Bally · 1996 · Dot-matrix era (1991 to 1999)

Scared Stiff

Name: Scared Stiff
Brand: Bally

Design: Dennis Nordman, Mark Weyna · Art: Greg Freres

Scared Stiff is Elvira's second pinball machine, following 1989's Elvira and the Party Monsters, and like that game it came from designer Dennis Nordman and artist Greg Freres. Midway released it under the Bally name in September 1996, and Cassandra Peterson turned up as Elvira to promote it at the AMOA show. The trick is in the backbox, where a spider wheel spins when you trap the ball and you hit a flipper to stop it on an award. Rubber boogeymen were meant to dance on the slingshots, but they were pulled late in production for fear their arms would snap. The code still supports them, so plenty of owners have added them back. Only 4,028 were made.

1996 production gameGames with added boogeyman slingshot figures or lit skull eyes

Spec at a glance

Maker: Bally
Era: Dot-matrix era (1991 to 1999)
Theme: Character licenses
Year: 1996
Players: 4
Made: Midway, sold as Bally, September 1996
Design: Dennis Nordman and Mark Weyna
Art: Greg Freres
System: Williams WPC-95 with DCS sound
Display: Dot matrix (DMD)
Production: 4,028
Weight: 262 lb with legs (IPDB measured)
Also listed as: Elvira Scared Stiff pinball, Elvira pinball

Bench check

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

Boards and batteries: WPC-95 holds the batteries on the CPU board in a plastic shell, and leaking alkalines can still reach the board. Ask for a photo of the CPU board around the battery holder. The audio-video board's chip can fail so the sound disappears, so ask for a video with sound.
Display: The plasma dot-matrix display will outgas with age. Patchy or glowing dots in the photos mean it needs a new panel.
Playfield: Ask for straight-down photos in good light, especially in front of the flippers and around the skull pile. Check for worn paint and any insert that's lifted.
Toys and mechs: The spider wheel lives in the backbox. When the ball drops into the playfield trap, the spider spins and a flipper press stops it on an award. Ask for a video of the spider spinning and stopping. Lit skull eyes and dancing boogeymen on the slingshots weren't on production games, so if they're there, an owner added them.
Cabinet and art: Greg Freres drew the art, and he slipped in a book called Black Thursday after the 1996 layoffs that included Nordman. Check the backglass and cabinet sides in the photos for fading and scratches.
Moving it: One weighed 262 lb with legs. Fold the backbox forward onto padding first, because Williams' WPC instructions say never to move the game with it up.
Parts and code: The Midway ROMs are game 1.5 and sound 1.1. The boogeyman slingshot figures were cut late, but the code still supports them, which is why add-on kits are common.

Should come with it

Coin door keys
Manual

Check the listing photos against these lists, and ask the seller about anything you can’t see. A missing toy, glass or key should come off the price.

What to check

Battery leakage on the WPC-95 CPU board, sound loss from the audio-video board and a worn plasma display are the board-level jobs. The backbox spider wheel is the feature to see working.

01Batteries: Ask for a photo of the CPU board around the battery holder. It should be clean, with no crust.
02Sound: Ask for a video with the sound on. Elvira's callouts should play clearly.
03Spider wheel: Ask for a video of the spider spinning and a flipper stopping it. It should spin freely and stop on command.
04Display: Look at the lit display in the photos. The dots should glow evenly.
05Playfield: Ask for straight-down photos in good light. Look for worn paint in front of the flippers.
06Add-ons: Ask which mods are fitted. Boogeymen and lit skull eyes are after-factory.

Buying your first one? Red flags in a pinball listing covers the photos and videos to ask for, and the battery corrosion guide shows what leaking batteries do to an old CPU board.

Find one on eBay

We haven’t been through this game’s listings yet. Search eBay and run every listing through the checklist above. Ask for a video of a full game, a photo of the CPU board and photos of the playfield in good light, and ask what’s been replaced. Pass on any seller who won’t answer.

Search “Scared Stiff pinball” on eBay ↗eBay search

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Maker

Era

Theme

Read

Scared Stiff

Design: Dennis Nordman, Mark Weyna · Art: Greg Freres

1996 production gameGames with added boogeyman slingshot figures or lit skull eyes

Spec at a glance

Maker

Bally

Era

Dot-matrix era (1991 to 1999)

Theme

Character licenses

Year

1996

Players

Made

Midway, sold as Bally, September 1996

Design

Dennis Nordman and Mark Weyna

Art

Greg Freres

System

Williams WPC-95 with DCS sound

Display

Dot matrix (DMD)

Production

4,028

Weight

262 lb with legs (IPDB measured)

Also listed as

Elvira Scared Stiff pinball, Elvira pinball

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

Boards and batteries

WPC-95 holds the batteries on the CPU board in a plastic shell, and leaking alkalines can still reach the board. Ask for a photo of the CPU board around the battery holder. The audio-video board's chip can fail so the sound disappears, so ask for a video with sound.

Display

The plasma dot-matrix display will outgas with age. Patchy or glowing dots in the photos mean it needs a new panel.

Playfield

Ask for straight-down photos in good light, especially in front of the flippers and around the skull pile. Check for worn paint and any insert that's lifted.

Toys and mechs

The spider wheel lives in the backbox. When the ball drops into the playfield trap, the spider spins and a flipper press stops it on an award. Ask for a video of the spider spinning and stopping. Lit skull eyes and dancing boogeymen on the slingshots weren't on production games, so if they're there, an owner added them.

Cabinet and art

Greg Freres drew the art, and he slipped in a book called Black Thursday after the 1996 layoffs that included Nordman. Check the backglass and cabinet sides in the photos for fading and scratches.

Moving it

One weighed 262 lb with legs. Fold the backbox forward onto padding first, because Williams' WPC instructions say never to move the game with it up.

Parts and code

The Midway ROMs are game 1.5 and sound 1.1. The boogeyman slingshot figures were cut late, but the code still supports them, which is why add-on kits are common.

Should come with it

Coin door keys

Manual

Check the listing photos against these lists, and ask the seller about anything you can’t see. A missing toy, glass or key should come off the price.

What to check

Battery leakage on the WPC-95 CPU board, sound loss from the audio-video board and a worn plasma display are the board-level jobs. The backbox spider wheel is the feature to see working.

01Batteries: Ask for a photo of the CPU board around the battery holder. It should be clean, with no crust.

02Sound: Ask for a video with the sound on. Elvira's callouts should play clearly.

03Spider wheel: Ask for a video of the spider spinning and a flipper stopping it. It should spin freely and stop on command.

04Display: Look at the lit display in the photos. The dots should glow evenly.

05Playfield: Ask for straight-down photos in good light. Look for worn paint in front of the flippers.

06Add-ons: Ask which mods are fitted. Boogeymen and lit skull eyes are after-factory.

Buying your first one? Red flags in a pinball listing covers the photos and videos to ask for, and the battery corrosion guide shows what leaking batteries do to an old CPU board.

Find one on eBay

Scared Stiff

Spec at a glance

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

What to check

Find one on eBay

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Scared Stiff

Spec at a glance

Boards, playfield, toys and the trip home

What to check

Find one on eBay

Compare with

Monster Bash

Theatre of Magic

The Addams Family

Keep exploring