The gore next door

Marisa O’Neil

Headless witches, bloody corpses and any other manner of ghouls await

brave souls looking for a Halloween fright.

The big amusement parks have their own, expensive haunts, but more

and more local residents and businesses are offering alternatives.

With a little paint, some building materials and a whole lot of

imagination, folks are scaring the heck out of their neighbors -- and

amusing them too.

“He’s wild over here,” Nat Herbert said of her neighbor, Greg

Theisen, as she stood among an array of bloody corpses that were part

of his annual haunted house. “I have to take people through here

because they’re scared and grab onto me. I’ve been through so many

times before it doesn’t scare me anymore.”

Theisen, a professional painter, loved going to haunted houses

when he was growing up. It amazed him, he said, that people could

make things look so real and so scary.

He decided a couple years ago to turn his North Mesa Verde home

into a house of horrors and to invite the neighbors.

Each year he adds a little more and changes things around a bit,

he said. He draws his inspiration from other haunted houses and from

his favorite movies.

Last year, he wielded a chain saw at a display inspired by the

movie “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Police said the saw was OK, he

said, as long as he didn’t cut anyone with it.

“He started my fear of chain saws,” said 13-year-old Chris

Latorre, Herbert’s grandson.

As Theisen fired up the grinding, whining saw, Chris said he leapt

across the yard as if Leatherface himself were chasing him.

Chris helps out in the chain-saw-free portions of the haunted

house, like the dark maze Theisen creates in his garage, complete

with scary monsters, flashing lights and dismembered corpses aplenty.

During the setup on Friday, Theisen excitedly described how the

fake blood on the corpses will gleam realistically under the black

lights.

“I have probably more fun than anyone,” he said with a laugh. “I

do the most work but have the most fun.”

His co-worker and partner in haunting, Jesse Chai, agreed.

“He’s like a big kid, anyway,” Chai said.

Theisen’s haunted house, at 1789 Hawaii Cir. In Costa Mesa is free

and open to the public this evening. And, he added, he’s giving out

candy.

ANOTHER HAUNTING

Tony and Heather Ferrero’s Bonita Canyon home has another scary,

but less gory, display. They’ve invited friends and family to their

home, which is decorated as Hogwarts School from the Harry Potter

books and movies.

Visitors enter the home through an elaborately painted train

engine, built by Tony Ferrero and painted with the help of his sons,

9-year-old William and 6-year-old Davis.

Once inside, a stone grotto holds the giant spider, Aragog; a

tented courtyard hides a maze filled with surprises; and their garage

is transformed into the Forbidden Forest. The family has planned the

display since August, and Tony Ferrero shelled out about $5,000 to

bring in professional props from four different companies.

“He does it all out or he doesn’t do it at all,” Heather Ferrero

said of her husband.

Tony Ferrero decided last year to start a family tradition with a

haunted house. The blood-and-guts display that year drew about 700

people, he said.

This year, they planned a blueprint of the display, enlisted the

help of relatives to play roles like Hagrid and Hermione, recorded

spooky sounds and spent three months just building the train. Invited

guests won’t have to pay an entry fee, but they are asking for

voluntary donations for the Orangewood Children’s Home.

“We decided to give to Orangewood because there are a lot of

abused and neglected children who can’t experience something like

this,” Heather Ferrero said.

A BEWITCHING STORY

At UC Irvine, the courtyard next to the Barclay Theatre has been

transformed to a creepy graveyard for a walking tour billed as “The

Haunted Crypt.” Put together by Troy Lindquist and Darrel Dorr under

the name Very Scary Productions, the crypt tells the story of a witch

executed in the 18th century.

A prologue outside gives visitors the back story of Sarah Carlyle

Simms, a witch beheaded on Halloween -- but not before she put a

curse on everyone.

“Every good experience has a story,” Lindquist said. “Telling a

story and keeping the story line up throughout the experience is

crucial to the experience.”

UCI students, mostly from the theater department, make up the cast

in each of the rooms. Visitors must feel their way along darkened

corridors to each room, where a spooky scene is played out.

“This is a very theatrical presentation,” Lindquist said. “There’s

no blood and guts.”

But it was still enough to put a scare into some folks, like

Newport Beach resident Melissa Glenn’s son, 5-year-old Myles, even

though he says he likes the scary stuff.

“He was holding onto me the whole time,” Melissa Glenn said. “But

he wants to go back in again.”

The Haunted Crypt is open from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight at the Barclay

Theatre, 4242 Campus Dr. in Irvine. Admission is $7.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.