The Creep Zone • Hutto
The Creep Zone • Hutto
Written by Beth Wade Sunday, 07 October 2007
The mastermind behind two haunted houses
Some people may call making molds of body parts and skulls a weird pastime, but to Mike Sneath, it is all business.
Sneath, along with his wife, Nicole, has premiered his own haunted house this Halloween season. The Creep Zone features two separate haunted attractions, “Dr. Dyer’s Bio Lab” and the “Dungeon of Death,” both the result of Sneath’s handiwork, and both under the same roof.
“We wanted to give two houses in one location, and we named it ‘The Creep Zone,’ so we will have flexibility to change the theme in the future,” said Sneath, who is a video game developer at Edge Reality.
He first became entranced by the idea of starting his own haunted house after visiting others in the area. He felt confident in his artistic abilities and believed he could produce a higher quality haunt, he said.
Sneath, with help from family and friends, made 75 percent of the costumes and props by hand, working in his spare time and on weekends to build, paint and create. The rest he purchased from suppliers.
“It takes more time to make everything myself rather than buying it,” he said, “but I can put more into it and make it more realistic for cheaper.”
Using a mixture of materials including latex and silicone, Sneath created the creatures for Bio Lab by imagining what could go wrong with genetic engineering.
Sneath’s inspiration came from movies as well, he said. Parts of Bio Lab, including the hospital ambiance, came from the psychological horror movie Jacob’s Ladder.
The second haunt, Dungeon of Death, is Bio Lab’s polar opposite, Sneath said. Although there are elements of gore in the scare, the focus is the tortured souls haunting the dungeon from the dark ages.
“These allow us to experience things we don’t experience in everyday life,” Sneath said. “We don’t have to hunt, and we aren’t out trying to survive, but it’s still a part of you. It is a part of that primal instinct we all have inside of us.”
Sneath has been planning for the past year and in September began making props and creatures for The Creep Zone. He has spent most of his down time working on his new venture, all the while maintaining a full-time job. Some day he hopes to focus solely on his new business; however, he said he is not ready to quit his day job just yet.
“We want to stress that this is not satanic. It is just scary,” Sneath said. “Fear is very powerful; it is almost like a primal instinct. A lot of people like haunted houses. They like feeling that primal instinct of fear and the adrenaline rush of feeling like you are in danger, but not.”
Create your own monster
- Create a sculpture using oil-based clay.
- Make a mold with industrial gypsum. The mold is a 3-D copy of the sculpture.
- Cast the mask using latex. Pour the liquid into the mold, let it set and pour the excess material out. When the latex is dry, gently peel it from the mold.
- Paint the mask to your liking.
These directions are from www.MonsterMakers.com, a Web site Sneath often visits.
The Creep Zone, 520 Tradesmens Park Drive • 846-1006, www.thecreepzone.com, Open weekends until Oct. 25, 7 p.m. - midnight, Open nightly Oct. 26-31, 7 p.m. - midnight
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