Day 27: Sinister Tombs 2022 in Eastview, Kentucky

Tyler Proffet: What's going on, everybody? Tyler here with theScareFactor.com, and here today we are talking with Marvin from Sinister Tombs Haunted Attraction down here in Kentucky. How's it going, Marvin?

Marvin Skaggs: It's going really well. 

Tyler Proffet: You guys having a good season so far?  

Marvin Skaggs: We are. We really have kicked off tonight. It's been very, very busy.

Tyler Proffet: How many years has Sinister Tombs been going? 

Marvin Skaggs: This is our 21st year at this location. 

Tyler Proffet: Tell us what is Sinister Tombs? 

Marvin Skaggs: Sinister Tombs is a haunted attraction, it goes back to the old school. We don't use a lot of animatronics, we do have some, we do have some different props and stuff, but we're actor based. We usually run 35 to 40 actors. We have a main attraction, which is what we call The Castle, which is 2200-square feet. Then you go out, and from there you're on 1/4 mile trail, you're going through cornfields, into other buildings, we've got 13 other buildings you're going to be in, you're going to be in a woods, you're going to be in a cemetery, you're going to go through mausoleums, you're going to end up in a 50 by 50 outdoor maze, you're going to end up in a 50 by 30 clown maze, you're going to be in squeeze tunnels, you're going to be body bag bridges, you're going to be in swamps, and you're just going to get all kinds of stuff. 

Tyler Proffet:  Has it always been this big or how did you guys’ kind of get started? 

Marvin Skaggs: We started with the 1500-square foot main building, and then each year we've added and added and added, and people just keep saying, "well, you know, we'd like to see this, or we'd like to see that." So, we try to add it, and as I say, we were one of the first ones that have a swamp room, which is the laser swamp, we put in a body bag bridge that scares everybody because it's made a lot of fireproof silicone that's red and looks just like the actual blood. So, you know, we've got things that nobody else has got. We've got a 50-foot body bag bridge that's made of red silicone, blood red. We've got skulls and stuff in there, and it got lights that come on, lights that go off, and it's a heck of an operation. 

Tyler Proffet: So, tell us what kind of points you in the right direction of what you're going to add for a year. 

Marvin Skaggs: I like to see what movies were coming out, you know, and get a little bit ahead. We've got Chucky sitting and waiting for people because that's a big TV series is getting ready to kick back in. We don't use a lot of movie monsters or anything, we pretty much use our own. I really like to have our own monsters, because I think too many movie monsters are used. You might see Jason pop in, or you might see Michael pop in, or Freddie might invade your dream somewhere, but mostly, it's going to be our own monsters, stuff that we've developed and stuff that we have. We keep over 250 costumes and over 400 masks, and we don't have a lot of the same ones as anybody else does because we change ours a whole lot. 

Tyler Proffet: Do you guys try to follow like a storyline or anything like that? 

Marvin Skaggs: What we follow with is, since tombs goes along with it, what we had was there's a train accident, we actually went back and researched. We've done a lot of studying on Eastview, and it was a Sumac Company, railroad come through, and that's how it all got started. When it got started there was a train wreck, and actually was a train wreck that had a bunch of Egyptian artifacts on it. They said that a lot of them got burned up, but a lot of them never was recovered. Well, we go with the storyline that they disappeared and they're here. Because of the curse and stuff that went on it, we went through all the deaths that went through Eastview, and we actually worked them in our storyline. So, our story is based on a lot of true facts about who died, where they died, when they died, and so that's the way we are storyline developed. 

Marvin Skaggs: So, it's all about Lord Sinister, who was throwed out of hell, who's looking for his own dominion. He's wanting to still take over hell, and he's still working very hard to do that. He brings in different ones, like he might have bloody Mary come in, and he might have different ones that are thrown out of hell, that he ends up bringing in because he still wants to move Lucifer out his way. 

Tyler Proffet: So, this being an actor-driven, how do you guys’ train everybody to know what that story is and to be able to carry it through the haunt? 

Marvin Skaggs: We have everybody come in and we go through a very rigorous training schedule. We usually do anywhere from 8 to 10 rehearsals, 8 to 10 nights before we open, we try to get different actors in. We have actors who can fill in in case somebody is gone, who knows all the storylines, which they have to work very hard at. Then we also, as I say, it's big with like Allen Hopps and Richard Hampe, we stressed our videos because they're legends in this industry, they know what's going on, and so there's no better way than I can use their videos and then show the actors what needs to be done. So, that's the way we do it.

Marvin Skaggs: Also, we had Castle blood out of Pennsylvania, and I know Ricky, Dick, and them and we use their videos sometimes because you can't beat the actors there. Kevin McCurdy and those gentlemen, you just can't beat them. Even John Dudley has really helped with a lot of stuff here, and Boneyard Productions, we wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for them. And Midnight Syndicate, gotta have my music. 

Tyler Proffet: You gotta have Midnight Syndicate. 

Marvin Skaggs: Absolutely, there's no better music out there, I don't think. 

Tyler Proffet: So, I'm assuming you guys, because you try to stay very original, you try to build a lot of your own sets. 

Marvin Skaggs: Every set we build ourselves, we don't have anything that's... we have a couple of picture booths with some fabricated stuff, but we even do our own stress on those. We don't use anything... we've put in an Anubis room and then an Isis room down in our tunnel this year. We put in a black tunnel down there to where you don't have no idea what creature is on every side of you, and they're just waiting for you. So, we do that. As I say, the cornfield, we've got corn, it stands 9 feet tall this year on both sides of you, so you never know what's going to be in the corn.

Tyler Proffet: Sounds exciting. We're excited to go through. Thank you for talking so much with us. 

It's been great. I hope you guys have a great season. Where can folks learn more about Sinister Tombs? 

Marvin Skaggs: You can go to www.sinistertombs.com. As I say, we wouldn't be nothing if it wasn't for our actors, so that's what we stress. 

Tyler Proffet: Alright, thanks, Marvin. Hope you guys have a great season.

Marvin Skaggs: Thank you. I'm glad to have you down. I hope you enjoy your trip.