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Click here. MULTIMEDIA Spook Houses School In Scares 10/28/2008 7:14:46 AM | Ryan Haidet Standing ominously atop Triplett Blvd., The Haunted Schoolhouse and The Haunted Laboratory have become a Halloween tradition bringing scares to visitors for the last 35 years.  Filling seven total floors between the two -- three at the Schoolhouse and four at the Laboratory -- each boasts unique scenes and special effects. The Schoolhouse, which is inside the former Thomastown Elementary School, features a two-story Dracula's castle, evil king's dungeon, creepy clowns and zombie-filled cemeteries.
The Laboratory, now in its 28th season, has its customers staring down a four-story wind tunnel, two 10-foot tall Tesla coils that fire 1.5 million volts of electricity into the October air, a vortex tunnel into the Twilight Zone and is filled with freaky fiends that roam the building.
Because the buildings are independently owned, the sets can stay up all year, which allows for ongoing improvements all year long.
"Compared to a lot of the others, which are thrown up in a week or so, ours are standing all year round and we just add to them every year," Bill Morrison, the makeup artist for the haunted attractions said. "I like every scene to almost feel like the third act of a really good movie."
 LISTEN to Morrison discuss the Haunted Schoolhouse and Laboratory
Morrison says there are a variety of ways to spook a guest.
"A startle is about the easiest type of scare and your grandmother could do it -- or a guy dressed in a cheeseburger outfit can do it," he continued. "It doesn't matter, anything can startle you. If you turn around and suddenly someone's there, that's a good startle. My favorite kind of scare is the lingering scare -- that the scenes themselves can evoke. If you go home and find yourself dreaming about something in a haunted house that stuck out to you subconsciously, that's to me the favorite kind of scare." Morrison, who has worked there for about 10 years says that he still gets a chill up his spine sometimes. "I don't want to say scare, but I get spooked when I'm over at the Lab working late at night and no one else happens to be over there," Morrison said. "And you hear one of those street cleaners screaming up the hill, it's pretty eerie." Fred Coladonato has been a monster at The Haunted Schoolhouse for the last 12 or 13 years. He said that in the current economy, you can't get a better bang for your buck.
"You've got seven floors, you've got two buildings side by side, which there's something here for everyone," Coladonato said. "With the price of gas, it's not like you have to come to one building, jump in your car, and drive 30 miles to go somewhere else. You've got it all right here side by side." Coladonato, a Halloween aficionado, has taken up the task of working there in the off season as well.
"It grows on you," he said. "Then once you become involved behind the scenes and working here in the off season, it just grows on you. It's like you can't wait for next year and you're almost kind of sad after they close."
Out of the thousands of scares he has achieved, one in particular sticks out in his mind.
"I had scared a girl and she wanted to thank me because I had just made her pee her pants," Coladonato said. "That's the one that sticks in my mind -- I enjoyed that moment." According to Coladonato, the two Triplett haunts are places families can go together.
"I've seen children that handle it better than their parents do," he said. "And on the flip side of that, I've seen kids that are just terrified from the word, 'Go.' It really is the discrepancy of the parent because they know their children better."
He says he has had a couple of creepy experiences in the buildings, which leads him to believe they may be haunted -- especially The Haunted Laboratory. WATCH a video via YouTube of a ghost investigation done inside the Laboratory:
"Each building has its own theme. Some people are really into the science fiction-type stuff. Some like the tradition monsters or scares."
You can get more information on The Haunted Schoolhouse and The Haunted Laboratory by visiting www.hshlab.com.
They are located at 1300 Triplett Blvd. and open through November 2.
If you're looking for all things Halloween, check out AkronScreams.com to find Trick-or-Treat schedules, spooky TV listings, local legends and haunted attractions.
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