In 2006 we puked our guts out and ran away screaming when Fright Night took central Clovis by storm. With multiple attractions and a grip of hard working volunteers, Fright Night was a fast success in the years to come.
“Fright Night really cared about its customers,” says third year veteran Kayci Harris, “It pushed the boundaries to bring the best scares.”
“We started keeping score between rooms,” says Colton Mason, a four-year veteran, “of how many people we could get to pee, [evacuate their bowels], throw up, or faint.”
In 2010 things changed for Fright Night, and although many were upset, it may have inadvertently made it even better. “We were supposed to be volunteers,” Rob Bradley, another four year Fright Night/5th Realm veteran told reporters, “so when Amanda sued because she didn’t get her money, we were all confused.”
Fright Night was a haunted hours run by volunteers, but the management tried to ensure that the workers received some kind of monetary compensation, as well as prizes and awards at the end of the year. Amanda Borchansky sued Maggie Curtis, the previous owner of Fright Night because she did not feel she received proper compensation. Many of the volunteers believed that Amanda did not have a case due to the contract that they all signed stating that they were strictly volunteers, but despite all odds, Amanda won her case and Fright Night along with it.
Amanda decided she didn’t want to keep the haunt, however, and sold it back for $4,000, but kept the trademark for Fright Night, as well as the names of all of the attractions.
Now, the space is under the management of Brandon Wright, and along with a name change to 5th Realm, each of the attractions has been given a new name, and an overhaul. “Cosmetically and tour wise everything has been upgraded,” says Rob Bradley, “It looks better and flows better. I think the haunts are a lot scarier this year, and we’ve added a new haunt. Nocturnal, which used to be called Necropolis has gotten a lot better reviews this year, too. James even got professional taggers came in and tagged the interior of the building. It looks amazing.”
Joining Rob, Colton, Kayci and Brandon in the new version of the haunted house is James Powell, former stage manager of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and talent director Rob Lupo who has been in the business for over 16 years.
So while the Fright Night many Fresno and Clovis residents fell in love with is gone, 5th Realm will certainly more than make up for it, it seems.
“When you come to 5th Realm, watch out for psycho clowns, crazy hillbillies, hungry vampires, and mad doctors,” says Rob Bradley.
5th Realm opened its doors on Sept. 23 with tickets available online or at the door.