Terror on Church Street

This attraction/show debuted in Orlando, Florida in 1991. With its talented cast of live actors, superior sound effects, cutting-edge technology, and original sound-track, Terror on Church Street brings audiences the ultimate experience in horror entertainment.

A ghoulish monk peers from a cobwebbed doorway, ushering visitors into a nightmare journey of fear.

The ultimate experience in horror entertainment

Down dark, winding passageways, you enter a terrifying world where hi-tech special effects, live actors and multiple sound tracks accompany your passage through 23 individual theatrical sets and scenes, creating the ultimate experience in horror.

Psycho’s Anthony Perkins made an appearance at the premier of the show.

For the first time on American soil, this European terror attraction that has thrilled millions is striking fear in the heart of Orlando.

Terror on Church Street was built in 135 S. Orange Avenue (in the historic Woolworth building) and, like the original, “The Passage of Terror“, became a huge success and a source of inspiration for the famous “Haunted Houses” located throughout the nation.

Such was his success that Disney and other well-known theme parks launched their own adult-centered attractions. It was Terror on Church Street that inspired the popular theme parks to build haunted attractions inside their own parks. This haunt was quite simply the perfect template for how to build a professional indoor haunted house.

Beyond panic, beyond the limits of fear, there is Terror on Church Street

The Beginnings

Terror on Church Street, or “Terror Orlando” as it was called later, opened on November 8th 1991. The haunted house was actually based on Pasaje Del Terror, an interactive walk-through horror attraction that still operates today, in 30 different cities around the world.

It evolved from a stage production featuring local actors. Soon the stage production turned into an international show.

Fernando Quenard and Ignacio Brieva introduced the show in the United States, and Terror on Church Street got started.

With the help and under the direction of Mr. Rafael Fondevila and the Rivas Brothers, “OMEN” (Orlando Monster Enterprise) was founded to be the production company responsible for “Terror Orlando“.

The Team

Ignacio Brieva as the Creative Consultant and Head of Production worked in collaboration with Ed Marzola, who helped setup the venues, María de la Roza in daily operations- she had a strong background in advertising and marketing, and previously served as the Director of the Art and Art History departments at a high school in Orlando-.

Also David Clevinger as the Art Director- he had spent eight years as the Managing Artistic Director at the Ice House Theater in Mount Dora, and was an occasional Guest Director for the international award-winning Theatre Winter Haven-, Jack Neiberlein as the Assistant Director, Gerry Chavez as General Manager, Stephanie Nelson in Marketing and an up-and-coming makeup guru Alan Ostrander, who worked designing makeup on TV and movies, as the Head Makeup and Character Designer.

Innovation

The haunted attraction operated year round. Visitors entered in groups of eight to ten people. There were exits for the faint of heart, of course.

Terror on Church Street was one of the first and most important theatrical haunted houses and it was dramatized to the highest level of detail for its time. Many aspiring haunted house owners would visit Orlando simply to take a tour of Terror On Church Street.

Terror On Church Street was more of a tourist attraction with street performers, gift shops and even photos taken of you screaming out the exit. Terror On Church Street was also one of the first attractions to produce high-end theatrical videos and photos to promote the attraction.

Terror on Church Street opened as one of the first permanent haunted attractions and earliest theatrical haunts in the United States, Terror changed all the rules.

Here are some of the comments and recognitions we received from the entertainment industry:

Terror on Church Street’s tagline is elegant in its simplicity: “Beyond panic, beyond the limits of fear, there is Terror on Church Street.”

A two-story haunt developed by entertainment industry moguls, Terror on Church Street spared no expense in creating an experience that had never before existed.

It was among the first haunts to use lighting, fog, temperature, sound, and other sensory experiences to fully immerse visitors in their fears.

In an era when haunts were generally staffed by volunteers or minimum-wage teens, Terror was a professional theatrical production.

The goal was to take audiences inside horror films, casting them as the victims in a highly theatrical experience.

Under the guidance of these talented professionals, who came from Spain, the best of Orlando’s local talent was carefully auditioned, groomed, and developed. Actors had to show a great deal of natural ability to pass the audition, but once they were in, their talents were taken to the next level.

Terror was a proving ground for many who would go on to careers at the theme parks or in television and film.

This model has since become the industry standard, as haunts search for new ways to ramp up the fear.

In addition, Terror was big by any standard, featuring 23 completely realized sets. The sheer size of the production and number of cast and crew were unlike anything visitors had ever seen.

The full walk-through experience took around 20 minutes to complete, depending on the speed of the group. And speaking of groups, they were paced, with only a few people admitted at once. Although this affected the number of visitors per hour, and lengthened wait times to get in, it heightened anticipation and gave each guest a highly personalized show.

With the goal of putting visitors inside the horror, Terror on Church Street relied heavily on movie-quality props and sets.

From the attic to the boiler room, each set was packed with items that enhanced its theme and ramped up the horror. Lighting designs were carefully crafted to heighten the realism while providing the actors with places to hide, and the sound designs added to the feeling of foreboding.

With such a laser focus on detailed realism, Terror wrote the rules that are still followed today. Now, entire haunt industry seminars focus on such details as how to make props look aged, how to create realistic-looking stage blood, or how to properly dress a set.

For the opening and promotion, “Terror On Church Street” had the magnificent collaboration of one of the most important and renowned American actors, Mr Anthony Perkins.

Mr. Perkins, who became America’s favorite psychopath in the hands of Alfred Hitchcock, was chosen by “Terror on Church Street” to be the spokesperson for this new experience of terror.

“Above all, I am a theater lover …” – said Anthony Perkins – “… and this show has captured the essence of horror and has turned it into a unique theatrical experience”

This unique theatrical experience, according to Mr. Perkins, was achieved, among other factors described above, thanks to the use and design of a series of psychological techniques and special effects that transformed the experience into something magical and terrifying.

Locations

Orlando, Florida (USA).

“Special effects are nothing more than magic where the magician has been removed to leave only his creation”

Ignacio BrievaFounder of MPE & creator of Terror On Church Street

This attraction/show debuted in Orlando, Florida in 1991. With its talented cast of live actors, superior sound effects, cutting-edge technology, and original sound-track, Terror on Church Street brings audiences the ultimate experience in horror entertainment.

Beyond panic, beyond the limits of fear, there is Terror on Church Street

The Beginnings

The Team

Innovation

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