World most scariest woman

Event will crown region's most frightening femaleThursday, July 13, 2006By KEVIN PARKSThisWeek Staff WriterFrom left, Mark Fields, Neena Collins and Kelly Collins.Rocky DawsonKim TilleyRocky Dawson"Lizzie" Scott BeverRocky DawsonAnn Marie GavinskiMs. Midwest Haunt 2005, Neena Collins, right, is pictured with Tabitha Collins.The search is on for the Midwest's scariest woman.And, yes, folks may nominate their mothers-in-law. However, just being a mother-in-law isn't going to make her a lock for the title."Yes, you can, but that doesn't mean she's automatically qualified," said Kelly Collins, one of the founders of the Midwest Haunters Convention. "We get asked that all the time: 'Hey, can I nominate my mother-in-law?' Well, just because she's your mother-in-law doesn't mean she's scary."And they say, 'You don't know my mother-in-law.' "The judges for the convention, taking place this weekend at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Columbus, are looking for a truly frightening female, someone like Kelly Collins' wife Neena or even Sharon Bever's husband Scott.In the topsy-turvy world of people who love to scare people, gender takes a back seat to terrifying."The scariest woman doesn't necessarily have to be a woman," Kelly Collins said. "It has to be a female character.""It's the scariest female character," said Barry A. Schieferstein, coordinator of vendors and speakers at the July 14-16 convention for haunted attraction producers, actors and designers.Having firmly wrested Halloween from the sticky-fingered grasp of children, adults in the haunted attraction business now gather for regional and even national events to keep abreast of the latest trends in terror."It's a major industry," said Anita "Neena" Collins, Kelly Collins' bride and the very first "Scariest Woman in the Midwest."While that's not the sort of distinction to which most women aspire, Neena Collins wears the crown proudly."Once a queen always a queen, in my book," she said.The Midwest Haunters Convention is now entering its third year. Lewis Center residents Kelly and Neena Collins, along with Upper Arlington-area residents Barry and Kathy Schieferstein, launched the event to bring regional haunted attraction devotees and vendors together for a weekend of fun and fright.The inaugural convention was held at Cooper Stadium, where Kelly Collins is consultant and designer for Terror Park. It moved to the Radisson Hotel in Worthington last year, and now is occupying even more space at the downtown accommodations."I have performed in haunted houses all over the country," Kelly Collins said. "I've been doing this for 22 years."A marketing supervisor with White Castle, Collins traces his involvement in the haunted attractions industry to his high school days and a visit to a Jaycees haunted house.Characters in rubber masks made a lasting impression on the young man."Back then they were very scary," Collins said. "That doesn't scare people anymore, because they've been so desensitized."They're used to seeing all these new computer graphics and animatronics and animations that it takes more than that."Hence, events like the convention, which will have about 42 different vendors at 55 booths and a wide array of workshops for people who produce or act or are otherwise involved in the "haunt" industry. More than 30 hours of classes will be offered over the weekend in such areas as acting, makeup, props, the haunt business and haunt design.Film actor and producer Chuck Williams, whose credits include such titles as 1994's "Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter" and 2001's "The Vampire Hunters Club," will be the master of ceremonies for this weekend's convention.Haunted attractions actors, according to Kelly Collins, are a lot like Civil War reenactors. Sort of."We're doing the same thing," he said. "It's just that when we entertain people, we like to frighten people and intimidate them."Education is the main purpose behind events like the Midwest Haunters Convention, according to producer Barry Schieferstein, who runs the Radio Shack outlet store in Groveport."My opinion is if we grow the industry it helps everyone," he said.The concept of a "Scariest Woman" contest dates to the convention's origins."We just thought, why not do a spoof on a pageant that, instead of finding the most beautiful woman in the Midwest or the sexiest woman in the Midwest, let's find the scariest woman," Collins said.Neena Collins entered the initial convention in 2003 as the reigning queen of scream. A panel of judges from various aspects of the industry then handed that honor to Bexley-area resident Scott S. Bever, unaware their scariest woman choice was actually a man.By day a mild-mannered management analyst with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Bever has an alter ego, the very frightening character of "Lizzie," as in Borden, as in "took an ax and gave her mother 40 whacks and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41."At 6 feet 2 inches tall and 275 pounds, Bever makes the most of his bloody-handed female character."She's intimidating," he said. "She truly is."The scariest woman title was taken from Ohio last year by Ann Marie Gavinski of Waukesha, Wis. She and her Halloween-loving husband Tom annually transform their backyard into a 2,000-square-foot haunted attraction with 15 actors in the cast."I think I got this just so everywhere we go my husband can say, 'Have you met my wife? She's the scariest woman in the Midwest,' " Ann Marie Gavinski said. "I can't tell you how many times I've heard that line in the past year. I don't think it's going away, even after I crown the new scariest woman."For me, it's always been about the scream."People, according to convention organizers and participants, love to be frightened."That is the thrill," Gavinski said. "What we can put into a haunted house are some of your fears and we're going to play on those fears, but it's not happening in real life so it's a safe place to act those out.""It's exciting," Neena Collins said. "It's like being in a scary movie or an amusement park where the anticipation builds and you don't know what's going to happen, but you're safe. It's just a thrill. It really is thrilling.""I think they enjoy the adrenaline rush," Bever said. "I think that's the big thing behind the scare. If you can give a good scare, you did your job as far as people coming to your haunt and paying good money to go through.""It's entertainment," Kelly Collins said. "We've talked to psychiatrists about this. I've sat in on presentations. When you get scared, it releases endorphins. And after you're scared and you calm down, you feel good."And that's why a lot of people enjoy being scared -- because after the endorphins have been released and then they catch their breath and you look and you've got all 10 fingers and all your toes and you managed to escape the chain saw guy and you're not hurt anywhere, you say, 'Ahh!' "More information, including a schedule of classes and workshops, is available at www.midwesthauntersconvention.com.

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