By Sarrah Peters
News Editor
The Factory, located at 100 Thomas Drive in Gadsden, has become known as the go-to place for birthday parties. The facility hosts about 25 every weekend. Birthday parties cost anywhere from $100 to $300. The Factory is not just limited to birthday parties, though. The staff can handle any group, including sororities and church youth groups. With its trampoline gym, trampoline dodgeball court, small arcade and batting cages, The Factory is a hit with all ages.
For October, The Factory has also begun celebrating Halloween with the Fear Factory. The Fear Factory introduces people to mankind’s biggest fears, from real-live creepy crawlers like snakes, spiders and mice, to rooms full of creepy clowns and dolls, and even claustrophobia-inducing experiences. The scary experience includes live actors as well, although they may not be spotted until they grab you.
“It is a haunted house of sorts,” said Bethanne Staton, The Factory’s owner. “We call it a haunted experience.”
Visitors are given a safe word that they can say if they get too scared, but don’t use it unless you have to. The people that do have a picture taken for a wall of shame.
The staff at The Factory went all out to create this scary experience. They included a wide variety of fears. A lot of thought went into details that may be missed in the dark. Staton said that they wanted to make sure that anywhere people looked closely would be just as creepy as the rest of the experience.
The Fear Factory is open Fridays and Saturdays from 7 p.m. until 12 a.m. Tickets for the spooky experience are $15 each. Because of the scary content, the Fear Factory is recommended for ages 13 and up. The event only runs until the end of October.
T-shirts for the Fear Factory are available for purchase.
The Factory is preparing for the holidays already. Plans are being made for a Christmas experience.
“I really had to switch gears after this,” said Staton.
The Factory is also a drop-off point for Toys for Tots, with boxes for toys in the main room of the facility.
For more information, visit the website at thefactorygadsden.com or the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Thefactorygadsden.
