Scare For A Cure

SCARE for a CURE AUDITIONS: Seeking volunteers, actors and voice-over talent!

2011-09-07T12:33:00.002-05:00

Be a part of Austin's ONLY Extreme Interactive Haunted Adventure!!

SCARE for a CURE

presents

We're looking for volunteers, actors and voice over talent for our

2011 event!

AUDITIONS and Voice-Over recording

September 11, 2011

5-7 p.m.

Galaxy Dance Studio

1700 S. Lamar

Austin, Texas

How often can you play with:

100 gallons of fake blood! 50 gallons of slime! 900 pounds of propane!

1,000 two-by-fours! Oddball vehicles! 140,000 sq ft / 30 rooms!

12,000 work hours by 300 volunteers!

One unforgettable event for charity!

For more info email us: volunteer@scareforacure.org

www.scareforacure.org

****SCARE for a CURE is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. These are volunteer opportunities, non-paid acting jobs.

SCARE 2011 BUILD!!!

2011-08-09T14:53:00.001-05:00

I am continually impressed by the variety and passion of the people that make up our organization.
And make no mistake, it is OUR organization. Ours…all of us.

Without a volunteer to dig the power cord out of a box and then someone to string out the power cord, the craftsman with the saw can’t make the cut needed to build the box that the artist will paint to look like a Giant Jack-N-The-Box!
Every single person is needed to make this event a success. Whether they are there for 1 hour or 100 hours, we need every one of you and more.

I stopped a new volunteer as she was leaving this past weekend and I asked her what she thought about her day at SCARE.
She said; “It was a lot of work but I was surprised at how much fun I had.”

That is what we need to hear…
Would you believe that lugging eight foot 2x4’s around in 100 degree heat could be fun????
We make it fun. YOU make it fun. That’s how it works my friends and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

As we move forward over the next few weeks I want it to be foremost in your mind that we are in a marathon, not a sprint.
We need to pace ourselves not just with the heat but with the work load.
Susan Pratt, PJ Fiero, Matt Pinsonneault and many many others are great resources during a BUILD day at the Bunker to go to for help.
Edwin as always is at the LAB.
Michelle and Crystal are ramping up for Costuming
Robin and her team have the jump on Make-up (and Fundraising!!!)
Norma is tackling Marketing (and Fundraising!!!)
Christyn is handling Merchandise.
And many others each have their role.

The good thing and the hard thing about SCARE is that each of us wears many hats. So you may find Matt filling up a water jug even though he’s the BUILD manager, PJ may come by the house to help with the script, Susan may help Debra in the Box and Norma may be emptying a trash can.
We all need to fill in where and when we can so no one has too much of the load.

We’ve changed how we are scheduling BUILD Work-Days;

Friday Evening As announced
Sat Morning 9am-2pm (lunch at 1:30pm)
Sat Evening 6pm-10pm (or later)
Sun Morning 9am-2pm (lunch at 1:30)
Sun Evening As announced

As we move closer to Dress Rehearsal we will most likely nail down a regular Friday & Sunday evening shift but for now I think we are looking pretty damn good.
So find a time to come out and contribute, bring a friend.
Have fun, work hard and help us succeed!!

Most of all, THANK YOU!

-jarrett

Ps. Just an FYI, 2 separate production companies (A&E/Discovery type shows) have contacted us about doing haunted attraction documentaries. Each company has commented on how they have searched the nation for the most interesting and unique haunted experiences and they said; “Nothing comes close to what you are doing at SCARE for a CURE.” The spotlight is about to get awfully bright my friends. :-)

2011 SCARE Volunteer Kick-off Party and Auditions

2011-07-17T16:50:00.000-05:00

12 weeks till SCARE for a CURE presents: "Carnival of Lost Souls".

Run entirely by volunteers, SCARE for a CURE has become one of the most popular attractions in Austin, Texas during the Halloween season. But don’t be fooled by the name, while SCARE is definitely passionate about the creation of its unique Haunt experiences, the emphasis is really on the word CARE. Each year well over three hundred volunteers come together with a passion to share their talent to make a difference for a cause that can better the community. Last year SCARE donated $20,000 to the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas, and proceeds from our 2011 interactive haunted adventure will again benefit the BCRC.

On Sunday July 24th, we'll have our Annual Kick-off Party and Auditions. Come check out how you can help and volunteer. Some of the volunteer opportunities SCARE has to offer include set building, set décor/design, make-up techniques, acting, technical production, and fundraising among many other things. Come play with us while raising money for a good cause, you won't regret it!!

LOCATION:
Galaxy Dance Studios
1700 S. Lamar
Austin, TX
http://www.galaxydances.com/map_to_galaxy_dance_studios_in_austin.html

TIME:
3:00pm - 5:00pm Kick-Off Party
4:30pm - 7:00pm Auditions

SCARE for a CURE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit raising money for local cancer related charities

SCARE for a CURE presents check to charity partner

2010-12-23T13:56:00.000-06:00

SCARE for a CURE, Austin's largest haunt for charity, has donated $20,000 to the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas (BCRC). The check was presented to the BCRC at SCARE for a CURE's annual holiday event and wrap party on Sunday, December 12. The donation follows SCARE's most successful haunt to date.

Says SCARE for a CURE Director Jarrett Crippen, "Each year we start with a goal for what we want to raise for the BCRC. Then we just dive in and create the best haunt experience we can and hope people love it as much as we do. SCARE is so grateful not only to people from Austin and around Texas, but to people from other states and even other countries who have come out to support SCARE and make our goal of donating $20,000 to the BCRC a reality. We are already making plans for next year and hope to make an even bigger donation to Central Texas charities."

SCARE for a CURE started five years ago in the back yard of founders Jarrett and Norma Crippen. Each year the organization has increased its charitable giving by $5,000, with this year's donation to the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas SCARE's largest gift ever. Run entirely by volunteers, SCARE for a CURE is a grassroots organization that has seen substantial growth each year of its operation. The haunt now runs on a large section of acreage near beautiful Lake Austin on property owned by Austin gaming legend Richard Garriott.

Did you survive the Zombie Wasteland? Tell us what you think!

2010-10-27T15:06:00.005-05:00

Hey SCARE fans! If you experienced SCARE for a CURE 2010, H1Z1: Zombie Wasteland, post your thoughts here!

Tell us your stories of fear, fun and funky-goo-covered adventure!

We hope you had a fantastic time and we appreciate your support of a great cause - The Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas!

Hipnautica partners with SCARE for a CURE for three special events

2010-10-11T12:03:00.006-05:00

Through a special partnership with SCARE for a CURE, Hipnautica Dark World Electronik will present three very exciting events beginning October 16.

Saturday, October 16
UNTERVELT: SCARE for a CURE Launch Party

Prague Night Club, 422 Congress Ave. (5th & Congress), 9 p.m. - 4 a.m.

THE H1Z1 ZOMBIE WASTELAND COSTUME & SCREAMING CONTEST

Save yourselves! The Zombie Apocalypse takes over Prague on Saturday October 16th and transforms this subterranean dance club into a true UNDERWORLD experience, featuring a torture chamber for those brave enough, outstanding thematic visual projections, a special thematic performance by HIPNAUTICA with special guests ART versus INDUSTRY and DJ NEPHANDIUS with Adam Warped and Zack Highwire after hours. Get dressed up early for Halloween and be a part of this torturous dance party in honor of SCARE for a CURE!

There will be costume prizes in three categories: Most Sexy Zombie, Most Interesting and Most Disgusting. Arrive in a Zombie Costume for the SCREAM CONTEST between 9 and 9:30 p.m. and get in FREE! Ask about Hipnautica Martinis and other nightmarish drink specials all night.

Halloween Weekend Headline Performances

On Halloween weekend, guests at SCARE for a CURE's H1Z1: Zombie Wasteland event will be treated to special headline performances by Hipnautica and friends on site at the haunt!

Saturday, October 30
HIPNAUTICA with Interstellar Transmissions

Sunday, October 31
HIPNAUTICA with Lucid Dementia

For more information about the Halloween weekend performances, contact sky@hipnautica.org.

SCARE FOR A CURE Presents PATHOGEN

2010-10-08T00:45:00.000-05:00

Join us for a special screening at the Alamo South Lamar on October 12 to benefit SCARE for a CURE!

At the tender young age of 12 years, Emily Hagins created her first film, PATHOGEN. A waterborne bacteria begins turning the residents of Austin into the living dead, and a group of friends must work together to save themselves and their town. Hagins' story became a sensation and the making of PATHOGEN was documented in a feature film, ZOMBIE GIRL.

Now for the first time you can join Emily Hagins along with lead actor Tony Vespe and other cast and crew members in a live commentary about PATHOGEN. Emily was the youngest recipient of the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund, and has since written and directed other horror films including THE RETELLING and PARTY KILLER. At this rate, Hagins should exceed the filmic output of Stephen Soderbergh by the time she's old enough to drink.

Buy your tickets here.

Braaiiinsss for Charity! Art Auction to Benefit SCARE for a CURE

2010-09-29T12:11:00.002-05:00

Artist Rebecca Hicks has created an original zombie-themed painting which is offered on eBay, with all proceeds from the sale going to SCARE for a CURE. The painting is acrylic on 9x12" flat canvas. If you make the winning bid, every cent you bid will go to SCARE. Rebecca will even ship it to you for free. Please spread the word about this auction!

SCARE for a CURE is grateful to Rebecca Hicks for her generous donation.

It's a GORGEOUS week for building a haunt!

2010-09-28T11:32:00.006-05:00

Hey guys, SCARE is at a critical stage in its building phase and we need your help! Here's a note from Makeup Manager Robin McShaffry calling for all hands on deck!

Hello everyone,

I was just reading the weather report for this week and next and it's looking very, very nice for the next several days - 80s in the daytime and 50s at night. And clear!

This coming weekend will be the most important work weekend of the build (in my opinion) - since it's a good weather weekend and many, many projects are at a critical stage. The walls are almost all up, and several rooms are ready to be individualized.

If you have not spent a lot of time on the build yet this year and you're feeling guilty, clear the decks for Saturday and/or Sunday and plan to come out. If you let us know ahead of time that you are coming, we will have a better idea of what sort of project to assign you. I promise you won't be bored!

New to SCARE and don't know where to start? No problem - read the following post on how to get started as a volunteer:

http://scareforacure.blogspot.com/2010/08/volunteer-for-scare-for-cure-how-to-get.html

Cheers,
Robin

SCARE for a CURE Benefit Concert September 17th!

2010-09-08T11:43:00.019-05:00

“Light & Shadow” Show at the Scoot Inn to Benefit SCARE for a CURE

On September 17, 2010 the Scoot Inn at 4th and Navasota will become a portal to two different worlds: one of Light, and one of Shadow. On the outside stage, the Light show will feature indie rock sounds from bands including Search for Signal, Something called Nothing and Fulton Read. On the indoor stage, groove to the Shadow show, presenting electronica rock bands Hearts Fail, Scorpio Rising, Lucid Dementia and more.

The concert features 11 acts who have donated their time to raise money for Austin nonprofit SCARE for a CURE. Each October, SCARE for a CURE builds Austin's only extreme, interactive haunted adventure, with every thrill and chill elicited for a good cause. Proceeds from SCARE ticket sales benefit the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas.

The theme of this year's haunt is H1Z1: Zombie Wasteland. And don't be surprised if you see some of the undead at the Scoot Inn on September 17th, hiding in the Shadow... or even the Light.

Drink-In-Hand Entertainment and Karma City Media Present
“Light & Shadow”

A Concert Benefiting SCARE for a CURE

Date: Friday, September 17, 2010
Time: Doors at 7:00, show from 7:30 pm to 2 am
Location: The Scoot Inn
1308 E. 4th Street @ Navasota
Austin, TX 78702
Tickets: $10
Age limit 18 years and up - photo ID required

Casting Call for H1Z1: Zombie Wasteland

2010-09-02T18:20:00.000-05:00

It’s that time again! We are building the CAST for this years haunted adventure, H1Z1: Zombie Wasteland. Mad Max meets Zombieland! In 3-D!

If you’re interested in a role, come on out to audition! There are two casting call dates to choose from; you only need to attend one:

Sunday September 12th, 5pm OR Sunday September 19th, 5pm
Galaxy Dance Studio, 1700 S. Lamar

For an idea of what roles are available this year check out the list below. As you can imagine, we need LOTS of zombies—tell your friends!

SCARE 2010 Roles

Bus/Van Drivers, Loaders, Unloaders
Crazy Cart Driver (Tech)
Crazy Nick
Cult Leader
Cultists
Entry Officials (military officers)
Exit Helper
Guards (barricade, parking, outpost, facility, hallway)
Lab Assistant
Lab Scientists
Merchandisers
Nick's Daughter
Outpost Guards
Outpost Mayor
Reception Committee
Resistance Fighters
Resistance Helper
Scouts (Senior, Regular, Rookie)
Sgt. Rico (military officer)
Tower Guard (Tech)
Zombies
Zombie Earl

SCARE for a CURE Volunteer Incentive Program

2010-09-01T00:01:00.005-05:00

The success of SCARE for a CURE wouldn't be possible without the contributions of our dedicated and tireless volunteers. Our volunteers bring new ideas and energy each year to everything we do; we couldn't do it without you!

As part of our Volunteer Recognition Program, SCARE for a CURE hosts a Volunteer Appreciation Party in November. We also have fun and informal teambuilding social gatherings, ranging from bowling to paintball.

This year we are introducing a new component to volunteer recognition -- the Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP). This program is another way to say "THANKS!" to our volunteers for all your contributions.

Here's the scoop:

1st Day

Can buy work shirt at cost (pictured above)

10 Hours (2 work days)

Invitation to Volunteer Party
1 Raffle Ticket (raffle at party)
Water Bottle (2nd day)

20 Hours

All 10 hour incentives
+2 (3 total) Raffle Tickets (raffle at party)
Event button

40 Hours

All 20 hour incentives
+2 (5 total) Raffle Tickets
2 Dress Rehearsal Tickets
Event t-shirt at cost

80 Hours

All 40 hour incentives
Bandana w/SCARE logo
+2 (7 total) Raffle Tickets

100+ Hours

All 80 hour incentives
T-shirt
10 total Raffle Tickets
Highlighted listing on SCARE Web site

To receive credit for your hours, don't forget to sign in and out of at SCARE for a CURE activities during the Build at the LAB or the BUNKER, and during run nights as well. You can also submit other SCARE related activities through the Volunteer Hours Tracking form. This information helps us track volunteer hours for our organization and your incentive!

Our Volunteer Incentive Program also recognizes those groups that volunteer together. We will feature volunteer groups on our web site as well. Check out our blog post "Opportunities for Volunteer Groups and Service Organizations" if you know an organization that would like to join our efforts as we raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas and other local charities.

Not a SCARE for a CURE volunteer yet but want to be? Read our blog post on how to get started.

Opportunities for Volunteer Groups and Service Organizations

2010-08-31T08:00:00.002-05:00

Are you with a fraternal or service organization that's looking for an opportunity for community involvement that is fun and unique? Does your workplace have a volunteer activities program? We've got a great experience for you!

We've begun our build for this year's haunt, and it's going to be better than ever. We couldn't do this without our volunteers, and welcome group involvement. Our build days are currently scheduled for Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am - 5 pm, although we will expand our days and run later as we get into cooler days and closer to opening. Lunch is provided for volunteers at 1 pm.

Upcoming available dates:

Saturday, September 2 - Monday, September 4 (Labor Day)
Saturday, September 11
Saturday, September 18 - Sunday, September 19
Friday September 24, 5 - 10 pm
Saturday, September 25 - Sunday, September 26
Friday, October 1, 5 - 10 pm
Sunday, October 3
Friday, October 8, 5 - 10 pm
Saturday, October 9 - Sunday, October 10

If you would like to participate, please send an email to volunteer@scareforacure.org with the following information:

Dates that your group would like to participate
Times that your group is available (all day? half day? if half day, staying/arriving for lunch?)
Estimate of the number of people who would be involved
Primary contact name(s) and phone number(s)

Please encourage your volunteers to bring refillable water bottles. Folks should dress comfortably, with sturdy closed toe shoes (no sandals) as the terrain is rugged in some areas. Jeans are recommended, but shorts are fine.

Once I receive this information, I'll send a confirmation email with more information including a liability waiver that must be filled out for each individual participating.

Thank you again for your help with this year's SCARE for a CURE event. We look forward to seeing you!

Volunteer for SCARE for a CURE: How to Get Started

2010-08-30T23:26:00.006-05:00

As volunteer manager for SCARE for a CURE, I get a lot of questions about how to volunteer for our event. We have a lot of great plans for this year, and hope that you are as excited as we are! We've not announced our Casting Call yet, but sign up so you'll get the news about this and upcoming special events.

Here's what you need to get started as a volunteer:

Submit your information through the Volunteer Registration Form. If you represent a group or organization, you can also use this form -- just be sure to complete the final questions. If you have any questions or difficulties with the form, please email me at volunteer@scareforacure.org.
Join our Scare-build email listserve. By doing so, you will be kept up to date on all current build related projects as we get ready for this year's haunt. Go to this page and follow the instructions. You can choose how to receive updates by editing your subscription.
Come out to the SCARE for a CURE Build site this weekend at 10 am. Our build days are Saturday and Sunday 10 am - 4 pm, but any time that you can commit is appreciated! The site is located at 7400 Coldwater Canyon Dr., Austin, TX 78730. Just head west on FM 2222, go past 360 to City Park Road. Follow the road about mile, at top of hill turn left onto Bridge Point Pkwy. Follow road down and take a right at the dead end onto Coldwater Canyon Drive. Enter through the gate.
Check in with the SCARE for a CURE gatekeeper. Follow the signs to the pop-up tent for Volunteer Check in. If it is your first time, you must fill out a liability waiver -- you will need to get your parent to sign as well if under 18 years of age. After that you will need to check in and out so we can track your volunteer hours -- which count towards your volunteer incentive awards!
As directed by the gatekeeper, check in at the Job Board for further orientation, including location of portapotty, tool check out, snacks, etc. This is also where lunch is provided to volunteers about 1 pm.

Be sure to wear comfortable clothes that you don't mind getting dirty, and closed toe shoes. Some of the terrain is a little rugged, so it's recommended to wear old shorts or jeans and sturdy shoes that are easy to walk in.

If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask. You can find out more information also on our Volunteer FAQs page. There's plenty of different skills we can use on our projects, so don't worry if you don't have any special skills or experience.

Want to Break into the Games Biz? Then Get Scary!

2010-08-27T16:14:00.003-05:00

SCARE volunteer and actor Jeff Johannigman wrote the following great article for the Mary Margaret Network newsletter. Check it out!

You out there looking for your way to get into the game industry. Yeah, you! I know what you’ve been going through. Working in the game industry has been your lifelong dream. You’ve played countless games. Built innovative mods. Gone through dozens of classes to sharpen your skills in programming, animation, design, or writing, or even all of the above. Put together a truly impressive portfolio. Written and polished a perfect resume. Called up recruiters. Written to dozens of game companies. Perhaps even attended some conferences or industry events hoping to meet some professionals. You know you’re talented. You know you’re dedicated. But you still haven’t gotten that job offer. Frustrated yet?

Let me share one secret that has helped countless professionals break into competitive businesses like the game industry. Understand that most job seekers think that it’s just talent, skills, experience, and education that employers want. While those are valuable, they are not the most important thing employers are looking for. What employers really want to discover is your character, who you really are as a person. Are you more argumentative or more supportive in dealing with others? Do you take initiative or wait to be told what to do? Do you communicate clearly, effectively, and diplomatically? Do you put in the extra effort to get it right, or do you take the expedient route to just get it done? How well do you really get along with others, especially when under pressure? Those are the character traits that employers really value.

But how do you demonstrate to game company employees how well you work before they actually hire you?Simple - work with them without getting hired. Work on a volunteer project. In Austin, one great example is SCAREfor a CURE. SCARE is an annual event staged by over 100 volunteers every October to raise money for the Breast Cancer Resource Center. (see www.scareforacure.org/)

SCARE’s roots go back over 20 years to Britannia Manor, when Richard Garriott used to turn his own mansion into a haunted house. But being a master game designer, Richard was not content to have guests spend 10 minutes walking though a house with monsters jumping out and yelling “BOO!” Britannia Manor was an hour-long live, interactive adventure game, complete with a storyline, actors, special effects, clues to find, and puzzles to solve. In the finale, players could either save the world from a powerful supernatural entity, or doom the entire world by their failure. (See more on Britannia Manor at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo99KVXUIkA).

Today, many of the same terror masters that created Britannia Manor are still at it, with the help of hundreds of newer volunteers, staging a unique SCARE for a CURE every year. In 2008’s “World of Horrorcraft”, guests were beta-testers for Dunstan Interactive Entertainment (D.I.E. for short), and were digitized into a virtual game world where things went horribly wrong. In 2009, it was “Blood Ritual”, a blood-soaked vampire adventure staged again on Richard Garriott’s property. (See the videos at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkTM9sohBqE)

In 2010, SCARE for a CURE “H1Z1: Zombie Wasteland”, and anybody in Austin can volunteer to help out. SCARE needs actors, builders, makeup artists, costumers, publicists, audio engineers, special effects technicians, and dozens of other volunteers to stage this epic, interactive adventure.

Volunteering for an event like SCARE is amazing fun for creative people such as game industry professionals, and it raises money for a great cause. However, for those trying to break into the game industry, it could also be a career opportunity. There are numerous game company employees and even recruiters who work for SCARE. If you volunteer, they will get to know you – not just your creative skills but your character as well. Friendships, networking, and personal credibility built through such volunteer work can translate into the right inside connections to land that job.

If you don’t live in Austin, ask around your town to find similar volunteer causes that attract creative professionals. For example, the Game Developers Conference recruits dozens of volunteer Conference Associates to help every year. (Details on the Conference Associate program can be found at www.gdconf.com/attend/volunteer.html). Volunteering for causes like SCARE for a CURE is not only one of the most effective ways to find a new job, it is also personally fulfilling and just a good thing to do for the community. So don’t be afraid to get scary!

Jeff Johannigman is a game industry veteran who has worked for such companies as Electronic Arts, MicroProse, Sierra/Dynamix, and Origin Systems. He now runs People Type Consulting, an Austin-based company that provides career consulting and corporate training.

SCARE for a CURE at Cupcake Smackdown 2.0!

2010-08-19T21:59:00.009-05:00

SCARE zombies will be infiltrating the Cupcake Smackdown 2.0 on Saturday August 21st! It will be a day of eats, treats, and good old fashioned zombie hunting with what may be the world's only cupcake cannon* designed by SCARE's own Mad Scientist and Lab Manager Edwin Wise. Check out its fearsome frosted projectile power in this awesome video featuring Edwin and Cupcake Smackdown honcho Jennie Chen! Cupcake Smackdown 2.0 will be held in The Domain from 11 am to 3 pm, starting inside Le Cordon Bleu for preliminary activities, then moving to the Westin Hotel parking lot for zombie target practice with the cupcake cannon. Here's the schedule:

11:30 am and 1:30 pm: Attempt to break Guiness World Record for most Jaffa Cakes eaten in one minute (two rounds) at Le Cordon Bleu

11:30 am - noon: Check in and setup for Most People Simultaneously Frosting a Cupcake at LCB

Noon: Attempt to set world record for Most People Simultaneously Frosting a Cupcake (at LCB)

12:30 - 3 pm: Cupcake cannon and cupcake pinata in the Westin's north parking lot

Go to www.cupcakesmackdown.com for more info.

SCARE is very honored to represent at this unique Austin event. Come by and see us at The Domain on Saturday!

*Just a guess, not based on scientific fact

SCARE for a CURE at Eeyore's Birthday

2010-08-09T21:46:00.003-05:00

Hey all! Ok, so it's been a few months since Eeyore's Birthday Party, but we just got access to this awesome blog about our day at the fest from SCARE's own Anna (annainaustin). Check it out HERE. And thanks, Anna! :)

SCARE for a CURE Kickoff Party!!

2010-07-16T18:13:00.014-05:00

It's TIME!

Join us for our SCARE for a CURE Kick-Off Party
The Highball, 1142 South Lamar
Sunday August 8th
1 pm to 6 pm

Join the zombie horde and help us build this year's ultimate extreme, interactive, haunted adventure: H1Z1: Zombie Wasteland.

Our haunt is built bigger and better each year with the love and dedication of our fiendish team of volunteers of all ages, from all walks of life. This is a fun and unique way to learn new skills as you will have the opportunity to work along side our experienced haunt crew who are more than willing to teach you the tricks of our trade.

SCARE for a CURE is looking for help with:

Promotions
FUNdraising
Box office operations
Merchandise sales
Set building
Set decoration
Painting
Costume construction
Makeup
Special effects
Parking lot attendants
Operations

SCARE for a CURE volunteers represent a wide range of ages, interests, and skills. Come on out—we’ll find something for you to do!

The kick-off party will feature information booths, break-out sessions, question and answer forums, snacks, drinks and lots of SCARE folks on hand to answer your every question about being part of our fun and freaky event!

And don't forget, SCARE for a CURE is dedicated to raising money for local cancer charities, with this year's beneficiary being the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas.

If you can't make our kick-off event but still want to help out, email volunteer@scareforacure.org or go to our website at www.scareforacure.org for more information.

Don't miss the chance to be involved with Austin's most FRIGHTENING fundraiser.
Tell your friends, bring your neighbors, and we'll see you at the Highball on August 8th!

An Interview with SCARE Makeup Queen, Robin McShaffry

2010-07-06T17:08:00.003-05:00

When was that makeup class you held recently?

June 13th at Mangia Pizza's meeting room.

What kind of techniques did you teach?

Basic traditional theatrical makeup, including harping about highlights and shadows. Tools orientation, discussion of types of makeup, latex, bruises, lacerations and application. Nora Evans was instrumental in getting together the teaching materials since she has recent training in "moulage" makeup - which is what they use for emergency preparedness training/trauma simulation. Nora teaches me stuff all the time. So we did theatrical character makeup followed by trauma makeup. Put them together and you have zombies.

Will you be holding any more classes in the future?

YES starting in August. Dates and location TBD

What will this year's makeup be like?

This year's makeup will be very, very bloody and a lot of fun. Since our undead are not risen-from-the-grave, but freshly or recently infected, we get to play with several levels of zombie-ism. The infected bite or try to eat the un-infected, thus infecting them. Once infected, they go around trying to eat people and other fresher zombies. So, makeup will range from recently infected and beginning to show symptoms (red eye lines, bite mark) to full-on new zombie (been attacked, been attacking, trauma, fresh torn flesh, blood), to veteran zombie (wounds with greenish/black goo instead of blood - zombies don't bleed but that doesn't mean they don't ooze. Been around a while, covered in blood.) to boss monster (heavy foam latex prosthetics, missing parts, large). Zombies that get in guests' faces will be more detailed than distant zombies.

What kind of special effects makeup will you do?

We will be doing a lot of bites and lacerations made with silicone or latex. Edwin and team will make several gallons of good Edwin Blood and Edwin Goo. We will design a few partial prosthetic pieces for close-up zombies and also a big project for the final boss monster. Eric and his team have already started drawings!

Do you use any special supplies to create these effects?

Yes, lots. Starting with clay, plaster and cement for design and going all the way to very specific Hollywood grade foam latex recipes and medical adhesive. Everything is pretty specialized - the brushes, sponges, makeup, pigments, glues, everything is all specific to the job. Many effects can be made with things laying around the house, but mostly you need specialized equipment in order to have the makeup stay on for 4+ hours in the elements. SCARE's budget buys all of these specialized tools and supplies.

Do you need volunteers to help with makeup? If so, about how many?

YES! Starting at the beginning of build, we will be sculpting and forming wounds, lacerations and bites from clay. So we want people who would like to sculpt in clay and learn how to make good appliances. We will also want people to help with making plaster molds. This will happen at the build site. Then we will transfer and set up makeup appliance production lab at my house in south Austin. Mixing the foam, baking it, cleanup and painting all have to be done under environment-controlled conditions (basically, in the A/C). That will need a couple of team members. Then on rehearsal and run-nights, we will need 6-8 makeup artists per night to apply basic, medium and advanced makeups under some pretty tight time constraints. That crew has several people already, but we always need more trained FX makeup artists. Taking my class and showing me what you can do counts as training to do basic makeup.

Do you want potential makeup volunteers to contact you directly, or just contact the volunteer coordinator?

Potential makeup volunteers can ask me any relevant questions at robin@mcshaffry.com. Volunteers should definitely contact volunteer@scareforacure.org and may also contact me as well.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Nah! :)

Be sure to check out Robin and her team's handiwork at this year's SCARE for a CURE, or better yet, come on out and help!

:)

Success at Florence's Comfort House!

2010-06-21T19:08:00.008-05:00

It was a hot Father’s Day in Austin, Texas but that didn’t stop lots of dads (and moms and kids) from working in 90 plus degree temperatures to help local children in need.

Florence's Comfort House got a much needed hand from over 50 SCARE for a CURE volunteers who showed up with loads of supplies and tools to help Flo make her house and play yard safe and comfortable for the Montopolis kids who consider the Comfort House a second home. Here are just some of the projects SCARE volunteers wrapped up on Sunday:

Repaired a ceiling that was falling down
Built a platform for Flo’s washer and dryer
Fixed broken doors and locks
Fixed a damaged roof on Flo’s puppet theater
Replaced damaged or missing window screens
Repaired the gate leading into the play yard
Painted bedrooms
Scooped poop in the play yard
Organized toys – and there were LOTS of toys
And much more!

Volunteers showed up around 10 am and worked until 5 pm or so to get Flo’s house in ship shape, stopping midday for some very tasty lasagna and all the fixings brought by Eli from The Art Institute of Austin. Yummy!

The SCARE crew also did a lot of general cleanup work and trash pickup, in the end leaving Florence’s Comfort House much safer and cleaner than we found it. A big thank you also to the folks from Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas who came out to help, as well as non-SCARE volunteers from the general public. Thank you EVERYONE for a tremendous job!

If you missed the event, take a look at some of the awesome media coverage:

KEYE News: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWFhp7xOQSc

KVUE News: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b11jZnVktqs

KXAN News: http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/kxan-austin-austin-police-team-up-to-fix-safe-house

Fox 7 News: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/top_stories/Good-Deed-for-One-who-Helps-those-in-Need-2010-06-20-ktbcw

News 8 Austin: http://www.news8austin.com/content/local_news/271945/volunteers-repair-comfort-home-for-children

Austin American-Statesman: http://www.statesman.com/news/local/comfort-house-for-kids-gets-a-fix-up-759354.html?srcTrk=RTR_504016

Lab and Haunt-U Heat Up!

2010-06-21T12:31:00.002-05:00

People hit the Lab ready to work on Saturday 6/19 and got some things done!
It was hot... more hot... with some extra hot...
but the big fans helped. J

Lab work was, as usual, overseen by our favorite manic Rogue Technologist, Edwin.
He and the divine Debra organized the pneumatics fittings for future use. Yea, organization!

He also led the charge on decorating cupcake cannons. Yes, cupcake cannons. He’s helping a nice lady who wants to shoot cupcakes at her customers at an August event, and who are we to interfere in frosting firing and torte trajectories? The modified gore cannons were tested on Friday and got a liberal coating of steampunk in Saturday’s Lab. I must see this event! But I’m still trying to decide if I’d rather load or play outfield.

The Lab crew then moved out to the SCARE site to hot-glue web the finale and a fence area, leaving the webber with Melanie so she and her minions can continue webbing as they steal time to do so. The final effect should be webtastic!

Come on out to the Lab this weekend and help to make the next Lab report even more exciting! :D

bel

Calling all volunteers: Operation Help Florence's Comfort House set for June 20

2010-06-15T11:27:00.006-05:00

What:	Operation HELP Florence's Comfort House
When:	Sunday June 20, 10am – 5pm (lunch served at 1pm)
Where:	515 Kemp Street, Austin, TX
Why:	A Darn Good Cause!

Board members from SCARE for a CURE recently had the honor of meeting Florence Ponziano, the founder of Florence’s Comfort House. We were incredibly impressed with her drive and dedication to the children of the Montopolis neighborhood.

Flo, as she likes to be called, has opened her home and her property to the disadvantaged children in Montopolis as a safe place to go after school. Kids can get their clothes washed, eat a hot meal, work in a garden, create art, work on homework and even play with some ducks. Young mothers often show up to get extra diapers, bottles or blankets, which Flo does her best to keep in stock. Flo herself is the child of a drug addict, and remembers not having a safe place to go after school.

Flo’s House needs some serious TLC if she is to continue to provide a safe and clean environment for the children of the Montopolis neighborhood. Some basic home repairs and a couple of major projects need to be completed, but there are other, smaller projects as well—a garden in need of landscaping, a swing chain that needs replacing, trim that could use a coat of paint and so on. I thought that with three or four people we could fix a few of her problems... but if we could get 20-30 folks together we could really make a difference for Flo and the hundreds of kids who pass through her home every month!

SCARE for a CURE will provide the needed materials and tools, but we need some PEOPLE POWER. I hope to see you out there this Sunday! Wear good work shoes and bring some gloves if you have them. SCARE for a CURE will provide lunch, snacks, music, sunscreen, water and Gatorade.

Thank you everyone for your attention and support!

Jarrett Crippen
President & Co-Founder

SCARE for a CURE makes $15,000 donation to charity

2009-12-30T12:32:00.000-06:00

In 2009, SCARE for a CURE volunteers overcame numerous logistical and weather-related challenges to produce a haunt that broke all previous records. On December 5, the organization presented a check for $15,000 to its charity partner, the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas (BCRC). Phyllis Rose, Director of Volunteers & Physician Communication for BCRC, sent the following message to SCARE for a CURE's all-volunteer crew:

Happy Holidays to all the amazing Scare for a Cure volunteers!!!!

We want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your tireless efforts this year in making Scare for a Cure such an incredible success!! We know you faced such challenges what with the last minute move, the rain and more! That you all worked together to pull off this daunting feat with such overwhelming success is a real tribute to the heart and soul of Scare for a Cure!! We are so grateful to each of you who worked such long, hard hours, day after day, week after week. We are amazed by what you accomplished and so honored to be the beneficiary of your generosity, support and hard work!!

Because of you all, we are able to help over 5000 women, men and their loved ones affected by breast cancer this year alone!! We are able to be there for so many whose lives are changed forever by the words “you have breast cancer.” We are able to help women who are facing this challenge without insurance. We are able to help women needing mammograms who can’t afford them, we are able to help women get services they so desperately need because of you. We are able to help the woman who called us facing the horrible decision of either paying her electric bill or buying medications she needed for treatment, we are able to help those women who don’t have transportation to get to their doctor’s appointments, we are able to help women who have no one to be with them at their appointments to understand what the doctor is telling them and we are there to make some sense of it all. We are able to reach out to newly diagnosed women with the comforting totes we provide to give them a lifeline of support through us. We are able to provide the bare necessities of life that so many aren’t able to afford during treatment because of your support. We are able to be there with women undergoing biopsies to provide physical and emotional support. Our Certified Patient Navigators are able to continue to expand their education and knowledge about all things concerning breast cancer to provide the best support possible to our clients because of your help. There are countless ways in which we are able to help those affected by breast cancer because of your support and it would be impossible without amazing volunteer angels like you!!

You all have touched the lives of thousands in your community that you’ve never even met!! You’ve provided that lifeline of support they so desperately needed with your hard work and dedication and we can’t thank you enough!!! Congratulations to each of you for a fantastic success!! Here’s to an even better and blessed 2010!!!

Have a joyous holiday and an abundant and happy new year!!

Indeed, Phyllis, we are delighted to be counted among your "volunteer angels" and to support BCRC’s important work!

SCARE volunteers turn out for Yule Fest fun

2009-12-17T18:19:00.036-06:00

SCARE for a CURE volunteers are not just skilled at creating illusions—they're also extremely generous with their time. So when SCARE sponsor Richard Garriott asked for help in providing a winter wonderland at Zilker Park, they were ready. Garriott donated the use of his “BF SnowMaker 5000” for the City of Austin’s Yule Festival, held at Zilker Park on December 16. SCARE volunteers helped the crew from Custom Creations and Reddy Ice turn 80,000 pounds of ice into “Frosty Fields” for a rare winter treat!

MANDA DEE

HELEN INGHAM

YVONNE DAILEY

MANDA DEE

YVONNE DAILEY

SOLD OUT! And one more chance...

2009-10-31T14:17:00.010-05:00

What a year! SCARE for a CURE presents: BLOOD RITUAL is completely SOLD OUT! We are thrilled at the wonderful turnout to support SCARE for a CURE and the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas. Many thanks to our wonderful guests, and we're very sorry if you weren't able to get tickets. Please give our volunteers time to catch up on their sleep, then visit our web site again for stories, photos, and more from the haunt. And watch for us again next year, when we'll be doing our level best to make SCARE for a CURE's haunt even bigger and better!

If you were sorely disappointed to miss the haunt this year, and you're feeling very brave and energetic, there is one last unique opportunity for you to get an insider's view of the haunt. For the first time ever, we're sold out on Halloween night—but this is also historically an evening when we are short on extras, technicians, and other support volunteers. Volunteers with special skills—belly dancers, musicians, and other similar skills can also join our gypsy camp to help entertain guests waiting in our ticket area. If you're an energetic worker who can put in long hours fueled only by screams, sugar, and a worthy cause, come to the haunt site between 5 and 6 p.m. tonight and we'll find a job for you! But first, a word of warning from our director: "If they show up, we will put them to work. If they rubber-neck, we dunk them in bloody slime then leave them in the cold!"

Come out and play with us—we dare you!

Tips for Volunteers

Wear your oldest, grungiest clothes and good work shoes.
It might be cold. Really cold. Dress in layers!
Watch for parking attendants, and park where they direct you.
We'll provide snacks and drinks, but if you work best with special fuel (e.g. coffee, energy drinks, your favorite candy bar, etc.) then feel free to bring your own.
A small flashlight always comes in handy.
Be sure you sign a volunteer waiver before you get started. Someone will have these available near the costume and makeup trailers.
Be prepared to work late—we'll be at our places from 7 p.m. until the last group is out of the house.

Cleaning tips for SCARE guests

2009-10-26T12:16:00.003-05:00

PHOTO: ROBIN McSHAFFRY

Red groups, this is for you! If you came out of BLOOD RITUAL covered with stage blood and slime—and we hope you did!—our resident Mad Scientist has provided some helpful hints for cleanup.

Blood Stains

Skin: Stage blood stains can be removed from skin but it may take some scrubbing. Apply cold cream, makeup remover, or olive oil and rub out the stain, then wash with soap and warm water.

Fabric: We suggest washing your clothing as soon as possible in hot water and your regular laundry detergent. Stains can be removed from suede or leather using leather cleaner or GoJo hand cleaner, but don't rub too hard or you'll pill up the finish.

Slime

A mild acid—like white vinegar or lemon juice—will remove slime from skin, hair, clothing, etc.

And to new guests... may we remind you not to wear your good clothes to BLOOD RITUAL? Adventuring is very dirty work!

Logistical notes for BLOOD RITUAL guests

2009-10-25T15:40:00.007-05:00

SCARE for a CURE is thrilled with the amazing turnout for our event, BLOOD RITUAL! We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has bought tickets, and hope you're having a great time at the haunt. If you've already attended, we'd love to hear what you think!

We've been SO successful that we need to give you a few logistical tips—these will help us be more efficient, minimize your wait time, and help any wait you do have go by faster!

Buy your tickets online! We don't want anyone to be disappointed at the door and many time slots are selling out so space for walk-ups is quite limited. To make sure you get a ticket and to keep your wait time down, we strongly encourage you to reserve your slot ahead of time.
If you buy tickets after 3 p.m. on the day of your reservation, please print out your Paypal receipt or confirmation email and bring it with you to the Will Call window.
Plan to arrive 15-30 minutes early to allow time for parking and sign-in, but please don't arrive more then 30 minutes early. Parking space is limited and we have to get the guests ahead of you out of the parking lot to keep things moving.
We'll do our best to keep things moving, but we are an extreme haunt and occasionally circumstances beyond our control cause delays. Please be patient and we'll get you in as soon as we can. In the meantime, kick back, relax, and have some fun while you wait. We apologize for keeping you waiting and appreciate your understanding!
Once you've signed in, there are plenty of ways to have fun in the waiting area. We've got awesome SCARE for a CURE: BLOOD RITUAL t-shirts for sale, along with buttons, stickers, and other merchandise. There's also a concessions stand where you can purchase drinks and snacks, as well as vendors with hand-crafted products. Most nights we'll have face-painting and chair massage available too. (A word to the wise, though—the vendors take cash only!) So get comfortable and warm up by the fire, interact with some of the characters in our gypsy camp, wisit with your fellow adventurers, and check out what the vendors have to offer while you wait.

Thanks again for supporting our event and helping us raise funds for our wonderful charity partner, the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas!

Did you survive opening night?

2009-10-24T10:44:00.000-05:00

SCARE for a CURE presents: BLOOD RITUAL got off to a great start Friday night! We're grateful to everyone who came out to enjoy the haunt, and we especially appreciate your patience as we got off to a bit of a late start. The show set a high bar for subsequent performances, and it will get even tighter and better with every run so if you haven't got your tickets now is the time to do so. Tickets are available online, and they're selling fast so reserve your slot!

SCARE for a CURE is a non-profit organization, built entirely with volunteer labor, and proceeds from ticket and merchandise sales go directly to the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas. When you come to our haunt and throw yourself into your role, you'll not only have a great time but you'll also help raise funds for this wonderful organization.

Your kind words as you waited for your ride back to the entrance after the event were music to our ears and we made sure to pass them along to the actors! Our all-volunteer cast and crew work very hard to make SCARE a success, so if you enjoyed your adventure please let us know in the comments!

Announcing Eeyore's and Batfest Raffle Winners!

2009-10-22T15:49:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Sam Operton Jr. and Gene Coranado! These two very lucky SCARE for a CURE supporters have each won a pair of tickets to SCARE for a CURE presents: BLOOD RITUAL.

To help raise funds for our 2009 production, we raffled off tickets at Eeyore’s Birthday Party and BatFest. If you didn't win tickets, you’ve still got a chance to see the fruits of our labors—tickets are available online for the evenings of October 23-25 and October 28-31. You’ll have a frightfully good time and help raise money for the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas!

VOLUNTEER CALL: Crunch time for build and need help on Run Nights

2009-10-20T20:47:00.001-05:00

We are down to the last few days of building out the most fabulous interactive adventure for SCARE for a CURE, benefiting a special organization Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas (BCRC). I don't know about you, but I'm REALLY excited!! Here's what still needs to happen:

WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY
The move/rain/illness has everyone working down to the wire, and we really need your HELP! Folks are onsite now building, painting, getting sets together 24/7. The build managers including Jarrett, Edwin, Matt, Paige, et al. are exhausted. We need folks to come out between 10 am and 10 pm to help—even just a couple hours will get us further to our goal of having the BEST interactive haunted adventure in Austin!

Dress comfortably in clothes that can get dirty, closed toes shoes, and bring a refillable water bottle. We have snacks and drinks available, and lunch and dinner are provided as well. Location 7400 Coldwater Canyon Drive is the location, and here is the MAP http://scareforacure.org/haunt/map.php

RUN NIGHTS start FRIDAY (includes Dress Rehearsal this Thursday)
We need TECHS to help with boo scares and very special effects, parking, comfort assistance, and other miscellaneous tasks. There is something for everyone. Recommended that you arrive by 6 pm for dinner and assignments. If you have a particular skill or area you'd like to work, please email volunteer@scareforacure.org

MAKEUP AND COSTUME VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION
If you have requested to help in this area, all makeup and costume volunteers are invited to come to the Bunker on Wednesday at 6 pm for an orientation and tour.

FUNDRAISING EVENTS
We need 2-3 volunteers to help with facepainting fundraiser and SXSW swag bag raffle this SATURDAY, 10/24 from 12 - 6 pm at the Ginger Man Austin's Oktoberfest Celebration at 301 Lavaca. You will be provided with food and drink (bring ID if over 21). Please contact our volunteer coordinator at volunteer@scareforacure.org if you can help, even if only for 3 hours.

HELP SELL TICKETS by telling all your friends, family, and co-workers about SCARE for a CURE Blood Ritual.

Thank you everyone for your time and support!

Thriller Dance record-breaking attempt to benefit SCARE for a CURE

2009-10-20T11:51:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, October 24, participants in Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s Thrillerfest 2009 will attempt to set a new record for the most people dancing the Thriller choreography at the same time in the same location. We at SCARE for a CURE are also THRILLED to say that the event will benefit SCARE for a CURE in our own attempt to raise funds for Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas!

THRILLERFEST 2009: Thrill the World at Seaholm!
Saturday, October 24 at Seaholm Power Plant
Dance Lesson at 5pm
Dance Performance at 7:30pm
Dance Party after that!

Tickets are on sale now for just $15, and Thriller dance lessons are already underway in north and south Austin locations. For more details, check out the event page.

Last year's event set a new record when 881 people gathered for the Thrill the World celebration at the Long Center. But last month a new bar was set by the citizens of Mexico City, who shattered our record by having more than 13,000 people dancing in unison! Now 13,000 is going to be a tough number to beat, and Austin can't compete with Mexico City in terms of sheer population. But that doesn't mean we aren't going to give it our all this year!. Even if we don't set a new record, we'll still be dancing in unison with other Thrill the World participants in more than 50 countries across the globe, and we'll set a new World Record for that dance no matter what!

Please plan to come out for a GREAT time Saturday to support SCARE for a CURE and the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas. And while you're in the mood, why not buy tickets for SCARE for a CURE presents: BLOOD RITUAL that evening and make a THRILLING night of it?

On your mark, get set, SCREAM!

2009-10-19T17:19:00.006-05:00

Opening night is October 23!

Our favorite time of the year is almost here, and eager volunteers have been scurrying to put the finishing touches on SCARE for a CURE's 2009 haunt, SCARE for a CURE presents: BLOOD RITUAL. You'll want to make a trip through BLOOD RITUAL part of your Halloween season—get your haunted house fix and help the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas at the same time!

BLOOD RITUAL is Austin's only extreme, full contact, interactive haunted house adventure—guaranteed to chill you to the depths of your soul! SCARE for a CURE is an Austin-based non-profit organization, and all net proceeds from this event will be donated to our charity partner. Get your scare on while supporting an organization that assists local women and their families navigate their way from a breast cancer diagnosis, through treatment and beyond.

Imagine a theater performance that takes place across 26 stages in 3-minute acts and includes audience participation, built entirely by volunteers and benefitting cancer charities. Put it all together and you have more than a haunted house—you have a fear-filled adventure worthy of its Britannia Manor and Haunted Trails roots! To learn more about our unique haunt, which this year returns to its roots in a new location right down the road from the original Britannia Manor, please visit our web site.

Remember, we're only running October 23-25 and October 28-31! Tickets are available online or at the door, but tickets are going fast. Don't take a chance on missing it#8212;get your tickets online right now!

Tickets available now for SCARE for a CURE’s 2009 Production of “Blood Ritual”

2009-10-12T11:57:00.002-05:00

Tickets are now available for SCARE for a CURE’s Blood Ritual, a thrilling interactive haunt in Texas. Join a team of paranormal researchers and explore the mysteries and horrors of Dunstan Castle. Experience a twisted tale of demons, blood-lust, and a vampire's quest for world domination. Who has the courage and wits to save humanity?

The brave souls who dare enter may guarantee their admission by securely purchasing tickets online at www.scareforacure.org. Because of the limited number of tickets available along with the length and intensity of the experience, timed and dated tickets are recommended. Tickets are available at the web site with limited availability at the door of the haunt, which takes place at 7400 Coldwater Canyon Dr.

SCARE for a CURE offers three levels of scary experience for Blood Ritual: Regular admission, Red-level and Green-level tickets. SCARE for a CURE's haunted house is not recommended for children under 12. All performances (October 23-25 and 28-31) offer all experience levels for both the bravest and the faintest of heart.

Regular admission, priced at $20.00 per person provides amazing thrills and chills in a 30-40 minute fear-filled adventure. Guests are admitted in groups of 4-6 guests at a time, and should come prepared to crawl and get messy.

Red-level tickets, which are available for $25.00 per person, are for fearless individuals who wish to more actively participate in their haunted adventure. This intense experience is more physically challenging fun for individuals who want to be taken to the extreme. Red-level participants should dress appropriately and be prepared to crawl, run, and be “bloodied.”

For those not wanting the full-fledged SCARE adventure, Green-level status is available with regular admission at the gate. Green-level groups will have a static experience, similar to regular groups but toned down as much as possible, with less interaction and lower intensity. SCARE for a CURE is an Austin-based charitable organization benefitting local cancer-related charities, "one SCREAM at a time!" Each year we produce Austin's only extreme, full contact, interactive haunted adventure that is guaranteed to chill the depths of your soul. Guests can expect a full contact adventure as they are guided through. No two groups have the same experience, as the decisions and actions of each group affect the outcome. For more information, visit the SCARE for a CURE web site at www.scareforacure.org or contact media@scareforacure.org.

FX Quickie

2009-10-08T08:49:00.003-05:00

Guts material test:

Vortex Bridge test:

FX / Lab Rats have been busy... too busy for good updates...

Extended Work Hours: Your help needed NOW!!

2009-10-06T07:47:00.008-05:00

We only have 2 more weekends to get this thing built!!!

Due to the rain and ACL Fest we had a pretty low turnout this past weekend. Regardless, those that came out did an incredible job in getting things done.

If you are an actor or actress in this year’s Blood Ritual, we need you to come out and give us a few hours of labor or we will not be ready on Opening Night.

If you have been planning on coming out to help… this is the weekend to do it!

I can’t stress this enough… WE NEED HELP!

SCARE has always been a team effort and the team needs to come together. Please join us and become a part of the team.

Let’s not forget why we do this. The money we raise will directly help support hundreds of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. The Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas needs our help. We benefit a worthy cause and have a lot of FUN in the process.

Work Hours (7 days a week!):
Monday – Thursday, 6pm – 9pm or later (contact Paul at p_sicard@earthlink.net)
Friday, 4pm – 9pm or later
Saturday, 9am – 6pm or later
Sunday, 10am – 6pm

Location: 7400 Coldwater Canyon (off City Park Rd.)

If you have an artistic flair, contact our Art Director, David at dbessenhoffer@gmail.com and we'll put you to work helping with props and set dressing.

If you can sew or want to help with fundraising, contact SCARE Vice-President, Norma at njcrippen@austin.rr.com

Please check out the Volunteer Page here, the FAQ page for details, or email volunteer@scareforacure.org.

No matter what your skill is… we need you!

Blood of the Bean: A thrilling afternoon of horror literature and bloody good coffee

2009-10-04T22:35:00.002-05:00

On October 17th several noted independent names in horror literature will gather in in the funky, dark confines of one of the coolest new coffee bars, Kick Butt Coffee, in Austin, Texas for an exciting afternoon of spine-tingling readings. From vampires and werewolves to demented serial killers, a cup of bloody wickedness will be provided to all who arrive.

From 2pm until 7pm, Gabrielle Faust, Steven E. Wedel, Lee Thomas, Byron Starr, Brian Moreland, Ethan Nahte, Kenneth M. Hoover and Joe McKinney will take the stage to read an assortment of work from short stories to excerpts from their published novels. All of the authors will also be on hand throughout the afternoon to sell and sign copies of their work.

In addition, SCARE for a CURE will be on hand with a few willing volunteers passing out information about Blood Ritual and how you can purchase tickets or volunteer at the event.

What better way to begin your spooky Halloween experience this year? If you are simply in search of a stellar cup of joe, Kick Butt Coffee has some of the best beans in the capital city and also offers a nicely stocked full bar if a martini is more your style. Kick Butt Coffee is located at 5775 Airport Blvd. For more information call 512.454.KICK.

Vampire Blood Drive—The life you save may be your own!

2009-09-30T11:35:00.000-05:00

The Vampires of Blood Ritual and SCARE for a CURE will be collecting victims for a blood drive benefiting The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas.

Saturday, October 17th
10:00am-2:00pm
Alamo Draft House, 1120 S. Lamar
Opening weekend of "Where the Wild Things Are"

All donors will receive Blood Ritual neck-bite marks by one of our professional make up artists and will also be entered into a drawing to win a pair of tickets to Blood Ritual and a limited edition Blood Ritual t-shirt.

Make an appointment online at www.lonestardonor.com. Walk-ups welcome!

We'll find you and get your blood one way or another...

SCARE for a CURE and Austin Ghost Tours host: the Vampire Ghost Tour and Bar Crawl!

2009-09-30T11:27:00.006-05:00

Join an army of vampires on a tour through downtown Austin to hear ghastly tales of murder and betrayal and discover the ghosts and lost souls that lurk in the shadows of the Warehouse District and beer-soaked sidewalks of 6th street!

Thursday, Oct 8th
7:30 pm
Start at: Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill, 303 Red River
End at: Casino El Camino (see after party)
Participants are STRONGLY encouraged to dress as vampires!!

This tour is for ages 21+ with ID required. Ghosts won't be the only spirits you raise!

Tickets are $30 and all proceeds go to SCARE for a CURE. Reserve your spot on the tour at www.hauntedtexas.com. Space is limited, so get your tickets now!

Vampire Ghost Tour and Bar Crawl After Party!

Too scared to join the Ghost Tour? Well, put on your most fearless cape and sharpest fangs and join all the SCARE for the CURE Volunteers and Vampires of Blood Ritual for a night of hell raising spirits.

Bloody Drink Specials! Costume Contest! Raffle Prizes!
Thursday, Oct. 8th
8:30 pm until the sun turns us to dust
Casino El Camino, 517 E. 6th St.

This event is for is ages 21+ with ID required.

New events from some of SCARE for a CURE's scary friends

2009-09-25T13:18:00.009-05:00

If you love SCARE for a CURE, Halloween, and all things scary, you might want to check out these two upcoming productions by friends of SCARE.

Medieval Macabre
The Curtain Theater
Friday and Saturday evenings, 9 p.m.: September 25-26, October 2-3, and October 9

On a stormy night in mid 1600's England, we find two travelers caught away from home. They seek refuge at a country estate on their way to London, where they meet a gracious host who offers them shelter for the night. During the course of the evening, a challenge is issued between the men with a sum to be settled upon the victor. The wager: Can literature be frightening?

This fast paced play will take you on a visual trip through time, exploring plays, stories, poetry and music. Our goal is to entertain you, scare you, and show you that—although it might have been written by some old crusty dead guys who talk funny—it can still send a chill up your spine!

SCARE volunteers get 2 for 1 tickets at the door on October 3!

Tickets may be purchased on line via www.Austix.com or at the door (Cash Only)
Ticket Costs: General Admission $13, Students $9, Seniors over 65 $9, ACoT Members $9

For more information, visit www.thebaronsmen.org.

Pendarks Museum of the Macabre
Austin Drama Club, 1612 E. 7th Street
Saturdays and Sundays through October 25th, 9-10:30 pm

Richard Bateman presents a fun, interactive theater experience. See Pendark's collection of horrific artifacts, listen to tales of the macabre, explore the mysteries of the mind, and experience the magic and mysticism of Pendark. Featuring the delightful and edgy humor of his new assistant, acquired on his trip to England: Madge!

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/pendark.

Home stretch push! SCARE for a CURE needs YOU this weekend!

2009-09-25T01:46:00.019-05:00

Here's the details:

Work days will now take place at the NEW haunt site called The Bunker at 7400 Coldwater Canyon (take City Park Rd. to Bridge Point Parkway, turn left and then right onto Coldwater Canyon). [view map]

DEBBIE CERDA

Here is the schedule for this weekend:

Friday 9/25, 4 pm - 10 pm
Saturday 9/26, 9 am – 6 pm
Sunday 9/27, 10 am – 6pm

Please come out to help even if you can only work for a few hours. There will be plenty of things to do for ALL skill levels…you might even learn a skill or two.

Want to earn FREE tickets to Dress Rehearsal?

The first 25 volunteers to work 20 hours in the next two weeks will get 2 tickets to the Dress Rehearsal of Blood Ritual. Be the first to see this year's most extreme haunt! Come out and help!

Something that would be a big help would be to RSVP if you’re able. If you can’t RSVP we totally understand—please don’t let this prevent you from coming out at the last minute. It just helps us get a handle on food and work crews. RSVP at volunteer@scareforacure.org.

Thank you to everyone for your time and support in this fun event benefitting an important cause in our community!

FX Update—ZERG RUSH!

2009-09-23T14:01:00.003-05:00

And what a rush it's been ... quite a few valiant haunters have made their way into the LAB in the last few weekends, and I believe that almost without fail I've had tasks to offer them. Even more amazing, these tasks were getting done!

Elmo has been finish-sculpted; laid up with water clay as a stand-in for the detail layer of the mold; had both sides of the mother mold made in plaster; and then popped open and de-clayed (one side at a time) so now we have a full silicone mold of the sculpt. And now the sculpt is no more; removed, to be re-used later for another monster at another time.

Maria's skulls have come to beautiful fruition and have been molded in silicone; next up, one or more positives, with the possibility of vacuum or other molding for finals to be put into use as decorations.

The vacuum former oven has been eluding perfection, but Corey did some valiant work on it and it's so almost there; I'm tempted, though, to just put a propane burner into it. Fire is something that is most reliably hot.

A bunch of people have poked at the cable-crimping task for the Vortex Tunnel (Maria's tag-alongs, Anna, Yvonne, and probably others) and we are now ready to do the final assembly on the vortex's spinning section.

Jean made the hoops for the inner cage, and I'm in the process of building the bridge. So close!

The roto molder is going through final experiments on belts to drive it, but since Baby Leroy is now fully molded (though I want to poke the mother mold shell a bit more) we can spin up a roto mold test any day now.

Becca (right?) and family, and Nora, and others, have been working on baby parts, which will have to find their way into production soon too. Kenny (I believe) has been doing amazing work in form to set up the shapes for larger body parts, too.

Eric has been rebuilding some fog machines (with built in chillers) that came from a donation, but were broken; he's cannibalizing lesser machines to bring these valuable devices to life, and with good success. He also built a Key of Gabriel sculpt and has put up the mold around it; next step, removing the mold, repairing it (I did mention mold release, I know I did), and then duplicating. Eric has also helped with Elmo, and other hands-on tasks.

Marina (with some help from Nora) did fabulous work on aging a bit of furniture and I can't wait to turn them loose on more things; Marina also donated her arm for a prop (half molded now, soon to be finished and duplicated), and has been helping in various aspects at the lab as well.

Decorative books are in progress via Marla.

Some of us now have a concrete plan for the stabbing (Eric, Marina, and I had a quiet moment somehow).

Goodness, Nora and other people whose names escape me did work on duplicating some ceramic insulators, to good effect. I now have a 15-gang mold to do the final duplicates!

Ben wired up the gore pump, and it works beautifully.

What else.... hmmmm....

I'm sure I missed a handful of names and projects but, as you can see, we have been busy. And there is still stuff to do, NOT TO MENTION, the need to work at the Bunker and install all of these wondrous things there... and more.

Not only are we making props for this year's haunt, we are making TOOLS and developing SKILLS to make later years even more exciting and dramatic. Thanks guys, y'all are great!

SCARE for a CURE Needs YOUR Help this Weekend!

2009-09-17T17:09:00.012-05:00

Here's the details:

The move to the new site and the rain has severely put us behind schedule but if we can have a great turnout this weekend we can put things back on track.

We have moved everything from our old site and additional storage location…it’s all at the NEW site.

ANTSNAX ON FLICKR

Work days will now take place at the NEW haunt site called The Bunker at 7400 Coldwater Canyon (take City Park Rd. to Bridge Point Parkway, turn left and then right onto Coldwater Canyon).

Here is the schedule for this weekend:

Friday 9/18, 4 pm - 10 pm
Saturday 9/19, 9 am – 6 pm
Sunday 9/20, 10 am – 6pm

Please come out to help even if you can only work for a few hours. There will be plenty of things to do for ALL skill levels…you might even learn a skill or two.

Something that would be a big help would be to RSVP if you’re able.

If you can’t RSVP we totally understand—please don’t let this prevent you from coming out at the last minute. It just helps us get a handle on food and work crews.

RSVP at volunteer@scareforacure.org.

Thank you to everyone for their time and support in this fun event benefitting an important cause in our community!

Tips for the Sharp-Minded Volunteer

2009-09-16T17:16:00.006-05:00

ANTSNAX ON FLICKR

Whether you’re working in “The Bunker” or “The Lab,” following this advice from our friendly neighborhood police detective will help us stay organized as well as keeping you safe! For information on volunteering, please email volunteer@scareforacure.org.

RSVP when you can (but don’t let that stop you from just showing up if you can’t).

Wear good shoes. No sandals!

Bring work gloves if you’ve got ’em. (We have plenty if you don’t.)

If you bring your own tools, label them! We have duct tape and markers on site.

Respect other people’s tools and equipment.

Don’t wander away from the work site or pass any “Do not cross” yellow tape.

If you don’t know, ASK.

Be sure to sign in when you get there and sign out before you leave.

I have not spotted any poison ivy yet so long pants are not mandatory, just suggested.

Bring a water bottle if you have one. Keep it filled.

Have FUN!

Finally…
The work day isn’t over until everything is cleaned up and put away! Please don’t just walk off leaving tools and materials lying around. It makes more work for those staying late.

Thanks and I hope to see you this weekend!!!

Relocation Complete!

2009-09-14T08:54:00.006-05:00

ANTSNAX ON FLICKR
Truckloads of flats ready for the move

ANTSNAX ON FLICKR
Over 40 volunteers helped relocate SCARE walls, materials, and props to the new location on the uncompleted Britannia Manor property

It was a rugged weekend of hauling, stacking, and tarping stuff in the rain and mud, but the relocation is officially complete—all of our flats, lumber, and other random bits of debris are at our new home.

We had three crews working over the weekend—in addition to me and the rest of the unruly shaven apes hauling flats and 2x4s around in trailers, Edwin presided over people working on various FX projects up at the Lab and we also had a team at the new site assembling floor grid, building shelves, organizing and stacking stuff, pulling nails and screws out of lumber, and generally doing the initial grunt work that's not very entertaining but is essential before we can get to the fun stuff. I cannot begin to express my thanks to all the volunteers who showed up to help us grind this work out.

Fun stuff starts now! Walls go up this week, then ceilings, then the interior finishing work can begin!

FX Update - Scary Blood

2009-09-14T08:18:00.003-05:00

I'm still stalling on doing a comprehensive update post (so of course it gets harder the more we get done before I post it)... but right now our Blood Supply is on my mind.

This year we are making our own blood from raw components—FD&C food colorings, water, thickener, opacifier, and a small amount of surfactant... all very safe and inexpensive ingredients, though not necessarily recommended for eating (the surfactant could give you the trots something fierce, I think).

I have come up with three basic formulas so far, that I've been getting feedback on and will be dialing in to a final recipe over the next week or two. There is the "Bright Blood" which looks the most like fresh blood (I know, we had Erik drip on a card for us after he poked his finger); there is "Dramatic Blood" which is darker and more menacing; and then there is "Dark Blood" which is nearly scab color and will be mixed up thick and gloopy.

The question that people always have about the blood is... will it wash off of my hands, and out of my clothes?

Being composed almost entirely of Red #40 (think: cherry cool-aid) you would expect it to stain like nobody's business, and at first blush this seems to be true.

My hands were covered in blood up to my wrists the other day and a first wash in the sink hardly touched the color at all—dry skin from sculpting in clay soaked up the pigment like a thirsty sponge. But when I showered after the lab that night, my hands were perfectly clean!

The trick, I think, is to sweat some, which helps push the pigment out of your pores and skin. Failing a good workout, you can prepare yourself to be blood-proof by moisturizing your skin before contact; or, to be more extreme, there is a product used by sculptors ("Gloves in a Bottle", I'm getting some from Armadillo Clay to test today) that my be even better.

To remove the stain from dry skin, I would recommend makeup remover, or even something like olive oil, which will leave you salad-fresh after! Olive oil, and then a gentle facial cleanser, is what I used when I did clowning, and it removes the makeup better than anything.

"Enough about skin—what about my fine linen suit? It's soaked in blood!"

First—don't wear your nice clothes to our haunt; we will not be kind to them, and even the Green Groups may brush up against something nasty by accident.

But if you do, the blood washes out, at least from cotton.

I soaked one of my SCARE for a CURE t-shirts in blood and let it sit for two days to set (note: don't do that; wash immediately). Then I put it in a small laundry load and washed it on cold... afterwards... stained! Oh no!

So I ran it again on hot and it came out as clean as it started, no hint of red, pink, or even fuchsia.

I suspect it may stain wool, and I need to test wash-ability on things like silk, rayon, wool, and so on still (any volunteers of white fabrics of different types?), but I suspect it will wash out of most anything (in hot water, it seems)—just like our last blood recipe!

I credit this success to the soap additive I use in the formula (it helps it flow and keeps it from beading, and makes the blood its own pre-wash!)—Synthropol, used by tie-dyers to help rinse out excess die from their garments.

I haven't done a scientific test of with and without the additive, so this is just my hunch, but I'm good with the voodoo for now.

Now, would anyone be interested in buying quarts of high-quality stage blood, custom made by and for SCARE for a CURE, for $10 a quart? All proceeds go to the haunt!

Lightning Strikes at La Zona Rosa 7 pm TONIGHT

2009-09-12T15:29:00.006-05:00

Special screening of SyFy Channel's Lightning Strikes starring Jarrett Crippen (and some guy named Kevin Sorbo)

Doors at 7 pm, show at 8 pm
La Zona Rosa, 612 W. 4th Street (at Rio Grande just west of Nueces)
$5 recommended donation (cash or check, no credit cards)

Highlights:

Autograph session with Jarrett Crippen (aka Deputy Johnson aka The Defuser)
The Defuser memorabilia for purchase
Raffle and silent auction items including guest appearance on Haunted Report's Ghost Hunting and Milkshakes, original artwork, gift certificate to Austin Ginger Man, massage session, and more!
Concessions: Hot Dogs, Frito Pies, Popcorn and Pizza

All proceeds from above benefit SCARE for a CURE.

The Austin Cookie Lounge will have cookies for sale We will also have representatives from Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas to talk about their programs, as well as a few of their calendar models.

What better way to spend a rainy weekend night than with us! Bring your sleeping bag, picnic blankets, pillows, camp chairs for seating.

Most importantly spread the word and bring your friends!

Follow us on Twitter @SCAREforaCURE #SCARE

Volunteer Opportunities This Weekend

2009-09-12T09:57:00.001-05:00

There are several volunteer opportunities for SCARE for a CURE this weekend, so here's a brief summary:

9 am - 4 pm:
The bulk of people will be fetching and hauling materials from storage this morning, and that's vital and necessary work. Meet at Comfort Suites near 183 and Anderson Mill Rd. tomorrow at 9 AM rain or shine, to move Creepshow stuffout to the new site. Dress appropriately! How to find it - Address: 13681 N Highway 183, Austin, TX
‎

11 am From there moving on to the site to unload -Richard Garriott's new uncompleted Britannia Manor 7400 Coldwater Canyon Dr., just off 2222. You turn at City Park Rd. You can text Debbie at 512/785-6813 if you want to know where we folks are.

Lunch at 1 pm, be sure to stop for a restroom break before coming out to the build site.

10 am to 2 pm (or later) Open Lab Weekend -- Drop on by or give EDWIN a text message at 512.809-8918 to make sure he's at the lab.

7 pm Lightning Strikes Benefit at La Zona Rosa - We will need just a few extra folks to help with set up and manning the concessions table, so please contact Debbie at volunteer@scareforacure.org or text me (please include your name) at 512/785-6813.

Sunday:
10 am - 4 pm Build Site 7400 Coldwater Canyon Dr.
10 am to 2 pm (or later) Open Lab Weekend
11 am COSTUMES - Please come with your colored pencils, drawing paper, sewing machines, and any fabric, patterns, notions or ideas you want to donate. Please also bring any clothes or shoes you want to donate. We'll have a cast list, character list, measurements, and a bunch of clothes to start with, and we can begin designing the pieces we'll need to build or acquire. Anyone who can DRAW and SKETCH is needed and welcome! Contact Robin C. McShaffry for details and location.

Need more details? Contact the contact person listed, check the emails sent out to the Build GoogleGroup, or email me at volunteer@scareforacure.org. If you aren't on the Build group but would like to be, please send me an email. Keep in mind that it is a high traffic list, but there's some great ideas and projects shared.

Back to Our Foundation

2009-09-11T12:00:00.002-05:00

If you are new to Austin, you may not be familiar with the haunted house that has inspired the SCARE for a CURE team. For those of you who didn't have an opportunity to make it through Britannia Manor during its seasonal runs 1988-1994, our just want a trip down nostalgia lane, check out this great video - "The World's Most Famous House".

This short documentary of the most elaborate house of all-time was filmed and directed by Patrick Neese and David Neff. David is founder and creator of The Haunted Report, the haunted industry's first and only independent news blog. Their motto is "If it scares the crap out of people we cover it." David is also the Director of Hype for Mansion of Terror (MoT), another local haunt. Stay tuned for more details about how MoT and SCARE for a CURE are ganging up to guarantee the most terrifying and scariest Halloween EVER!

SCARE for a CURE Announces Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas as Charitable Recipient for 2009

2009-09-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

For Immediate Release
September 10, 2009

(Austin, TX) - Now in its fourth year, SCARE for a CURE is gearing up for a fantastically frightful Halloween season by offering an interactive haunted adventure in Central Texas. This year’s theme is “Blood Ritual,” and will take place October 23-25 and 28-31 in northwest Austin. Guests can expect a full contact adventure as they are guided through. No two groups have the same experience, as the decisions and actions of each group affect the outcome.

SCARE for a CURE is pleased to announce that this year’s beneficiary of proceeds for their two week event is the Breast Cancer Resource Centers (BCRC) of Texas. The BCRC provides a caring network of breast cancer survivors to answer questions and provide support. Their certified patient navigators provide one-on-one support for women with breast cancer from the time of diagnosis all the way through recovery, addressing their treatment options, insurance issues, and any other questions they may have. Additional services offered by this grassroots organization range from a lending library to various support groups. Barb Formichelli, BCRC’s Director of Marketing and Events Development, had this to say about the selection of their organization as the 2009 recipient:

"The Breast Cancer Resource Center is honored to be one of the benefiting charities for SCARE for a CURE once again. This event is such a wonderful example of teamwork and community involvement, and has become bigger and better every year. We look forward to working with Norma, Jarrett, and their incredible volunteers - what a great way to wrap up Breast Cancer Awareness Month!"

Past beneficiaries have included The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Elks Lodge #201 of Austin as well as four Austin area high school students who were affected by cancer. These students received scholarships in 2008 towards their college tuition.

For more information, contact media@scareforacure.org.

SCARE for a CURE Announces New Location at Britannia Manor

2009-09-09T08:00:00.015-05:00

The Austin Elks Lodge was not large enough to contain the bone-chilling adventure that is BLOOD RITUAL! So it’s moving to a new location that brings one of Austin’s premiere haunted houses back to its roots.

This year’s SCARE for a CURE will take place on the grounds of Richard Garriott’s uncompleted new Britannia Manor off City Park Road in northwest Austin.

Jarrett "The Defuser" Crippen and Richard "Lord British" Garriott unite for charity

That’s right—SCARE for a CURE has moved!

While we are eternally grateful to the Elks at Austin Lodge #201, our event this year is so terrifying, so spectacular, that we had no choice but to find a location equally steeped in myth and legend! Austin’s greatest interactive haunted adventure will take place where it all began.

Are you ready?

Join a team of paranormal researchers to explore the mysteries and horrors of Dunstan Castle. Experience a twisted tale of demons, blood-lust, and a vampire's quest for world domination. Do you have the courage and wits to save humanity, or will you end up as a snack at their victory party?

From 1988-1994 Britannia Manor was famous for hosting the most elaborate haunted house in the country. Many of the volunteers who worked on Britannia Manor transferred Richard's ideas as well as their talent and enthusiasm to support the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve in Austin by creating Wild Basin's Haunted Trails from 1996 to 2005. In 2007, many of those volunteers came together again for SCARE for a CURE haunted house to support local charities.

For more information, contact media@scareforacure.org.

SCARE for a CURE Hosts Special Screening of “Lightning Strikes” starring SCARE Director Jarrett Crippen

2009-09-09T00:38:00.006-05:00

SCARE for a CURE is proud to announce that our director, Jarrett Crippen, aka “The Defuser,” stars in an original SyFy Movie Lightning Strikes which premieres Saturday, September 12, on the SyFy Channel at 8 pm Central Standard Time (CST). A special screening to benefit SCARE for a CURE will be held this Saturday at La Zona Rosa at 612 W. 4^th Street, in Austin, Texas. Doors open at 7 pm, with a recommended donation of five dollars. La Zona Rosa is an all-ages venue, but the recommended rating is PG-13 for this film.

“Lightning Strikes” was filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria and directed by Gary Jones, who also directed “Boogeyman 3” as well as episodes of “Xena Warrior Princess” and “Hercules: The Incredible Journey”. Jones also contributed his special effects services to “Evil Dead 2” and “Army of Darkness.” Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) stars in this horror film, and Jarrett Crippen plays Deputy Johnson. In regards to working with Kevin Sorbo, Jarrett stated in his blog, “Kevin was a great mentor and made me feel relaxed.”

Austin Police Department's Detective Crippen as the Defuser was winner of the second season of the Sci Fi channel's Who Wants to Be a Superhero? In 2008, Det. Crippen was provided the opportunity to travel to Bulgaria and work with Kevin Sorbo in this horror film about a small Indiana town plagued by a creature of living lightning. He did so immediately after wrapping a successful 2008 haunt season for SCARE, raising $10,000 towards scholarships for local high school students affected by cancer.

SCARE for a CURE is an Austin-based organization that raises money for local cancer charities, "one SCREAM at a time!" Each year we produce Austin's only extreme, full contact, interactive haunted house adventure that is guaranteed to chill the depths of your soul.

This year’s theme for the interactive haunted adventure is “Blood Ritual,” and the event will take place in Austin, Texas, on October 23-25 and 28-31. Guests can expect an unique experience as they are guided through an interactive haunt. No two groups have the same experience, as the decisions and actions of each group affect the outcome.

For more information, visit the SCARE for a CURE web site at www.scareforacure.org or contact media@scareforacure.org.

Transitions

2009-09-08T14:08:00.003-05:00

Despite being sidelined for a bit by poison ivy-related issues, I managed to put in some time helping measure things at the new SCARE site so we can figure out how our script, plot, and room layouts are going to change. I also helped get stuff moved from the Elks' Lodge to our fabulous new locale.

Out with the old...

MATT PINSONNEAULT

Looks better than it did when we moved in; everyone did a fabulous job with cleanup. Hard to imagine that area full of piles of wall flats, power tools, and various bits of gruesome debris.

In with the new...

MATT PINSONNEAULT

It's really, really awesome to have everything moved across town to the new build site. Now that the move is behind us we can get started with the build next weekend!

FX Nathan's Elmo

2009-09-06T21:46:00.003-05:00

Just a quick post—spent a bunch of time I would have used sculpting to help orchestrate the shift to the new location... but am getting some good work in as well.

To tide you over, a video of the Elmo demon spinning:

Will be done soon—just need to add pores and do some texture cleanup before I create the mold.

SCARE Work Day Saturday, September 5

2009-09-04T14:50:00.005-05:00

When: Saturday Sept. 5th, 9am till 4pm - FREE Lunch at 1pm

Where: Starting at the Austin Elks Lodge #201, 700 Dawson Rd.

Details: We will be doing a lot of lifting and moving. SCARE will provide gloves, water, Gatorade, sunscreen and bug spray as needed. Please wear shoes or boots, no sandals. I suggest jeans or pants. A ball-cap or hat would also be handy. It is preferred that you bring your own refillable sports bottle of water. We will provide
water but we are trying to minimize the amount of trash and recycling we need to pack out.

Yes, the rumors are true. SCARE has found a new home, a better home. A home that will shock and amaze you!!!

This Saturday is your first opportunity to see the new site. You will not be disappointed. But we have lots of work to do and we need your help.

We have to get EVERYTHING to the new site A.S.A.P.!

If you have access to a truck or trailer, or any vehicle that can pull a trailer, please bring it. The sooner we get everything over there, the sooner we can get started on building the most amazing haunt Austin has ever seen.

Please contact me at volunteer@scareforacure.org if you have any questions. If you will need to arrive any time after 10 am, please text or call me at 512/785-6813 cell to find out where we are at.

Thank you again for your support, and we hope to see you this weekend. We expect to be out there as well from 9-4 pm Sunday and Monday.

SCARE FX panel proposed for SXSW 2010

2009-08-31T16:31:00.003-05:00

Ever wanted to learn more about special effects? SCARE for a CURE volunteer Anna Hanks has submitted an exciting SCARE-based panel entitled "Making Cheap and Ghoulish Horror/Vampire FX" for South by Southwest 2010 next March. The panel, led by SCARE's Edwin Wise and Robin McShaffry, will discuss ways to make high quality horror effects without a Hollywood budget.

We need your help to get this panel on the program, so please log in and vote for the panel by this Friday. It only takes two minutes to create an account so you can vote. Once you've signed up for a free account, click on the thumbs-up for this panel to register your vote. The thumbs-up icon will turn green and you're all done.

FX Update in Progress

2009-08-31T14:02:00.002-05:00

Lots going on, lots left to do!

The vacuum former is stalled; currently needs wiring work for the electrical aspect, as well as supporting bars and/or a heat-containing lid. Also frames for holding plastic, which may be as simple as 2x2 squares in different dimensions.

The blood pump is also stalled, but ready to be mounted and powered. I have pneumatic gear, but am probably lacking limit switches to control it.

Phil and Yvonne continue to perfect their teeth work, progressing through the grinding and finishing stages, and improving their skills at molding and casting.

Robin went out to the Corner Shoppe and found a very nice, old, crufty pair of horns that I'll be modifying to fit onto Elmo. That will save me a lot of sculpt work!

I've been continuing on the Demon sculpt, Nathan's Elmo, and it's almost ready for mold-making! I'll be making the mold for it this coming weekend, ready or not. When I make this mold, I'll probably mold other random things, too.

I'll also be making a plaster (or plastic!) positive of my lifecast mold this coming week or weekend, so I can start the backup demon sculpt.

I set Phil and Debra to work preparing the rings of the vortex tunnel -- nearly a hundred holes drilled and eye-bolts prepped and inserted. Next up: welding the eyebolts into place and making the wire cable assemblies.

We also talked a bit about some radical vortex bridge designs that I need to do some design follow-up on this week.

Jean did some follow-up work on the burner, and it's beautiful! Next up, she may attack the andirons for the fireplace if I don't side-track her into making the cage circles for the vortex tunnel/bridge.

Maria, an talented and cheerful new volunteer, has been to the lab twice now (once with her sister and friend) and is sculpting skulls to be molded and formed as decorations for the fireplace, bookshelves, and other such furniture.

Speaking of the fireplace, Joe is going to (soon, I hope) fire up his nifty CNC wood router and make some decorative pieces for the face of that. Exciting!

The onsite crew also did a bunch of hefting and shifting this previous weekend, with more to come next weekend -- moving the Creepshow materials to the lodge! Things are going full-speed ahead now, with both onsite and offset crews active.

SCARE for a CURE Wants You to READ!

2009-08-28T18:29:00.005-05:00

Don't forget that tomorrow is a special shopping day at Book People that benefits SCARE for a CURE. As mentioned in last week's post, all you need to do is download this flyer and take it with you when you shop!

Stop by and enjoy the group reading/book signing from 3 to 5 pm, featuring author and SCARE for a CURE sponsor Gabrielle Faust along with authors Patrice Sarath, author of Gordath Wood, and Les McGehee, author of Plays Well With Others. They will each read from their current work and will be available afterward to sign copies purchased.

If you forget your flyer and happen to make it by, no worries! Just let the cashier know that you forgot your SCARE for a CURE flyer, and they should have extras. My printer doesn't work, so I'm glad that this option is available.

Special thanks to David Neff of Haunted Report, who featured our special event in this entry. David is not only the founder of Haunted Report and involved with Mansion of Terror, but he is also a champion for non-profit and grassroots causes. Be sure to tell him thanks - you can find him via his Twitter account.

Updateness though a bit Lateness

2009-08-22T19:59:00.006-05:00

EDWINWISEONE ON FLICKR
Elmo on Nathan, work in progress

EDWINWISEONE ON FLICKR
Monstrous fangs, top set painted and modeled

EDWINWISEONE ON FLICKR
Skulls test

Yeah, I think my blog titles are terrible, too. We'll get over it.

Looking at the calendar it seems that a LONG TIME has passed since the last blog update, but really just a weekend and a half... and the two weeks in between.

Okay, a long time.

Last weekend, I don't even remember exactly what happened, but a new FX volunteer, Matt, came out and did diligent work on the vacuum former's oven—drilled a zillion holes in a very difficult material, and tested out a couple different configurations of heater coil with me. Initial testing gave us way too high a resistance, so we went with a bunch of shorter coils in parallel—but then we found that a coil or two had lower resistances, giving us uneven heating. A good set of experiments, and tedious, but that's science for you. He then went on to help with the shifting of materials for a bit before escaping the greater oven that is the Lab.

Yesterday I normalized the coil resistances, but that's about it on the oven so far.

Phil and Yvonne have continued their explorations in dentistry, and are getting better and going deeper into new territory every visit, I'm quite pleased. Brad (right? Darn these names) and Kyle also got to see the results of their previous tooth casting, and do a bit more in the sculpting department.

I've spent a couple of weekday sessions working on Nathan's Elmo, and have pics online now (link at the bottom). He'll be ready to mold and cast soon, which is good, because time is short! One catch is, the horns need to be roto-molded, and we haven't built the roto-molder yet. Also, I need to hook Crystal in and talk about costuming and the horn-hat (otherwise, it's a gimmee-cap with the bill cut off, and nobody really wants that).

Last weekend I spun up the remaining ring sections for the vortex and today I drilled and assembled these into rings for the vortex tunnel's outer layer. Last weekend Debra (not Deborah, as it turns out) helped with that some (if I recall correctly). Events kept her away today, but I suspect we'll see her tomorrow again and I'll put her to work drilling holes for the eye-bolts for the guy wires (unless she reads this and sensibly decides to hide).

Robert and Henry have been continuing in their Blood Pump work and I believe it's ready for mounting and powering now—though I need to buy another package of my ad-hoc O-Ring material to seal them. The original stuff has apparently been sequestered away by mice, or goblins, or something.

I'm hoping Jean brings the new burner to the Lab soon—she sent pictures, and the work in progress is lovely—so I can cook up some water and begin the color work for our custom blood formulation.

While I was waiting for Tall Matt to wrap up his work at the Lab today, so I could carpool him home, I threw together some concept skulls just to see if I could—I guess I can, so I'll be making a variety of skulls to decorate furniture and fireplaces. I'm thinking vacuum molding forms, so I can make a bunch of 'em cheap.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something or someone... I'll fill in on the next post if I remember!

Shop for SCARE at Book People on Aug. 29

2009-08-18T12:50:00.003-05:00

On August 29, book fans have a great opportunity to stock up on their favorite reading material and support SCARE for a CURE at the same time. For each shopper who presents a special SCARE flyer that day, BookPeople will donate a percentage of the purchase price to SCARE for a CURE.

While shopping to benefit SCARE, you might also enjoy the group reading/book signing from 3 to 5pm. It will feature author and SCARE for a CURE sponsor Gabrielle Faust along with authors Patrice Sarath, author of Gordath Wood, and Les McGehee, author of Plays Well With Others. They will each read from their current work and will be available afterward to sign copies purchased. Remember, you must present the flyer at the time of purchase to have your purchase credited to SCARE. Purchases made without the flyer will not benefit the organization.

Please support your local bookstore and SCARE for a CURE by downloading the flyer, printing it out, and using it at BookPeople on August 29. Don't forget to email the flyer to all your friends, too! BookPeople is located at 603 North Lamar, and is open from 9-11 daily.

SCARE for a CURE and Blood Center Team Up for Bat Fest

2009-08-17T18:15:00.001-05:00

In a fitting new partnership for 2009, volunteers from SCARE for a CURE will team up with The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas on Saturday, August 22, to help process willing "victims" during the 5th annual Bat Fest on the Congress Avenue bridge.

Bat Fest 2009 features arts and crafts by local vendors, music from over 30 bands on two stages, food, bat watching, children's activities and educational displays, all to help the bats. The event runs from 1 p.m. until midnight, and the "blood bus" will be on hand from 1-4 p.m.

The SCARE crew will put its talents to good use "scaring up" blood donors from among Bat Fest attendees and assisting donors in completing their donation paperwork. The crew will also pass out flyers and answer questions about SCARE for a CURE and its 2009 interactive haunted house, "SCARE for a CURE presents BLOOD RITUAL." Blood donors will receive a discount coupon for BLOOD RITUAL in October, and will be entered into a drawing to win free tickets to the event.

For information about BLOOD RITUAL, visit our Haunt page.

For information about Bat Fest 2009, visit www.roadwayevents.com/RoadStar/Events-cat.asp?media1Id=1323.

For information about The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas, visit www.inyourhands.org.

Author Gabrielle Faust joins the SCARE team

2009-08-11T22:06:00.000-05:00

SCARE for a CURE is excited to announce that author, illustrator and entertainment critic Gabrielle S. Faust has joined forces with us as a sponsor for 2009. She is generously assisting the organization with fundraising, marketing and promotion for this year's interactive haunted house.

Best known for her acclaimed dark fantasy vampire series ETERNAL VIGILANCE, Faust is a contributing journalist for the websites SciFi Wire, Examiner and Fear Zone. A professional member of the Horror Writers Association, Faust will be appointed Chair of the Texas Chapter of the HWA at the end of 2009. She was Guest of Honor at the Anne Rice Vampire Ball in 2008, was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Vampire Film Festival in 2009, and will return this year as a Special Guest of the Tru Blood & Gold vampire ball and the Endless Night Festival in New Orleans. More information about Gabrielle S. Faust can be found on her website: www.gabriellefaust.com.

To find out how you can get involved with the fiendishly talented SCARE for a CURE team as a volunteer, donor, or sponsor, check out our Support SCARE section!

FX Update: goblins, pumps, teeth, and tunnels

2009-08-09T20:26:00.000-05:00

I've ramped up my SCARE efforts a notch, spending more time on weekends and more time during the week working at the Lab.

I assembled the high-power mGoblin's power supply and plugged it in... got a spark, some light smoke; very disappointing. I want either dramatic failure or a working device -- and got neither. Now I need to build it up piecewise and figure out what dumb thing I did to this perfectly good vendor circuit to make it not work.

I got parts and the new PCBs last week, so I also built up the new version of the sumGoblin (sigmaGoblin) and was able to program it, so that's good! I've got most of the code framework assembled for that, so I hope to be able to monitor the Goblin Net from it soon.

I also took the blinking code test and the communication code test and put them together into the final form for the uGoblin (microGoblin) device and I'll build up the large-chip version of that soon for testing.

A lot of code changes all at once means hard, painful testing... but oh well. I wonder if there are any software engineers in our volunteer pool? It would be great to put together a GUI for the Goblin Net, turning the ASCII updates out of the UART into pretty pictures...

I spackled and sanded on Stone Cold Nathan and then added two coats of Alcote release agent -- which I hope works as well as advertised. I used it a little bit on teeth, but without success (I did it wrong; just one coat), and I've been putting it on all the new tooth models... so we'll see how I like later.

I didn't start the Demon sculpt on Nathan yet, nor did I pull a positive from my mold, but that's okay; the Lab was too busy this weekend to really be able to settle down for the creative work of sculpting. I'll do the rough sculpt this week after work and have a first-pass kibitz session this weekend on it.

I cast all four of the tooth sets that have been waiting, and popped them from their plaster positives -- they all came off perfectly, except for Marla's, so I had to make another set of plaster teeth for her for future work.

I also made the mold and a casting on my Humongous Fangs of Doom -- pictures linked at the bottom. They need cleaning up and painting, since the gums are tooth colored and they are all ragged around the edges, but you get the idea. They turned out FAR better than I could have hoped, and I can even (mostly) talk in them. The challenge is in not drooling too much.

Phil and Yvonne did more tooth molding and I got them up to speed on the plaster techniques for making positive copies, so that's good. While they were doing that, Kyle and Bill also made some alginate molds, and then Phil did the plaster for them. Skills are drifting out into the group, which is very exciting.

Saturday, Robert and Henry (I think; Robert had a boy in tow) came to the lab and I set them to work on making the second piston/valve assembly for the blood pump; their work is progressing nicely and I look forward to seeing them again next weekend. The big question for the blood pump will be how we want to power it; my current plan is via pneumatic cylinder, I just need to get limit switches set up to make it cycle.

Saturday afternoon, Matt, Paul and I chatted about stilts. As a result of this conversation I got a bug up my nose and went back to the lab later that night to whip up a prototype stilt. I taped that monstrosity to my body Sunday morning (when I was fresh and less likely to damage myself) and got some good feedback on the forces involved.

There's a BIG force in only one location (the anchor point for the long toe), and that can be resolved in several ways, and it can be reduced in several other ways. I have hope! We have several plans for the stilts -- I'm poking Plan A right now, which may evolve into Plan B (which is Eric's stilt style), and could even go into Plan C (e.g. painter's stilts and a far clunkier shape for the demon).

Today I got to the Lab early and put the arc segments for two Vortex Tunnel circles into shape -- finalizing their curvature, cutting the flat ends off, making the fittings that hold them together, and marking all the drill points.

Deborah showed up in time to help drill holes and file them clean, and then she helped me assemble the test section of the vortex tunnel (one of three sections, with two of ultimately four rings).

We then used ratcheting cargo straps to tension the section and the result was better than I could have hoped. The tunnel, with no rigid connections, no screws, no bolts, nothing more than some holes and ratchet straps and tubes-inside-tubes, was strong and amazingly rigid.

I then went through the entire set of straps and made them the correct length, and the tunnel section snapped to square, all clean and tidy.

All in all, a weekend full of successes.

Lifecasting pics: http://tinyurl.com/ms97ha

Monster Fang pics: http://tinyurl.com/mnrey6

Progress and Sawdust

2009-08-09T16:56:00.004-05:00

MATT PINSONNEAULT

It was a good weekend full of sawdust at the Lab. On Saturday Paul and I built a big lumber rack and moved a bunch of 2x4's and sheets of plywood and OSB onto it. We have a lot more in storage that needs to be moved in.

Today I got the fireplace for the parlor roughed out. It is ready for our crack art department to dress it up and make it look more like an antique Victorian fireplace and less like a thing made from OSB and 2x4's. The plan is to clad the inside with faux soot-stained brick and do some kind of gothic-style facing. Once that's all done I'll make a fancy wooden mantle to match the overall art design of the surround.

While I was doing that, Edwin was doing a prototype for this year's vortex tunnel. Looks promising.

Here's Edwin and my wife Susan, trapped in the vortex:

MATT PINSONNEAULT

This week's FX update

2009-08-05T14:36:00.000-05:00

I finally did the inventory of acrylic materials that I received from Dr. Carpenter, and it's a good haul! I need to actually TEST the materials to ensure they are still functional, but I think acrylic is pretty robust. Also I need to test a theory on how to ensure the darned stuff gets poured all the way into the tips of the teeth -- even poured very thin, it tends to not get into the tips. In some cases, I suspect capillary action, but I've also taken steps to avoid it (by waiting for it to stiffen before closing the mold). Vibration doesn't seem to be the cure either, since I've also tried that.

Maybe when I review the three books he lent me, I'll find more tips and tricks. Those orthodontists cheat; they start with pre-cast teeth and just do the gums and plate!

Another Wednesday was consumed in meetings, this time a general SCARE meeting, plus board of directors meeting. We are making great progress! Also, we have an amazing video now:

http://tinyurl.com/n4c8xu

Progress on the Goblin Systems timing and control modules is moving apace; this programming and electronics stuff is time consuming. Rushing through some of the development, and working with infinite distractions, has cost me a prototype PCB cycle (oops, bad chip definition!). However, the new PCBs are coming tomorrow and I also have an upgraded MCU set (added a dollar to double the RAM/ROM) in a box at home waiting for it.

Today's big news on the Goblin front is that I'm sending and receiving complex commands between timing modules now. It's not the final program structure, but getting there.

Last Saturday I got a lifecast done of my lovely self, with the help of Marla, Matt, Matt's Susan, the other Susan, and Nathan. They did a GREAT job, and the mold is now sitting on a table waiting for me to pour plaster into it.

Sunday I poured plaster into Nathan's mold. Actually, I laid up a shell of burlap and ultracal 30 along the mold, then filled it with giant chunks of foam, and THEN poured plaster into it. Trying to alleviate the weight; I only used 75lbs of plaster, instead of 150lbs. That sucker is still heavy. And it looks at me funny, too.

The shell phase of the casting process made a pretty poor outer skin; lots of large voids. These are on non-critical areas (I cast the face solid), and I will fix them tonight... but still, it lacks perfection.

After doing Nathan up stone solid, I ran over to the Lodge for our Kickoff and Casting event -- good turnout, and I got some great names of people who can do work in the FX area. I'm excited to have new help!

Last night I spent a few hours at the Lab, under my new extended Lab time model, and made the molds for four sets of teeth plus did the first-pass cleanup work on my monster test-fangs of doomishness.

Tasks in process include the vacuum table (Paul's taken the lead on that), the vortex tunnel (parts are there waiting for some structural tests, and I may have a new helper to work on it), the propane burner, and the Demon's stilts (plus we have a new, experienced, player in that game, Eric Peterson, to help me and Paul). Exciting!

Thank You, New Volunteers!

2009-08-03T11:16:00.003-05:00

YVONNE DAILEY
More photos are in the Vault!

The SCARE for a CURE volunteer kick-off party was yesterday and it was a big success! It was a good combination of orientation session, haunted house career fair, and casting call. We had a large turnout of new volunteers and got lots of people signed up to work on construction, special effects, costuming, makeup, fund-raising, and countless other specialties that are critical to put on an event as ambitious as Blood Ritual. We also had a lot of people auditioning for acting roles, and the casting committee sure had things down to a science—it was a joy to watch. People would come in, get photographed and interviewed, read some lines for us, then get sent over to our costuming people to get their measurements taken. It was almost like we knew what we were doing!

Many thanks to all of our new volunteers, and also to all the old hands who helped to make this event a big success. We have a challenging build this year, so the more people who are willing to help us turn our vision into reality the better things will be.

Volunteer at SCARE for a CURE's Haunted Adventure

2009-07-27T13:00:00.001-05:00

Volunteer Call and Orientation Party!
Sunday, August 2nd
2pm-5pm

Join the FANG GANG of SCARE for a CURE and help us build this year's ultimate extreme, interactive, haunted adventure: BLOOD RITUAL!

Our haunt is built bigger and better each year with the love and dedication of our fiendish team of volunteers of all ages, from all walks of life. This is a fun and unique way to learn new skills as you will have the opportunity to work along side our experienced haunt crew who are more than willing to show you how...

SCARE for a CURE is looking for help with:

Promotions
FUNdraising
Box office operations
Merchandise sales
Set building
Set decoration
Painting
Costume construction
Make-up and special effects
Parking lot attendants
Operations

About SCARE for a CURE
www.scareforacure.org

SCARE for a CURE is an Austin-based nonprofit organization that raises money for local cancer charities, "one SCREAM at a time!" Born out of the ashes of legendary haunts: Richard Garriott's Britannia Manor and Haunted Trails, and raised from the infamous backyard haunt of local celebrity Jarrett Crippen, a.k.a. "The Defuser" (Sci-Fi Channel), each year we produce Austin's only extreme, full contact, interactive haunted house adventure.

About Blood Ritual

Blood Ritual is not your typical haunt. We are a story-driven, theatrical horror experience presented across 26 stages. The guests are immersed into an adventure like no other and will find themselves having to run, crawl, duck and climb their way through a maze of demons, abominations, vampires, gore and other unspeakable evils. Their ultimate goal is survival. Ours is to stop them. One thing for sure is that there will be blood.

For more information, please email us at volunteer@scareforacure.org.

Crew Call: Blood Ritual 2009, 8/2 at 2pm

2009-07-27T12:55:00.001-05:00

SCARE for a CURE 2009 presents BLOOD RITUAL—an extreme, interactive, haunted adventure.

We are searching for fiendishly talented folks to join our team of experienced FX artists, mad scientists, set designers/builders, prop designers/builders, scenic painters, audio and lighting techs, riggers, make-up artists, mask makers, and costume designers. All skill levels welcome. We love to train.

Build Dates: Most weekends and some weekdays from August-October
Run Dates: October 21st-31st

Orientation on Sunday, August 2nd, 2 pm - 6pm

Location: Elks Lodge 700 Dawson Road Austin, Texas 78704

This is a volunteer based organization but we graciously pay in plenty of food and drinks throughout build and run.

About Blood Ritual

Blood Ritual is not your typical haunt. We are a story-driven, theatrical horror experience presented across 26 stages. The guests are immersed into an adventure like non-other and will find themselves having to run, crawl, duck and climb their way through a maze of demons, abominations, vampires, gore and other unspeakable evils. Their ultimate goal is survival. Ours is to stop them. One thing is for sure is that there will be blood.

About SCARE for a CURE

SCARE for a CURE is an Austin-based nonprofit organization that raises money for local cancer charities, "one SCREAM at a time!" Born out of the ashes of legendary haunts Richard Garriott's Britannia Manor and Haunted Trails and raised from the infamous backyard haunt of local celebrity Jarrett Crippen, a.k.a. The Defuser (Sci-Fi Channel) each year we produce Austin's only extreme, full contact, interactive haunted house adventure.

For more information email us at volunteer@scareforacure.org.

Casting Call: Blood Ritual Haunted Adventure

2009-07-27T12:53:00.000-05:00

SCARE for a CURE 2009 presents BLOOD RITUAL—an extreme, interactive, haunted adventure.

Run Dates: October 21st-31st
Location: 700 Dawson Road Austin, Texas 78704

Open casting call on Sunday, August 2nd, 2pm-6pm!

Blood Ritual is not your typical haunt. We are a story-driven, horror experience presented across 26 stages. The guests are immersed into an adventure like non-other and will find themselves having to run, crawl, duck and climb their way through a maze of demons, abominations, vampires, gore and other unspeakable evils. Their ultimate goal is survival. Ours is to stop them. One thing is for sure is that there will be blood.

We are looking for women, men, and children of all types for scripted and unscripted roles with emphasis on improvisation and interactivity. Most of all, we are looking for those with the desire to SCARE the pants off people.

Roles will be presented at the casting call. Please bring a head shot if you have one.

For more information, please email us at scareforacure@austin.rr.com.

About SCARE for a CURE

SCARE for a CURE is an Austin-based nonprofit organization that raises money for local cancer charities, "one SCREAM at a time!" Each year we produce Austin's only extreme, full contact, interactive haunted house adventure.

Born out of the ashes of legendary haunts Britannia Manor and Haunted Trails and raised from the infamous backyard haunt of local celebrity Jarrett Crippen, a.k.a. The Defuser (Sci-Fi Channel), SCARE For A CURE's talented, creative and fiendish crew of special effects artists, set builders, audio and lighting techs, costume designers, make up artists and actors work year-round alongside volunteers from community organizations throughout Central Texas to build the haunt bigger and better each year.

Picnic of DOOM, and Project Updates

2009-07-26T15:47:00.002-05:00

Seen in the SCARE booth at the IGDA picnic

Yeah, I think my blog titles are terrible, too. We'll get over it.

Looking at the calendar it seems that a LONG TIME has passed since the last blog update, but really just a weekend and a half... and the two weeks in between.

Okay, a long time.

Yesterday I normalized the coil resistances, but that's about it on the oven so far.

I'm hoping Jean brings the new burner to the Lab soon—she sent pictures, and the work in progress is lovely—so I can cook up some water and begin the color work for our custom blood formulation.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something or someone... I'll fill in on the next post if I remember!

I still haven't done the materials tests needed to transform the PVA powder into a nice plastic for use in skull caps and glue-on cuts. Soon, maybe? Hard to say.

I also need to do an inventory of the materials that Dr. Carpenter gave us, and make a shopping list of what we need to buy, to round them out. Wednesday tends to be my random task night, but Wednesdays have been busy lately, and NEXT Wednesday is the monthly Scare meeting at the Lodge.

The last two Wednesdays a few of us have gotten together to round out the Scare project / task list. We've filled in some estimates and cut out some projects, and generally tried to get a grip on the massive effort that is building an ambitious haunt. All of it is in the Wiki, so for those who have access, go check it out!

What I have been able to do the last week, however, is still pretty good. The Goblin programming is coming along, and I've got a basic system of lights worked out. I need to work up some of the advanced features, and get the communication network integrated still.

I built up three of the little blinky circuits (the so-called "micro-Goblin"), and I still need to build up some of the other circuits -- the bridge/power board ("Goblin Bridge"), the laptop interface and loop driver ("sigma-Goblin", also known as the Goblin Brain), and the 110VAC control version ("milli-Goblin", or just 'Grunt' for short).

Saturday I spent the morning reinforcing the weaker front mother mold on Nathan's lifecast, and extended both halves of the mold down to a square base with a nice flange. This will make it easier to hang upside down (or plug and clamp into the rotomolding machine) later.

Saturday afternoon I packed up my makeup kit and wandered out to the IGDA picnic for about four hours, doing some fun makeup (with Robin, who will have a different set of pictures) on random strangers who foolishly wandered into our tent.

After that I started heading to Paul's for a bit of party time, but never made it; overcome by heat and weariness, I diverted to home and turned into a blob.

Sunday I went to the lab a bit later than usual (10am, goodness, I'm slacking) but I did spent an hour or two prior working on the Goblin systems.

The first thing I did was clean up the INSIDE of the plaster part of Nathan's mold. I figure that cleaning up the inside of the mold once will be easier than cleaning up the two or three positive castings I expect to make later. I had hoped to cast a positive today too, but decided to let the fresh plaster cure for a day first.

Instead, I did the finish work and then heat-polished four sets of teeth; the first teeth I started when the whole dentistry project was launched months and months ago. I did some large fangs for Ian, and finally finished up Crystal's, Marla's, and this quiet girl's teeth (Niobium? Titania? Nicky? They are marked "Ni"... it could mean anything). I'll get more teeth from Sue next week and then finish them too.

Soon, I'll make molds and cast acrylic and be done with that phase of the project. Yay! I actually hope to have both a positive of Nathan and these teeth at the Kickoff / Volunteer party August 2nd (speaking of which, someone needs to make sure the online Calendar is up to date).

I also did a second pass of cleanup on these crazy saber-tooth fangs I'm experimenting with on my own teeth.

Oh, and I captured Marla's lower teeth, but didn't get Charlotte or Nathan today for some reason. Right! They must have slept in.

Coming up next: Lifecasting me, I hope I survive! Also, Nathan's first casting and the beginning of the Demon makeup in earnest.

SCARE FOR A CURE at the 2009 IGDA Picnic

2009-07-21T16:44:00.000-05:00

Saturday, July 25th, the creepy crew from Scare for a Cure is excited to participate in the 2009 International Game Developers Association Picnic hosted by game industry celeb, Richard Garriott. Game Developers from around the globe will descend on his lakeside property to cut loose and enjoy water balloon fights on pirate ships, kendo, fire dancing, jam sessions, BBQ and live music!

Guests can stop by the Scare for a Cure booth and speak with our special effects experts, artists, prop builders and set designers. They will also have the opportunity to be transformed into ghouls, goblins, demons, and vampires by our talented make-up artists, and have their photo taken in an actual room from the haunt! Limited edition tickets to Scare for the Cure: Blood Ritual will also be available for purchase.

For more information on the IGDA Picnic, please visit www.igda.org/austin/.
For more information on Scare for a Cure, please visit scareforacure.org.

*Scare For a Cure is an Austin-based nonprofit organization that raises money for local cancer charities, one scream at a time. Born out of the ashes of legendary haunts Brittania Manor and Haunted Trails, experienced and talented volunteers come together to produce an extreme, full contact, interactive haunted house experience guaranteed to chill your soul.

Little things, and a Life Cast

2009-07-20T18:11:00.001-05:00

Blood pump

Casting Nathan

Wow, it's been a couple of weeks (three weekends) since my last update. I could have sworn I was going to do weekly posts... ah well, work has been crazy and the weekends not much slower.

Since I last wrote, I received my shipment of silicone, alginate, plastics, and other supplies from Smooth-On; sadly, one work-day later than I needed, so the life casting was delayed to last weekend. More on that later.

Also last weekend we had a massive workshop setup and cleaning event (we call these things "parties" to draw more workers) -- and we got excellent results. In the midst of this chaos, Mohammad, one of our diligent volunteers, used the (shiny new) tubing bender to curve out a half dozen or so tubes for the vortex tunnel. He ran out of raw materials before he ran out of enthusiasm. Minions are great!

Paul, when not building the new stairs to help us get IN to the lab, or shelves to help us store more stuff in the Lab, also started work on the portable "oven" for the vacuum table, very handy.

In my copious free time, I put together a prototype for the large blood pump and tested Andy's small peristaltic pump (which works beautifully). I also whipped up a useful magnetic stirring device to make it easier to formulate new blood and slime recipes (some powders must be continuously stirred while sifting or they clump). The blue LED from the variable-speed computer fan gives the whole thing an eerie mad-science glow that I love, too.

I never did get around to making skull-cap material out of PVA; I'm -sure- it will work, though! Just need to try a dozen or so formulations until one works... maybe next weekend.

Also, last short piece, my dentist (Matthew Carpenter, in Round Rock, great guy) has been providing information and materials support for our dental prosthetic tasks.

The BIG event, that we've been preparing for, was the lifecast of Nathan, who we will then sculpt Demon makeup for. We will transform this nice fellow into a nine foot horror... it will be fun! We will also do the same to _me_ (the price I demand for buying all of the supplies) as a backup, and for my Christmas and Halloween costume. It's my year to win the company contest, after all. Sadly, my own lifecasting won't be done for another couple of weeks, due to schedule constraints.

Beginning Sunday early at the Lab, I put some finishing touches on the magnetic stirrer; kicked around a bit; and started assembling supplies. We were using a number of new things this time -- burlap and raw plaster, a new additive to the silicone to act as a built-in release, and of course, no bald cap.

The bald cap and the burlap instead of medical bandages is due to the offensively expensive nature of these items. Sadly, it turns out that at least one of them (the plaster bandages) is still critical to the success of a good lifecasting shell. But burlap and Hydrostone 105 (10-15 minute set time) can still act as a durable second layer, and they are infinitely cheaper than plaster bandages.

I did a test of the burlap "bandage" and it set up fairly well, and it held the plaster nicely.

I got an ancient tub with remnants of some body double (the silicone I use) and mixed up a small batch to make sure it would set. It did, if a bit sluggishly.

Marla cut a bunch of burlap strips. I organized the table, pre-measured some stuff, fiddled with some minor things. Matt came in around noon and built a scrap box out of scrap wood, a lovely and useful thing. Beth showed up, as did Susan P (the OTHER Susan P), who was to be our photographer today.

Nathan had gotten turned around driving to the Lab, but eventually Susan was able to get him there... but our noon start time was well destroyed by then.

At two-ish, I gave the assembled (restless, cat-like, distracted) crew the long, detailed "this is what we are doing" story, referring to my three pages of notes in the process. Sorry for the tedium! But I like to have a well-informed group.

Of course, Matt and Marla have assisted me on this stuff for _years_ and are great -- I'll be relying on them to do my lifecast later. A lot of the spiel was for Nathan (a complete newcomer, unaware of the torments to come, though we did try to warn him), Beth, and Susan.

That done, we propped Nathan up on a comfy stool, gave him his last chance to drink or pee for the next three or four hours, and then taped cling wrap to his head. Actually, I used spirit gum for some parts, and cloth bandage tape for others.

Since we aren't doing an "art mold" but just a shape (with detailed face/clavical) to act as a base for prosthetic makeup and costume, we weren't worrying about most of the details.

Once he was capped, some trash bags and duct tape made a fetching protective skirt. Of course, the rule at the Lab, especially if I'm working with anything the least bit moist, is to never wear anything you love...

The back shell of burlap soaked in plaster went very well, though the weight of the material made it pull away from the center line we started with -- annoying, but not too bad, since we just reset the center line after the bulk of it had firmed up. However, medical plaster bandages do a much better job of sticking and conforming to the model, so the first layer should be made up of those, with a second layer of burlap/plaster for strength (and cost reduction).

The final aspect of the back shell was to build up a ridge about an inch back from the edge, to act as a back-stop for the front shell (a technique that I decided on just prior to this project) and with keys for rotational alignment. I then used some loose plaster to fill any undercuts around the backstop and keys and to generally firm up anything that looked too dry.

Once the backstop and keys were firm, I took a sharp modeling tool and cleaned the edges, removing texture and giving clean lines to the ridge and edge. Then, a liberal (very liberal, widely applied) layer of petroleum jelly. Yum!

The front frame went in about the same as the back, though we started with bandages based on our recent experience with the burlap. We had just about finished the front frame (and partial shell) when we, and by "we" I mean Nathan, discovered that lifecasting in a 100-degree lab with exothermic materials is not the best way to support life. Heat-induced claustrophobia took over Nathan's brain and we popped the shells off of him in no time. We were at a point, however, that everything was still in good shape.

After cooling Nathan down, we remembered that we had a (newly cleared) air-conditioned office at the back of the Lab. Oops! We moved into there to finish reviving Nathan.

To all of our surprise, Nathan then insisted that we finish the mold. Dubious, we were eventually convinced.

We strapped the shell back onto him, held in place with a loop of duct tape, and then I used one layer of medical plaster bandage to lock the halves together. No worries about having to chisel him out, though, since a single bandage will peel off easily; it has just enough grip to act as a clamp. Needless to say, in the fuss we forgot to re-skirt Nathan. His pants will never be the same.

Our trusty assistants (Marla and Glen by now, Beth had to take her leave) then started mixing up silicones.

Remember that test I did at the beginning of this day? Yeah, well, it appears that storing that one tub of silicone at the lab for a few months did, in fact, kill it—it set all right, it set up almost instantly. Even with the new Hyper-Folic additive, which would normally retard the setting, it was nearly useless.

The 80+ degree temperature in the "chilled" office didn't help, either. These materials say "Store and Use at Room Temperature." Apparently, rooms don't normally reach 110 degrees during the day.

Very aware of the amount of time that Nathan was having to spend in his shell, we threw out that batch of silicone and opened a new one, straight from the mail last week... only to find that it is setting up too fast too!

I didn't notice (at the time) that we had opened a quick-set one. Oops.

So I grabbed my trusty cartridge gun and my last two cartridges (which had been cooking at the lab just like the first, bad, tub we had discarded; I crossed _all_ my fingers on this one, believe you me) and we went back to the old, reliable (if a bit crude) caulking-gun method for the bulk of the silicone.

The details turned out surprisingly good for such an interrupted, heat-damaged process. For this, I have nothing but praise for my trusty assistants, Matt and Marla.

Eventually, we were happy with the silicone and I had thickened a small batch and stuck on a few blocky, blobby keys, and we went straight in to finishing the front shell (even before the keys had set).

The remaining shell was a simple layer of plaster locking the silicone onto the front frame, and it went on quickly and easily.

Then we popped the shells apart, as I marveled at how well my new technique at the edge worked, and pried it all off of Nathan's facial and head hair.

The tiny amount of hair-released silicone we did manage to get onto his face, from that aborted batch, did an amazing job.

Soon, though, I need to do a mix test with this stuff in a new, air-conditioned batch of silicone, to see how it affects the material. I'm feeling a bit dubious about it so far.

And, from now on, I keep all delicate materials at home, and we start all lifecastings in the cold room in the back.

In spite of the excitement, we were done before six, giving us maybe three hours of working time on the model, and we got a mold that will do what we need — provide a base to sculpt the Demon makeup onto.

Success!

I’m currently uploading over 100 megabytes of pictures to Flickr, so I don’t have links for them yet — but look me up as EdwinWiseOne (a person) or for the sets “Blood Pump” or “Casting Nathan” to get a glimpse of the exciting life of a haunted house FX team.

Today We Covered a Man in Plaster, Just to Watch Him Die

2009-07-19T22:00:00.001-05:00

Wow, what a cool title for a blog post. And partially true, to boot.

Before I expound on that, though, let's flash back to Saturday. About 7 or 8 of us put in a full day of work at the Lab, building shelves and doing lots of sorting and organizing. At this point I think we can declare the Lab to be officially usable for any and all of our projects! We have enough open space for work areas and enough shelving to hold our various tools and implements of destruction. We've got welders, drill presses, chop saws, grinders, table saws, planers, and lots of other stuff for working wood, metal, and other more exotic materials. Not to mention all the gear and chemicals for casting body parts, make up, and special effects. Everything a haunt-crazy group of builders and artists needs to kick their production up a notch or five.

OK, now on to the dying man in the plaster. Today we did a lifecasting of Nathan. This involved covering his torso, neck, and head in plaster bandages and silicon so we could get a good impression of his upper body and face. And for the record, Nathan was a real champ during the entire process. It was not an easy thing to sit through, as there were several unexpected complications.

More sculpting

2009-07-06T08:42:00.002-05:00

Elmo

Hellvis

Since the last update, I worked on the blood pump a bit more, did some invisible work on the Goblin Systems controller, and then spent a chunk of time on Sunday with our art director, where we both worked on another idea sculpture.

Edwin's Projects update

2009-07-03T21:51:00.000-05:00

July has begun and, while I've been fiddling with vampire teeth, dental acrylic, and ... well, that's about it... since March... I've turned the Activity Knob up to 11 the last couple of weeks. I'll be posting status updates here as the season progresses, so tune in and keep up!

Last weekend I worked on some teeth on Saturday (added the pics to this Flickr set: http://tinyurl.com/dbdx6q ) and ended up roughing out a half-dozen sets, including a new experimental one on my (new) duplicate that goes over the gums, to give me more control over the tooth. I ordered an expensive (crazy expensive!) set of acrylic stains so I can take better control over the color of my product than I get with plain dental or fingernail acrylics.

Sunday I built up some sculpting turntables and head armatures and generally fiddled around, and then did some actual sculpting (with Beth, whose work isn't online yet)... pics of the little guy I call Elmo, who has an hour of work or so in him, here: http://tinyurl.com/njsbpc He looks kind of ragged because he is... an hour doesn't give much time to clean up the clay! Also, working in the 100 degree Lab makes the clay a bit softer than normal, and stickier too (and this is heat-tolerant clay even).

Then, later in the week, I worked up a fairly comprehensive project list for Scare 2009 (which will kick BUTT) -- it clocks in at 148 entries right now... not ALL of which are tasks for me to do, but still, the core group is about a dozen of us, we are going to be BUSY.

Working off of the task list, I worked up a shopping list and then went shopping!

I bought a metric boatload of materials from Smooth-On (one of my favorite suppliers), then scattered more of my cash across another half dozen or so local stores (Armadillo Clay, Harbor Freight, Lowes, Hobby Town, Westbrook Metal, and maybe others).

Used the shiny new tubing bender (three-roller variety from Harbor Freight, model #99736) to do trial bends on some 1/2" square pipe, 1" EMT (metal electrical conduit, which is actually an inch and an eight OD), and 3/4" EMT. Got some excellent results, some iffy results, one bad result. Overall, an excellent tool, and for $160 it's a HECK of a lot cheaper than the next cheapest which clocks in at $1,200 (or did I see one for $800? The overpriced stuff all runs together after a while).

An interesting result of crushing the 1.25" OD pipe into the 1" dies is that it forces it into an oval shape that is strong in the direction of curvature. I don't know if I care or not, but there it is. It also requires slow adjustments or the tube will squirrel out of plane, which is bad. To get a full quarter circle uses a lot of effort! And I have sixteen of these to make! Well, 15 now.

I'm also testing a variety of (cheap-ish) wheels and casters to use as supports for the pipes, which are destined to become a middle-sized vortex tunnel.

Worked up a design for a vacuum table with companion radiant oven; bought the supplies to build it of course. Got the heater wire online last week, not to bad on price, hope it behaves. Also, have a query in to Regal Plastics about cheap thermoform plastic.

Worked up a design for chunk-tolerant blood pumps, using 4" PVC schedule 40 pipe, some miscellaneous other PVC fittings, weather stripping as an O-Ring seal, and racket balls for check valves. So far, the O-Ring test has been VERY promising, I'm quite encouraged. May get some leakage at the junction of the ring, but overall I expect the backing material to keep most stress off the seal, and with a 4" ID pipe I'm moving a LOT of blood. I'm going to use some 6" stroke pneumatic cylinders I have laying around to drive dual 4" PVC blood pumps with alternate cycles to get nearly continuous flow.

Did some research and found a company selling water-soluble skull caps... and then did some MORE research because their prices hurt my sensibilities and I decided that they were using PVA to make these caps; and also using PVA to make prosthetic appliances for cuts and stuff. Which is AWESOME, because I'm about to order a HUGE amount of both PVA and Methylcellulose for my fancy-shmancy slime needs (via Chemistry Store Online). Very neat; if this works, I'll be a happy camper. Oh, had to run out to Sally Beauty to get a few foam heads, to try to make skull caps on. May have to build those up some so they are big enough.

Almost forgot; bought and reviewed relevant chapters in "Clinical Aspects of Dental Materials: Theory, Practice, and Cases"... good book! Though not as good as the one we found at Half Price books, whose name escapes me.

Okay, have to do more shopping. Then, coming up; tooth work, sculpting, and more experiments. Next weekend, life-casting! With any luck.

SCARE For A Cure Announces 2009 College Scholarship Winners

2009-06-13T16:50:00.000-05:00

Austin, TX – June 12, 2009 Scare for a Cure present awards to its 2009 scholarship recipients in an award presentation ceremony at the Elks Lodge in Austin on June 13. Each local college-bound student has earned a $2,500 scholarship, funded by proceeds from the SCARE 2008: World of Horrorcraft. The winners are: Devin Garnman, Crockett High School, Alec Gramann, LBJ High School; and Sarah Mason, Anderson High School, from Austin ISD; and Lisa LeBourgeois, Round Rock High School, Round Rock ISD.

SCARE For A Cure, a non-profit organization, creates an interactive haunted house and donates the proceeds to local cancer related charities. 2008 was a record-breaker, raising $10,000 in scholarship funds and logging over 8,000 volunteer hours from more than 200 volunteers. Our crew included teams from Sony and Office Max, teams of AmeriCorps volunteers, and students from Austin Sunshine Camps and Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired/Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center.

Cookie Lounge + SCARE For A Cure = Sweet Partnership

2009-04-27T17:47:00.000-05:00

What do you do when you want to have a bake sale but don't have time to bake? SCARE For A Cure found a delicious solution by partnering with Cookie Lounge, "Austin's Dessert Destination." SCARE wanted to introduce itself to a wider audience by running a cupcake booth at Eeyore's Birthday Party on April 25, but the challenge was finding time and space for cooking. Cookie Lounge to the rescue! The bakery agreed to do all the baking, providing the cupcakes to SCARE at cost. Net proceeds from our booth will support SCARE For A Cure's 2009 activities.

In addition to cupcakes, SCARE For A Cure's booth featured our own unique take on face painting by volunteers from our talented makeup crew. Many thanks to Austin Cookie Lounge for helping make this fundraiser possible!

Many thanks to Cookie Lounge for making our booth at Eeyore's possible!

Save the date

2009-04-16T13:01:00.000-05:00

SCARE for a Cure is off to a great start this year! We have a number of upcoming events, including volunteer opportunities, workshops, and work days. For information about any of these events, email us at scareforacure@austin.rr.com.

The charities we have chosen to support this year are The Breast Cancer Resource Center of Austin and Lodge 201 of the BPOE (Elks). We have active fundraising, marketing and p.r. committees which have already started preparing for SCARE 2009.

Watch for us at the following event:

Saturday, April 25th - Pease Park - Eeyore's Birthday Bash Cupcake Sale: Volunteers are needed for decorating, set-up, sales, tear-down, and more. General information about Eeyore's can be found at: www.eeyores.com

Be sure to check out SCARE for a Cure on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and of course at www.scareforacure.org/.

Hero to autograph comic books for SCARE

2009-03-30T13:02:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, April 1, 2009 the Austin Police Department's resident superhero, The Defuser, will star in the first edition of "Who Wants To Be A Superhero: The Defuser" from Dark Horse Comics. The Defuser will be signing the comics to help raise money for Scare For A Cure from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Austin Books, 5002 N. Lamar Blvd. and then at Capstone Comics, 2121 W. Parmer Lane #107, from 6:15 until 8 p.m.

In "Who Wants To Be A Superhero: The Defuser," Detective Jarrett Crippen takes matters into his own hands when traditional police methods fail to stem the ever-growing tide of crime in his home city. Devising an astonishing array of non-lethal weapons and high-tech battle armor that boosts his performance to 110% of human capacity, Jarrett storms the streets as the Defuser. The criminals won't know what hit them!

"Who Wants To Be A Superhero: The Defuser," is written by Jeremy Barlow and artistically designed by Kajo Baldisimo. Keep up with The Defuser and all of his heroic adventures at www.thedefuser.net.

Author invites The Defuser to help raise funds for SCARE

2009-03-03T13:20:00.000-06:00

Attention, Defuser fans! Author Joyce Schwarz has invited The Defuser to join her in turning a reading from her book The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life into a benefit for SCARE For A Cure. The book shows readers how to create change for themselves by creating "vision boards" to focus their goals and ambitions. In 2008, Joyce and her staff artist Annie Kaycora created a "gratitude board" to help SCARE For A Cure honor the volunteers who make its work possible.

The reading, part of the SXSW Interactive Festival at South By Southwest, will take place on Thursday, March 13 at 5 p.m. Email thevisionboard@aol.com for details.

Here's what those who survived SCARE 2008 are saying.....

2008-10-26T14:33:00.000-05:00

NORMALLY I GET A COUPLE OF MINUTES to chat with my fans, looking up at them from my seat behind a signing table. But here I was, storming through a haunted house with a pair of them!!! And I have to say it was a BRILLIANT haunted house!! It was all put together by volunteers, with profits made going to a cancer charity, but it was more fun than any of the haunted houses I went into when I was in Orlando last year! We had a great time pushing through it, fending off attacks from all manner of ghouls and macabre nasties, pausing only to grin widely at one another every now and then. When we finally sailed back to normality (yes—it ended with a boat ride!!), we got out, said our farewells, and trotted off happily into the night. (Darren Shan, author)

THE GUYS BEHIND this year's Scare for a Cure Haunted House, "World of Horrorcraft" have outdone themselves. The show is a bit silly, definitely creepy, scary... and one hell of a thrill ride. Seriously. The premise of World of Horrorcraft is that Dunstan Interactive Entertainment has invented a bleeding-edge technology that will temporarily upload your consciousness into the game environment. A player won't be sitting in front of the game with a joystick—they'll be in the game, interacting with the avatars face-to-face. Cool, huh? And you, as a inveterate game-player yourself, have been invited to participate in beta-testing the new technology/game. Alas, as so often happens, things go dreadfully awry. (Insert evil laugh here) ...Truly, you'll be amazed at what a group of obsessed volunteers, gamers, and game-builders can create with only a few months and a mostly bare-bones budget. The show runs through next week, with a special show on Halloween night, of course. (Barbara Strickland, Austinist.com)

THE WORLD OF HORRORCRAFT was vivid, coherent, sometimes scary, and fun. It was indeed theatre, with the interesting twist that only our escort and Dunstan provided the continuity. Other actors, all volunteers, met us only briefly to deliver their participation—imagine, then, how often they will play their short scenes between now and the Halloween finale. No wonder the organizers urged us to come back again to experience the further development of character and spectacle.

After emerging from that make-believe world, I was elated, and even a bit disappointed to be back in “normal” reality. (Austin Live Theatre)

How To Have Fun At SCARE

2008-10-25T17:07:00.000-05:00

The cast and crew of SCARE 2008 are excited to be up and running! Last night we officially opened the event to steady crowds, and opening night attendees had the added bonus of a special guest appearance by author Darren Shan, who met with guests and signed books outside the entry gate.

If you're planning to attend SCARE 2008, here are a few insider tips to make your experience more enjoyable:

1. Dress appropriately. You're in the computer game world, not the clean room! You can expect to run, duck, crawl, and climb through all sorts of alarming places, so don't show up in your best duds. Wear comfortable clothes you don't mind getting dirty in, and sturdy shoes that won't slow you down if you need to make a quick escape. Fashion doesn't count - survival does!

2. Pay attention to your guide. Our guide staff is made up of haunted house veterans, and their role is to help you have a great time. Whether they're giving information you'll need later on or providing directions to help keep SCARE safe and fun for you, the other guests, and the cast and crew, when they speak it's in your interest to listen.

3. Play your role well. You didn't think you had a role? Well, think again! What you get out of your SCARE experience is influenced by what you put in. We do this because we love it, so if you take the fun out it for us by making a big deal of being unimpressed or hostile, you'll get a flat and uninteresting show. Not only that, we'll make fun of you in the crew room after the show. Bad groups of guests fade from the crew's memory almost immediately, but we remember the really good ones for years. If you are totally into it, the actors and techs will love you and will give it all they've got to give you the best show possible. Suspend your disbelief and throw yourself into the story line, no holds barred, and you'll come out feeling like you had a real adventure.

4. Don't be ashamed to be scared! SCARE aims to provide an immersive experience, but we want you to enjoy yourself. If it all gets to be too much, you're allowed to call it quits. Just tell your guide or another crew member and we'll tone things down or make sure you have safe passage to the exit gate.

We hope you'll follow these suggestions, have a memorable time at SCARE, and then tell all your friends to come experience SCARE 2008 for themselves!

Scare For A Cure

SCARE for a CURE AUDITIONS: Seeking volunteers, actors and voice-over talent!

SCARE 2011 BUILD!!!

2011 SCARE Volunteer Kick-off Party and Auditions

SCARE for a CURE presents check to charity partner

Did you survive the Zombie Wasteland? Tell us what you think!

Hipnautica partners with SCARE for a CURE for three special events

Saturday, October 16UNTERVELT: SCARE for a CURE Launch Party

Halloween Weekend Headline Performances

SCARE FOR A CURE Presents PATHOGEN

Braaiiinsss for Charity! Art Auction to Benefit SCARE for a CURE

It's a GORGEOUS week for building a haunt!

SCARE for a CURE Benefit Concert September 17th!

“Light & Shadow” Show at the Scoot Inn to Benefit SCARE for a CURE

Drink-In-Hand Entertainment and Karma City Media Present“Light & Shadow”

Casting Call for H1Z1: Zombie Wasteland

SCARE 2010 Roles

SCARE for a CURE Volunteer Incentive Program

Opportunities for Volunteer Groups and Service Organizations

Volunteer for SCARE for a CURE: How to Get Started

Want to Break into the Games Biz? Then Get Scary!

SCARE for a CURE at Cupcake Smackdown 2.0!

SCARE for a CURE at Eeyore's Birthday

SCARE for a CURE Kickoff Party!!

It's TIME!

Join us for our SCARE for a CURE Kick-Off PartyThe Highball, 1142 South LamarSunday August 8th1 pm to 6 pm

An Interview with SCARE Makeup Queen, Robin McShaffry

Success at Florence's Comfort House!

Lab and Haunt-U Heat Up!

Calling all volunteers: Operation Help Florence's Comfort House set for June 20

SCARE for a CURE makes $15,000 donation to charity

SCARE volunteers turn out for Yule Fest fun

SOLD OUT! And one more chance...

Tips for Volunteers

Cleaning tips for SCARE guests

Blood Stains

Slime

Logistical notes for BLOOD RITUAL guests

Did you survive opening night?

Announcing Eeyore's and Batfest Raffle Winners!

VOLUNTEER CALL: Crunch time for build and need help on Run Nights

Thriller Dance record-breaking attempt to benefit SCARE for a CURE

On your mark, get set, SCREAM!

Opening night is October 23!

Tickets available now for SCARE for a CURE’s 2009 Production of “Blood Ritual”

FX Quickie

Guts material test:

Vortex Bridge test:

Extended Work Hours: Your help needed NOW!!

I can’t stress this enough… WE NEED HELP!

No matter what your skill is… we need you!

Blood of the Bean: A thrilling afternoon of horror literature and bloody good coffee

Vampire Blood Drive—The life you save may be your own!

SCARE for a CURE and Austin Ghost Tours host: the Vampire Ghost Tour and Bar Crawl!

Vampire Ghost Tour and Bar Crawl After Party!

New events from some of SCARE for a CURE's scary friends

Medieval MacabreThe Curtain TheaterFriday and Saturday evenings, 9 p.m.: September 25-26, October 2-3, and October 9

Pendarks Museum of the MacabreAustin Drama Club, 1612 E. 7th StreetSaturdays and Sundays through October 25th, 9-10:30 pm

Home stretch push! SCARE for a CURE needs YOU this weekend!

Want to earn FREE tickets to Dress Rehearsal?

FX Update—ZERG RUSH!

SCARE for a CURE Needs YOUR Help this Weekend!

Tips for the Sharp-Minded Volunteer

Relocation Complete!

FX Update - Scary Blood

Lightning Strikes at La Zona Rosa 7 pm TONIGHT

Volunteer Opportunities This Weekend

Back to Our Foundation

SCARE for a CURE Announces Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas as Charitable Recipient for 2009

SCARE for a CURE Announces New Location at Britannia Manor

SCARE for a CURE Hosts Special Screening of “Lightning Strikes” starring SCARE Director Jarrett Crippen

Transitions

FX Nathan's Elmo

SCARE Work Day Saturday, September 5

SCARE FX panel proposed for SXSW 2010

FX Update in Progress

SCARE for a CURE Wants You to READ!

Updateness though a bit Lateness

Shop for SCARE at Book People on Aug. 29

SCARE for a CURE and Blood Center Team Up for Bat Fest

Saturday, October 16
UNTERVELT: SCARE for a CURE Launch Party

Drink-In-Hand Entertainment and Karma City Media Present
“Light & Shadow”

Join us for our SCARE for a CURE Kick-Off Party
The Highball, 1142 South Lamar
Sunday August 8th
1 pm to 6 pm

Medieval Macabre
The Curtain Theater
Friday and Saturday evenings, 9 p.m.: September 25-26, October 2-3, and October 9

Pendarks Museum of the Macabre
Austin Drama Club, 1612 E. 7th Street
Saturdays and Sundays through October 25th, 9-10:30 pm

Volunteer Call and Orientation Party!
Sunday, August 2nd
2pm-5pm

About SCARE for a CURE
www.scareforacure.org