A Hoochie History

Dead Acres is a haunted festival three generations is the making, reaching far back to the origins of the very concept of the haunted attraction. Owner operator Tim May had this to say, ”My grand pappy used to run a haunted hayride around the farm, and us kids would run around with Halloween masks trying to scare everyone.” So I guess you could say haunting is not only in May’s heart but is also in his blood.
In 1954 May’s grandfather Frank J. Dixon along with his wife Madeline, and friends Hank Bond, Leo Ballman, and Bill Grim started the haunted hayride, planting the seed that would someday grow into a haunted juggernaut.
An idea for a haunted attraction, that was unheard of then, and a love for scaring and entertaining made the four men put on this free yearly haunted hayride that attracted visitors from far and wide. People loved the new type of fall entertainment offered in this strange twist of a hayride. With a haunters passion these men unknowingly helped shape an idea that would someday grow into nationwide industry.
The fearsome foursome adorned hand crafted costumes, such as the wolf man, a wicked witch, and Dixon himself as the headless horseman riding a real horse. The annual hayride haunt continued through the decades giving lifetimes of fond memories to everyone involved. Many of the men past down the art and joy of haunting to their children and grandchildren.
In 1982 May joined his grandfather in the family business. He took on a role as producer and actor at a young age, the fire of haunting inside him was fueled by the years of exposure to the annual October event his grandfather had created. This hayride took patrons through a wooded trail that featured multiple haunted sights constructed by the young May, along with childhood friends Ed Holman and Jay Smithberger. These early scenes included a cemetery, with earthly dug graves that held hidden monsters, waiting to erupt at passing customers. A voodoo priest who stood beneath an authentic tribal alter of the dark arts, holding ritualistic ceremonies for his pagan Gods. A life size Guillotine was created for bloody acts of decapitation, with severed heads left swinging above watching patrons.
This early-haunted trail surrounded an old swampy lake, blasted with dynamite from what has been said was sacred ground, by Frank Dixon himself in the 1930’s. The newly blasted hole revealed a pool of quicksand, which gives this bizarre lake its unknown depth. The strange body of water has claimed numerous victims over the long years. A team of horses without reason leaped into its murky depths and was lost. A man mysteriously disappeared from its blackened shores, leaving behind only a lonely firelight from his single lantern. To this day witnesses still report seeing a single lantern gliding over the morbid lake. Endless sightings of the paranormal by campers continue to feed the legend of the curse that hangs over the old farm.
Dead Acres has come along way since those primitive days of elementary props and kids in rubber masks. Seeing the state of the art, nationally renowned business that it has become today, it is a nostalgic hike through the past for May, as he reminisces on those early days as a kid. That desire for haunting given to him by his grandfather many years ago is what still grows within him today, like branches on a family tree. Even now as he speaks of these cherished memories with his grandfather he can’t help but break into a knowing smile.
Frank Dixon died in a tragic tractor roll over accident on the same family farm that was his life. The loss devastated May, and the family business of haunting was abandoned. In the late 1980’s after pursuing other interest May with his wife Cheryl took over operations of the farm. Immediately May’s entrepreneurship took over, turning the family farm into Fran Bar Park, a multi level family fun center. Fran Bar Park hosted large parties, weddings, and huge annual events, such as festivals, concerts, motorcycle races, and company picnics. This country attraction included camping, swimming, volleyball, a game room, a playground, a petting zoo, pony rides, hayrides, fishing, and family reunions, all making it a family destination for surrounding areas.
Paintball is another element that put Fran Bar Park on the map. The growing sport quickly found a friendly home at Fran Bar. Large tournaments are held throughout the year on Fran Bar’s three vast and complex courses. Fran Bar Park was a fully functional business, and business was booming. There was only one thing missing, the chorus of screams that live in the beautiful autumn nights in the month of October. The nagging itch that May could not seem to scratch was too much. The family tradition of haunting called to him and he had to answer.
The haunted hayride reopened to a grateful public. With the help of close friends Dave Basham, Dale and Jay Feazel, Toby Miracle, and Ron ‘Ro Mo’ Morrison who all shared his flare for the scare, May’s rein visioning of the family tradition flourished. The rabid word of mouth spread quickly, leaving the team of friends struggling to keep up with demand. The philosophy of this eager for screams team was if the realism wasn’t there to make the scare, it wasn’t good enough. This new idea of realistic graphic horror left the public yearning for more.
In 1990 the decision was made for an all walk thru haunted attraction. With demand for their unique style of scares at an all time high. The scare team of friends knew they needed more manpower.
In an agreement with the town Band Booster and Athletic Association, a small haunted trail titled Haunted Heights was opened that consisted of a few tiny black tarp constructed tents, and a forest of shadowy trees. Though creative differences soon made for an agreeable split between the new partners.
The haunted trail was considered a success at the time, but May saw potential for something much greater. The public hungered for something more than what was offered then for a Halloween experience. The cheap PG rated scares that were the norm in those days were novelty knockoffs of what May knew a haunted attraction could be. It was time for him to unchain his nightmares, and release the demons within.


Birth of the Hoochie
With buckets of sweat and blood the Haunted Hoochie was released on an unsuspecting public in October of 1991. The opportunity for the team to return to their ideology of the extreme was refreshing. The new haunt was a dark and swampy woods that was highlighted by several individual buildings, each containing its own malevolent act. The combination of ingenuity, skills in engineering, welding, set design, a drive for horror, and a demented imagination made for a haunted trail that would succeed or fail miserably. Would the sensitive public be ready for such a drastic leap ahead in means of explicit visuals, and deadly acts.
The reaction was overwhelming. The shock of this new type of splatter gore sideshow haunt amazed and sickened everyone. They had never seen anything like it. The Hollywood style blood-filled effects were offensive, disgusting, and tasteless. They loved it. Soon crowds numbering in the thousands made the nightly journey to this small country town just outside Columbus to satisfy their growing gore lust. The word spread like wildfire, leaving surrounding haunts struggling to keep up with the new trend.
The Hoochie’s vulgar stage displays were pure raw energy. Blood, guts, and violence were its brutal trademark. A dash of comedy thrown in for good measure, and the new thrill haunt was a hit. The Hoochies skits are still to this day legendary. Whole chat rooms have popped up online dedicated completely to the originality of the violent ob-scenes that went on year after year.
The Hoochie asked the important questions that no one else at the time did. Like how many ways can you kill a person with a chainsaw? How well can a shotgun blast paint brains onto a wall? How much blood is in the human body, and what would it look like in a puddle on the floor? What do the fires of hell feel like against your skin? Or the most puzzling, What if a chainsaw killers could fly? They answered each one of these and more in vicious fashion.
They bent people’s reality of what was real and what wasn’t, many times causing a panic until the crowds could be convinced what they had just witnessed was an illusion. These scenes included one man’s dance with death, patrons entered a room occupied by a raging man angry at the world, and tired of waiting for his end to come. He holds a shotgun in his shaking hands, and screams at onlookers before resting back in his easy chair. In an instant he swallows the guns long barrel, and after a deafening explosion the brains fly, splattering against a dirty window. This simple effect was a powerful display of realism that shocked peoples core, and blurred the lines of what was real.
Each year would bring a new bloodthirsty effect of chainsaw violence. Gallons of blood would flow in these gory dissections of death. A victim would be tied to a chair, the chainsaw maniac would appear thrashing his weapon of choice, with blood spitting off the chain by the gallon as he cut off the live actors head. Or a live victim would be strung up by his hands and be cut at the waist in the same manner, his legs falling to the floor, leaving gravity to spill guts everywhere. Another twist on the art of the chainsaw was, The Flying Chainsaw. A zip line was strung over a long path that would send harnessed chainsaw maniacs zooming over ducking customer’s heads.
The ultimate in these grisly deaths by saw was made possible by a specially engineered all original kicking man animatronic. This idea of a bi-section of the human body needed a tailor made body so as the victim struggled against the meat hooks holding him in the air, he could be cut from the side starting at the top of the head down to the waist, the result being the front section of body would fall forward revealing all inner held structures and organs of the body cavity. This graphic undertaking ended with a gruesome effect more shocking than ever. These scenes of Zombicide and graphic murders were daring and controversial. The Hoochie broke the mold, and showed everyone what a haunted attraction could be.
An obsession with fire is deep seeded in the history and minds of this haunted legacy. From graves that threw flames from the cold earth, to scenes of the blazing reaches of Hell, fire was always a symbol of an ever-consuming fear. But with such fear came a real danger that required keen attention to all fire safety rules a regulations. A licensed pyrotechnics technician had to be hired to make sure all fire effects were performed in a safe and professional manner. With his help an intricate building was constructed to house a hellish hall of flammable fun. Blazing walls of flames rising over patron’s heads filled a building that gave you the illusion of close quarters, but was actually without numerous walls making for an easy exit. The heat was intense in this pyro’s paradise, and most importantly REAL.
Every scene was beautifully simplistic. Each gory display was performed hundreds of times a night, every few minutes. The reset on these brilliant effects had to be done in seconds. The margin for error was miniscule. The skits were required to be simple and sadistic. They tricked the mind because blood is quicker than the eye.
Before you could buy the high-end props of today, the Haunted Hoochie made their own, through trial and error they created effects that blew people away. The creative minds and wicked hands of Dave Basham and Tim May went to work building an army of evil creatures of enormous proportions. The original woodland giant dubbed “HACK” rested behind low rising bushes, only to blast upward to his full height of forty feet. Basham and May created this along with many other monstrosities that included, Giant winged Gargoyles, a actual fire breathing dragon, massive skulls with working jaws lined with razor teeth and glowing moving green eyes, and a throne sitting, club clutching, fire breathing Satan.
Each of these original works was crafted onsite. The results were Hollywood quality creations that opened another door to the team’s dream of absolute realism.
But staying on the cutting edge of the evolution of a growing industry, May knew that again it was time for a change. Even with the success of the Haunted Hoochie growing to legend status in the Midwest, May took on a daring challenge of epic proportions. He would once again completely change his Haunted theme, from haunted trail to a haunted house like no other. The risk was big. Lose the trademark name and theme, and risk losing a decade of loyal fans. But without risk is to be without greatness.


Building a Monster

The old two story family barn was a massive building that stood at the front of the property. Its colorful history was painted in broad strokes of time and hard labor. A vital artery of the old time farming style of the past, but time and a world of the modern had rendered it a prehistoric tribute, a memorial to a lost way of life. May saw something else. He saw a monster, his very own Frankenstein that would breath new life into the once grand structure.
May had a vision, but it was one that outside eyes would have found hard to see looking at the dilapidated old barn filled with roosting chickens, a loft full of hay, and a half century of dried manure. Bringing this relic from his grandfather’s age up to meet strict building and fire codes was a monumental task. One that many thought could not be done.
So the chickens were evicted, the manure hauled out, dairy cow stanchions and horse stalls were demolished, and the dust of generations blown away. Every corner was washed and fire treated. Concrete was poured over the rocky dirt floor. Large additions were constructed to expand the already vast structure. The new sprinkler system required an extensive excavation project to be undertaken to dig underneath a state route in order to tap into city water supplies. The skyscraping silos were cut open, and decks built high up within them, to hold giant fans to power the eye catching fire effect that would be seen for miles.
A custom castle scene required months of dedicated work to sculpt stonework from Styrofoam, and then cover with endless layers of real concrete to give it an authentic heavy rock texture. Raids on old abandoned houses produced countless artifacts and building materials that had fought time and lost. Materials that you just can’t buy. Entire structures scheduled for demolition were disassembled, moved, and rebuilt onsite.
Outside the barn, work continued turning rocked pavement into a forest within an old ghost town. Heavy machinery was needed to bury entire trees upside down, their inverted trunks standing skyward. Ponds were dug deep with loaded scoops of rock and dirt. An entire bridge was constructed to span the newly dug depths. Real log cabins were stacked together next to an old mill, and covered well. Semi trailers were moved in and covered with wooden slats to enclose the outdoor town area.
Professional artist were hired to cover every inch of the haunts exterior with detailed airbrushed artwork of the worst their imaginations had to offer. A huge movie screen was mounted in the side of the barn. DJ booths were constructed over the newly lined waiting area. A paintball shooting range was setup for patrons to shoot live moving monsters, a welcome chance for frightened visitors to get even.
A maze of pipeline was laid to hold crushing air for the numerous pneumatic props. Miles of wire was run to feed the new power hungry building. Close circuit info red security cameras were installed, leading to the state of the art security station, to insure every scene could be closely monitored.
The upper level would house this security area along with an impressive employee lounge. This behind the scenes level would be a haven from the insanity for wicked workers, after haunt operations. This space was sure to offer relaxation with pool tables, foosball, sofa’s, music, observation decks above the queue line, and a complete entertainment system including a big screen television with DVD players and the newest video games. A perfect place to unwind after a twisted night of terror.
The amount of work put forth by May, and the untold amount of friends was staggering. But their tireless efforts were finally ready for harvest in 2003
In October 03 Dead Acres opened to an eager public and rave reviews. With the tireless efforts of himself and the family of friends gathered over the years, May had pulled it off. The new haunt had brought the trademark intensity and gore inside. The integration of the new age animatronics with the old school energy of the Hoochie was something new and better than ever. The new haunt was a monster, a living-breathing entity that swallowed hordes of guest only to spit them out a shivering shell of themselves, standing in awe beneath the monster that is Dead Acres. But the Hoochie name would not sit in the shadows for long. Much too powerful it demanded respect and fear. Too hungry it became, and so now for 2007 it is brought back to life to haunt you once again. We are the Haunted Hoochie as we always have been. The most intense experience on the planet! This year everyone dies!!! The Haunted Hoochie is alive, come be a part of the history that is the Hooch.