Haunted houses continue family tradition

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For several years, downtown Springfield's haunted houses have been known for their bone-tingling props and frightening characters. A lesser-known, not-so-scary detail about the two best-known haunted houses, Hotel of Terror and Dungeons of Doom is that they are owned and operated by competing siblings. |ret||ret||tab|

Sterling Mathis owns Hotel of Terror at 334 N. Main and Mathis' sister, Renaye Livingston, and her husband Randy operate the nearby Dungeons of Doom at 331 S. Campbell. The siblings learned at an early age what it takes to run a haunted house their parents, Johnny and Peach Mathis, opened Hotel of Terror in 1978. |ret||ret||tab|

"I've done it since I was 15 years old," said Mathis, president of Hotel of Terrors Inc. "I do it because it's a lot of fun. I enjoy it and it's part of me."|ret||ret||tab|

The Livingstons have operated Dungeons of Doom for the past 13 years, but recently contemplated selling the building. They were so close to signing off on a deal in July that several of the rooms were cleared out. In the end though, the two said they just couldn't go through with it.|ret||ret||tab|

"The reason is simply because we put this on for the people," Randy Livingston said. "They've really enjoyed it in the 22 years we've been doing it. We could have sold out, but we couldn't give up on the public and we won't. There's just not enough things for the kids to do in Springfield."|ret||ret||tab|

Renaye Livingston said that the near-sale turned out for the better because it created some changes in room design that they wouldn't have been able to make this year. |ret||ret||tab|

"When we put it back in we changed it," she said.|ret||ret||tab|

Randy and Renaye felt that changes and additions would not have been possible due to the extra expense of sprinkler systems, a safety regulation that the city declared mandatory this year.|ret||ret||tab|

"Every year we try and change it some ... try and add more while keeping our cost down, but the sprinkler systems just dominated this year," said Randy Livingston.|ret||ret||tab|

The purchase and installation total of $40,000 has also affected their admission price. The Livingstons have made a $2 increase to compensate and now charge $10 per person. However, children seven and under still get in for free.|ret||ret||tab|

They said that when the sprinkler bill is paid off they will bring the price back down.|ret||ret||tab|

Mathis chose not to raise his price of $8.|ret||ret||tab|

Both houses have been open since late September and run on similar hours through Oct. 31. They open at 7 p.m. seven days a week and close around 10 or 11 p.m. during the week and midnight or 1 a.m. on weekends, depending on customer volume.|ret||ret||tab|

However, attendance numbers have been drastically different thus far.|ret||ret||tab|

Mathis said that the Hotel of Terror is up on attendance in comparison to last year.|ret||ret||tab|

"I've had some record weekends already," he said in reference to a Saturday night when 500 people came through. |ret||ret||tab|

He said those results might be due to a grand opening appearance by Lou Ferrigno, who is best known for his TV role as the Incredible Hulk, and the addition of a haunted basement level.|ret||ret||tab|

Dungeons of Doom hasn't fared as well and the owners suspect it may be the early cold weather or the earlier than usual opening date: Sept. 29. This was the first time they opened in September. The Livingstons said they can't remember when it's been so slow, but are looking for it to pick up as it gets closer to Halloween.|ret||ret||tab|

They both operate on a staff of 25-30 employees, including several volunteers. |ret||ret||tab|

Mathis said he has 25 paid employees with just a handful of volunteers, while the Livingston's staff only 10 and use about 15 volunteers.|ret||ret||tab|

"It's a once-a-year thing and they (the volunteers) love it," said Renaye Livingston. |ret||ret||tab|

The Dungeons of Doom team includes the Livingston's oldest son, Jason. Like his mother and uncle, he was involved at a young age and now plays a big part in the creation of props, rooms and ideas. |ret||ret||tab|

The two haunted houses have created a family competition over the years, but both parties agree on one important thing: they do it for the public.|ret||ret||tab|

"It is just pure fun and pure scares element of surprise," Randy Livingston said about their tactics.|ret||ret||tab|

"I enjoy it when people come out laughing and sweating," added Mathis. "It's exciting to scare somebody." |ret||ret||tab|

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