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Entering its
fourth decade of operation, the Best Southwest’s own Reindeer
Manor has added some new tweaks both inside and out for 2004.
The haunted house and grounds, a Best Southwest tradition, has
tweaked the entry to the manor itself, changed the show in
some of the rooms inside and added extensively to the outdoor
trail section of the visit.
The Reindeer Manor evening starts with a hayride from the
parking area to the manor. But no hayride to a haunted house
should be too bland, and the Reindeer staff have made sure
this ride won’t be.
Even before taking off from the parking lot, visitors can see
fiery blazes coming from the direction of the manor. Once
aboard, riders normally get a little bit of startling when
they pass what appears to be an abandoned gas station. A fiery
derrick has enough petroleum-fired candlepower to bring Enron
back into business, along with enough heat to knock any chill
out of the night air.
But that’s just the beginning of enough pyrotechnics to make a
junior arsonist envious.
When the hay wagon reaches the gates of Reindeer Manor,
visitors buy their tickets, and wait for the next tour to
enter the mansion. When they pull up, they’re usually greeted
by more flames.
There’s also plenty of outdoor entertainment for visitors
waiting for the next group to be admitted to the mansion.
Graveyard and rooftop entertainment is a long tradition at
Reindeer Manor.
One of the main attractions of Reindeer Manor is its graveyard
skits in the tombstoned front yard, while people wait in line
to enter the manor. The Not Ready for Post-Mortem Players
provide a variety of entertainment on the ground.
Dr. Irvin von Hacknslash, complete with chainsaw, leads the
fun on the roof. In the graveyard, traditional skits like
“Thriller” and “The Cheerleader” are back again this year.
The entire playlist of outdoor music is computer-controlled.
And the rooftop torches have their fire jets coordinated with
the music for a nice additional touch. Flames from atop
Reindeer’s roof, behind the site’s snack bar and the gate
posts are all controlled in the music booth and synchronized
with the tunes or von Hacknslash’s antics.
Reindeer has a nightly schedule of skits posted on one of the
bulletin boards just past the snack bar, so visitors with
extra free time can check out the full range of programs.
Then, after the entertainment is done, it’s time to get ready
for thrills and chills with a tour of the manor. And the manor
and grounds have some scary history lying behind them.
Reindeer Manor is a real, abandoned, turn-of-the-century manor
house with a tragic history. Situated in the very spot where a
fatal fire destroyed a previous house, its flint brick and
tile roof construction has withstood nearly a century of
hailstorms, prairie fires and tornadoes.
It was originally designed by James Sharp, but he inexplicably
committed suicide before the manor’s completion. Choosing to
believe that the previous deaths were mere coincidence,
Sharp’s son, Matt, completed the house and moved in with his
family. A total of 13 buildings were constructed, the last one
being completed in the summer of 1929.
But further tragedies loomed. The Great Depression struck in
October of 1929 and thrust the family into poverty. As
financial disaster neared, Sharp began to act strangely. One
fateful day, his wife was found poisoned. A search of the
grounds revealed Sharp’s body hanging from the rafters in the
barn. Was it a murder-suicide? Perhaps a double murder? Or
something else?
Later generations of residents in the area claimed to have
seen mysterious lights emanating from the mansion for the many
years the mansion stood vacant. Staff claims to have heard
noises around the barn.
The manor and grounds were abandoned by 1950 and lay largely
unused until the first year of Reindeer Manor in 1974. And the
facts of the chilling events, along with the legends that have
grown around them, add to the fun and ambience.
Reindeer has a new “setup” room this year, for those who have
been out there before. Glow-in-the-dark faces on the wall add
a nice touch here as a voiceover talks about the manor.
Next, it’s on to the infamous compression room.
Claustrophobics need not enter Reindeer!
Inside the manor itself, the tour winds through several rooms,
beginning with Nosferatu, and his hauntingly beautiful bride,
with a few changes from last year. He’s dressed and masked as
an old Boris Karloff-style monster rather than a stereotypical
Dracula, with a little more crowd interaction than last year.
Next is the library, a new room for visitors to Reindeer in
the past few years, last used about 15 years ago. A spook
room, cadaver rooms, the pirate ship and other chilling areas
follow.
The dining room and the mad scientist room have both been
tweaked to make visitors feel more involved with the action.
The dining room, especially, is changed.
Then comes the fog room, basically the dissection room from
previous years but now fogged-in on the inside.
From here comes a low tunnel area, all fogged with the
exception of a couple of floor lights. It’s a good
disorientation effect just before visitors go on to the
sagging, uneven pirate ship area. And it’s not the only place
where Reindeer uses tight tunnels to good effect.
But not all the scares are indoors. At the back of the manor,
a haunted trail, with a new path this year, offers more
scares. This includes werewolf noises and other haunting
backgrounds, bubbling haunted waters and more.
One of the new events this year is a frightening appearance by
James Sharp himself. We won’t tell exactly where he pops out,
so as not to spoil all the fun.
The outdoor trail goes on from here, with numerous gas flares
popping off at uneven time intervals. The startle factor and
the increase in disorientation — going from darkness to
blinding light and back again — are both good touches. Some
new skits have been added, such as a moonshiner with his
still.
For people who are hungry or thirsty, either before or after
their tour, a snack bar with reasonable prices stands just
inside the gates.
On nights where the thermometer dips, hot coffee, hot
chocolate or a Frito pie can warm the bones while waiting for
the next tour, or afterward, during the wait for a hayride
back to the parking lot.
Of course, in keeping with the season, the snack bar offers a
number of Halloween-themed entrees, straight from the morgue.
One other new twist this year is Reindeer’s 2004 presidential
candidate — Stinky. With whatever social commentary people
might bring on their own, they can have a corpse “press the
flesh” for votes, both in person and on the website
www.votestinky.com .
Reindeer Manor is well-suited for families with children — it
has a family atmosphere with picnic tables, snack bar, no
alcohol and a general fright level pitched to this level. It
may be a little intense for younger children.
Reindeer Manor is located in Red Oak in Ellis County, just
south of the Lancaster city limits. It is on Houston School
Road between Bear Creek and Ovilla roads. Take I-35 to either
exit, then go east to Houston School Road. Signs on the road
readily point out where it is.
Admission is $14 for adults or $10 for children under age 10.
A coupon good for $2 off adult or child tickets is on the
website www.reindeermanor.com . Or bring canned goods for
Reindeer Manor’s food drive and save $2.
Groups of 10 or more victims will be admitted for the special
rate of $10 per person. You must make reservations in advance
via e-mail to grouprates@reindeermanor.com or call
972-218-RATS (7287) to get this rate.
And it’s all for a good cause.
The manor benefits Boy Scouts of America Troop One and other
charitable organizations, including BSA Troop 520, the Red Oak
Hawkettes, Red Oak softball boosters and Maypearl High School.
About 35 actors are involved with putting on the shows.
“We have guests every year who make the trek to Red Oak,”
Scoutmaster Jim Scott said, “and each year we try to give them
something a little better. This year we have gone all out to
give them the kind of experience they have come to expect,
plus a little more just so we can say thank you.”
Plus, Reindeer has a family feel to it as a noncommercial
operation. Many people have been involved with either
production or acting roles for several years — an ongoing
volunteer effort. Richard Kinney, now serving as public
relations director for Reindeer, spent more than a decade as
an actor there.
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