A nonfiction book 

by David Bertolino,

Hauntrepreneur

 

"Spookyworld left its mark on the Halloween industry

the way the Beatles made their mark on the music industry."

- Alice Cooper

"Today, the biggest horror celebrities still sign and make lots of money at horror cons all over the world, and that is thanks to David Bertolino."

- Linda Blair

 

Today, the horror theme park industry is thriving. At last count,there were more than three hundred theme parks with horror-themed events in the United States – and more than twelve hundred professional haunted houses.

 

Horror movies are experiencing a new golden era. More than fifteen hundred scare flicks are being produced each year. Horror is the fast-growing film genre.

 

According to HorrorCon.com, there were more than a hundred and fifty horror fan conventions in the United States in 2024. Monsterpalooza in Pasadena, California. is expected to draw not only the biggest stars of horror, but more than a hundredthousand people.

 

In 1990, this industry did not exist, until one man made it happen -- a man with a dream of giving people nightmares!

 

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It all goes back to a farm in rural Massachusetts, where David Bertolino took a simple “haunted hayride” and turned it into a Hollywood extravaganza, and in the process turned Halloween from one night of trick-or-treating into an entire season, just like Christmas – but scarier.

 

For the first time, that story is told in SPOOKYWORLD! The Secrets, Scares, and Stars of America’s Original Horror Theme Park.

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With legendary Hollywood special effects “splatter king” Tom Savini and a team of local artisans, Bertolino built his park piece by piece. First, a “Spooky Hayride” with twenty-two stage sets, then haunted houses, museums, 3-D attractions, a circus, and hundreds of live performers.

 

Spookyworld was the place for horror and pop culture celebrities to meet fans, sign autographs, perform on the “Scaryoke stage,” and find new fame. As Kane Hodder, Jason from Friday the 13th, said, “Friday the 13th paid for my car. Spookyworld paid for my house in Calabasas!”

 

Horror icons like Linda Blair, Elvira, Alice Cooper, Robert “Freddy Krueger” Englund, Kane “Jason” Hodder, George “Michael Myers” Wilbur, Gunnar “Leatherface” Hansen, Linnea Quigley, Tippi Hedren, and Tom Savini returned each year.  And they were joined by mainstream stars and cult favorites, including WWF superstars, Jerry Springer, Corporal Klinger and Radar from M*A*S*H, stars of The Sopranos, David Carradine, Julie Newmar, Dawn Wells, Bobby “Boris” Pickett, The Insane Clown Posse, Mickey Rooney -- and Tiny Tim.