Meeting the Queen of Screams
From fashion model, make-up artist and producer, Cydney Neil has been involved with the entertainment industry for many years – but it is her work as the owner/operator of one of the nation’s top haunted attractions which sets her apart from the typical businesswoman.
Sixteen years ago, Neil was ready to move to New York to work with the fashion industry when her life took a sharp U-turn keeping her in the state. Her brother had started a small haunted house in a building (once her family’s restaurant) in Ogden. After five years, he was ready to move on and Neil came into the business with big plans.
“I basically came in to shut it down because I didn’t like Halloween,” she said. “Halloween was not cool back then, at least not to me.”
A local group had kept the house open, but Neil was not impressed with the work they were doing. She also found the lack of rules a problem.
“It was basically a big party for a bunch of 20-year-olds,” she said.
At their request, she agreed to stay and help for the year with every intention of closing the house and moving it away from her family property. Neil said she was embarrassed by the whole business. Once she took over, she told the group she was to have complete control over the operation, one of the first rules – no alcohol.
She turned the entire business into a non-profit organization with all proceeds going to charity. The first year’s charity was the Utah Special Olympics.
But after two years, Neil still wanted to close Rocky Point and move on.
“It wasn’t what I thought I wanted to do,” she said.
Neil said each year was going to be her last, but every year she returned. When friends would ask what she did for a living, she would tell them she was a producer of entertainment. Her embarrassment kept her from realizing what she had. After several years, she deiced she had to change her attitude about the business.
It was then she said, “If I’m going to do this, I’m going to be proud of it.”
After she made the choice to really make the haunted house important in her life, she started to see the entire industry differently. Her friends supported her work – many were even envious, she said.
“I found out I had no reason to be embarrassed,” Neil said.
From there she has built one of the nation’s top haunted houses. Rocky Point has been voted no. 1 in the nation by Fright Times, a national haunted attraction publication, for the past two years.
Every year, Neil involves more than 100 local youth in the house as actors and crew. Neil found this a positive way to provide a support group for many youth who were struggling. The house provides a place for them to feel at home.
“It’s the only family that some of them have, and it’s a loving family,” she said.
Many of the actors have worked at the house numerous years without repayment for their time.
“You have to respect what they do because of their dedication,” Neil said. “Our hearts are into it – everything we create, it belongs to them and they don’t have a lot that belong to them.”
She attributes the success of the house to all of the people who have worked there. Many have built sets, designed make-up and costumes and performed each night.
“It’s a professional production, we treat them [the cast] like professionals,” Neil said.
The cast comes from all walks of life and everyone is accepted into the group without reservation.
“I don’t care if they are straight-A students, models or people with purple hair and 40 piercings,” she said. “The most important thing we do here is change the lives of the kids who get involved.”
Neil has set up a Web page for the cast to use. They can e-mail each other and talk about the house and the experiences they are having. Neil said she receives many e-mails every day and tries to read and answer every one. The cast has become her family and she cares about each member.
But there is more to what she does.
“I understand every single bit of this, from accounting to make-up,” Neil said.
Her year starts in July when she begins working every day to make the house come together. She begins with the design concepts and starts to put the ideas into the house.
With her team of contractors, she builds the sets and makes the props to be used each year. As the season nears, Neil works almost 20 hours a day in order to get every detail the way she wants it to be.
Neil does not know how many more years she has left with Rocky Point. However, she does have several things left before she can move on.
“For years I couldn’t see the vision. Now I really see some clear vision of where I want to take this or at least complete before it is done,” Neil said.
For the time being, she plans to keep the attraction at its present location a building she leases from Salt Lake City.
“I plan on doing this until they [the city] sells the building or tears it down,” she said.
Neil has often thought about working on a movie, but does not know when she would work on a project of that nature.
“There are so many things that could come out if it [Rocky Point],” she said. “At this time, I can’t take the risks.”
She also talks about moving to Hawaii in the future. She spends a month each year there visiting her sister. Once she does move on from the haunted lifestyle, she would like to settle down and spend some time golfing or riding her Harley Davidson.
But she does not spend a lot of time thinking about the future right now.
“At 42 years old and having been through what I have been through, I don’t worry about that,” Neil said. “I spent a lot of years kicking and screaming and wanting to control, but now I see how great it is.”
For Neil life now holds so many possibilities, but it has taken 16 years for her to find the happiness and peace she has long sought.
“You’ve got to be able to see from here to there,” she said. “I couldn’t see the long term.”
With one of the top haunted houses, she is in demand in an industry which is growing nationally. She is currently producing 10 how-to videos detailing the building and operating of a haunted attraction.
“I’m scheduled to be selling the videos in the spring and then I am planning 10 more,” Neil said.
All of these things are the reward for years of hard work. But the reward is not always hard to find.
“Sometimes I go out there [in front of the house] and think ‘that is so cool.’ People are paying to see what we have created,” Neil said.
So with 16 years down and an undetermined number of years ahead, Neil is excited about the chance to grow and continue to expand Rocky Point.
“Ultimately, the most valuable thing I will have accomplished is literally thousands of kids lives have been touched,” Neil said.