Cronic Disorder, First Jason, Banjo Boy at The Haunted Pyramids

By: Rusty Wise – Wise News Network 

LAWNDALE, NC (WNN) – As the sun was setting the Wise News Network crew set out last Saturday 10/14/2023 on a journey into Cleveland County NC. We received an invitation to cover the inaugural Devil’s Fork Metal Fest at the Haunted Pyramids in Lawndale by a band called Cronic Disorder. I’ve heard of the Haunted Pyramids over the years but never experienced it. As we drove down the winding country roads to the location, we met at least six hearse vehicles with one having an Uber logo shining in the window. From this point on I knew that things were going to be a little strange and different. 

We turned in where the hand spray painted “Haunted Pyramids†sign was and went down a dirt and gravel driveway into a pretty large field.  We arrived as the sun was going down and made our way towards the stage area located on one side of the field. There were five guys looking like they were pre-gaming or pre-gigging at their trucks. This was the Cronic Disorder band and they were getting primed for the show. Offering their free libations to me but needless to say I was there to work so I declined. The Cronic Disorder Band was founded in the early 1990’s by Chip Whitesides and Brad Sellers both from Cherryville NC. They toured in the late 1990’s with a record deal in the southeast US according to the drummer Sellers “we played a lot of live gigs around Charlotte and South Carolina; started branching out to New Orleans, Milwaukee, went a lot of places, met a lot of cool peopleâ€.  Whitesides the lead guitarist stated the group then took a break around the year 2000 and “Fast forward about 2015 we did a reunion show and it went well so we said let’s do it again, started writing new songs and this is where we stand now.† 

The thrash metal band has hard hitting beats and vocals with Jason Beam as lead vocalist of Lincoln County NC and another Cherryville resident James Ford on lead guitar. The Charlotte NC bass player is Kelly Wallace who has played with other hair and metal bands in the past.  

“The song writing has matured and we have matured as a band†stated Sellers and they have a new nine song gig that they currently perform. 

After the band interviews, darkness fell onto the grounds, the music got louder and the parking lot full.  Cronic Disorder was the second band to play after the opening band Blood Butcher which was a theatrical KISS style band. The Cronic Disorder fans were in full force from the Cherryville and local areas. They performed their songs with all the power and force they intended, smiling and having a great time all the same.  

On to the rest of the event.

I had the pleasure to meet the “First Jason†of the popular series Friday The 13th movies. The first Jason Voorhees without the famous mask was played by Ari Lehman in the first Friday The 13th movie released in 1980. Ari, a native New Yorker, was quite the interview with his high energy and machete prop. First Jason is also the name of the punk rock band of which Ari started who also played later that night. 

We ventured towards the attractions where we met up with the hearse people as I called them. They are an actual hearse car club out of Kannapolis NC called Reaper’s Rides.  According to Carla with the organization, they are the “largest hearse club on the east coastâ€. They go around to places all over the Southeastern US to show their quite interesting hearse cars. They were complete with skeleton decorations and the like minus real caskets thankfully.  

By this time, it was completely dark and you could hear chain saws, fire balls, and people screaming for their lives. I thought, what have I gotten into here. 

We met up with brothers and co-owners, Tony and Greg Cooke, who have put on the Haunted Pyramids events for 26 Years now. As for the name Haunted Pyramids? “I had a recording studio here before it was a haunted house and it was called Pyramid Recording Studio, so I just kept the Pyramid name going. I had never heard of a haunted house called that before,†said Tony. 

The old barns and buildings make the place even scarier and creepier. Event attendees or victims as I call them can purchase food at the Coroner’s Café concessions, gift shop and other stands that I noticed. 

Per Tony Cooke “my parents had several different haunted houses so I was growing up scaring as a child…it’s in our blood, we love doing itâ€.  When they first started, they only had 8 cast members and got excited when a car would show up. Now they have over 70 cast members and the night we were there Tony estimated around 800 ticket purchasers (victims). I know I counted 75 victims in line most of the night just getting tickets.  

As I was standing outside one of the haunts a small framed man came out to “get a breath of fresh air†he stated while lighting a cigarette. I asked what is your name and he stated Billy Redden. Oh, you are the Banjo Boy in the Deliverance movie. “Yes, that’s me†he stated. The 1972 American thriller movie Deliverance was an instant hit, Academy Award nominee and later a National Film Preservation Board Inductee. Redden still lives in Rabun County Georgia where the movie was filmed and is retired from Wal-Mart he said. I asked what actors he remembered in Deliverance and he stated Ronny Cox (Drew Ballinger) and Ned Beatty (Bobby Trippe).“Ronny was really nice and the one I remember the mostâ€. I asked him if he was ever scared filming the movie and he stated “sitting on the bridge swingingâ€. The dueling banjo segment is a very iconic scene of the film. In the movie scene, Billy Redden (Lonnie) was not actually playing the banjo, instead another musician was playing. “He had his hands put through the shirt and with the angle they shot it looked as though I was playingâ€. Unfortunately, Billy was considered an extra for the movie and “was paid only $500 with no royalties for any usage or likeness†he stated. He also had an acting scene as Banjo Man in Tim Burton’s 2003 Big Fish movie. He stated he liked working with Tim Burton a lot and he was his favorite director. We talked off camera longer outside than the interview itself inside. 

See, Billy was at the inside entrance of the haunt signing autographs and taking selfies and our camera equipment was going to be holding up the line. There were people screaming as soon as they went in and running back out saying “Nope, nopeâ€.  Interesting onsite interviewing conditions to say the least. 

After all the interviewing, our WNN crew including Jermaine, Mason and myself set out to conquer all the haunts including the Haunted Pyramids, Monster Hill, The Abandoned, Carnival of Terror and Dr. Venom’s Snake Pit. The haunt buildings are old with creaky floors, dark maze type hallways, and Hollywood style special effects. We saw the scary monsters, clowns, movie villains, live snakes and were chased by chainsaw people. We did make it through all of them, being scared, spooked but not touched thank goodness.  

As we left the property you could hear The First Jason band playing in the background along with the flame throwers loud thump, see the fog laying low to the ground and the screams of the victims (attendees).  We left headed back on the winding country roads towards Cherryville NC in Gaston County. We talked about what  we just saw and how we survived the night. As with the interviewees and attendees you can still live your childhood again. It was an interesting and fun night that I will not soon forget. 

Want to Go: 

The Haunted Pyramids is located at 2745 Toney Road, Lawndale, NC 28090 (about 1 mile from Burns High School). Open every Friday and Saturday this October and Halloween.

Hours: 7:30PM-12:00AM

Website: www.hauntedpyramids.com

Article by Rusty Wise – Wise News Network

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