FearCity is one of the top haunted houses in the Chicago area. Last year they combined with Fables Studios Interaction Attractions to bring a bonus room to their event.  Entering this rundown warehouse, all you hear is heavy guitar shredding music, blood sliding down faces, the papery smell of a fog machine and a Boxer puppy named Buddah, who properly greets you with slimy kisses.

Fables Studios provides a communication element to the classic haunted house. This twist gives the audience a theatrical experience, like a comedy show, that makes the audience feel a part of the production---instead of laughs they’ll be getting screams.

Peter Tomeczko, owner of Fables, runs his business with his wife Deondra Tomeczko with help from his mother and friends. Deondra said they design, construct, choreograph and cast the attraction all on their own. They love the work they do. When Halloween is not in season, they sell props and costume featured on their website, which are made authentically by Pete.

In dimmed lighting, in the heat of a technical rehearsal, Peter’s mother told a story about her getting a phonecall. She knew it was Halloween season when her son asked to use some furniture and antiques from the basement, she thought it would be a few items, but when he came over, he was yelling at the truck driver it’s clear to back-up into the garage.

This year’s theme is Carnivale. “The idea of the characters….well they are generations of underground ‘carnies’…who went into hiding…now exposed  years later from FearCity’s CTA tunnels,” says Tomeczko. “They’re really messed up,” interrupted Deondra.

Games are the newest elements to the attraction. Guests will have to play games to move onto the next part of the maze. “I am a huge gamer,” says Tomeczko. The concept of moving onto the next level inspired him to incorporate that into his maze to create more suspension.

For being an interactive experience auditions are a large component because improv creates the success of the haunt. Auditions consisted of simple improv games. Grace Lusk, a Chicagoland stand-up comedian, says she really enjoyed the audition process, “Auditioning for Fables was fun. I got to play a junkie school girl and I’m pretty sure I nailed it.” 

Once placed in the haunted house Lusk realized the importance of her acting experience because of the element of spectacle connected with the scare.

“The interactive portion made the job more difficult because they relied heavily on timing for the proper reaction from the patrons,” she said.

Fables pride themselves with the hard work they put in to make a unique experience of actor and audience enjoyment. The third wall goes away and guests feel placed in a Carnivale underworld. According to Shannon Larkin, drummer of metal band Godsmack, it’s the place to go to get spooked out.

Fables Studios Interactive Attractions will open at 7 P.M. every weekend of October.   Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the gate or online. For exact dates and details visit their website here.