HALLOWEEN EVENTS | FEAR FOREST You're never out of the woods

A Southington entrepreneur has created a drive-through vortex tunnel.
By GUY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LORDSTOWN -- Alan Tura brings horror to life.
The owner of GEP Productions in Southington has created Fear Forest, now in its second season. It's a haunted hayride Halloween attraction that he says is "the best in the area."
Tura uses animatronics -- electronic animation of puppets -- to bring to life the creatures that he designs and builds in his home-based business.
Fear Forest doesn't just include ghastly animatronic beasts. It also uses actors to recreate scenes from horror movies and other frightening scenarios.
His specialty
Although Tura has made his mark with animatronics, his specialty is the vortex tunnel.
That would be the walkway that goes through a darkened spinning cylinder, creating the effect of being toppled over. People going though it tend to hang on to the railings and walk slowly to keep their balance, even though they are walking across a flat, unmoving walkway.
Tura has sold 11 of his vortex tunnels to Six Flags amusement parks, as well as to the Canfield Scaregrounds and Fright Night at Station Square in Pittsburgh.
"This started as a hole-in-the-wall business in Warren," said Tura, "but I've marked my territory."
His piece de resistance can be found at Fear Forest: a giant vortex tunnel that is so big the hay wagon and tractor drive right through it."It's the only drive-through vortex in Ohio, maybe in North America," said Tura.
How did he learn?
Tura never went to any kind of school to learn his craft. He credits his father, who was a designer, with getting him started. Also, Tura has picked up some knowledge from designing, building and racing monster trucks for 22 years.
For Fear Forest, he designed most of the animatronic attractions. He subcontracts out metalwork, fabrics and control boxes, then assembles his creations by himself. He is the only employee of GEP Productions.
Tura has been in the business for seven years and markets his products at trade shows.
Strict regulations
The scare business is changing in Ohio, he said, because of increasingly strict regulations. "It's getting so strict. Haunted houses are now required to put in sprinkler systems and alarms. The mom-and-pop haunted houses have fallen by the wayside because of the costs involved," said Tura.
Tura plans to make Fear Forest even better next year. On the drawing board are a Fear Factory and a re-creation of the murderers' residence from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."