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Man creates haunted house of his dreams
Peter Tomeczko photographed in Fables Studios House of Wonders on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012 in River Grove. The new haunted house opens Oct. 5. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
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on Peter Tomeczko and his House of Wonders, visit www.fablesstudios.com.
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Updated: October 29, 2012 7:07PM
RIVER GROVE — Since he was 6-years-old, Peter Tomeczko has enjoyed a good scare.
So much so that Tomeczko plans to pass on that thrill with his own haunted house.
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill haunted house, where a guy with a white sheet over his head jumps up and says ‘Boo!’ Tomeczko, a big fan of scary movies such as “Saw,” said those who enter his haunted house should be prepared for an “interactive experience.”
“I’m just wired for horror,” he said. “It’s what I do.”
His haunted house, called House of Wonders, is patterned after attractions in a circus sideshow that have gone over to the dark side. The House of Wonders is located at 8408 Grand Ave. in River Grove, Tomeczko’s hometown.
He’s been involved in other people’s haunted houses in various capacities, building structures and designing costumes. This is the first haunted house he’s put together on his own as part of his company, Fables Studios. Family and friends helped, but it was entirely his concept.
“Everything you see is custom built,” his wife, Deandra, said. “I didn’t like Halloween until I met him and now I like it.”
Tomeczko said the house was a long time coming. He’s worked on the project for five years, planning and designing it and finding the right location. Inspiration often came in his dreams, with him waking up to quickly write down a new scary concept.
When people enter his attraction, he said, they will have to try to keep their fear in check.
“My style of haunt is different,” he said. “I’m making people think. There is an interactive part and they will have to press and pull things and get involved in the room to move on.”
“The further you go in, the scarier it gets,” he said. “As you get further on, it gets a little more creepy.”
There will be crazy lights, sound, moving walls and plenty of other things to create a truly scary experience. “I built it so people could run into stuff,” he said.
Tomeczko said his is truly a haunted house for adults. Children under 10 should not participate. Entry is $10 and Tomeczko will have his grand opening 7-11:30 p.m. Oct. 5 with fire dancers and fire-eaters outside.
“I’m excited and nervous at the same time,” he said. “I’m definitely excited about people seeing it.”
He hopes to expand and create haunted houses for different holidays other than Halloween, such as Valentine’s Day, and eventually have a bigger space with more attractions. Until then, when a person enters Tomeczko’s haunted house, he wants to give them the sense they’ve entered into another world.
“I want them to come into our world,” he said. “It’s the whole thing of mystery and not knowing. I don’t want them to know what’s going to come next.”
