SkullTroniX
Contact: Jerry Jewell
916 600-2295











































Scary U Logo
Bad news for 2009: Due to financial reasons the ScaryU program is cancelled for the first time in 15 years. We plan to regroup and reopen in 2010.

As many of you already know, we experienced a burglary last year and solid rain throughout the Halloween season. The losses were too much to overcome this year and the stress on producers, supporters, students and staff was too much. We need a break for a year.

Volunteers and students who want to participate in the 2010 program should contact Jerry Jewell at jj@scaryu.com or call 916 600-2295. Thanks..

Scary U is the world's first and perhaps only Haunted House School

Each year our students build and run the award winning "Hagan Haunted Mansion".


Our 2004 Terror Train won the coveted "Golden Bucky Award" as the best professional haunted house in the USA.

In 2006 We won the Golden Bucky for Best Indoor Haunt in the world.
The 2007 Pirate Town was our biggest hit ever!
Tremendous thanks go to the entire Scary U Staff and Students.
We had a huge ($1000) donation from Mayor David Sander and Jerry Jewell has matched his donation to purchase two 27 foot semitrailers for storage.
Kudos to the following volunteers (in no particular order):
  • Jo Stoddard and Rod Whitaker for their tremendous culinary talents that kept the crew and public well fed.
  • Rob Pauly and Mike Frei for their undying energy and talent on the stage.
  • Shawn and his karate instructors for their "fight like a pirate show".
  • Mike Fox of Fox Productions, Creative Director of ScaryU and creator of the animatronic voices and animation.
  • SkullTroniX (Jerry and Kathryn Jewell) for the loan of animatronic skulls, skeletons, lighting, torture cages and much more.
  • Candy Ayotte - for her enormous efforts in keeping the interior decorating and students looking good. She also kept Jerry under control and healthy.
  • Jackie Stoddard and Mary Schardt for their assistance with the catering.
  • Melody and Conrad Mayer for their loan of the tents.
  • Shelley Blanchard and the GrapeVine Independent for their fantastic coverage and publicity of the event.
  • Sheila for the student candy bags.
  • Frank Buchanan for his carpentry, design work and photography.
  • Karol King and Wil for their construction help.
  • Lee Frechette, Pete and the rest of the SVLS crew for their help in set up and running of the trains.
  • Trish at Cordova Parks and Recreation for the lights, signs, portapotties and $$ for barrels.
  • Andy Porter for his daily commmitment to quality and artistic excellence. Andy is also an excellent teacher.
  • All the other adult volunteers who filled in whenever and wherever they were asked - including Debra, Peggy, Janet, Donnie, and many more.
  • Jerry Jewell, Director of the Jewell Performing Arts Center, Inc. who produces and is the main financial backer of the Scary U Haunted House School and Haunted Hagan Event.
  • Dennis Riley for the loan of electronics, design and implementation of pneumatics and much more.
  • Chuck Sommerville and LED Effects for donating the programming time for our new "SkullTroniX Board of Chuckee" animatronics control board.
  • Patricia Schardt for her fund raising and support.
  • Brad and Jeannie for their after hours staff support ;)
  • The Girl Scouts at the petting barn for their loan of straw bales.
We're sure we have missed many people who contributed and we apologize if we have left you out.


July 4th 2007 Float!

It's scary what happens to kids at Scary U! They actually learn to get along with each other, learn to lead complex projects and learn a variety of performing arts skills including: carpentry, set design, costumes, makeup, acting, special effects, animatronics, lighting and more!

Scary U is a Youth Development Program that instills teamwork and leadership skills in teens. The program begins in early September and runs through the first week of November. During the program the teens build a commercial haunted attraction from scratch and then run it by themselves as a business.

Scary U is a production of the Jewell Performing Arts Center, Inc., which is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation focused on youth development through challenging performing arts projects. (Scary U is a trademark of The Jewell Performing Arts Center, Inc. and may not be used without express written permission of the owner)

We've found the haunted house to be the perfect educational opportunity for a very broad range of skills, including mask making, makeup, costumes, lighting, sound effects, acting, dancing, production management, set and prop construction.

Each year the project gets bigger, involves more kids and requires more donations. Of course we can always use more costumes, and other halloween props. We also need cash to purchase all the miscellaneous supplies.

Volunteers are needed for construction, tear down and actually running the haunted house. Preference goes to teens but we do try to keep a ratio of 1 adult per 4 teens on the projects.

Scary U has partnered with Fox Productions, the Sacramento Valley Live Steamers, The Cordova Recreation and Parks District and local schools and other organizations to make this program possible.

Call us at (916) 600 2295 if you'd like to sign up, volunteer or make a donation.