Last year people were thrilled to be chilled when the Ruesch Haunted Mansion found a new home at the Kimball Arts Center. This year, thrillseekers can face their fears in the basement of the Park City Mall when Ruesch’s Haunted Mansion presents “6 Feet Under Main Street” beginning Oct. 22.
The public will find themselves in a labyrinth of scares as they walk through a graveyard and encounter an array of ghosts, a talking skeleton, mummies and disembodied voices, said Troy Ruesch during an interview with The Park Record.
“There will also be a few dead ends with heart-pounding surprises,” he said. “We’ll have someone manipulating the passageways and guiding them through the rooms.”
“6 Feet Under Main Street” features 20 themed rooms the visitors will have to visit before escaping the dark halls of scares, Ruesch said. “And for younger kids and the faint-hearted, we will open early on Oct. 30 and 31, for few ‘non-scary’ runs.”
This year, Ruesch looks forward to visitors’ reactions to a moving, dancing skeleton that will greet them in the first room.
“He can dance and say whatever we want him to in as many as 1,000 voices.” Ruesch said. “We’re renting him, which is rare. People don’t usually rent these kinds of things, but I know the owner.”
The Ruesch family loves Halloween.
Not only does Ruesch and his wife Nicole embrace the spooky holiday, but the kids Chasen, 19, Jade, 17, Jessica, 14, and Tavin, 12 turn Halloween into a celebration.
“We go all out so much with the make-up and costumes that there have been times when the kids have been sent home from school because the make-up is too gory,” Ruesch said.
The make-up and costumes are also a part of the elaborate haunted mansion which was originally set up in Heber, but moved to Park City last year.
“It is just something I’ve always done,” Ruesch said about making haunted houses. “I grew up in Las Vegas and my father, a retired police officer, was a manager for my uncle’s party supply store. We had access to all these props and costumes and, with help from friends in the community, we used to set up haunted houses in Las Vegas.”
When Ruesch moved to Heber seven years ago, he and his family started their own haunted-house tradition.
“We had a four-car garage and used that space,” Ruesch said. “I’m a stucco contractor and I’d stretch out my long driveway with scaffolding and create these haunted houses for the neighborhood kids.”
In 2008, thanks to the scary economy, the Rueschs made the grim decision to close the doors on their haunted mansion.
“We were in the process of building a new house when the bank we were working with for our loan went under,” Ruesch said. “We were going to lose everything, and we weren’t in the mood to do anything.”
The mood changed the night before Halloween.
“There was a knock on the door and when I answered, there were 40 kids outside telling us how excited they were for Halloween because they wanted to see our haunted mansion,” Ruesch said.
“So I called my crew and we set up the haunted mansion in the garage overnight. Since then, we have not questioned whether or not we should do one.”
Even after the Rueschs moved from their 8,000 square-feet dream home in Heber into an 800 square-foot studio apartment above the retail stores on Park City’s Main Street, they were determined to continue their haunted mansion tradition.
“People depended on us,” said Troy Ruesch. “And we didn’t want to let them down.”
The new haunted mansion’s halls and rooms are built with 250 sheets of plywood, which were painted with 30 gallons of black paint.
In addition, a company from Connecticut donated $1,500 of plexiglass for the ghost effects.
“We are utilizing what is called the ‘Pepper’s Ghost Effect,’ the same system that is used in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion,” Ruesch said. “The Plexiglass is used to heighten the effects and make it appear as if the apparitions are standing right in front of you.”
Other donations include an array of coffins.
“Last year we had one coffin,” he said. “This year we have 10. And we use them all.”
In addition to donations, the Rueschs have forged relationships with their sponsors, which include Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware, True Value, World Market, Sherwin Williams, Stock Building Supply,7-11 and Mask Costumes, to name a few.
“Some sponsors have been with us from the beginning,” said Nicole Ruesch. “Back then they donated $50 or so, and when the economy went bad they stuck with us. It’s to a point now where they tell us they will always donate, whether it’s extension chords, paint or anything else we need.”
Sponsors helped stuff the treat bags that are handed out to visitors as they exit the haunted house.
“This is a great treat bag,” Ruesch said. “It includes candy, a Slurpee coupon and vampire teeth.”
Ruesch knows how important it is for customers to have a fun, safe visit to “6 Feet Under Main Street.”
“Everything is built to code,” he said. “We have a building permit. We’ve been inspected by a building inspector and the fire marshall. We have strategically built the walls around the fire sprinklers. We had a certified electrician, who got an electrical permit, wire our lighting. We have quick access to emergency exits. And we use strobelights with caution because if someone is an epileptic or is one and doesn’t know they are, the strobes can trigger it.”
Ruesch also recruited an emergency-ready staff.
“I’m an EMT and have medics on the staff, as well,” he said. “And I also have one sworn-in law enforcement officer on the security staff.
“We have two-way radios, flashlights and t-shirts that identify staff and emergency crews. That way everyone who comes can have fun and the parents can feel safe.
“We also don’t allow touching from our staff or from the visitors,” he said. “And we don’t scream in people’s faces and don’t allow cell-phone usage and no profanity. I think of how it would feel if someone swears in front of my kids.”
Of course Ruesch’s family is involved in the staff and ticketing. This year, however, his oldest Chasen has other obligations, but “is here in sprit,” said Ruesch.
“He is still playing an active role in the creativity and design of this year’s project,” Ruesch said. “We talk to each other on the phone at least once a day.”
Ruesch also wanted to be sure the hallways were accessible for wheelchairs.
“I felt so bad when a little girl in a wheelchair came to the Kimball last year,” he said. “I put her over my shoulders and took her though myself. I thought that I will never fail at that again. So we are fully accessible.”
Ruesch’s Haunted Mansion presents “6 Feet Under Main Street,” Oct,. 22-23, 28-31, 6 p.m.-10 p.m., 333 Main Street, Park City. Special Trick or Treat hours for younger children Oct. 30-31, 4 p.m.-6 p.m., admission $8 at the gate. Www.rueschhauntedmansion.com