This past October many students might have anticipated the fall weather and everything that comes along with it. In addition to the falling leaves comes scary movies, big sweaters and hot chocolate.  This fall a new haunted house, Chainsaw Massacre, was opened on I-27, close to McCormick Road..

“I have had my eye on that building for around 10 years,” owner of the haunted house Mike Fisher said.  “It has been for sale for a long time. I have always thought it was a good location and it looked kind of creepy and was outside of town.”

The new haunted house is located just outside of Amarillo on the way to Canyon. The fact that its away from town and its strict guidelines grants the scarers and the owner some advantages.

“We try to be different every year,” Fisher said. “Every year we go to haunted house conventions, visit other haunted houses in other parts of the country and try to watch plenty of new horror movies for inspiration.  We approach our designs with an open mind.  Expect the unexpected.”

Not only is the haunted house two stories tall and extends outside and inside but the rooms and actors that do the scarers are different than anything else.

“[When looking for people to hire] we look for people that have a passion for Halloween,” Fisher said.  “That are dependable and are a little on the twisted side.”

Many Americans visit a plethora of haunted houses during the fall and many might even say that some of them fall short.

“I have always liked Halloween,” Fisher said.  “I began scaring neighborhood kids on my porch 12 years ago.  We made it bigger and moved into the garage for the next two years.  We had over 300 people come to our garage the last year.  Many people told us that it was better than what they paid for at local haunted houses and encouraged us to start our own haunted house.  I was also tired of going to the local haunted houses and they never changed, year after year.”

Being a business owner is a packaged deal along with stress. But it also has its benefits.

“I wear so many hats, from marketing, prop building, graphic design, accounting, to working with so many people that help build and work at the haunt,” Fisher said. “Being able to manage so many tasks and working with people while trying to keep everyone happy has made me a better person, giving me better people skills that I use in my daily life, including handling stressful situations in my personal life.”