When Marty Arominski founded Chamber of Horrors NY in 2012, his first new haunted attraction in nearly a decade, he anticipated plenty of competition for customers in haunt-happy New York. What no one could have possibly expected was Hurricane Sandy. Making landfall the afternoon of October 29, the mega-storm did massive damage. On October 30 and 31, typically two of the biggest nights of the year for professionally-run haunted houses, people were in no mood to go out and pay to be scared. All they had to do was look at the damage and destruction around them for that.  It was the kind of extreme catastrophe that most people might take as a sign that their business venture wasn’t meant to be. However, Arominski had been passionate about haunted events for more than 15 years by then, and he wasn’t about to back down.

The next year, his never-say-die attitude led him on a journey when one of his staff members introduced him to an ex-professional baseball player named Matt Guiliano.  Guiliano attended Iona College in the 1990s and had been selected in the 20th round of the 1994 amateur baseball draft by the Philadelphia Phillies.  A slick-fielding shortstop, Guiliano toiled in the Phillies’ minor league system, topping out just shy of the majors in Triple A. When Major League Baseball success eluded him, Guiliano transitioned to coaching and then to the private business sector, opening Matt Guilano’s Play Like a Proin 2004. The massive 22,000-square foot facility on Long Island offers private coaching for baseball and softball along with recreational activities.  Guiliano met with Arominski in 2013 and the two talked shop and space. They’ve been partners ever since. Now, every year as the leaves start to fall, Chamber of Horrors NY takes over more than 10,000 square feet of Play Like a Pro and turns it into the premiere haunted attraction in the Empire State.

Building a Monstrous Masterpiece
 

From humble beginnings, Chamber of Horrors NY has risen to not just be the talk of Long Island, but one of the top haunted tourism destinations in the tri-state area. Gradually, the pieces of the puzzle came together and the current staff took shape.  The process began with the addition of general manager Robert Frankenberg, whose early musical career introduced him to the horror business in 2007, and he has been neck deep in it ever since. Another key addition was Oscar Gonzalez. He was an amateur set designer for Halloween parties at his own house for years, getting more and more intense and elaborate with the props and decor as time went on. His designs got so much buzz that he started getting offers from community events.  After a few very successful solo shows he came on board in 2015 to design the ultimate sets and terrifying scares at Chamber of Horrors NY.

In the haunt’s early days, everyone did a little of everything during the prep and preseason. Running a haunt project this vast requires real organizational flow for maximum effect. With each passing year and performance, The Chamber’s staff fine-tuned itself. Adam Capparelli was promoted to head makeup artist and oversees a staff that grows almost annually.  Meanwhile, GM Rob began working on the operation’s overall efficiency, streamlining processes to save everyone time and money while still maximizing the scare factor for guests. He upgraded Chamber’s lighting, sound and video production, introduced new techniques to modernize the haunt’s special effects, authorized an increased use of prosthetics in character design, and focused more attention towards costuming in order to really ramp up the horror and diversify the characters.

All of Chamber of Horrors’ rooms are enhanced by special lighting, scene specific sound, and in many cases, animatronics. The latter of which are some of the best and scariest ways to catch attendees off-guard. “The best part of the animatronics is that we can change their costumes easily to reflect the theme of the haunt,” Arominski says. “We can dress them like zombies or clowns, and they drop down for a scare. Nowadays, with motion sensors and state of the art triggers, they always get their timing right.”

However, the biggest scares always come from the collection of talented actors who faithfully work night after night to give fans the thrill and screams of a lifetime. This age diverse group ranges from stage actors to horror enthusiasts, and even includes several circus veterans using their talents in ways undreamt of under the Big Top. But it is not for everyone. The ones that don’t last long, according to Arominski, are the ones who don’t see the work as anything more than a paycheck.  “There are some people who love Halloween and have always wanted to do this.” he says. “You get those type of people, and then you get people who are just using it to make money. I tell them, if you’re just into this for the paycheck, you’ll never last. You have to love what you are doing, love Halloween, and love horror."  While the paychecks don’t necessarily motivate the staff, a nightly prize does. Although Marty mostly works the ticket window, he’ll head out into the different haunts once per night, tagging along at the back of a group of customers where his 6-foot, 4-inch frame allows him to see from a distance where the biggest scares are coming from. He makes his notes and compares them to those from his section managers. After factoring in data collected by the haunt’s exit polls, three top actors are selected.

“Before the actors head home every night, we give out cash on a sliding scale for the performers that did the best job. It’s a great motivator because it’s not only about the money, it’s about the status of being the best,” Arominski continues. “The cash money as a reward is great, but being recognized in front of your peers just seems to up the game for them.”


 

Costumes and makeup are crucial for the actors to perform their best. While many of the staff at Chamber of Horrors NY have been trained to do a lot of their own basic makeup, the pro artists under Adam’s direction always augment and airbrush the performers’ faces to perfection. Actors playing prominent parts may also use prosthetics to amp up the creepy and allow a more realistic look for up close, intimate encounters. Others use silicone masks to become something decidedly inhuman but still very real. The costume department is headed in-season by build crew members Mandi Kovalevich and Megan Lane.  The costume designs are the living embodiment of their passion for the craft.

The sets are full of extra dressing as well. Set Design is a hands-on labor of love for team leader Oscar Gonzalez, who begins painting, distressing and detailing each haunt in the oppressive summer heat as soon as the walls go up. As they say...the devil is in the details and there are many devils in The Chamber. State of the art lighting dazzles audience members as they travel through different degrees of light, shadow and total darkness with disorientation being the objective. Sound, which is sometimes neglected in other haunts, is a key component along with the lighting. In earlier days, Arominski’s son ran the soundboard and blasted a mixture of hard rock and metal through the haunts, a pairing that many customers really got into. Now, with every room wired with its own unique soundtrack, the music has been lowered to more of an ambient level so customers can hear all the creeks, moans chains, and those creepy, creepy character voices. All the actors have free rein to improvise within reason but most are fed lines beforehand in order to enhance the theme and further the storyline.

The Trilogy of Fear
 

With so much room to play and an army of crazies to man it, Marty’s staff offers three different haunts, known as The Trilogy of Fear. Each haunt features its own interactive queue and finale. Each of the haunts could be standalone events. "This concept, unique on Long Island, gives our patrons more bang for their buck," says Arominski.

The first haunt has traditionally been a variation of a haunted Victorian mansion, although its actual theme changes each year. The other two attractions evolve dramatically from year to year as the staff experiments with new ways to scare, shock, and of course, entertain the attending audiences. "Having all three in one location is what sets Chamber of Horrors in a category all to itself among New York haunts. We want to be the purple cow that stands out, we want to be different,” Arominksi says. “We want to be different every year, and scare the shit out of people.”

Because Chamber of Horrors is not limited to a single set like many other haunted houses, it has the distinct advantage of being able to recreate itself each season. Even though they have the same space, the walk through is always different.  “The first haunt is usually the most detailed. We’ll mix up the rooms every year. It is always changing. As for the other two, they are a blank canvas and are limited only by our staff’s imagination. Everyone is encouraged to pitch ideas,” Arominski says.

 

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