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For the people behind Fright Nights, Halloween is a way of life. A family of freaks. A passionate crew of ghouls and goblins, led by owner Grazi Zazzara and his son.

“When I was younger, there was a haunted house at the fairgrounds. It was basically just a blank maze, just blank walls, dark rooms, strobe lights. And I was just amazed going through them,” Zazzara said.

However, he thought it was boring and wanted to do it better. He realized that the original version of Fright Nights, Fright Nights at the Fair, spent a large portion of its money setting up and taking down the haunted house after the Fair had ended. So he decided to have a permanent location, moving it to a “spooky looking warehouse” which he already owned.

When Zazzara started his haunted house, he was told that it can go one of two ways: either have it fully electronic or have actors. Zazzara decided he’d take the best of both worlds and incorporate all aspects of the best haunted houses.

Next, he decided to push the boundary further by having a structure that could be worked on year-round. The downside of many haunted houses is they’re seasonal and owners have to spend the majority of funds taking the structure down after Halloween. Fright Nights has a facility that stays open year-round, although they’re only open to the public for the five weekends leading up to Halloween.

Fright Nights is a family, from actors to owners, and multiple employees said they live for a good scare.

“I love it. I’ve got a couple of costumes that I put on myself,” Zazzara said. “As much as I can, whenever I have free time, I run around and do that.”

Carmen Bordonaro, better known as “Buddy the Clown,” has been a professional clown for over 40 years. He likes to keep his “standard clowning” separate from his haunt acting because many clowns don’t acknowledge the scary side of the trade.

The overwhelming sentiment of Fright Nights is an “exhilarating fun scare” without traumatizing patrons, Bordonaro said. Many don’t target individuals who are especially scared.

“When you were 5 years old, you went to your friend’s house with a bunch of other friends to play around, right? Some kid just jumped out from the corner, scared you, and everybody laughed. What did you want to do? You want to get them back too, that’s kind of what we’re doing,” Bordonaro said.

Each actor has their “scene” within the experience and creates a character to match the scene. Bordonaro focuses on looking mysterious, not scary when it comes to make-up and costume. This allows patrons of the haunted house to be nervous around him, not terrified.

He says the trick to scare acting is focusing on the reaction. There are many ways to achieve this: props, sounds, lights and acting.

“I can tell by looking at someone what state that they’re in. If somebody comes in and they’ve got a smile on their face because they’ve already been scared three or four times,” Bordonaro said. “As opposed to someone who’s just sitting there with his arms folded because he’s with his girlfriend and just wants to walk through it.”

Fright Nights is a Syracuse staple, with many returning customers year to year. The upside of having a year-round location is that the haunt can change the scenes every year and keep things exciting for those coming back. Not only do they retain customers, but many actors come back as well.

“We have a pretty high retention rate when it comes to staff because they love this stuff. And it’s kind of cultish,” said Alyssa Blazina, marketing director at Fright Nights. “People who are so into Halloween, it gives them a creative outlet that allows (the actor) to do something that they enjoy on the weekends for a month.”

This year, the haunt flaunts five specific houses, including the “Monster Movie Matinee,” making its debut this fall. The other houses include a slide to hell, a clown playhouse, a cursed shipwreck and a classic haunted manor.

“Nothing gets me more excited knowing that this individual wants to do the job,” Bordonaro said. “They look at me and go, ‘I don’t know. I just love Halloween and want to scare people.’ That’s really what it is. They just love Halloween. They just want to scare people in a fun way.”

Published on October 25, 2023 at 10:18 pm