Scary Acres

I love haunted houses. They scare the crap out of me. Well....they usually do. :-)

Robin asked if Mot and I would go with her and Aaric to a haunted house. I haven't been to one in years....and thought it'd be fun. (I don't know that the guys felt the same way, but they ended up having a good time as well!)

The three of us didn't have much of a chance to be scared. We spent the night laughing at Robin, jumping out of her skin over...and over...and over...and over. My throat hurts and I have a headache from laughing so hard. Mot took some advil when we got home. :-)

Poor Robin. We made her lead our group, because it was her idea to go....and most importantly, we all wanted to be behind her, to see the show.

She didn't let us down!!!! :-)

The people working in the different attractions were really not paying a whole heck of a lot of attention to us.....while Robin had an imaginary bulls eye on her back!!

(Could be that she was walking in the fetal position, something I'd never seen done before.)

We were there for an hour and a half....30 minutes of that was probably spent in line. But, the evening was well worth the money. I LOVE haunted houses!!!!!



(Robin and Aaric in line for the castle, being blinded by my camera flash.)

There were 4 attractions at the park this year.

1) The Dark Forest - pretty much what it sounds like. A path through the woods....with people (zombi-ish) wandering around. People jumping out. Good stuff.

Robin was walking along, with 4 of these actors following her - she was a scare magnet!!! At one point, the dude is right behind her...as close as can be without touching her. Sniffing her hair and generally just freaking her out. She's got her hands over her ears so she can't hear what he's saying.....finally she stops, mid step. AFTER she stops she says "OK, I'm stopping." Did I mention she said it AFTER she stopped. The dude ran into the back of her. As we're leaving the forest (Robin still has actors following her - I think they sent the message out to others "we've got a live one here!").....one guy says to me "she's a fun one!"

We had another group of 2 people sent through with our group. They followed us to the castle, so they could be in our group again. Seems we're a fun bunch to go with. :-)

2) Master's Castle (newest attraction, and definitely the best!!!) This had everything a good haunted house should have. Entry through a fireplace, awesome actors, great set decoration, hallways that wind around while getting narrower and narrower and shorter and shorter (all in the pitch black), chainsaws, and equipment that shoots loud blasts of air.

And, the ever awesome Event Horizon tunnel. Not sure how to explain it, actually. OK, the room is a big tube, with small dots painted out of black light glowing material. There is a walkway above the floor with hand rails. The tube is spinning. The walkway is not moving, but the optical illusion is marvelous!!!! I have loved these things since they started showing up after the movie Event Horizon. Love them!!! You will actually fall down, if you don't hang on.....because it really makes you think the floor is moving sideways, up and down, etc. It's awesome!!!!!! :-)

(ok, I'll stop with all the exclamation points now)

There was one thing I'd never seen before, that gained my respect quickly.....a hallway filled with bungee cords. They were attached at the ceiling and floor, in strange angles....criss-crossing each other. So...it was dark, bungee cords were tripping you up....and you just knew that they were slowing you down so they could jump out and scare you more. Simple idea, yet effective on so many levels.

At the end, after you leave the castle building, they take you along a path winding through a courtyard in back. We're just about to the end, and Robin says (loudly) "crap, chainsaw...I smell chainsaw!!!!!!!" No more had she said it, and the dude jumps out. All 5 of her senses were working overtime!!!!

3) House on the Hill - again, good actors, GREAT sets, loud noises. There was one thing I hadn't seen used before. Entry into a room, through a hallway filled with airbags, and you have to fight your way along. Babies being born must feel this same sensation. There is NO way to push them away from you, you just have to push through them. Claustrophobics (like me) hate this kind of crap!!!! (hehehe)

4) Stalks of Terror - this one pretty much stunk, but we made the best of it. It's a maze, in cornstalks and tall grass. We were in there quite a while, roaming around....but nothing was jumping out. You could see where there were spots for people to hide, but no one was hiding. At first, I thought they were doing really good at the anticipation stuff. But I think, they just didn't have enough actors to fully run it...so they left it as only a maze last night. A big bummer....but as I said, we tried to make the most of it.

We'd turn down trails, and let Robin walk ahead on her own, until she noticed we weren't behind her any longer. Mot kept running his hands through the stalks and grass to freak her out. Aaric and I broke away from the group, to wind around and come up in front of Robin....to effectively scare the scrap out of her.

There's no way she shouldn't have slept like a baby that night. Poor thing was worn out....and probably had a sore throat. :-)