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

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

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!

Special Appearances at SCARE 2008

Get your fright on and help fight cancer with SCARE for a CURE 2008, October 24–26 and 29–31 at Elks Lodge #201, 700 Dawson Road, Austin.

Joining SCARE for Opening Night, Friday, Oct. 24 will be Little, Brown author Darren Shan. The author of the “Cirque du Freak” and “Demonata” series, Shan will be signing copies of his books beginning at 7 p.m. outside World of Horrorcraft. Shan’s appearance is sponsored by Book People, where ghouls and goblins can purchase the deadly duo package of Shan’s “Demonata #7: Death’s Shadow” and one adult admission to Scare 2008 for only $35.

Join SciFi Channel’s “The Defuser” Wednesday, Oct. 29 for the SCARE 2008 Week Two Kick-off Party. The reality star will sport his spandex for a special appearance at World of Horrorcraft from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. selling autographed merchandise to benefit SCARE for a CURE.

The Defuser’s appearance is free and open to the public and is sponsored by Mary-Margaret Network—the destination for recruitment, staffing, career and consulting services in the global, interactive, entertainment industry.

Play Celebrity Dungeons and Dragons at Hero-Con

Check out this cool eBay auction to benefit SCARE!

“The top six bidders of this auction will get to play in a special celebrity game of Dungeons & Dragons to be run by ‘City of Heroes’ Lead Designer Matt ‘Positron’ Miller. The game will be run at Hero-Con on Friday, October 17, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Santa Clara, California. All proceeds from this auction go to ‘SCARE for a CURE,’ a non-profit organization founded by Jarrett ‘The Defuser’ Crippen. Jarrett Crippen is also planning to make an appearance at the game, schedule permitting.”

Positron, aka Matt Miller, is the Lead Designer for City of Heroes, the award winning MMO published by NCsoft. Matt Miller started out in the gaming industry in 1993 at Domark Software (which later became Eidos Interactive) as a game tester and phone support. He worked on many titles at Eidos and left in 1999 when he moved to Southern California to work at Prolific Publishing as a producer. Matt joined Cryptic Studios in 2003 as a mission designer and then a systems designer. After the release of City of Villains, Matt was promoted to Lead Designer. In 2007 Matt left Cryptic Studios and joined NCsoft at their NorCal Studio when NCsoft acquired the publishing and intellectual property rights for City of Heroes. Matt created the Positron character for the Champions Pen & Paper game. When Matt started designing for City of Heroes, he was given an opportunity to place Positron as a signature character into the game.

Go check it out - there's still one day left to get in on this celebrity D&D scenario and help SCARE while you're doing it!

Eat at Chili's and help SCARE!

Chili’s Grill & Bar has generously teamed up with SCARE for a CURE to help raise money for college scholarships for students affected by cancer. Print out the Chili's flyer and take it to the restaurant at Brodie Oaks for lunch or dinner on October 27th, and Chili's will donate 10% of your check to SCARE for a CURE.

When: Monday Oct. 27th, 4pm to Close
Where: Chili’s in the Brodie Oaks shopping center (4236 South Lamar)

Come on, y'all, you've gotta eat—here's a way to eat well and benefit a worthy cause at the same time! Many thanks to the folks at Chili's for their help.

SCARE For A Cure needs Volunteer Actors

SCARE For A Cure, Austin’s Premiere Interactive Halloween event, needs actors for “World of Horrorcraft”. This is not a typical haunted house. It’s an innovative, interactive, story-driven attraction, run by veteran creators of such world-famous haunts as Richard Garriott’s “Britannia Manor” and “The Haunted Trails of Wild Basin.” Proceeds from this year’s events go to a scholarship fund for students impacted by cancer.

In “World of Horrorcraft” guests are invited to be beta-testers for Dunstan Interactive Entertainment. Dunstan has developed a new technology that puts you INTO the game. But don’t worry, nothing can go wrong…

Actors are needed not just to be “jump out and go boo” monsters, but to perform as staff members of Dunstan Interactive and as twisted versions of video-game characters. These roles require exceptional improvisational abilities, to create memorable characters that will interact and ad-lib with 40-50 groups of guests a night, 2-3 minutes at a time.

Actors of all ages are wanted, but we are in particular need of adults who can play strong character roles, and large, intimidating males who can play monsters. We will hold open casting meetings between 2:00 and 4:00 on two Sundays, October 5 and October 12, at the Elks’ Lodge, 700 Dawson Road. Performance nights are October 23-26 and 29-31. Some additional amount of preparation and rehearsal time will also be required, but can be flexible to fit your schedule.

For more information, visit www.scareforacure.org or contact Jeff Johannigman (johanntx@earthlink.net, 512-990-2340).