Dare to be scared: Killer Carnival arrives in Winter Garden

If you’ve ever passed the old railroad/citrus warehouse at Brayton Road on the West Orange Trail and wondered what’s inside, here’s a chance to take a look behind the scenes. But be forewarned, it’s not what you think.

Stefan Price, who owns the Winter Garden property with his wife, Erin, has opened up his space for a one-of-a-kind Halloween experience called The Killer Carnival. He and Nick Comis are the team behind the project, which has provided weekend shows this month that include scares, magic and fun. Six more shows are planned this weekend.

“Step right up … (for) a tour of a horror-filled side show, where the act’s stories are told through illusions and scares leading into a sit-down spooky cabaret show including mind-reading, stage illusions and a suspenseful escape through a frightful immersive finale,” the website touts.

Price said this project has been on his mind for several years, and he and Comis finally decided to go for it.

“The show is very different from your typical Halloween experience,” Price said. “It’s a little taste of something familiar and something new — mirrors, smoke and things that jump at you and some neat little tricks.”

Killer Carnival is the brainchild of Comis, who has created a walkthrough Killer Carnival house for several years but knew it could be something more. The pair thought the warehouse was the perfect venue for this type of show and added the magic portion to make it complete.

Comis has been a magician and illusionist for about 20 years and has long been a fan of a local magician who authored a book with scenes that don’t translate very well to the stage — but do in an immersive environment such as The Killer Carnival.

Comis, whose day job is in the lighting department of a local theme park, enlisted another friend who is a theme park scenic artist, and the two collaborated to build several sideshow scenes for the show.

The three-act show is part haunted house, part carnival sideshow exhibit, part magic show, part classic funhouse and part maze.

“I’ve known Stefan for almost 10 years, and being able to partner with Stefan and his scenic background and getting to do this has been a great partnership,” Comis said.

The show’s first night was Friday, Oct. 13, and the intimate setting of 40 people per show allows for an up-close and personal experience. The reviews have been phenomenal, Price said.

“We’ve gotten really great response,” he said. “Two couples came Saturday night and approached me and said, ‘We bought tickets but we really don’t know what we’ve come to see.’

My wife heard one say at the end, ‘Best impromptu night ever.’ I can’t think of a better tagline for what should be on our poster.”

The Price-Comis team has been working on this project for at least three months — nights and weekends. They solicited the help of their friends, some of whom worked a day or two and others who are there frequently for the love of helping out a friend.

Most of the people involved are working professionals in the entertainment industry.

“My biggest thrill is when you can create an experience for someone, and Halloween is one of those (opportunities),” Price said.

The project has been so much fun that the team currently is writing a Christmas holiday show and is making plans for another magic show.

MAKERS HOLLOW

The Prices own the former train depot, three warehouses and the house on the property. It’s a creative colony they call Makers Hollow, and they rent out space to artists. It also has been used for cosplayers, a national television commercial, music videos and photo shoots.

“We wanted to create a resource for artists to have space,” Price said.

Price’s Roundtable Productions company creates custom fabrication for the entertainment industry.

“We build unusual things, we do creative problem-solving through fabrication, traditional and new technology, we design it, we sculpt it, we paint it, we build everything from plastics to rubbers to carpentry and metal working,” he said. “We’re adding a blacksmith shop here shortly.”

When the Prices purchased the land from John Lory’s family, the warehouse was packed with tools, vehicles and neon signs and plenty of oddities.

“It’s serendipitous that this family had this property of making and collecting and, sort of, oddity hoarding and I’ve now filled it with props from movies and theme parks and now we’re doing live performances.”