Boo! Go Behind The Scenes At Brookdale's Haunted Theater (2024)

For 15 bucks, it's one of the best scares to be found in New Jersey, and it opens this Friday. This year's theme is Jersey-centric horror.

Posted Thu, Oct 10, 2019 at 3:56 pm ET|Updated Fri, Oct 11, 2019 at 11:12 am ET

Just say the words "Brookdale Haunted Theater" and just about anyone who grew up in Monmouth County knows about this beloved October tradition. Incredibly, the students and staff at Brookdale have been putting on the Haunted Theater for the past 17 years now.

"We have people who came here as kids and now they're bringing their kids. It's become a family tradition," said Sherri Vanderspiegel, technical supervisor at the Brookdale Performing Arts Center, and the woman who takes on the immense undertaking of helping the students put on the theater every year. "Back in 2003, we first had the idea, 'Hey, let's try a haunted theater.' We had 15 students who did it and 100 people showed up. Today, we have 80 students involved and last year 3,000 people came to see it."

Not to brag, but the Haunted Theater has also been ranked as the No. 1 overall attraction on NJhauntedhouses.com (by user votes) and in the top three scariest haunted houses on ScareFactor.

The haunted theater brings in $35,000 in ticket sales every fall, and all of that money is put right back into the Brookdale theater program. In fact, revenue from the haunted theater helps fund the four other shows Brookdale does every year, such as their Summer Shakespeare plays and other performances.

This year's theme is particularly fun: Area 732. It's a play off Area 51, but it's not just aliens: The theater has been transformed to feature all the local haunted history of Monmouth County and New Jersey — whether it's true or not. You'll walk through a special room dedicated to the Matawan shark attacks of 1916 (special effects make you feel like you're wading through waist-deep water, watch out!). There's a room evocative of a local well-known slaughterhouse (which in real life became part of a now-closed psychiatric hospital), plus Camp Crystal Lake in the North Jersey mountains and the Jersey Devil in the Pine Barrens. There's even a room dedicated to the creepy clown craze that swept New Jersey in the fall of 2016.

"It's like I always tell my students: You can't do a haunted house and not have clowns. Everybody is scared of them," said Vanderspiegel. "Clowns and chainsaws. Two must-haves."

The work of creating the Haunted Theater actually begins in February. Vanderspiegel and the Haunted Theater executive board, made up of select students and alumni, meet for a brainstorming session and to come up with this year's theme. Then construction begins in early August, with students showing up on the Monmouth County community college campus ready to cut wood, hammer and build their vision into reality. In September, she holds actor auditions; the auditions are open to all Brookdale students, not just those in the theater program.

"It really gives the students a completely different way to look at theater: You're not just reciting a monologue or performing in an hour-long play. Here, you have no more than 3-5 seconds to really scare somebody and have them walk away shaking," said Vanderspiegel. "Also, for our technical students, this is not just traditional sound and lighting. It's much more challenging and requires a lot more creativity."

The students also get the experience of what it's like to put on a professional haunted attraction, including doing the advertising and marketing, selling tickets at the door ($15) and selling concessions. Although Vanderspiegel does bring in some help from professional set designers, nearly the entire production, from start to finish, is done by local Monmouth County teens.

The Haunted Theater is so popular that many of Brookdale's alumni come back every year to help set up. Brookdale has long offered a two-year associate's degree in technical theater and alums return who are now working at places such as McCarter in Princeton and the Count Basie and Two River Theater in Red Bank, as well as in New York and on Staten Island.

"To have our alums so involved is really great: They teach the students technical tips they use in the field," said Vanderspiegel. "Plus, it keeps them connected to the school. But I have people all over campus asking me, 'Do you need any help with the haunted theater this year? Can I sell tickets? I'll do anything!'"

And the students also get a good lesson in finding and salvaging old, unique items.

"We've definitely had students go Dumpster diving for set design materials," laughs Vanderspiegel. "We're always looking for pallets and things like creepy dolls. And I'm constantly getting calls from people who live near the school: 'Do you want this creepy old chandelier?' The answer is always yes!"

If you go: The Brookdale Performing Arts Center Haunted Theater will open this Friday, and runs October 11-13, 18-20, 25-27. The Haunted Theater is open from 7-9:30 p.m. on Sundays; and 7-10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets are $15; $8 for Brookdale students with an ID; tickets can only be purchased at the door. The theater is recommended for adults and children ages 8 and up. "It's too scary for little kids and we've had 12-year-olds who've had to be escorted out crying," said Vanderspiegel. "Know what your child can tolerate. Our most popular age group is middle- and high schoolers."

The Haunted Theater is done inside the Brookdale Performing Arts Center at 765 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ 07738. Parking is most convenient in lot 2.

The theater operates rain or shine, and you wait in line indoors, sitting in chairs. Food and drinks are sold while you wait. Questions? Please call 732-224-2411 or visit www.brookdalehauntedtheater.com