New York Best Haunted House Pure Terror Orange County NY

PureTerror ScreamPark is located in the lower Hudson Valley area of New York state.  It's a short drive from New York City and is one of the largest and scariest haunted attractions in Orange County, NY.  "It’s the most extreme, adrenaline-filled, heart-pounding haunted attractions in the Tri-State area," boasts owner and creator Bob Nordquist.  Since opening its haunt doors in 2010, the Pure Terror focus has always been on high impact scares that are simply over the top.  Nordquist thrives on his in-your-face approach to haunting that’s brought PureTerror ScreamPark overwhelming and rapid success. 

The haunted house actors at PureTerror are deftly trained the skill of scaring.  “We force into your personal space and at the same time manipulate your senses,” tells Nordquist. "It’s what we’re known for at PureTerror. I knew long ago it was going to take a lot more than what people were used to seeing in the past to get customers in the door and to keep them coming back for more year after year.  So I decided to push a goal for the haunt with the most extreme actors, the most extreme monsters." Going back to the days of Terror on Church Street in Orlando, FL and Spookyworld in New England, Nordquist knew he had a passion for haunting, so he began researching the haunted house industry. He traveled all over the country attending haunted attractions just about everywhere, but things really progressed in 2008 when he visited Netherworld Haunted House in Atlanta, GA and 13th Gate Haunted House in Baton Rouge, LA.  Nordquist recounts being amazed by these two haunts, "I remember thinking WOW, so this is the next level of haunted attractions! The detailed sets, the horrific sounds, the perfect lighting and the scary actors were simply THE BEST."

In 2009, Nordquist thought it was time to get more serious with his research towards opening a haunted house, and he attended the Transworld Halloween and Attractions Haunt Show in St. Louis, MO for the first time.  "I attended some of the seminars and spoke with most of the haunt vendors, and I really enjoyed all the conversations I had with haunted house owners from around the country.  Little did I know that attending that one trade show would send me on my way to creating one of the largest and scariest haunted attractions that Orange County, NY has to offer." In October 2010, PureTerror Screampark opened and was an overwhelming success.  When asked about the success even in year one, Nordquist humbly credits Hauntworld and social media. "Continually being rated as one of the top best Haunted Screamparks in the country on Hauntworld.com combined with the awesome reviews online and the very positive social media response has lent to our success, and it all really motivates me to strive harder to make it even better and more extreme for the next year.”  Appreciative as Nordquist may be, his screampark is TOP NOTCH with multiple high level haunted attractions each with different themes and unique heart-pounding fright, individually preying on the fears and senses of its guests.  It’s no wonder his haunted house event is a success.

Another humble accreditation for Pure Terror’s success is the website.  “We have a very memorable website, www.pureterror.com,” says Nordquist. “It’s a simple name with amazing haunted house graphics, and it’s been VERY important in growing our business for PureTerror Screampark.”  For marketing his haunt, Nordquist believes everything he does should direct customers to his website.  “If you have an easy website for customers to remember, then the chances are greater for you to readily attract those customers. The website is very important and it really pushed Pure Terror Screampark to a nationally recognized haunted attraction.”

PureTerror’s main attraction is the House of Terror.  This haunted house offers state of the art special effects and Hollywood quality sets.  Every year, they make it bigger and change up to 90% of the scenes.  Since Nordquist and the majority of his crew are all professional electricians by trade, they have the know-how to create those truly mind blowing and unique special effects only seen at PureTerror. Ever since Pureterror Screampark opened in 2010, they pride themselves on the major changes to each of their haunted house attractions and have always changed the theming annually.  Their goal is to keep it new and exciting every haunt season for the customers.  In addition to their staple haunt, House of Terror, they’ve had The Butcher Shop, Terror in the Dark, Terror Under the Big Top, The Butcher's Revenge and Sanitarium. 

Plus, two completely new haunts will debut in 2013.

So what’s on Nordquist agenda for continuing to be known as one of the best and scariest haunted attractions in the industry?  New artwork of custom created creatures and logos!  "After talking with a multitude of successful haunted house owners who overwhelmingly recommended Brainstorm, I then contacted Brainstorm Design Group and told them what I imagined the PureTerror Screampark logo and custom creature artwork should be like, and they MASTERFULLY created some of THE MOST amazing characters for my haunted houses."  Nordquist believes to quickly capture the customer’s attention is key, and he knew the graphics had to be spot-on not only on the PureTerror.com website but in ALL the advertising messages for PureTerror Screampark.

Nordquist credits much of his success to the relationships he’s made with industry greats in the haunt vendor community.  All of his costumes and silicone masks made only for Pureterror Screampark each season by Juan at Altered Flesh FX. The props are mostly made by Michael at Ghostride Productions as well as Bo at Unit 70.  Also, Mark at Dimensions of Darkness made Pure Terror some very unique animated props and then personally came to Pure Terror to help install them.  "We try to create a one-of-a-kind haunted atmosphere in many aspects of our haunts.  We try our best to be different from all of the other great haunted attractions in our area.  Our annual goal is to change 90% of PureTerror Screampark each year, and that’s a tall order!"

Pure Terror Screampark's overall goal is to scare customers so bad that they can’t proceed to the next attractions awaiting them. On a nightly basis, PureTerror Screampark staff will escort more than 100 people out of any of the 3 haunted attractions, but the most common attraction guests chicken out on is the House of Terror. When asked by staff why they exited the haunt, the most common reply is "it’s too intense!"  With the unexpected sensory overload from getting misted with water combined with getting a low voltage shock plus not knowing if the nasty scents are smells of urine or feces AND hearing screaming from every direction, it’s no wonder people bail mid-way through.

While Nordquist LOVES fulfilling his passion for Halloween, for haunted houses and for scaring people, he realizes too that this is his business.  “Many people want to start a professional haunted attraction, but passion alone will not run your business, and that’s what a haunted attraction is...a business."  That’s why he is so thankful for having such a great management team.  “It’s great people like Keith & Turtle and great kids like Tyler and Kayla who really know how to gore up a room, and they love to see their dad make some of their craziest ideas come to life.  Without their help and our other great crew members there would never have been a PureTerror Screampark.”  Nordquist is blessed to have such a great team of people supporting the growth of PureTerror Screampark.

If you happen to be in the New York City or in the Tri-state area during the Halloween season, be sure to check out Pureterror Screampark.