# Fright Night Motel - 5/25-5/26/19 - Mushroom Mardi Gras near San Jose, CA



## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Just got these photos sent to me of some closeups of the facade. 





































And this artwork was seen in a vendor booth nearby.


----------



## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Here's the owner's business card if you want to arrange to bring the haunted house to your event. Had no idea these type of things traveled around the area.


----------



## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

A bit more background that I found on it. It was made by Funni-Frite Industries who started out in Lancaster, OH and later moved to Pickerington, Ohio (both near Columbus). The company was created in 1963 to manufacture dark ride and funhouse stunts as well as amusement attractions and portable walk-thru amusements, of which the Fright Night Motel is one of the later. The company closed in 2000. Edward Schmid Jr.'s nephew posted online that Ed's father had the Eden Musse Wax Museum and Chamber of Horrors at Cedar Point and Kiddie Land so he grew up around amusement attractions. 

I remember as a kid in the 60s going to fairs that had these dark rides and funhouses. Really a unique experience to be able to walk through something like this now. I suspect little kids will find it fun or scary and those older might be too jaded by tech today to enjoy it as I did when I was a kid but what a great piece of history to go along with those thin plastic costume masks with the elastic strings!


If you're too young to have experienced these 1960 funhouses, this article on a dark ride version with photos will give you a good idea of what it was like...minus the fun of the cars riding through the house. Back then the props were made from paper maché. https://www.dafe.org/articles/darkrides/hauntedMansion.html


----------



## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Update if you have plans to attend specifically to do the walk thru: My husband is there today and said the Fright Night Motel is gone. Someone told him it "broke" (they did have a number of animated props inside) but then someone else mentioned something about the Fire Marshall. Whatever the case he said they pulled out. I would have thought they would have gotten all their clearances from the local fire marshall but I know we've seen this as a reason many home haunts have been removed in the past. 

Anyway sorry to have posted about this only to have the funhouse disappear before the event occurred. I can only imagine there was a good amount of effort that went into setting it up yesterday. Sorry if this post had you heading to the Mushroom Mardi Gras solely to experience this vintage funhouse and you're reading this after heading out, but hope at least you had a nice time walking around the event and taking in the various booths. I am glad to at least have photos of it. Brings back memories from my childhood. I can still remember what it was like to walk through these funhouses in the dark with things jumping out or feeling those ankle whips brushing against your feet and also remember enjoying the dark ride version with the little cars and scenes that would suddenly light up and lurch at you as you passed by.


----------

