House of Pain: Dying Never Looked So Artisitc!
By Noah Wullkotte/ jollypumpkin@aol.com
House of Pain is one of Central Ohio’s longest running haunts. Today, we speak with Dj Huff, owner of the House of Pain. House of Pain is one of the craziest haunts to hit Central Ohio in years. Its blend of original scenes and off the wall characters will have you running as quick as possible as you try to make it out alive.
How is House of Pain different from other haunts in Central, Ohio?
House of Pain is different because we have no animatronics. We at the House of Pain believe that no animatronic or prop could ever replace a real live monster. You can go to several different Haunted Houses and they will have the same animatronic or prop that the previous haunt you went through had. We make all of our illusions, sets, and monsters at our haunted attraction. We start on our haunt as soon as our season is over and continue to work until the next opening season.
What makes your haunt so extreme? Is this a trick question?
We’re in your face, do live murders, and we say whatever comes to our mind to interact with the customers. We put you in our live horror movie of entertainment and violence that you won’t see in other haunts in this area.
(Dying Never Looked This ARTISTIC!)
What are some of the characters people can expect to see at House of Pain?
Cannibals, Clowns, Kentucky Backwoods looking Creatures, and some Poor Homeless Bastards…ect. We try to be different when it comes to our characters!
How many years has House of Pain been in operation and how has it evolved over the years?
We started out as something small and rose up to become something big. This year will be House of Pain’s 15th year anniversary!
What inspires you to create scenes that are sure to scare and startle customers?
Like I said, we build our own sets, but a lot of movies inspire a lot of haunts out there and we’re one of them. But what makes us different is that other haunts use Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers. When we get a movie idea we look at the set design and details.
What demographic usually goes through House of Pain and why do you think that is?
We get customers from all over the United States and we want to thank our fans because they help us by spreading the word. They tell everyone about our crazy show we put on every September and October. Our Haunted Attracton couldn’t go on without them. Our show changes every single year and that’s what brings people back. They want to see the new details and because of this we bring back old customers and gain new!
How do you decide on which scenes are replaced and which ones return the next year?
The House of Pain leaves that up to the customers on what we replace or bring back.
What’s the hardest part of organizing House of Pain?
We look at the House of Pain as a lifestyle because we work year round on our show. Like I said, it is Work, time, and dedication. It is a very stressful job, but in the end it is worth it!
Where do you find your actors and what do you look for?
We find our Actors everywhere. It could be the local trash man, or could be a boss at work that we just love to torture! But we still look for top notch performance in all areas.
What can people expect for the 2012 season?
Brutal blood and gore is what they can expect! What we do is hurt people and each of our customers know before they go into our Attraction that the only way out is to die!
What’s involved in tearing the haunt down every year?
It involves hammers, saws, loud noises, and a big headache!
House of Pain has been closed for many years, but the memories live on.