Fright Fest 2003 is not for faint of
heart
Its creator says it is scarier than ever this year.
By GREG
SMITH
Norwich Bulletin; gasmith@norwichbulletin.com
Photos by
John Shishmanian/Norwich Bulletin
Inside, Carlson and good friend Fraun Russell worked to put the finishing touches on some burned bodies hanging from the ceiling.
Patty Carlson of Putnam, left, and Fraun Russell of Dayville, with one
of the many displays at Carlson's home that will be part of the 16th
annual Fright Fest at 158 Park Road in Putnam Saturday, Sunday and Oct.
31.
Miniature coffins, following-eyes pictures and an assortment of other decorations were sprawled out alongside a workbench.
For months before Halloween even drew near, these two friends immerse themselves in everything ghoulish.
"Can't you see, we really get into it," Carlson said. "It's a high. Everybody involved gets into it."
Carlson is the mastermind behind Fright Fest, the annual backyard horror show that started 16 years ago as a one-room gag for co-workers.
It's mushroomed since then.
"I take my vacation to do this," Russell said.
This year's Fright Fest has expanded from two to three days to accommodate the more than 1,300 people who showed up last year. And with the cancellation of Danielson's haunted trail, they expect even more this year.
Carlson's yard, with a half-dozen outbuildings, was transformed with countless numbers of frightening figures, winding walkways and tombstones.
It takes months of preparation and help from dozens of volunteers to put the show together. More than 40 people, many most in costumes, are involved as actors during the nights of the show.
Skits will include a Freddy versus Jason and Satan's Inferno, along with some surprises being kept under wraps until the night of the show.
This scary face awaits those who visit Fright Fest in Putnam.
"We like them to be able to design and write what. It's more fun this way," Carlson said.
One of the displays at Fright
Fest 2003 in Putnam.
Visitors this year will be greeted by a Cadillac hearse, complete with driver and body in the back. The hearse was a gift from her husband Glenn Carlson, who last year bought her a casket.
"My husband's a real good sport," Carlson said.
He also helped to construct a metal fence for a cemetery that will become part of the show.
Both women warn that the event is not for the faint of heart. Younger children can wait in a "Fraidy Cat" area and people with pacemakers should enter only at their own risk.
"We've had people go in and say 'no' I can't do this and try to claw their way out," Russell said. "Some leave in tears."
People who have asked them to "tone it down a bit," are urged to come without their children.