The Spook Show Must Go On
As 2020 concludes, it is impossible to not hark back to unhappened events due to the novel coronavirus. During the summer of this unparalleled year, renowned conventions centers like Dragon*Con, Days of the Dead Atlanta Part 2 and Atlanta Comic-Con were all cancelled. To make matters worse, Halloween Kills, the 12th installment in the Halloween franchise, was postponed to Oct. 15, 2021.
When autumn arrived, there were major concerns regarding the ability to operate vibrant haunted houses. However, the Star Wars and horror fanatic, devoted husband, father, grandfather, pet owner and Atlanta resident Daniel Riker took full accountability and adhered to strict guidelines during the 11th season of Folklore Haunted House – after all, spooky attractions are the epitome of celebrating Halloween.
“We started back in January and we work diligently all year to get where it is,” Riker stated. “We thought we weren’t going to run. The state had mandates and safety restrictions toward haunted houses.”
Unlike previous seasons, Riker also pointed out that the health and safety protocols in 2020 required more effortful processing and strategic planning.
“We put a lot of time and we dealt with various tasks. The main thing was to get the extra medical personnel and the cleaning crew to clean the surfaces touched. There were things that we didn’t want to do, but we didn’t have a choice. Life doesn’t always work the way you want it.”
The reputable “Atlanta’s Must-See Haunted House,” located on 5389 N. Main St. in Acworth, Ga., provided hand sanitizers in the gift shop, ticket booth and cue lines to prevent the highly spreadable and deadly COVID-19. Temperature checks and masks were also mandatory for the 50-60 cast and crew members and thousands of diverse patrons. Additionally, 6-foot social distancing was required while on the premises of Folklore Haunted House.
Although there were scare actors pinned to certain areas to ensure more space, staggered admittance, decreased hours of operation and only two attractions (The Manor and Asylum ’67) as opposed to three, Riker noticed that staff members and patrons took venturesome approaches to the limitations and altered guidelines.
“They were double-edged happy to be there,” he said. “The crew and customers were happy, everyone was suffering from cabin fever all year.”
The relieved Riker not only sympathized with the patrons, but also with the actors because most of them discovered that working at Folklore Haunted House was very therapeutic.
“It’s fun to be campy, weird and horrifying characters. In real life, we are freaks, but at the haunt, we are normal! Whenever people are at the beach wearing white t-shirts, I’m in a black t-shirt with a logo sign promoting the haunt,” he chuckled.
As if Folklore Haunted House was not peculiar enough, Riker even added miscellaneous events to escalate the entertainment for the “not so normal” season. The featured shows included: “Attack of the 1980s” on Sept. 26, “Ladies Night” held on Oct. 9, “Veteran’s Night,” which was beneficial for the military on Oct. 15, “Send in the Clowns,” where evil clowns obnoxiously took over on Nov. 1 and “Glowstick Fright Nights” during the dark and deceiving evenings on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7.
All of the effervescent events were successful; however, Riker reminisced about his teenage years and nostalgic horror more closely with “Attack of the 1980s.”
“Horror was different back then,” he said. “You had screaming victims, partiers, big hair, scrunchies and bad lighting. You played 1980s synth music. All the horror movies had horrible soundtracks from the 1980s.”
Folklore Haunted House’s version of the 40-year-old decade consisted of bland cinematography in both haunts prepped to align with dull lighting from the early 1980s. There were also cameos from various cult ‘80s classics. “It was whatever we could get licensed for,” Riker added.
Once the unforgettable 2020 haunt season ended, Riker had one word – resilient - to describe how he felt coping with audacious tasks in order to create a horror attraction during COVID-19.
“It wasn’t a normal show and it was difficult to deliver the terror with restrictions, but we were happy to do it,” he explained. “It made us adapt and overcome a safe show for our customers without compromising the safety. We had to sit back and think a little more and had the demeanors to put on a show.”
Riker’s zealousness toward horror also persuaded him to perform holiday shows for Toys for Tots and even expand Folklore Haunted House. However, with COVID cases surging, it was devastatingly decided that “Christmas Nightmares” will not run this December.
“It’s very sad not having it. ‘Christmas Nightmares’ has gone on for 10 seasons.”
On the other hand, Riker already started inventing new ideas and frights for the 2021 season. The sedulous owner anticipated a sense of “normalcy” for Folklore Haunted House during the upcoming year.
“We plan to go back to three attractions. Sideshow stuff will also re-open, such as the shooting gallery, photo ops, more on the gift shop and any entertaining activities for the crowds,” he said. “We also want the actors to interact more with the customers and get away from the pop scares.”
In addition to leading Folklore Haunted House, Riker’s notable horror credits consisted of portraying several walkers in seasons one, two and three on AMC’s The Walking Dead, the unswerving horror/drama television series elaborating life after an unforeseeable zombie apocalypse. He also worked on similar productions, such as: Teen Wolf (2011) and The Vampire Diaries (2009). He even appeared in several horror/drama/thriller/mystery popular films, like: The Crazies (2010) featuring Night of the Living Dead’s George A. Romero, Zombieland (2009) starring Emma Stone and Serenity (2019) with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway as the main cast.
Riker has been passionately involved with the entertainment industry since the early 1990s. Before relocating to Atlanta, he began his career up north building props and costumes for television and small films, while appearing as an extra, stand-in and doing technical work. His current role as an armor/weapons crew member varies from one project to the next.
“This is my main living. I coach the actors in armor on television shows or movies – shield, protection, protective covering guard,” he analyzed.
The confident crew member continues to achieve his endeavors in the horror world. He eventually wants to be recruited for voiceover work because Scooby Doo was his favorite cartoon as a kid. However, Riker must provide tremendous effort because those types of roles are uber-competitive.
“It’s hard to get in,” he stressed. “The industry involves a lot of people.”
But if Riker can meticulously run a haunted house during COVID-19, there is significant potential to land anywhere he desires – much like the myriad ghouls and goblins that haunt his venerable spook show every year, he simply will not give up.
Comments
Post a Comment