{"id":314,"date":"2014-03-04T22:06:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-04T22:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.americahaunts.com\/ah\/?p=314"},"modified":"2014-03-08T04:06:15","modified_gmt":"2014-03-08T04:06:15","slug":"the-wizard-of-the-13th-floor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.americahaunts.com\/ah\/2014\/03\/the-wizard-of-the-13th-floor\/","title":{"rendered":"THE WIZARD OF THE 13TH FLOOR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE WIZARD OF THE 13TH FLOOR \u2013 Populating the Haunt<\/p>\n<p>By CHRIS ALEXANDER<\/p>\n<p>The art of shocking audiences is a balance of well-timed scares and thick, immersive atmosphere\u2014a magician\u2019s trick designed to fool the conscious mind into believing that what it is experiencing is real. And as in horror filmmaking, the special FX artist is also the haunted house\u2019s ace in the hole. Without their illusions, the terror just doesn\u2019t have the same blood-icing sting. <\/p>\n<p>Prosthetic FX designer Evan Hedges knows this, and pours his energy into making sure The 13th Floor is a nonstop sensory smackdown of bizarre creatures, demons, ghouls and other supernatural entities. We chatted briefly with the makeup wizard and caught a glimpse of the weird world behind the curtain. <\/p>\n<p>FANGORIA: Tell us about your background.<\/p>\n<p>EVAN HEDGES: I attended Tom Savini\u2019s Special Make-Up Effects Program after high school. My friend was going there already, it seemed like fun and I thought, \u201cWhat the hell, why not? I\u2019ll try it out.\u201d The rest, as they say, is history!<\/p>\n<p>FANG: When did you first realize that FZ was what you wanted to do?<\/p>\n<p>HEDGES: When I was a kid, I always loved creating things out of clay. I used to make all the characters from Saturday Night Live\u2019s \u201cMr. Bill Show,\u201d and then, just like on TV, I\u2019d take great pleasure in crushing them [laughs]. And my dad would take me to see R-rated movies like RoboCop and The Terminator. I was fascinated by those illusions and always wanted to know how they did them. It became an obsession.<\/p>\n<p>FANG: So you went to school and learned your trade, but how did you end up in the world of haunted attractions?<\/p>\n<p>HEDGES: Believe it or not, Craigslist [laughs]. There was a posting there for a mask maker. So I replied, they liked my work and I\u2019ve been working for The 13th Floor for the past four years.<\/p>\n<p>FANG: What\u2019s one of your favorite gags?<\/p>\n<p>HEDGES: Oh man, that\u2019s a hard one. Everything! I love them all. Recently, I made this zombie baby in a crib that cries. It\u2019s one of those things that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Very psychological\u2026a deep, primal kind of horror comes from that.<\/p>\n<p>FANG: Are you an ongoing staff member, always tweaking your creations?<\/p>\n<p>HEDGES: I\u2019m always coming up with new ideas. I can\u2019t shut my brain off\u2014always thinking of what I can make better and more terrifying. Right now, I\u2019m working on some top-secret haunt stuff. I\u2019d tell you more\u2026but I\u2019d have to kill you.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fangoria.com\/new\/store\/#!\/~\/product\/category=5049390&#038;id=27458915\">Read more in this special Issue of FANGORIA Magazine!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE WIZARD OF THE 13TH FLOOR \u2013 Populating the Haunt By CHRIS ALEXANDER The art of shocking audiences is a balance of well-timed scares and thick, immersive atmosphere\u2014a magician\u2019s trick designed to fool the conscious mind into believing that what it is experiencing is real. And as in horror filmmaking, the special FX artist is&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"bookmark\" class=\"reinar-button-simple wvc-button wvc-button-size-xs\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americahaunts.com\/ah\/2014\/03\/the-wizard-of-the-13th-floor\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-content","entry","clearfix","entry-grid","entry-columns-default","no-post-thumbnail","entry-post","entry-grid_classic","entry-post-grid_classic"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>THE WIZARD OF THE 13TH FLOOR  - America Haunts, representing the best Halloween attractions in America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americahaunts.com\/ah\/2014\/03\/the-wizard-of-the-13th-floor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THE WIZARD OF THE 13TH FLOOR  - America Haunts, representing the best Halloween attractions in America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE WIZARD OF THE 13TH FLOOR \u2013 Populating the Haunt By CHRIS ALEXANDER The art of shocking audiences is a balance of well-timed scares and thick, immersive atmosphere\u2014a magician\u2019s trick designed to fool the conscious mind into believing that what it is experiencing is real. 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