REVIEW: THE FRIGHT PROS
October 28, 2024
REVIEW: THE FRIGHT Pros
A few years ago we were haunting in Burbank and trying to find a local grocery store for a quick bite during our night out. We took a random side street and before we knew it, we were in front of a wonderful yard display arching up a small front yard. We didn't know it at the time, but we quickly found out that what we were seeing was the work of Keith Kaminski and The Fright Pros - a Burbank based neighborhood attraction. Kaminski is an artist who has built for Universal Studios and Busch Gardens, and therefore it came as no surprise that the cemetery display that night was good enough to stop us dead in our tracks.
Their imaginative display switches out for everyone season. For 2024 the Fright Pros have built a massive haunted graveyard with a docked ghost ship (the latter of which is impressively made by repurposing wood tables and chairs!). The exterior of the crypt walls are a beautifully painted scrim and, thanks to a clever use of lighting, their walls become completely transparent when each scene is illuminated from within. The lights, which are synched to the calming audio soundtrack, reveal various characters enacting frightening scenes from within the crypts. This is a great effect similar to their display last year where they featured crypts of several legendary monsters including the Creature from the Black Lagoon, who were all revealed from within their author’s tombs - an interesting nod and detail that would be hard to notice if you were not looking for it. These scenes always move slowly, often surprising the random neighbor out walking their dog who stopped to take some photos on their phone.
For this season they used three main characters: a plague doctor, a skeletal, sparkling mermaid, and a man named Damien looking out from a burning galleon. The effects inside each are wonderful - especially the artificial fires that are inside the third tomb. To add to the subtle, slow details of this haunt, a ghostly woman is revealed from within a nook that is emphasized by a smoking, life-size cannon. Further evidence of how masterful this builder is can be seen in the enormous ship's crow’s nest sticking up from the back that is only viewable from a few select angles. We were lucky enough to get to see that there are some more secrets surrounding that detail - a whole different addition to the haunt - but we will save that for another time!
The Fright Pros wish for their haunt to remain for locals only. This isn’t because they don’t want to share, but because they want to have their display manageable with their neighbors. They have existed for decades and used to do haunt performances with characters like the Little Mermaid that would draw thousands of people every season. They said they can’t be in that situation again, and therefore we respect their wishes and keep their location private.
The beauty of this display cannot be emphasized enough, and we are always so enthralled by The Fright Pros that we feel the need to share photographs of their creations with you. We hope everyone can enjoy these images and who knows - maybe you too will be out haunting this weekend and happen to get lost - only to end up outside of a mysterious, magical set of crypts to experience the nightmares that live within them.
VC
October 28, 2024
Hauntsofla.com
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