We interview Black Orchard’s Production Manager, Brian Ward, to uncover his inspirations for this grisly new haunted attraction.
“What’s in the barn?” asks the fifty foot banner on the side of the creepy white outbuilding tucked away in the rural countryside of Shelbyville, KY within Red Orchard Park. There’s only one way to find out what really lurks inside that ramshackle structure, but we got a sneak peek to whet your curiosity this week when given the opportunity to interview Black Orchard Haunted Attraction’s Production Manager, Brian Ward.
Ward, whose body is covered in Haunted Mansion and horror art, is no stranger to the haunted house business. We caught up with him on location at the mysterious barn last weekend to pry into the brain of the man who came up with Louisville’s newest Halloween haunt in 2017.
“I always loved dressing up for Halloween,” says Ward when asked to trace his love for the orange-and-black holiday to its roots. “That was back when we all wore those cheesy, dangerously flammable Ben Cooper costumes that our parents bought at the dime store.”
“My first experience with a haunted house was something a friend and I put together in the neighbor’s basement,” he continues, “which included forcing people to put their hands into a bucket of cold spaghetti and telling them it was brains. My first experience going through a commercial haunted house was when my mom actually had to carry me through Louisville’s original WAKY Haunted House.”
“Early on I got into performing magic and became a part of the Louisville Magic Club,” explains Ward. “My biggest influence was probably a guy named Jeff McBride, who did a Kabuki style magic show using masks and darker elements than you would usually see in other acts.”
“When I first got interested in the haunt business, I used to look at the Haunt World website a lot,” says Ward, “and one weekend they had an open house and behind-the-scenes tour at The Darkness in St. Louis. Then I met Cydney Neil from the Rocky Point Haunted House in Salt Lake City where I worked for a couple of weekends. That was far and above anything else I had ever seen at that point.”
Ward then became the operator of his own haunted attraction for one season at Terrorsville Lake. “I met these guys who owned time share cabins at Taylorsville Lake who wanted to do something for the community around the Halloween season, but they decided not to do it again the next year so I ended up working for Bates Haunted Trail on Outer Loop on Friday night and then at Six Flags Fright Fest on Saturdays and Sundays.”
“Then I was hired as a makeup artist at Waverly Hills Haunted House,” continues Ward, “and in my second season I was promoted to Cast Manager. In my third season, I became Haunt Manager where I stayed for the next five years.”
In 2016, Ward was hired as Production Manager for Danger Run which ultimately led to his chance to design and build his own attraction, Black Orchard, this year. “All the years I worked in the haunt business, my hands were kind of tied. I was always telling somebody else’s story and executing somebody else’s vision. This year I’ve been cut loose and I wanted to do something more intense than what I’ve done before.”
Black Orchard Haunted Attraction revolves around the mystery of the Black family farm owned by Silas Black, his brothers Jonas and Emmett and his mother, the family matriarch, Ethyl Black. On November 1st, 2016, police were altered to a disturbance at the Black Family Orchard where they discovered a gruesome scene in the farmhouse. The FBI was called in and whatever occurred inside the Black family barn has been deemed TOP SECRET. Silas Black and his entire family disappeared and have yet to be found, but rumors in Shelbyville persist that they may return to the scene of the crime to finish whatever sinister purpose they began there.
“My goal with Black Orchard is to disturb people,” admits Ward. “I want them to leave thinking, ‘What the Hell just happened and am I going to be okay?’.”
“I wanted to do something grittier, grimier and in-your-face; sort of a Rob Zombie-style slaughterhouse experience.”
Black Orchard Haunted Attraction is located in Red Orchard Park, 704 Kentucky St in Shelbyville, KY 40065. It will be open on Friday and Saturday nights from 8:30 PM until 2 AM through Halloween. General Admission tickets are $15. You can find $5 OFF coupons at participating local Kroger locations.
