Thrillvania History Archives

The Story of Thrillvania Haunted House Park

Posted by Thrillvania in Haunted House News, Thrillvania History on October 19th, 2018

What’s new at Thrillvania Haunted House Park? Well, did you know that for a haunting to take place, a house must have a history.

Think about some of the creepiest urban legends from the south. A playground in Alabama known to entertain the ghosts of dead children. Lake Lanier in Georgia. The dog boy at 65 Mulberry Street in Arkansas that wrecks havoc all over the neighborhood.

What do these urban legends all have in common?

Many of them are locations where bad things once happened. And it’s no different with houses, which many believe to harbor bad energy… that is if bad things once happened there.

Thrillvania Haunted House Park is no stranger to haunted houses. These 50 acres of land are home to three different – and equally terrifying – haunted attractions… all with a history of their own under the reign of Baron Michael Verdun.

Who is this Baron Verdun? And how is he the host of one of the best haunted houses in Texas? Read on to find out… but beware!

Verdun Manor Rises

Baron Michael Verdun was no ordinary human. During the day, he may have seemed like your typical Texan aristocrat. But by nightfall, Baron Verdun was anything but.

In 1901, Baron Verdun and his wife, Lady Cassandra D’Arque, constructed their Antebellum-style manor atop 50 acres of land. The area was Voodoo Bayou to the locals. And not far off was an old plantation cemetery harboring bad energy from those buried who suffered in this life.

Verdun hired foreign workers to build deep cellars circulating underneath his manor. Once finished, the workers were never seen again. It wasn’t long until travelers and people from the surrounding countryside suddenly began to go missing. Baron Verdun and Lady Cassandra were soon subject of the rumors and speculation surrounding these disappearances.

After all, the townspeople of Terrell always felt something was very off about them. Even their manor was unlike any other home people had ever seen. Its structure and outside appearance was dark, foreboding, gothic, and warped. Who knew what the inside was like…

The Horrific History of Verdun Manor

To outsiders, Baron Verdun was your typical scientist. But the townspeople of Terrell would soon learn otherwise. Because, in fact, Baron Verdun had a sick, twisted fascination with the darkness. And he was especially keen on channeling the inner beasts inside all men.

He was no man. Every full moon, Baron Verdun transformed into the beast. The shapeshifter. A werewolf.

Verdun’s rage and hunger were ravenous and uncontrollable. And so was his beloved Lady Cassandra, no ordinary woman of elegance and prestige.

A creature of the night as some would call it. To most, she was a vampire. Her own thirst for blood led her to abduct those travelers and countrymen… and bring them back to Verdun Manor so the Baron could finish them off.

And that he did in the cruelest fashion. Conducting experiments on these people, he subjected them to great pain and mutilation… and stripped them of their humanity and transformed them into malformed, human-animals.

Baron Verdun wasn’t satisfied. In his eyes, his botched experiments were great failures. And so he set them loose into the wild, leaving them to fend for themselves. More people began to go missing, devoured by these creatures.

Every full moon, the Lady and the Baron hosted extravagant – yet grotesque – masquerade balls. Cocktails. Music. Dancing. And when it came time for the feast, guests were not fed a pig roast. Rather, the Baron and the Lady served up human flesh. And instead of games of cards or singing around the piano, the Baron would chase human prey for fun.

The Legend of Verdun Manor

The people of Terrell had had enough of the darkness that now loomed over their once peaceful town. Tired of the disappearances. Scared of leaving their homes. An angry mob took to the streets and stormed Verdun Manor one stormy night.

First, they rounded up the human-animal hybrids lurking around town. They locked the creatures up in the Baron’s laboratory and set fire to it.

Then, the mob found Lady Cassandra asleep in her crypt… and they put an end to her blood-thirsty rampage by mutilating and decapitating her.

Finally, they caught Baron Verdun and bludgeoned him to death. As he lay there dying, he swore vengeance upon anyone who dared enter his manor and the grounds.

The townspeople laid all the bloody remains deep into the ground. They desired to put this darkness behind them and resume their old lives. And for many years, the people of Terrell got exactly what they hoped. Silence. Yet they always wondered what – or who – remained at Verdun Manor.

New Beginnings?

A year after the deaths of Baron Verdun and Lady Cassandra, Vincent Carruther moved in. He and his family were a breath of fresh air to the townspeople of Terrell. Verdun was dead and so was Lady Cassandra. The dark past was behind them all…

But little did the Carruther’s know about the manor’s dark history.

One Halloween, the Carruther’s hosted a ball. But as they say, the dead can rise on Halloween. And so that’s exactly what the Baron and his Lady did… and they did more than crash the party.

Bursting inside, Baron Verdun and Lady Cassandra got the last laugh. They brutally murdered the Carruther’s and everyone inside. And the real man of the house and his lady scattered the remains of their guests around the house… in the corridors and cellars and in the walls.

Any remaining doubts and suspicions among the townspeople could now be horrifically confirmed. The Baron and Lady Cassandra were the real owners of Verdun Manor.

And anybody who wished to think otherwise would subject themselves to the darkness that lies in Verdun Manor… that is if they dared to enter.

Thrillvania Haunted House Park

It’s said that the grounds of Verdun are still haunted to this day… especially around Halloween. To experience the haunting for yourself, you’ll first need to do so through Thrillvania Haunted House Park.

Those who dare enter Verdun Manor must first brave the Voodoo Bayou and the old burial ground. As they approach Verdun Manor, they’re then greeted by blasts of fire. These blasts may be reminiscent of the night the Baron’s laboratory was set aflame. But they serve as a final warning to those who still wish to enter.

If you yourself dare to enter, you’ll have a hard time deciphering what’s real… and what’s not.

Even America Haunts, the industry’s leading haunted association, has something to say. According to America Haunts, Thrillvania Haunted House Park is “a blood-tingling experience”.

This year, America Haunts also ranked Thrillvania one of the most extreme haunted houses in 2018. And those who dare to visit it will soon understand why.

Do you dare to learn the dark history behind one of the best haunted houses in 2018? If so, get your tickets to Thrillvania Haunted House Park today!

Haunted House Park Veteran Recalls Humble Beginnings

When it comes to getting in on the ground floor, Thrillvania Haunted House Park Co-Creator and Park Manager Mike Malec came through the basement. He was a part of Thrillvania Haunted House Park back before the haunt even came into existence. A long, long time ago, in a dark and dusty backstage hallway, Mike bumped into a man by the name of Lance Pope while working at Six Flags theme park.

“He was a college student at UTA, and he told me about this haunted house that he was building. So I went to his place, and it was this amazing haunted house,” Mike recalls. “It was only 3000 square feet, but every inch was amazingly detailed.” Mike’s first impression of the new Haunted Verdun Manor would leave a lasting impression.

“I was just used to spray painted murals on the walls, and here was this awesome special effects haunted house. I think that’s when I got infected with the haunted house bug.”

Having started out his haunt career working at a March of Dimes attraction in 1980, Mike’s first tour of duty was as a “carpet ape” pretending to break out of a flimsy iron-barred cage. “The costume was horrible. It looked like a shag carpet with a mask. Still, I thought that was the neatest thing in the world.”

Mike has been a core member of the Thrillvania Haunted House Park team ever since that fateful meeting. What’s his favorite part of the job? “It’s when customers leave the attraction and they stop me and say, ‘wow, it’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like that.'” He adds, “It’s not just the special effects; it’s about how the actors sell the product. Your actors are your bread and butter. They make everything good. If you have horrible actors, you’re going to have a horrible attraction.”

Over the last 27 years, Mike has seen a lot of strange goings on at the celebrated thrill park. One of Mike’s most bizarre recollections centers around a tornado that struck the park one night after they had closed up early due to inclement weather.

“One rainy night we all decided to go to the Waffle House after shutting down, to get some breakfast, before going back to close up for the night. We knew it was a bad storm, but none of us had a thought about tornadoes. After we returned to the facility we found this 100-foot crane from a bungee jump ride that was all twisted up, and the Lab of Terror, which was a tent attraction, was pretty much blown away. The tent was just gone!”

For weeks afterwards, customers who lived as far as five miles away returned stuffed animals to the park that the had found in their front yards. One of the skill games at the park had also been destroyed, causing a hailstorm of 4-foot werewolves. Talk about raining cats and dogs!

Away from Thrillvania, “Uncle Mikey” works as a mild-mannered production manager at a post-operative medical device plant. “I love the entertainment industry, but I also love making medical devices to improve peoples’ lives,” he says, adding that he finds a comfortable symmetry between the two seemingly unrelated jobs.

Like many others, Mike admits to being hopelessly afflicted with haunted house fever. “It’s an infectious disease. It’s kind of like West Nile, once you get bit by that, you’re stuck.”

Fear and Loathing in Dallas, Texas

Posted by Thrillvania in Haunted House Stories, Thrillvania History on June 18th, 2013

Thrillvania Haunted House Park Co-Creator and Park Manager Jeff Gilbreath, working at the beloved thrill park is more than just a job, it’s an addiction. “We’re ready for this next season to get started,” he says. “I’m having withdrawals. I’ve got to get my fix.”

Jeff has been living with his obsession for over two decades now. Starting out as an actor at the renowned haunt in 1991, Jeff immediately became infected with “haunted house fever,” and knew immediately that he would never want to work anywhere else.

After moving up the ladder to become first a costume supervisor, then technical manager and finally operations manager, Jeff was one of the core family of seasoned professionals who stepped up to the plate in order to keep the show running after the untimely death of the attraction’s much revered founder, Lance Pope.

“It’s hard to fill Lance’s shoes. We try. He sure was a master.”

It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes an extended dysfunctional family to run a haunt as large and extensive as Thrillvania Haunted House Park , with five different attractions on nearly 50 acres of desolate Texas scrub land. Jeff, along with Park Manager Mike Malec and a handful of others closed ranks after Lance’s death and pitched in to help his parents keep the attraction alive, with welcome advice and assistance from Cutting Edge Haunted House owner Todd James, an old friend and college alumni of Lance’s.

It was difficult at first, but some 11 years later Thrillvania continues to grow and thrive, a monument to a dream and a lot of hard work. Jeff compares it to a “family reunion every year that lasts for six weeks.” Although he works on the property during the off season to make repairs and improvements, from December through around May Jeff also does fencing, remodeling and construction work on a nearby ranch. It’s busy work, he says, while he waits for the real fun to resume.

It’s only June now, and the long-time haunt addict known affectionately to some of the crew members as “Uncle Jim” is already getting antsy, in anticipation of getting the family back together for another season of thrills, chills and just plain old fashioned hair-raising excitement. It’s what he lives for.

“To be honest with you, I don’t ever see myself doing anything else. As long as this park stays alive, I’m pretty sure I’ll be here every second. This will be our 27th season; we’re almost to the 30 mark. It’s going to be awesome.”