Fright Night

They've been working to be lurking.

"Am I ready to fire fog? ... Can we get the supercreatures on please?" Jason Egan asks on his radio as he strolls the Circus Circus Adventuredome during its quick hour's nightly conversion to Frightdome.

The sun fades through the pink translucent walls of the domed amusement park, and a giant mechanical reaper rises to overshadow the happy-faced kiddy train.

As the fog rolls in, the monsters come out -- or in, really, since most of the 170 actors and crew have been reading or chatting after bloodying themselves in the staging tent just behind the dome.

The crisp evening air fills with the happy sound of chain saw motors. "Chain saws are something really hard to do away with," Egan explains. "They don't care about the hundreds of thousands of dollars of props in this haunted house. It's 'Where's the chain saw house?' "

Frightdome's seven years of growth and customer loyalty led one branch of the tourist corridor's two-prong approach to Halloween insanity: sexy-scary or poop-your-pants scary.

Serious scary is on a growth spurt. There's a "Zombie Precinct" on the New York-New York bridge and just about every daytime attraction now has a haunted makeover: the Titanic Exhibit at Luxor, the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay and "Madame Tussauds After Dark" at The Venetian.

The latter was an easy job, admits Rosita Chapman, attractions manager for the celebrity wax museum. "When people ask me where I work and I tell them, they say, 'Aren't you afraid of the figures at night?' "

Fair question, with Simon Cowell and Criss Angel figures lurking within. Now you can explore them after 10 p.m. with nothing but a glow stick for lighting. Live ghouls jump out as well, and skipping the year-round "Scream" maze ceases to be an option.

The party side of Vegas Halloween also reaches its zenith Saturday, though some clubs already have driven a stake in two or three Halloween events by the time you read this.

Chad Pallas, executive director of nightlife development for Station Casinos, has seen Halloween transform in the tourist zone with the explosion of the nightclub industry.

Ten years ago, "There was not a huge amount of excitement like there is now," he says. Pioneering parties such as the Fetish & Fantasy ball were strictly tenants, kept at a suspicious arm's length. Pit bosses weren't so hot on costumes in a casino (they've gotten used to it, but still don't have to like it).

But as the clubs multiplied, their collective appeal became hard to ignore. "As much as it's not fun on a competitive level, 30 parties does as a whole give Vegas a lot of buzz," Pallas says. "It's really a hard choice not to go."

This year, Pallas is overseeing five parties at Cherry nightclub in Red Rock Resort, which went all in with a vampire theme inspired by HBO's "True Blood." The red stuff will drip from the walls and down the side of your glass (hopefully it tastes like grenadine).

"You're taking on a role that night. You're not yourself. The club should feel that way too," he says. "It will not be your typical night in Cherry."

Costume contests with prize dollars in the thousands sweeten the deal. Those who are in it to win it stretch the decorator's budget. "It really pumps it up for the crowd to have the Terminator walk out onstage," Pallas says.

The bathtub models in Tao will look a bit more pale and ghostly than usual, befitting a night that hosts "Twilight" actors Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz, says club spokesman Mike Snedegar. Companion club Lavo has "True Blood" stars Sam Trammell and Las Vegas' own Rutina Wesley.

But if sex sells the "Pornstar Ball" at Planet Hollywood's Privé club, gore rules the haunted mazes. Frightdome joined the big leagues this year, when Lionsgate sanctioned a "Saw" movie tie-in, with two mazes modeled on Jigsaw's lairs and the puppet Billy taunting you along the way (you really don't want to linger in the bathroom here).

That puts Egan right up there with Universal Studios Orlando, the only other haunted attraction to share "Saw."

"That deal made me feel really good: Lil ol' Jason Egan from Nebraska," he says. Now 31, he was only 23 when casino operators saw his 10,000-square-foot "Tomb of Darkness" and offered him a bigger challenge. Frightdome is now 200,000 square feet and five themed mazes.

"They seemed a little leery (of my age), but after that first year they never mentioned it again," Egan says. "I think it helps. I hope when I'm 40 or 50, I'll still be getting into kids' minds and knowing what they want to see."

Now this almost boyishly normal-looking guy fires up the '68 Cadillac hearse he ceremoniously drives up to the box office each evening; a little perk of being the boss.

A zombie guy hops in the shotgun seat and the chain saw maniacs fall in line for the procession. The party is on.

For a detailed guide to the Halloween bashes and attractions described above and many, many more, see the Diversions listings.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.