Charger Arts & Entertainment

Haunted house spatters visitors with ultimate in escapism

Orin Christianson, Charger Staff

There are many ways one can spend his time on earth. Some collect things, others work on seemingly endless projects like building models, but there are some people in Cookeville who have some different ideas about what is fun. Mike McCaleb, the man in charge of the haunted house and thinkingmonkeythinking.com, is one such deviant.

McCaleb’s favorite part of running the haunted house is when everything is done, the house is set up, and he can get ready to scare someone. And by scaring someone he doesn’t mean making them jump, he means making them lose all control of their bodily functions.

McCaleb was first introduced to the haunting of houses by his business partner and friend, Scott Maddux who had worked in a haunted house while Mike was in New Zealand. For the past four years, he has been operating the attraction out of the basement of the Old Wilson building in downtown Cookeville. And so far, last year’s house has been his favorite (it can be viewed on his website, thinkingmonkeythinking.com)

However, setting up a haunted house is in no way a bed of roses. First there is the cost. In order to build the attraction, it costs approximately $20,000, which includes building rental and equipment. Second, after a long night of scaring people, McCaleb is responsible for cleaning up the mess left by the actors and patrons, when all he really wants is to go to bed.

The ultimate purpose of the Haunted House is that of any other form of entertainment. It is the quintessential form of escapism, letting people experience something not usually within their realm. Unfortunately, the events of Sept. 11 had a great impact on the haunted house industry last year because the fear the nation was experiencing was much more frightening than anything that McCaleb could come up with, and most houses did not bring in even half of what was spent.

Although the Haunted House does not have a theme yet, everything will be new this year except for a couple of favorite rooms. Mike McCaleb’s favorite room from last year was the “Museum,” which was the first room patrons entered upstairs.

“It was the most decorated and set the atmosphere for the rest of the house. It also gave them (visitors) their first impression of what they were in for.”

As one goes through the house, it is not uncommon for him to hear inebriated guests making obnoxious comments, or for certain rooms to be less than frightening. Often times, it is the spooks’ fault and not that of the builders. Mike had this to say about it,

”The hardest rooms to decorate are the ones left until the last minute because no one has a clear idea about what the room’s theme is. Sometimes ideas come together easily, other times... Also, the spooks don’t know exactly what their doing, and as a result, the room suffers.”

The Haunted House is located in the basement of the Old Wilson Building and runs the 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 30, and 31 of October. The cost is ten dollars per person (the same amount as similar attractions in Nashville).

Article prepared for web by Joy Wheeler