From aspiring art teacher to creator of one of New England’s most terrifying haunted houses
In college, Jeremie LaPointe imagined a life surrounded by easels and sketchbooks, teaching children how to paint sunsets and draw still lifes in school.
Instead, he spends his nights commanding the chaos of zombies, monsters, blood-soaked hallways and hundreds of screaming people.
"If at any point in time you feel like you're gonna [expletive] yourself, [expletive] yourself, you're scared as [expletive] and think you can't make it, you can use a safety word," LaPointe virtually tells customers during an instruction video.
He also warns people: "Don't [expletive] touch the black and yellow bar" — moments before unleashing monsters, failed experiments and deranged townsfolk on his customers inside DementedFX's infamous BioMedCorp, the haunted world he helped create.
DementedFX is a 20,000-square-foot haunted house in an old mill in Holyoke filled with theatrics. It earned four out of four stars from Hauntfinder General in 2024, a 9.43 from TheScareFactor.com in 2018 and is listed on Buzzfeed as one of the haunted houses from around the world "that'll freak you the [expletive] out."
The storyline stays the same but there are differences from year to year, especially as the technology continues to get updated, LaPointe recently told MassLive, adding that "there's not quite a haunted house that is technologically as advanced."
"They don't build the same stuff that we build," he said. "We're over the top in terms of theatrical. We build movie sets."
Even though he admits it's not the biggest haunted house, he's proud of what he's built. And many customers feel the same as hundreds of reviews have given DementedFX a 4.6 out of five rating on Google.
"I have been to most of the haunted attractions around New England and Eastern New York, and this one was way above the rest in every way," customer Nick Mroz wrote on a Google review.
And it wasn't just the haunted house that impressed Mroz. He almost wanted to wait in line longer, since part of the fun happens while queuing up in the lobby.
"Waiting in line was so sick, I almost wanted to go to the back in the line to see all of the shows again," he wrote.
Many of the negative reviews from years ago mentioned a long wait. LaPointe isn't always able to fix that problem but while standing at Universal Studios, he realized a way to make the wait better.
He told his team to gut the lobby and make it all part of the show.
"I had such a good time making that," he said.
Now, multiple scare actors perform various skits for the people in line that are all part of the overall story. The skits range from singing to audience interaction — so don't get comfortable or the monsters will find you (this reporter made that mistake). There are also video screens that add to the entertainment.
Even the line to get into the attraction at DementedFX has entertainment.Heather Morrison
Once inside the attraction, you'll "meet" a truck driver, a solar panel installer and an acting student — only now their eyes are unnatural, their skin slick with blood and something unnameable. They won't shake your hand. They'll lunge for you.
But when the night ends, they return to their day jobs and families.
Although sometimes, a person's previous experience can come in handy.
Nathan Blackwelder, who drives from Waltham where he lives, was in the military, which aligns with his character inside DementedFX. It makes it easier to play the role each night.
His role, however, isn't just about scaring people. It's also about ensuring the haunt goes exactly to plan. It might appear random to customers but it's something that is heavily thought out and scheduled.
If customers get stuck in a long line, they might see the scare long before it's their turn. Then the customer isn't as scared.
"It's a magic show. That's what a haunted house really is. It's a big magic show," said LaPointe, adding that the magic gets ruined if you see it too early.
Blackwelder uses improv and knowledge of his character to keep groups separate from each other, while also making sure single group members don't get left behind.
This can vary in difficulty throughout the night as some people get scared and start running, while others become drunk and don't listen. Bars are scattered throughout the lobby.
Not everyone makes it all the way through the haunted house.
Blackwelder remembers a woman who went through the first section a few years ago and came upon one of the actors lying on the floor as if he was dead with a rifle and his leg cut off — a real disability of the actor's.
"This one lady came around the corner, saw him and said, 'Mister, if you're real, I'm calling safety right now.' And he goes, 'Seriously?' She did, she called out," Blackwelder said, adding that it was possible she had waited two hours to make it five minutes in the haunted house.
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It's not all fun and games, either.
DementedFX is held to the highest state safety levels. As a licensed contractor, LaPointe has created a system to create hallways for easy exits, treated materials to be fireproof and has extra security on site each night.
Plus, staff members are all trained in emergency protocol.
On Saturday, there was no emergency but the fire alarms went off and had to be reset by the Holyoke Fire Department. Staff members swiftly and calmly escorted people inside the haunted house outside to safety.
When it was time to come back in, those same staff members helped people get back to where they needed to be while additional staff members jumped back into their frightening characters.
"The staff handled the situation incredibly well. We were back inside within 10 minutes, and in the same general area in line that we left from," Mroz wrote in his Google review. "The whole staff deserves a huge shoutout on that."
The actors also have to stay safe. Some people's natural reaction is to punch or kick the actor when they get scared, which is against the rules.
"My very first person I ever scared, I was a zombie, and I was in a hallway, and I came out kind of like all big and wide," he said. "And she kicked ... and she just barely missed."
He said he learned his lesson quickly, changing how his zombie walked towards people.
Behind the scenes before monsters, failed experiments and deranged townsfolk are unleashed on customers inside DementedFX's infamous BioMedCorp.Heather Morrison
Another scare actor, Sophia Barker, has had acting experience as an acting student at Westfield State University . But her experience wasn't in horror, as she had been in shows such as "Rent."
"This honestly really showed me that I can do a lot more than I thought I could," she told MassLive.
There's also a class put on by DementedFX to teach the actors all they need to know.
Behind the scenes before monsters, failed experiments and deranged townsfolk are unleashed on customers inside DementedFX's infamous BioMedCorp.Heather Morrison
Daniel Melinda took the class because although he'd done crazy things on stages for various bands, watched horror movies and played scary video games, he had "never actually pretended to be a crazy person."
This year was his first year as a scare actor — and he's hooked.
"I love to do it, honestly," he said. "I love to just hear people scream."
DementedFX is at 530 Main St. in Holyoke. General admission tickets are $35. The last show is Saturday, Nov. 1. Check the website for show dates and times.
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