Nightmares... our haunted "roots"
Barebones Productions did the construction for the scenes when the Gaines Street Haunted House was first built, and it opened in the fall of 2000 under the name of Nightmares. It ran under that management for two years in 2000, 2001.
The men who started it were Howard Johnson and Stan Paynter. They are two very unique individuals. Howard is a savy business man. Stan is a paramedic and has a very creative mind. The scarier the better for Stan. The whole Nightmares baby was concocted over drinks one evening after Stan mentioned to Howard that he had previosly owned a Haunted House in Missouri. They talked about it for hours and Howard wanted to make it happen here. A few days later, they jumped on a plane and flew to Missouri to check out a few. Gaines Street seemed like the perfect location. Stan designed it and Howard financed it. The rest is history!
rev. 8.24.09*