Haunted Orchards documentary
Do you know Brian Butler? He’s one of those people who seems to have friends everywhere, and has the ability to make friends everywhere he goes. Even the grocery store, and the gas station, people love him. He’s got a big, silly, sparkly personality that just draws people in. He was a camp counselor at Frost Valley for years, and it is still with that mentality that he embraces the world. It was impossible not to fall in love with him, so I married him. And then I lost him. He got sick, and his beautiful light was dimmed by depression and fear. Brian has been dealing with Type 2 diabetes for years, but then in the fall of 2017, out of nowhere, we found out he was in end stage kidney failure. He was immediately put on daily dialysis to keep him alive as both kidneys had completely failed, and added to the organ donor registry for a painfully long 5-7 year wait for a kidney to become available for him. It was a hard, painful, and exhausting time, and I was terrified that the man I fell in love with was gone forever. But then an opportunity came along that changed everything. This documentary tells that story. ~ Kate Butler
This past fall, Demarest Farms in Hillsdale, NJ, launched Haunted Orchards – a terrifying immersive experience featuring a hayride and a bone chilling series of haunted houses filled with ghouls, ghosts and all kinds of scary creatures deep in the Orchards. It was an incredible experience to help create and such an amazing crew of people to work with, it became something bigger than anyone had anticipated.
The film is serving as a vehicle to help save the life of the husband of one of my best friends, Kate Butler. Brian Butler’s kidneys have failed, his body is shutting down and he is on daily dialysis. While casting the haunt, I remembered Brian and Kate were married on Halloween and were huge fans of the holiday. I reached out to him, and found he was not working because of his condition and that his normally high spirits were low. He ended up as as an actor in the haunt, his character The Maze Man”, instantly becoming a favorite. the experience began to have an incredible effect on him. Kate was amazed how life changing the haunt was for Brian - she saw glimpses of the man she married and so desperately missed. Watching this transformation and realizing he was not alone, that all of our cast mates, crew, and makeup artists have unique stories that led them to loving the haunt industry, stories that are often more chilling than Haunted Orchards will ever be, this is what led to the idea of our documentary film being born.
Our film and introduction of Brian Butler will help raise the awareness of organ donation, and hopefully find Brian a donor match. We also want to share with the world how powerful and healing the haunt industry can be. To show how the darkest of characters in a haunt use “haunting” as a therapeutic means to bring them joy, and love, and essentially save their lives in one way or another. It is also a story of friendships, the ones born from the haunt and the ones that have been there for a lifetime. I have known Kate since we were 5 years old, she and I went to Kindergarten together at Zion Lutheran School. Ironically, another one of the haunt actors, Chris Gander did as well, along with the owner of Demarest Farms -Jason Degise. It is almost as if a higher power brought us all together again with the intention of helping one another not just with Haunted Orchards - but on a deeper level in life.
Why do we need your help? We need help raising money for a film editor. This is an essential part of film making and is extremely expensive. We are looking to raise $5000. Any amount you are willing to donate- no matter how small/ will help and be greatly appreciated. We have amazing footage of the haunt in action, as well as in depth interviews with the actors. The editor is the final magic ingredient to put the film together. Aside from a monetary donation, we need your help in sharing this with others, so please spread the word and share this with your friends! ~ Winter Gabriel
Thank you!!
The Haunted Orchards Cast and Crew
Kindergarten at Zion
Winter and Kate
Kate, Chris, Winter and Jason - together again!
Kate and Brian's Halloween wedding
