Greeley company's scare tactics pay off.

• Author: PETERSON, ERIC
• Position: Brief Article

Appearances can be deceiving. A prime example: the nondescript building at 152 30th St. in Greeley. Its exterior is Dr.Jekyll, blending in with its industrial-looking neighbors to a tee. Step inside, and the ravaged id of Mr. Hyde takes over in the shape of Distortions Unlimited Corp.'s world headquarters.

The floor of Distortions' manufacturing plant is strewn with synthetic body parts, tombstones and maniacal zombies. One employee paints a devil mask blood red. Another puts the finishing touches on 'Evil Annie,' an undead schoolgirl gnawing on some unfortunate soul's missing calf. Still another readies a shipment of faux castle walls. Each task is done cheerily, albeit in the name of horror.

Ed Edmunds and his wife, Marsha Taub-Edmunds, are the brains behind the goosebump-inducing company, which Ed founded in 1978 after selling a motorcycle for $500 to buy his first barrel of latex. At that time, Distortions was a one-man operation focused on one category of products: high-end Halloween masks that Ed sold around Greeley and via mail order.

The company grew swiftly, and, by the early '90s, Distortions was employing 60 workers during its peak, pre-Halloween season. Increasing competition from Chinese mask-makers helped prod the company toward diversification. Marsha and Ed saw a market opportunity manufacturing animatronic displays for the burgeoning haunted attraction industry.

In 1994, "We had a little haunted house thing at Distortions, and we thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool to do an electric chair that moved?"' Ed remembered. The next year, he took the product to the annual National Halloween Party Show in Chicago and sold hundreds of them. "I am still getting reports that it turned the industry on its ear," he said, "because there was nothing available animatronic at that point that was 'dark."'

"We still produce a lot of masks, but to grow we had to move into...