ScareHouse

New Podcast with Tall Cathy from 96.1 KISS and Katie O'Malley from Pens Tv

ScareHouse podcast co-host Laura Kelley shares many passions with her friends Tall Cathy from 96.1 KISS and Katie O'Malley from Pens Tv ... a love of Pittsburgh radio, the Penguins, and late night karaoke...and total hatred of horror, haunted houses, and Hugga Bunches. So why not invite them into The ScareHouse and see what happens?

Rob Johnston (aka "The Manly Willy Wonka") talks to Cathy, Katie, and Laura about their friendship, the challenges of working in the male-dominated fields of radio and sports broadcasting, and the challenges of finding fashionable gentlemen. It's a fast and fun episode that may or may not feature singing, fart analysis, lumberjacks, and tales of "the hockey funk." And join us next time for Part 2: when Cathy, Katie, and Laura explore The ScareHouse in total darkness!

Subscribe to the FREE ScareHouse audio podcast for fun and informative conversations with ScareHouse designers, cast,and crew - as well as extended interviews with other haunters, Pittsburgh icons, special effects artists, and alternative perfomers. New episodes available every other week from now through November!

20 Years of Haunted House History

In 1990, Scott Simmons met his future wife Barb while working at a volunteer haunted house fundraiser in Pittsburgh... now, along with Scott's dad Wayne, they are the owners of one of America's best known haunted attractions: The ScareHouse.

For the first time, Barb and Scott join ScareHouse podcast hosts Rob Johnston and Laura Kelly for an extended conversation about two decades of haunted house history. They reveal the stories you haven't heard about the early years of The ScareHouse, address the challenges of balancing haunting with "the real world," and reveal how they turned a love of Halloween into a full-time career.

Plus, really embarassing and personal stories that they will probably regret sharing with our international podcast audience!

Subscribe to the FREE ScareHouse audio podcast for fun and informative conversations with ScareHouse designers, cast,and crew - as well as extended interviews with other haunters, Pittsburgh icons, special effects artists, and alternative perfomers. New episodes available every other week from now through November!

Sleep No More

What is Sleep No More? It's an interactive and immersive theatrical experience created by British theatre company Punchdrunk, produced within 100,000 square feet of converted warehouse space in Manhattan. It's a self-guided journey through the dark and mysterious secrets of the McKittrick Hotel, in which guests are encouraged to explore an antiquated lunatic asylum, doctor's offices, children's bedrooms, a cemetery, indoor courtyards, shops, a padded cell, a ballroom, taxidermist's menageries, and much more.

It's a dramatic production in which few words are spoken by the performers, and audience members must remain silent and masked at all times. It's primarily teh story of Macbeth, but it has also been compared to the works of David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick as well as Lost, BioShock, and Disney's Haunted Mansion. It's a voyeuristic journey into the depths of a "1940's noir nightmare."

 It's... pretty hard to describe actually.

ScareHouse sound designer Glenn Delirium Dog Ricci, a frequent guest of the McKittrick Hotel, joins a roundtable of fellow Sleep No More experts for an extended conversation about this innovative and unforgettable production. Plus, actress Careena Melia invites us into the Manderley Bar for a rare conversation about her portrayal of Hecate and her nightly interactions with scores of masked and anonymous audience members.

Subscribe to the FREE ScareHouse audio podcast for fun and informative conversations with ScareHouse designers, cast,and crew - as well as extended interviews with other haunters, Pittsburgh icons, special effects artists, and alternative perfomers. New episodes available every other week from now through November!

Exploring Shocktoberfest

The lastest episode of the FREE ScareHouse podcast features a conversation with Pat Konopelsi, owner of Shocktoberfest and president of The Haunted House Association.

Shocktoberfest (located near Reading, Pennsylavnia) is a 30 acre "scream park" featuring an elaborate hayride, multiple haunted attractions, a midway, and much more. It has been named as one of the scariest attractions in America by Travel Channel, Haunted Attraction magazine, and Richard Christy of the Howard Stern show.

Pat joins us for an extended conversation about his 20 year career in the haunted attraction industry. We talk about the challenges of scaring contemporary audiences and find out how a simple Halloween hayride in a picnic grove expanded into one of the country's most elaborate haunted events.

Visit www.shocktoberfest.com to find out more about Pennsylvania's Premier Haunted Scream Park: featuring the Biohazard Hayride, The Unknown, Club Shock, Monster Midway, and the 50,000 square foot Prison of the Dead.

Subscribe to our FREE podcast for fun and informative conversations with ScareHouse designers, cast,and crew - as well as extended interviews with other haunters, Pittsburgh icons, special effects artists, and alternative perfomers. Help us reach new listeners when you leave positive ratings and reviews on iTunes. Thanks!

Anthrocon - The World's Largest Furry Convention

The latest episode of The ScareHouse podcast features a rare and guided tour behind the scenes of Anthrocon, the World's largest Furry convention, which takes place in Pittsburgh every summer.

What is Anthrocon? It is the world's largest convention for those fascinated with anthropomorphics, which are humanlike animal characters. It is a collection of nearly 5,000 artists, animators, writers, costumers, puppeteers, and just everyday fans who enjoy cartoon animals and their kin. Approximately 20% of attendees don specialized animal costumes, often based on original characters, and enjoy role-playing and interacting with both fellow attendees and bystanders.

So what really happens at Anthrcon? What kind of people are performing underneath all of that fur? And why is Pittsburgh the perfect home for thousands of Furries?

Programming director John "Kuddlepup" Cole takes Katie "Dudders," Margee Kerr, and ScareHouse creative director Scott Simmons on a guided tour of the convention and introduces us to multiple attendees, organizers, and surprise guests. He speaks to us about the community, the costumes, and the years of coordination; responds to the misconceptions and criticisms; and even reveals surprising connections between Furries and the haunted attraction industry.

This extended episode of The ScareHouse podcast is made possible by the generosity and enthusiasm of the Anthrocon community, who continue to raise thousands of dollars for Pittsburgh based charities and businesses. Visit www.anthrocon.org to find out more about their community.

Subscribe to our FREE podcast for fun and informative conversations with ScareHouse designers, cast,and crew - as well as extended interviews with other haunters, Pittsburgh icons, special effects artists, and alternative perfomers. Help us reach new listeners when you leave positive ratings and reviews on iTunes. Thanks!