What the FAQ?

Q: What is FrightTown?
Q: Where is FrightTown?
Q: When are you open?
Q: What are your hours?
Q: What is the best day and time to come?
Q: Which of your haunted houses is the best/scariest?
Q: Aren't these the same three haunted houses you had last year?
Q: Is it okay to bring my kids to FrightTown?
Q: How long does it take to go through the haunted houses?
Q: A couple of these FrightTown haunted houses sound familiar. Didn’t you guys used to be somewhere else?
Q: How much are tickets?
Q: Can I win free tickets?
Q: What if it rains?
Q: Can I get a refund? I’m too scared to go in.
Q: Is it true that I can get married at FrightTown?
Q: Will the monsters touch me?
Q: Can I touch the monsters?
Q: Is FrightTown wheelchair accessible?
Q: Should I be concerned about my health condition?
Q: What isn’t allowed at FrightTown?
Q: This looks like fun. Can I be a monster too?
Q: What is the 1031 Theatre?
Q: Who’s your press contact?

Q: What is FrightTown?

A: FrightTown is the Pacific Northwest's newest haunted event featuring three amazing haunted houses in one location for one price. Baron Von Goolo's Museum of Horrors, the top rated madhouse of humor and horror, returns for its eleventh year in Portland; The Black Box is a non stop free fall into darkness and terror unlike anything this town has ever seen; and our all new haunt, The Contagion, drops you into the heart of a city ravaged by an unstoppable zombie plague! There's something to scare everyone at FrightTown!

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Q: Where is FrightTown?

A: FrightTown is located in the Exhibit Hall at the Rose Quarter, on Portland’s east side between the Broadway Bridge and the Steel Bridge. FrightTown is below the Coliseum: in fact, you enter FrightTown off of the courtyard in front of the Coliseum. When you’re facing the Coliseum, take the stairway to your right, down to FrightTown. Click here for a map.

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Q: When are you open?

A: FrightTown opens on Friday October 5, 2012. We're open 21 nights through Halloween. We are closed every Monday and Tuesday except for the last week of the month leading up to Halloween.

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Q: What are your hours?

A: The box office opens and sells tickets starting at 7pm every night. The box office closes at 10pm on weekdays (Sunday - Thursday) and 11pm on weekends (Friday & Saturday). To be sure that you get all three haunted houses in, we recommend arriving at least an hour before the box office closes. Tickets are good for any night, so if you have to leave you can always come back.

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Q: What is the best day and time to come?

A: The short answer is that because of our revolving cast and special events, there's something new happening every day at FrightTown: be sure to check our event calendar for current happenings and promotions.
The long answer is that we always advise people to come close to 7pm, during the week and/or early in the month. FrightTown is just as scary at those times and the lines are a lot shorter. A LOT! The biggest complaint that we get is from people that only come on the Fridays and Saturdays right before Halloween and ask "Can't you do anything about these long lines?" Yeah, we can. And we do: we're open 19 other nights! We understand that the Halloween spirit grabs you the tightest closer to Halloween, but with a little planning ahead, you and your group can celebrate Halloween with the same terrifying FrightTown experience and have a lot more elbow room.

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Q: Which of your haunted houses is the best/scariest?

A: We've gone out of our way to offer three completely different haunted house experiences here at FrightTown - so different that it would be impossible to compare them. If you share America's love affair with flesh-eating undead, you'll love The Contagion; if you like your horror served raw and screaming, The Black Box is for you; and if you like your scares bizarre and unpredictable with a dash of WTF, you can't go wrong with Baron Von Goolo's Museum of Horrors.

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Q: Aren't these the same three haunted houses you had last year?

A: What are you, new? What would be the fun in that? They might have the same names or same themes, but we make major changes to all three of our haunts every year so that even our most loyal, returning guests still get surprised around every corner! For example, in 2011, we revamped the Museum of Horrors so that it's much darker and scarier than it's ever been, rebuilt Elshoff Manor from the inside out with tons of new rooms and scares, and we put The Chop Shop on hiatus and added THE BLACK BOX - a darkness maze filled with monsters that might be just our scariest haunted house ever! And now, in 2012, Elshoff Manor is taking a breather so that we can unleash our newest sinister sensation, THE CONTAGION! If we just rehashed the same old thing it wouldn't be any fun for us either. We got ya covered, boss.

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Q: Is it okay to bring my kids to FrightTown?

A: As Baron Von Goolo would say "You can pay for a babysitter tonight or a therapist tomorrow." Seriously, though, haunted houses are about being scary and we are very good at what we do. While we have no age restrictions at FrightTown, the management does not feel that FrightTown is appropriate for very young children. Baron Von Goolo's offers disturbing and often risqué humor; The Contagion is intensely scary and graphic; The Black Box features scenes of gore and mayhem. That being said, we've had four year old kids go through our haunts and have a lot of fun, laughing and smiling, while forty year old adults have gone through and literally soiled themselves. This is a very subjective call and we will always rely on the judgment of the parents or guardians.

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Q: How long does it take to go through the haunted houses?

A: Our favorite story is from 2002, when a group of screaming girls sprinted through Baron Von Goolo’s Museum of Horrors, nonstop, screaming the whole time, in about four minutes. In general, it takes a lot longer and some folks have taken over an hour just to go through the Museum alone. The haunts are self-guided and shy of loitering or obstructing the paths of others, patrons may set their own pace. And yes, that includes sprinting.

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Q: A couple of these FrightTown haunted houses sound familiar. Didn’t you guys used to be somewhere else?

A: That’s right. Elshoff Manor first went public in 2004 and Baron Von Goolo’s Museum of Horrors has been around since 2002. Since then we’ve had over 150,000 patrons walk through our horrifying halls. Our old location was a bit of a pain to travel to: now we’re in the center of the city. We hope you agree that the Rose Quarter is the best location for a haunted house in the whole state.

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Q: How much are tickets?

Q: Can I win free tickets?

A: Yes! Listen to our radio sponsors. They’re giving away hundreds! You can also get a chance to win tickets by signing up here.

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Q: What if it rains?

A: Then patrons at some other haunted houses will get wet. But you won’t: all three haunted houses at FrightTown are inside.

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Q: Can I get a refund? I’m too scared to go in.

A: Sorry, we have a strict no refund policy. Complaining that a haunted house is too scary is like complaining that a restaurant is too delicious. We deliver on our promise of scares! But since your ticket is good for any night, you can always give it to a much braver friend. They'll thank you for it!??

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Q: Is it true that I can get married at FrightTown?

A: Believe it or not, you can! Baron Von Goolo’s Museum of Horrors is conducting “Wicked Weddings” this season and you and your betrothed can be tied in the bonds of love by one of our sinister ministers. Contact info@frighttown.com for details.

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Q: Will the monsters touch me?

A: Not if you don’t want them to. It is the official policy of FrightTown that the actors may not touch the patrons, except to help them (guiding them to an emergency exit, for example). It is understandable and not uncommon for a casual brush or accidental bump to occur, but no one is going to grab you or anything like that. Please note that if you invite the actor to touch you – say, for a photo or if you volunteer to take part in a stunt or bit – then the actor has the option to do so.

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Q: Can I touch the monsters?

A: Not if they don’t want you to. It goes both ways.

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Q: Is FrightTown wheelchair accessible?

A: Absolutely! FrightTown complies with all applicable regulations for accessibility, and at our former venue we have even had patrons compliment us on how easy it was for them to get around. We want everyone to enjoy a horrifying Halloween!

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Q: Should I be concerned about my health condition? (pregnancy, asthma, epilepsy, etc)

A: Even though this is all in fun, the fear response is stressful and can elevate heart rates and even blood pressure: if you have serious questions about your health, you may want to go as far as to ask your doctor before attending FrightTown. Please use your best judgment. People who have recently suffered an injury, especially to the back or neck, have chronic joint problems, are more than seven months pregnant or have recently undergone surgery should use caution. We also use “fog” and strobe lights, special effects that have been known to cause adverse reactions in asthmatics and epileptics after prolonged exposure. Again, please use your best judgment. We have yet to have any problems at any of our venues and we’d like to keep it that way.

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Q: What isn’t allowed at FrightTown?

A: There are a number objects and activities that we ban at FrightTown in order to maintain a fun atmosphere and a safe environment for everyone, patrons and monsters alike. We expect all our guests to adhere to the following.

No running or pushing.

No confrontational behavior or harassment of the actors or other patrons.

ABSOLUTELY no touching the displays or the actors.

No weapons of any kind.

No flash photography.

No pets.

No lighters, matches or smoking.

No alcohol or controlled substances of any kind.

No Halloween masks, false beards, hoods, prosthetic makeup or anything that obscures your face.

Violation of any of these rules may result in you being escorted from the premises without a refund.

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Q: This looks like fun. Can I be a monster too?

A: Hecks yah you can! Sign up here!

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Q: What is the 1031 Theatre?

A: FrightTown is co-produced and performed by the actors and artists of the 1031 Community Theatre. Founded in 2005, the 1031 is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation dedicated to advancing the arts in our community by staging innovative, original and “immersive” theatre with an eye to reinvigorating the wonder lost in most modern celebrations of Halloween. This isn’t your grandma’s community theatre. The 1031 brings together students, enthusiasts and professionals alike to create opportunities for education and expression in all aspects of theatrical production and in doing so, aims to become a unique and significant cultural asset for Portland and the surrounding regions. Our membership represents a vast cross-section of folks in the region, from high school students to professional computer engineers, from comic book artists to accountants. FrightTown is the primary fundraiser for the theatre, with funds going to future productions, sponsorship of local artists, administration and the lease of a permanent workshop for our members. For more information or if you’d like to join our troupe, visit www.1031theatre.org.

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Q: Who’s your press contact?

A: That would be Dave Helfrey, executive director of the 1031. You can contact him by clicking here.

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