Welcome to Theme Park Adventure's 365 Days of Halloween!

This page is dead-icated to the haunted attraction industry, since many of TPA fans are huge dark industry enthusiasts as well!  So why not have a permanent home here on TPA where we can showcase new haunts, inform readers of goings-on within the industry and simply enjoy our favorite time of year every day?

TPA's 365 Days of Halloween is for haunted attractions of all sizes - from home haunts to professional powerhouses such as The Queen Mary Dark Harbor.  Big or small, it's all Halloween and it's all appreciated and enjoyed here on TPA by our staff and readers alike!

Review by Rick West

In 2009, while looking into various attractions to attend for our annual buffet of Halloween goodness, one of the home haunts that Johanna located was something in Burbank, California. It was called Burbank Underground, and was supposed to be a really cool home haunt. The only problem was, it ran only for a few nights, and due to our already-bulging October schedule, there was no way to work it in. Alas, Theme Park Adventure would have to wait another 12 months before our path would again cross with the gang at Rotten Apple 907.

When this past season rolled around and it was time to once again, start planning and plotting our gruesome fun, we immediately shifted our sites to the home haunt in Burbank. Only then did we realize that the theme - and name - change each season. Gone was Burbank Underground; this year, the name was Nightmare at the Museum.

We made contact with the folks behind this haunt and they were really happy to have us come out. As I have said before, home haunts are usually fairly mediocre, and so when we bump into something that is as absolutely crazy over-the-top as Rotten Apple's production, we get really excited. And I'll just say right off the bat... this group is awesome.

Diane and Preston Meyer have taken their love of haunted attractions to an extreme by spearheading an annual tradition that began in 1990 and has grown each season into a multi-night haunted attraction that draws crowds from all over Southern California. More importantly, with the crowds come generous donations. Rotten Apple 907 opts each season to support a local charity; in 2010, it was the Family Service Agency of Burbank. People attended this great haunted house and opened up their wallets, helping Rotten Apple to donate thousands to this worthy cause.

Each season, the charity that Rotten Apple chooses changes, just like their haunted house theme. In 2009, the group chose the Burbank Boys & Girls Club; in 2008, it was Autism Speaks; in 2007, it was the Burbank Arts Education Foundation. You get the picture - these folks are big on giving, giving, giving to their community. And that is wonderful. Not only do the Meyers put on a hell of a haunt, which we'll get to in a moment - they also do a huge amount of good for these charities rather than cash in and keep the profits for themselves. This is a good group of individuals who scare together, create together and give so very much back to the community of Burbank.

This year's haunt was Nightmare at the Museum, and as you might assume from the name, it was themed as... yep, a museum. Once inside, guests found themselves exploring a museum after hours to contend with prehistoric nasties, mysterious mummies and rampaging dinosaurs. A staggering amount of detail goes into Rotten Apple's productions - you literally have to continuously remind yourself that the whole thing is taking place in the Meyers' front yard; it's astounding.

The walk-through features various soundtracks, special effects and one of our favorite aspects of Rotten Apple 907... most of the sets, props and costumes are all home-made from scratch. And that is awesome! There's something about most everything being home-grown/built that makes a haunted attraction such as this that much better, you know? The pieces don't even have to be perfect - just the fact that these people take the time to make their own things totally kicks my ass. Rather than going to Halloween Club and buying a ton of things, most of the Rotten Apple production is home-made, which we love. HUGE props to anyone that takes the time to make their own things rather than sending someone out with a blank check to the nearest Halloween superstore with a list of store-bought props to acquire. Not Rotten Apple; like many great home haunts such as the Hallowed Haunting Grounds (R.I.P.) Boot Hill and even the House at Haunted Hill, this home haunt is legitimate and the crew takes great pride in creating most of their haunt by hand. The love shows and they should be very proud; it's a hell of a lot of work to not only change your theme and deliver a great haunt on time for the masses, only to tear it all down and reset it all again for Christmas.

Wait.

What?

Christmas?

Yep!

You see, Rotten Apple has learned that while people love coming out each October, most Halloween/haunt fans also geek out over awesome Christmas displays. So... what better way to extend the madness of Halloween than to create a Christmas attraction as well? Exhausting, right?

This year, the Meyers and their crew created Holiday Nightmare, a charming Christmas walk-through front yard display themed around The Nightmare Before Christmas. Just when you think this crew couldn't possibly give any more of themselves, they create a fantastic Christmas attraction. It's the only private haunted attraction that I know of in California that transforms in just a few weeks into a full-blown Christmas attraction; it truly is inspiring what these people accomplish.

Without going into detail (Diane, I am biting the hell out of my tongue here), the Meyers ran into some... snags with the city due to a lone grinch that lives nearby, which almost derailed their Christmas display completely. Miraculously, the crew rallied and the city got off their back and with lightning speed, they set up Holiday Nightmare 2010. According to Diane, the display is usually twice as large - but you know what? We thought it was truly awesome, and judging by the smiles and looks of wonder on the faces of the kids that we saw come through... no one noticed - or cared; what the Meyers did once again for the community and charity - wonderful.

We fully support and love what Diane, Preston and the Rotten Apple team do. It's thrilling that they are just minutes away from us here in the Los Angeles area, and we look forward to covering their haunting fun each and every year! Bravo!

BRAVO!

Rotten Apple 907's official web page: http://www.rottenapple907.com/

Discuss Rotten Apple 907 on our Message Board

Review by Rick West

Discuss Werewolves in Wonderland on our Message Board

By Johanna Atilano

For weeks, Rick (yes, that Rick - Mr. TPA) was planning something special for us to do on Halloween night. Usually, we end our season on Halloween with a “date night" – no cameras, or any equipment – just ourselves to explore various haunts we haven’t experienced yet after a nice dinner out. Earlier in the month, I realized, Hey, I have never been a monster. Unless you want to count my 8th grade haunted house... but other than that, I have never had the experience of being a monster or even scaring. I suggested to Rick that we spend Halloween night scaring with our friends at Boot Hill (Rick co-founded this haunt years ago with Shea Foley) in Irvine, but that idea seemingly did not hold his interest for some reason… little did I know he was already deep in the planning stages of something else.

Sitting in our room on October 30th, Rick couldn't keep the secret any longer. "We're going to scare at the L.A. Haunted Hayride," he said, grinning.

It was the day before Halloween, and Rick knew we had to prepare for the following night. Plus, I was bugging him non-stop at that point to tell me what he had planned. When he did tell me, my stomach leapt into my throat – “L.A. Haunted Hayride? L.A. HAUNTED HAYRIDE?”

The L.A. Haunted Hayride was one of our favorite haunts of the season. The crew has always been incredibly generous to us – in a way, it was perfectly fitting for us to scare with this fantastic cast to end the Halloween 2010 season.

Immediately, I knew this wasn’t a typical haunt to scare at. The guests are ON a tractor rig, completely vulnerable and unable to move. Unlike "normal" haunts where guests are able to walk around freely - as well as the monsters - guests on a hayride is a different ballgame completely. This made me nervous. I know how to make guests in a haunted house startled; jump out of corners, look creepy… but to entertain and scare guests on a hayride being pulled by a tractor? This would require a little more work…

Rick and I arrived at the make-up trailer as the sun was setting, all pumped-up and ready to go! We still weren’t sure what we would be – zombies, clowns, hillbillies, demons – or what location on the trail we'd be placed.

“We’re going to make you guys up as cannibal clowns.”

Clowns! People hate clowns! Cannibal clowns? Even better! We were instantly excited, especially since we know the adverse reaction people have toward clowns.

I sat in the make-up chair, excited to see how they’d transform me into a clown. Justin Meyer, our amazing make-up artist for the evening, explained the left side of my face would be a bloody and gory mess, with safety pins around my eye! Awesome! Rick would have something similar, and would appear as though he'd, “been hit with a baseball bat.”

Costume… check.

Make-up… check.

7:00 P.M... check.

We were ready to go!

We walked over to our location, which was after the clown tent at the end of the trail. We shared the space with two other actors, but we basically had our own area; all eyes would be on us. We would be in the spotlight!

We heard distant screams and knew the first tractor of the evening was coming near. We were ready, but I was nervous. We heard the music from the clown tent; that was our cue.

Ready... Set... Go!

Wow! We were able to scare guests immediately! I wasn’t sure what to do at first, and did not dare to speak to prevent embarrassing myself. BUT, there were many flinches, screams, and more!

At first, I attempted to be a creepy, silent clown, and would intimidate guests. When I got into my groove, I started doing a strange, giggling sound, point at a guest, and end it with a gagging noise. They did not like that!

There was minimal lighting in our area, and once we were visible, sheer terror and disgust would appear on all those faces looking back at us! How exhilarating! Who knew that completely terrifying people would be so much fun?

There’s a saying in the haunt community that fans know best. As an avid haunt fan and the co-owner of Theme Park Adventure, I’ve experienced hundreds of haunted attractions and events as a guest and through the camera lens. I know horror movies and Halloween. I took everything I’ve learned and exerted that knowledge in my five hours of scaring.

After a couple hours, I noticed a few things…

We weren’t scaring in a haunted house, but at a hayride. There were maybe 25-30 people in each tractor rig. There were no plywood walls for us to hide behind. We didn’t wear any type of gloves or kneepads. We were given absolutely no props. We had to rely on ourselves – creativity, improvisation – anything. There were 30 or so customers, waiting to be scared on a moving tractor bed. Remember, the tractors were moving, and these things weighed a ton! While we were scaring, we had to walk (sometimes run) along the tractors and mind our feet to not be run over by these million-ton hulks of machinery!

Scare the left side.

Scare the back.

Scare the right side.

Follow behind.

Scaring at the Hayride relied heavily on improvisation. Speech is an important element when scaring at a hayride. We needed to say something to prevent guests from staring at us awkwardly. We couldn’t pop out of a dark corner and call it a scare. We had a few minutes to give our best performance until the next tractor (every five minutes or so). It was tough, and I did have my moments where I felt stupid when a guest wouldn’t get scared, but we made it work.

I’m a petite woman, and… this type of physical appearance isn’t necessarily scary. I found that characteristics I could not control affected my scaring. Men have the advantages of having a booming voice and brawny body structure. When we were scaring, I noticed that Rick would get a lot more attention, and much better reaction from people. He was able to take advantage of his “low and manly” voice, while I was stuck with the complete opposite. Of course, you can do a lot with scaring as a woman – but in general, men have the advantage of getting a quicker and bigger scare. Imagine this: you’re alone in an abandoned hospital. You hear a noise. You see a shadow. A man is running toward you with a baseball bat.

With that in mind, imagine this: you’re alone in an abandoned hospital. You hear a noise. You see a shadow. A 5-foot 4-inch woman is running toward you with a baseball bat.

Yeah.

Women are at a disadvantage, and I definitely noticed that when I was scaring. But of course, that did not stop me. I had girls scrambling in the hay and made men speechless. Who would’ve known that good make-up, atmosphere, and improvisation could make adults crawl with fear?

By the end of the night, we were beat. We did the full run – 7:00 P.M. until almost midnight, with no breaks. We scared our best, but boy, we did not know what hit us! The morning after was filled with sore muscles, bruised hands, and lost voices. It was worth the pain though, and was an amazing night!

Thank to the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride crew for letting us scare on the final night with you. You are all amazing! We recognize the hard work and pain endured during the run, and praise the incredible work that is done by the crew!

A special thank you to Melissa Carbone, the head haunt master of the L.A. Haunted Hayride for allowing us to spend our Halloween "date night" with you guys, and thank you for plotting and planning with Rick! It was amazing!

Discuss this story or the LA Haunted Hayride in general on our Message Board

By Rick West

Do you ever find yourself sitting, watching Travel Channel shows on various haunted attractions around the country, and feel like they might as well be in China, since they're always in different states and a long way from where you live? Depressing, isn't it? That's how we felt, until we came across Reign of Terror, a haunted house attraction in Thousand Oaks, California.

Reign of Terror started over 10 years ago as a Southern California home haunt. And it grew. And grew. You know how that goes! With the wild success of his creation, owner Bruce Stanton decided to go pro, and the maze has found a long-term spot in a huge, unused space at the Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks. This arrangement allows Stanton the luxury of keeping his haunt up year-round, where he can work on it and add to it whenever he likes; a great perk for any haunter with big plans!

Theme Park Adventure had become aware of Reign of Terror in recent years, but the opportunity to visit has been evasive. Until this past season, when we made it a direct focus of our Halloween 2010 coverage to make the trek to ROT and check it out in all its spooky glory. We made the drive - which is not a small one - from the Los Angeles area to Thousand Oaks. As rain fell, we drove anxiously to our destination and with a minimal amount of searching, found it.

Reign of Terror has taken up residence in the Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks, which is a large, outdoor mall that like many of its kind, seems to be struggling in this current economy. That may be a good thing ultimately for Reign of Terror, since it appears they are going to be staying at the mall as long as no retailer wants to suddenly lease their huge space above Gold's Gym.

The staff was immediately warm and professional when we arrived, and the team at the stand-alone ticket booth for Reign of Terror instructed us on where to go to find the entrance to the attraction. Despite the rain, a decent amount of people were waiting to be let in (we arrived shortly after the scheduled opening time). As we went inside, we had to climb several flights of stairs - which was kind of a drag, considering we had our equipment with us and both of my knees are fairly shot to hell. I wondered aloud about wheelchair access or folks with issues such as mine or perhaps elderly guests. I assume there is an elevator somewhere for this, but we didn't press the subject, nor did we dwell on it longer than it took me to drag my ass up the stairs.

All thoughts of accessibility and my creaky knees left immediately when we reached the entrance and first gazed upon the queue area and the facade of Reign of Terror. Just as I proclaimed, "HOLY SHI..." a fantastic clap of thunder drowned me out and a brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the entire area - it was as if we'd stepped on to a movie set! We instantly went into haunted attraction fan freak-out geek-out mode and were giddy with excitement!

The queue for Reign of Terror is indoors, and while it's mainly a switchback situation, there is a decent amount of show going on around you to keep you distracted, whether it's the ominous building facades or the perfect thunder and lightning effects - it's totally cool and everyone in line seemed to be taking it all in and appeared to be really excited.

Detail, detail, detail is the name of the game at Reign of Terror. From the gorgeous show lighting on the facade to bubbling "boiling" water on a stovetop in one of the maze's scenes, Bruce and his crew absolutely have perfected richly-themed environments and each scene is a delight. There are even a few scents thrown in for good measure in some of the rooms - Reign of Terror is polished from beginning to end, and very few stones have been left unturned. To the average guest, they will enjoy a long, scary journey through a haunted house filled with props, talent and lots of winding corridors. To seasoned haunt veterans, it is an absolute jaw-dropper of an experience in every sense.

The maze itself is long - as you will see if you choose to watch our video flow-through of ROT below. Not only is it a very lengthy maze, it is very well-paced and each room feeds into the next almost seamlessly. Reign of Terror is technically two haunted houses in one, which most visitors won't pick up on; there is only one queue for the whole thing and as you transition from one haunt to the other, you really don't get the feeling of entering a secondary attraction. That may be remedied in 2011, as Bruce explained to us that one of the facades in the queue will serve as the entrance to a "house of Hell", very gory, very high-intensity maze, if all goes according to plan. Once done with that experience, guests will snake back out into the main queue area before entering the second, existing attraction as it is now. We certainly believe Bruce and his team can and will pull it off - and you can bet we'll be there in 2011 to check it all out and bring it to you first-hand!

Reign of Terror employs a lot of props - from mechanical gags to static pieces. The staging is fantastic and overall, the flow of the production is just about flawless; where there are no live actors, there are gag scares. And where there are no gags/prop pieces, you can bet there will be a real live ghoul waiting to scare the crap out of you in the darkness. And of course, many times, there are both in the same space - in those cases, you're just screwed no matter what you do! Many of these elements are home-made pieces and some are off-the-shelf elements. However, the detailing and extreme staging of everything puts Reign of Terror aesthetically way beyond many theme park productions; saying that ROT's attention to detail is even more focused than the best mazes at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights event is not an understatement. Bruce knows what he's doing and he and his team absolutely go for it in every scene. The end result is amazing - and startling, considering most haunted attractions never reach the level of detail that is found throughout Reign of Terror.

The soundtrack used in Reign of Terror is not original material, but in this case, it doesn't need to be. Reign of Terror isn't the type of maze that a big, unique score is going to do anything for - the maze is more visual than audio-dependant and to be honest, a one-of-a-kind soundtrack would likely be lost and go unnoticed and unappreciated by the masses. Currently, the music is ambient, complimentary to the visuals surrounding the guests and ultimately, does its job.

Reign of Terror features a lot of actors and actresses that bring their roles to life each night for terrified guests. While not necessarily a critical element to the attraction, the live talent does play a large role in the momentum and scare factor of the maze. Some monsters were stronger than others - and we found a really unique blend of enthusiastic volunteers as well as two veteran monsters that once called Knott's Halloween Haunt their home each October. To have that caliber of talent in conjunction with an already-impressive visual feast of sets and rooms... it doesn't get better, folks. We're talking absolute Travel Channel status.

The only thing that struck us as a bit out of place was a freezer room, which featured a buxom female prop bound at the wrists, covered with ice. We've seen this - as has anyone else venturing through either the Saw maze in Brea a couple years ago, or in the Saw maze at Universal Studios Hollywood's HHN event. It seemed to me that this was the weakest room of all, since it was something I'd already seen elsewhere and is a visual that is so heavily-associated with the Saw franchise. In the same breath, I will say that while this room was a been-there-seen-that situation, the detail was superior to any of the incarnations that I've seen before. The ice looked like ice, the room was really cold, and the lighting was perfect. So, while the scene was nothing new and was a let-down personally for me in that respect, at the same time, I give Bruce huge props for absolutely taking the level of detail one huge step beyond even Universal in execution. So, hopefully, this is one of the scenes that Bruce may re-imagine in the coming year, and at the same time, kudos on the kick-ass detailing! What a weird mix - don't think I've ever written about that scenario in a review before!

Reign of Terror is here to stay and is showing no signs of slowing down or scaling back. That means that you have an assignment, kids - to make sure you visit this dark attraction once they open for the 2011 Halloween season. This is a MUST-see attraction and absolutely is a world-class haunt that more and more people will be drawn to as word spreads. Theme Park Adventure gives Reign of Terror ridiculously high marks - our minds were, and remain blown by this attraction. Easily, Reign is one of our favorite haunts of all time, and has become a definite long-term staple of our Halloween coverage for many years to come.

Reign of Terror official website: http://rothauntedhouse.com/

Discuss Reign of Terror 2010 on the Message Board

Review by Rick West

If you're familiar at all with Theme Park Adventure, you know that October is by far, the busiest time of the year for us. We spend the entire Halloween season covering as many haunts as possible, and then spend the rest of the year (and sometimes beyond) sorting it all out for our readers on the site. It's grueling, but fun work that we do.

The biggest frustration is knowing there are haunts out there that we just cannot get to. I'm not talking about things like Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando or attractions in other states, really. There is more than enough right here in Southern California, where Theme Park Adventure is based, to go around. And inevitably, we simply cannot see everything there is to see. I work a 40+ hour "day job" and Johanna goes to college and works part-time. During October, our nights and weekend are spent visiting and shooting haunts non-stop. It's exhausting, as you can imagine. Sleep is a luxury.

Each season, we attempt to keep tabs on haunts we support and are familiar with, as well as try to get some new attractions into the mix to keep our coverage fresh and exciting for our readers. We study what's popular online, we do research, and contact various haunts to see if they'd be interested in having us come out and shoot. It's a lot of planning and communicating with these haunts that brings about the end results that you guys have here on TPA to enjoy.

More and more, haunts are beginning to see what we do here on the site, and they reach out to us. Such is the case with Chambers of the Mausoleum. In 2009, we received an invitation from them to come see their haunt at Castle Park in Riverside, California. Unfortunately, our entire season was literally booked solid, and we didn't get to visit Chambers.

Loads of people said it was an outstanding maze last season. Even my step-dad razzed me and said we'd missed a winner. It was apparent that something special was going on at Castle Park. We just simply didn't have the chance to see it.

Fast-forward to 2010. One of the haunts that we have worked with for the past few years is Coffin Creek in Corona, California. Located within Crossroads Riverview Park, Coffin Creek has been expanding with the goal of being one massive "Halloween village" with tons of attractions and activities for the whole family.

During the summer of 2010, we caught wind that Chambers of the Mausoleum had said farewell to Castle Park, and had agreed to become part of the Coffin Creek project. It was inevitable that TPA and Chambers would finally cross paths for Halloween 2010.

We arrived at Coffin Creek, and explored all that the haunt had to offer this year (full report is separate from this one, and will be posted on TPA soon), saving Chambers of the Mausoleum for the end of the night.

There's no more simple way to put this; Chambers of the Mausoleum absolutely kicked our ass. We experienced the maze first as guests, and walked out absolutely stunned stupid. We were so impressed that for minutes, we were speechless.

I felt so dumbfounded that TPA had managed to miss this amazing attraction for so long, even as our readers and family members were imploring us to pay Chambers a visit. Good Lord!

Without rambling too much longer, I'll get down to it for you:

Chambers of the Mausoleum is one of those rare gems that really stands by itself when it comes to haunted attractions. It's a tremendous undertaking by haunt master James Brown and his dedicated team that brings this massive maze to life.

And it is massive - taking approximately 10 minutes to walk through, Chambers of the Mausoleum is longer than most of the mazes at Knott's Halloween Haunt, and definitely longer - almost twice the length - of the mazes at Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights.

The level of detail in chambers goes head-to-head with any pro/theme park haunt we've ever seen, which is so much more than we honestly expected from this attraction. From crypts, to subterranean walkways filled with running water, Chambers is a force to be reckoned with in the dark industry arena.

Each group of 8 or so is led through the maze by a tour guide - something that is rare, and very effective. Without speaking a word, the Chambers tour guides lead guests on a terrifying journey into the darkness that truly has to be experienced to be appreciated fully. There are several rooms within Chambers that feature show elements where the scene comes to life around you - very effective and totally cool; thus, one of the reasons for each group to have a tour guide. The maze itself is large enough that even with these show elements, groups never back up on each other or bunch up; it is a smooth process that we were very impressed by.

The soundtrack in Chambers of the Mausoleum is fantastic. A mix of instrumental music and ambient tracks, along with a few custom spoken bits, makes this attraction's audio elements totally effective and spot-on. So often, good mazes are destroyed by a crap soundtrack or heavy metal thrown into the mix, completely ruining the theming and intended emotion. Chambers is a perfect audio experience; some things we've heard before elsewhere, and others are brand-new and completely custom to this maze. Needless to say, anything custom - be it sound/music or props/masks - is what we really appreciate and notice in Halloween attractions. Is Chambers' soundtrack 100% unique? No. However, the tracks chosen for this maze work beautifully, and in the end, that's what counts.

James and his crew should be very proud of themselves. They were all very professional and absolutely awesome to work with. They liked having us there as much as we were thrilled to be there! They all love what they do, and it shows - some of them have worked for James for years now; Chambers has become quite the well-oiled machine team-wise.

Once in a while, we come across a certain aspect of a haunted attraction that REALLY stands out and makes us take pause; it's not easy, but it does happen from time to time. Such is the case with the Mausoleum's resident "demon", Ben Schwank. This guy had a home-made demon costume that is absolutely gorgeous. The first time we encountered him inside the maze, we were blown away - it was one of those moments when even the most jaded haunt-goers stop dead in their tracks and exclaim, "NO WAY!" Ben's surroundings are fantastic as well - the chamber is filled with all sorts of little imps and demons that Ben has created himself. It's a show-stopper, for sure, and something that we couldn't write this review without mentioning. We are humbled by Ben's demon character - and are so stoked that we had the opportunity to shoot images of him in all his unholy glory!

The whole cast and crew should be proud of themselves - Chambers of the Mausoleum is one of the most amazing haunts we have ever seen, and is now a solid cornerstone of Coffin Creek for years to come. The great thing about having Chambers as part of the Coffin Creek family now is that it raises the bar for the project, making it not only important - but necessary for the rest of Coffin Creek to live up to this attraction's stunning detail and well-oiled operation.

We thank James and the Chambers team for opening up their attraction for us with such amazing enthusiasm. Theme Park Adventure looks forward to supporting this great group of individuals and their world-class haunted attraction for years to come!

Chambers of the Mausoleum/Coffin Creek official site: http://coffincreek.com/coffincreek.html

Discuss Chambers of the Mausoleum 2010 on our Message Board

Review by Rick West

Take me out to the ball game...

Screw it; just take me out to the park! With the 2010 Halloween season came a whole new Field of Screams The Haunted Stadium in Lake Elsinore, California. As you may remember from last season's review of this unique haunted attraction, Theme Park Adventure completely got behind haunt master Kyle Nadeau and his team in Lake Elsinore, California.

Built into Lake Elsinore's The Diamond baseball stadium, Field of Screams The Haunted Stadium is home to two large-scale mazes, as well as scare zones packed with fog and roaming monsters. Easily one of our favorite haunts, The Haunted Stadium also carries the distinction of successfully going against one of our top Halloween pet peeves by employing young teens as talent.

Normally, we hate, hate, hate, hate when haunted attractions attempt to scare guests with an army of ghosts and ghouls who haven't even learned to shave yet. The Theme Park Adventure Halloween mantra... KIDS ARE NOT SCARY AS MONSTERS. KIDS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE AS MONSTERS. KIDS WILL NOT SCARE ANYONE BUT KIDS YOUNGER THAN THEMSELVES.

That said, Kyle manages to pull this one off decently each season with a cast of teens that absolutely bring it and play for keeps. Granted, there are still a few that honestly, should not be working as monsters, because they're simply not very good. But hell, you get that with adult talent at haunt events too, so that's perhaps a non-issue point. The bulk of the Haunted Stadium team absolutely knows what its doing and regardless of age, they are totally professional and love their event. It shows. That stands as a testament to the young adults themselves as well as the guidance and know-how of Kyle, who oversees every aspect of the haunt.

One of the most striking things about The Haunted Stadium's mazes to me is how creative they are. Sure, they have elements and themes that have been done before - but every haunt is "guilty" of that. Who hasn't done a mad scientist's lab, or a gothic vampire room? How about an insane asylum or an Alice in Wonderland theme? We've all been there, done that. However, the creativity that goes into the mazes at The Haunted Stadium is awesome; rather than feeling like you're simply walking through a haunted house, you feel like you're really, part of something much larger - kind of like a living theatrical experience, if that makes much sense.

Kyle puts a lot of experience and know-how into these mazes; the enthusiasm that the talent brings totally breathes life into these attractions, making them frightening, good fun and for those of us that really get off on this kind of thing... absolutely gorgeous. The thought process and planning of these mazes is detailed and professional. The props are fantastic - many of them produced in-house by Kyle and his team - and the layout of the mazes is great.

This season, the layout changed a lot compared to the 2009 season - and might I add, for the better. Last season, the mazes began on the main level of the stadium and made their way via stairs within the mazes to the playing field level. Not only did this pose safety concerns (to us - and probably to Kyle and his insurance company as well), it ended up spitting guests out onto the field of The Diamond. Suddenly, you had a lot of guests running out of the mazes onto the field. To get back to where the action was, you had to walk up darkened concrete steps past row after row of stadium seats. Many folks would stop in the darkness to sit and rest, socialize and naturally, do things they shouldn't be doing. Besides the security concerns, this was also an issue for disabled guests, older guests or those like myself that have challenges with stairs or inclines (I have bad knees that tend to go out after stair climbing, etc.).

The 2010 season saw the layout of the two mazes greatly changed and they remain on one level. Not only does this eliminate the above-mentioned concerns, we found that it just allowed the mazes to flow better with a much more even pace without the sacrifice you'd think might be felt as a result of "cutting" some of the maze layout down. Not so. The mazes were long, the tempo remained even throughout each attraction and ultimately, I do believe this change is a win-win for everyone, from guests to the haunt itself.

The first maze was Return to Wonderland, which, as you might guess by the title, is an Alice in Wonderland theme. Backed by an interesting soundtrack and paced nicely between strange characters and spooky rooms, this was the more "family-friendly" of the two mazes, although definitely not for the young ones. One of the cool things about this maze was the fact that several of the character masks such as the Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit were home-made, specifically unique to this maze. Any time a haunt makes their own stuff, Theme Park Adventure loves it - and it becomes much more legit in our book.

Everyone is fairly familiar with this theme, so it was pretty much what you'd expect... odd monsters and Alice along the way, encountering creatures and asking for your help. All of the guests that we observed seemed to really enjoy Return to Wonderland, as well they should have; it was a cool maze with some really nice touches!

The second maze was our personal favorite, The Asylum. With a name of "Happy Trails", the foreboding tone was set as the great facade really built the anticipation of those waiting in queue. This is the maze that really tested the limits of the Haunted Stadium talent. The Asylum was a raw, in-your-face experience where much of the time, the actors simply screamed - which at first, we thought a bit annoying... but in retrospect, it almost seems right. If people were really disturbed, locked away in an insane asylum and they were unhappy and enraged - there would be a whole lot of screaming. So... let the shrieking begin! The maze also allowed more interaction with guests and put several actors in the spotlight as well. Huge props to the young lady at the beginning of the maze - the "receptionist". She absolutely rolled her spiel off the tip of her tongue like a seasoned vet. We witnessed her interacting with large groups and then one-on-one with our camera. Regardless of the length of her speaking bit, she nailed it each time - and never once flubbed a word. This was one of those instances that really works in The Haunted Stadium's favor when the youth of the talent is eclipsed by the professional range of their ability. Never once did we think, high school kid... when the receptionist was greeting guests at the Happy Trails Asylum; we merely noted how good she was. That's huge and a critical win for Kyle and his team.

The soundtrack in The Asylum was genius - the song "Happy Trails" played throughout the maze, speeding up and slowing down like an old worn-out recording or cassette tape might. It absolutely worked and we loved it. A small detail that was absolutely perfect.

While we loved this maze, there is one thing that I cannot ignore while reviewing Field of Screams. And this really bugged both Johanna and me... toward the end of the maze, guests find themselves in a maternity ward that was right out of Knott's Halloween Haunt's Club Blood maze, monster baby delivery gag and nursery included. If you watch the video below, you will see what I'm talking about if you're familiar with Halloween Haunt. That scene is so... iconic, I suppose... that reproducing it anywhere other than Club Blood at Knott's Scary Farm is going to feel like a glaring mistake. A flat-out copy. And given the fact that Kyle's haunt is otherwise, so damned creative and unique, I think the choice to use this scene was just a bad decision. That said, I'm also sure many of the guests visiting The Haunted Stadium perhaps had never seen this setup before, so to them, it was new and crazy. We were simply in the position of knowing where the inspiration for this particular scene truly came from, so that was not impressive to us.

Club Blood scene aside, we loved the balls-out craziness of the talent in The Asylum and give them all major props for a job well done. They were creepy, enthusiastic, loud, and generally nuts... which in this case, was a good thing!

And so, another year came and went at The Haunted Stadium in Lake Elsinore. It was a great haunt this year and we absolutely love what Kyle and his team have got going there. As long as the themes keep changing and Kyle keeps the haunt fresh and unique, TPA will be there supporting them year after year. This is a tremendously talented group and the very rare exception to the "Kids Are NOT Scary" sentiment.  These kids are great, and where some may lack in brute scariness, the majority of them more than make up for in professionalism and awesome enthusiasm.

Kudos to everyone at Field of Screams on another very cool and successful season! We love you guys!

Field of Screams The Haunted Stadium official site: http://www.hauntedstadium.com/

RETURN TO WONDERLAND

THE ASYLUM

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Review by Rick West

We hadn't heard of Heritage Haunt before, even though the event has been going on for years in Santa Clarita. Haunt master Scott Sivley searched Theme Park Adventure out and was kind enough to invite us to Heritage Haunt this year.

What we found was a very interesting mix of hit-or-miss attractions bundled into one large-scale family-oriented Halloween festival located at Heritage Junction, which is owned and operated by the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.

Here's what we picked up on immediately once inside the attraction grounds... many employees/volunteers were openly apologizing to guests for the down-sizing of the event, especially the walk-thru "haunted house", which I'll get to more in a moment. Right off the bat, we frowned on this, as it instantly lowered our expectations and made us wonder just how much less significant of an event this year's Heritage Haunt was compared to years past. As first-timers, the last thing we wanted or needed to hear upon entering were apologies for the lack of show; not a great way at all to begin the night.

The setting itself is fantastic - Heritage Junction is a combination of the old West and an interesting collection of re-located buildings to the property, such as the Newhall Ranch House and Ramona Chapel. So, the one thing that Heritage Haunt absolutely has, is a great foundation to build on; many haunters would kill for surroundings such as Heritage Junction during the Halloween season.

As we entered, we found roaming monsters, and they were totally into it, going after guests left and right, guys, gals and kids. So props to the "street" monsters at Heritage Haunt. There were even a couple sliding monsters, which was cool to see - and not an easy task, since the ground was uneven and mostly dirt. Some of the monsters tended to linger way too close for a bit too long, which for me is a turn-off and not scary. I like my personal space, and it's okay if someone pops in and out to scare; but lingering, especially when I am obviously not creeped out or frightened - that's just annoying. However, most young monsters do this out of inexperience. Over time, most veteran monsters polish up on their scare tactics and learn on their own the fine line between being creepy and becoming a pest. I have no doubt that some of the monsters at Heritage were perhaps even first or second-year talent. So, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and didn't let the personal space thing bother me too much when it happened a few times.

The "haunted house" actually was inside the Newhall Ranch House, which looked great on the outside. Unfortunately, while the creative spirit was there... the attraction was really underwhelming. The wait was painfully long, due to one of the two rooms of the attraction being a "show" room. The second room was a bang and scare, with a young teen monster screaming at you to leave, to get out of his house. 30-minute wait for a four-minute experience... not good. And before it sounds like I am being harsh - this was one of the attractions at Heritage Haunt where the staff was apologizing up and down to people standing in line, and telling all of us how the haunted house had to be down-sized this year as opposed to how it was last year, etc. So, we went in to the haunted house with low expectations because the staff spent 10 minutes pounding it into our heads that it was really short and not much to it. Well, at least they were right.

I will say that the haunted house did incorporate a really nice little Pepper's Ghost trick at the beginning as guests were asked to peer through a window of the old historical home. That worked really well, and I was able to snap a picture of that later on, which you see above in the story banner as well as a larger version below in the photo gallery. It should be said that the "show" room of the haunted house was neat as well with different effects taking place a la a séance type of set-up. Ultimately however, the build-up was not at all equal to the rapid and fairly non-existent finale, which left us walking out of the house asking, "Wait... that's it?" If Heritage Haunt returns in 2011 (half the staff says it may not), our suggestion would be to really hit the haunted house with creative guns blazing - because it's a hell of a nice building to work with, with a built-in haunted history to feed off of. No excuses next year; just get in there and make it happen.

The next attraction was a small area that was named Indian Trails. It was a dark walk-through open area dotted with teepees and various "Indian" props. There were a few people roaming around as talent, and a random Pumpkinhead figure at the end. There wasn't really a trail, per se... and it wasn't scary. It was just kind of... there. On the positive side, small kids that we saw going through Indian Trails seemed to think it was pretty neat, so in the end, it worked to that extent.

Another attraction that had similar appeal was Chewy's Pirate Cove. It was a pirate-themed area that was marked by a large pirate ship, with live talent on and around it. That was fairly cool, and it left me reminiscing about Pirates of Emerson in the San Francisco Bay Area and all the years I spent covering that haunted attraction for Theme Park Adventure readers. Unfortunately, that's where the similarities ceased. The rest of the "cove" was a walk-around trail lined with odd props and not one live monster, which I found disappointing. The kids that were brave enough to break free of mom and dad and explore the area on their own seemed fairly into it, however. So, once again... spooky is in the eye of the beholder. This 40-year-old kid was left vastly underwhelmed, while the 10-year-old kids thought it was cool and seemed a bit timid to explore the area alone. The coolest part of the area didn't have anything to do with the theme at all - but the Ramona Chapel was worth the walk through the area to see; what a cool little building!

But I digress...

The "main event" of Heritage Haunt was its touted Hay Ride of Nightmares. Deemed "The longest hay ride in all of L.A. County", I will say that size-wise, that is probably correct; the area that the hay ride occupied was huge. Enormous. Probably two or three times that of the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride.

However...

It isn't fair to boast that you have the largest anything if most of the space in question isn't used! The wait was painfully long for the hay ride; I don't know whether it was opening weekend glitches or what - but we waited at least an hour in line with other bored families, growing impatient as the same monsters did their best to keep everyone entertained in line. The bottom line is, standing in line, not moving for that long sucks - it doesn't matter where you are or what you're waiting to ride. No one likes that kind of wait. On top of that, it was cold; our noses were frozen and our ankles began to ache from not moving after a while; it really was not good. The hayride used trucks as opposed to tractors to pull guests in the flatbed trailers, which struck us as a bit odd... but at the end of the day, I suppose the method of transportation isn't really that important; just so it actually does transport people! If you're going to have an attraction like a hayride, you have to have the vehicles to meet your capacity - otherwise, you get Mr. and Mrs. Crankypants wanting to know why they're having to wait so long in line in the freezing cold and drizzle.

The ride itself began fairly promising - the first stop was next to a witch that cursed all of us to the haunted woods beyond. I thought it was a really cool introduction. Unfortunately, it completely fell apart after that. The "scenes" were few and far between and most of them consisted of some chain link fencing and a few wooden flats thrown up for people to hide behind. There was relatively no show lighting, no soundtrack, and no storyline. Here's where I completely disconnected. Say it with me... children are not scary as monsters. I repeat... Children are NOT scary as monsters. I don't care if they are volunteers, the police chief's kids or the student of the month from Santa Clarita Elementary. Kids that haven't yet hit puberty are about as scary as the dude from Blues Clues. Actually... I take that back; he actually is pretty freakin' scary.

But in general, kids working haunted attractions - are not. Case in point, we had an "escaped convict" jump up into our vehicle and catch a ride with us for most of the trip - which was terribly distracting and annoying, considering it made it hard to concentrate on the rest of the hayride. This "convict" was really small and really young. As he tried acting tough and menacing, people were laughing. He asked what was so funny, and someone replied, "You look like Justin Bieber!" which made everyone crack up. It was awkward, funny, sad and ultimately, everyone aboard that was older than 15 completely lost interest at that point. A young girl seemed a bit freaked-out by the kid, and to our amusement, one of her friends said aloud, "Why are you scared? He's our age!"

We were very concerned throughout the ride as talent jumped on and off the moving trailer. It seemed very, very dangerous to us. Some of the kids even held on to the back of the trailer and dirt-surfed as the truck sped up... there is no way that should have been allowed. No way. When we witnessed a "monster" that didn't look a day past 12 doing it, I almost said something, but opted to keep my mouth shut. Not my place. Not my lawsuit. Needless to say, we were horrified beyond belief that these kids were doing this - or more accurately, were apparently allowed to do this.

Again, most haunters would kill for a massive amount of land to use like that. And in the end, 95% of the Hay Ride of Nightmares was a mess. A total waste of time and energy. I hate dinging any haunted attraction so hard... but dangit, I'm just keeping it real here - and the hayride needs a lot of work if it returns for the 2011 season. A lot of work.

Many of you already know that I am not a show person. I don't care whether it's Disneyland, Universal Studios, Halloween Haunt at Knott's or wherever... theme park-style shows and entertainment almost always completely sucks in my opinion. I don't like shows as a rule of thumb. So, you can imagine my utter chagrin when Scott told us the one thing he absolutely wanted us to see was a show... Alice in Scaryland. My mind was reeling with all sorts of negative thoughts and my stomach instantly went sour. Besides being a show at a Halloween festival/attraction, it was a dance show, of all things. Yuck.

And this, dear reader, is where the redemption comes. This is where utter surprise and totally real excitement crept into the darkness for us. Alice in Scaryland, performed by the New World Dance group, was really cool - very interesting and ultimately, hands-down our favorite part of the entire haunt! Many members of the Canyon High School Dance Team made up the Alice cast, under the direction of Artistic Director for New World Dance, Brandy Thilesen. The production featured a really cool, dark soundtrack (that we desperately wanted to hear over a better sound system) and took the audience on a strange and ominous, yet beautiful journey through Scaryland. Granted, it might not be what you'd expect to find at a haunt... but I think ultimately, that's why it worked so well; it was completely unexpected and totally was the most solid and entertaining element at Heritage Haunt. Mucho props and kudos to the Alice in Scaryland team!

And so, we headed off into the night discussing what we liked and didn't like about this particular haunt. Like I said, it was a mixed bag in the end. Heritage Haunt is in a fantastic location. The monsters there really do put their hearts into it - even the young ones, which honestly, you can't fault them because of their age. The existing surroundings are perfect for a haunt. The entire event however, needs a huge shot in the arm - it needs to really ramp-up its game if it is to honestly be a contender with other Los Angeles area haunts. Otherwise, it remains (if it returns) as you'd expect a small-town haunt to be; campy and heart-felt, with some charming elements, but a long way from the level of other "pro" haunted attractions.

Many of the volunteers were openly discussing that the individual or individuals that are in charge of the property want Heritage Haunt to cease. Call me biased because I love Halloween, but a strong haunted attraction can bring in a lot of revenue and a lot of people if done correctly - dare I say, a lot more people than a normal day likely brings to a sleepy place such as Heritage Junction. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth - the SCV Historical Society should embrace Heritage Haunt with both arms and support it and help it grow. Wishing it away or making it hard to put on each year simply sucks and is absolutely counter-productive in bringing people from all over to your community to spend money and help your local economy. Perhaps it's the person or persons working against Heritage Haunt that should disappear and become ghosts of the past, if that's truly the case.

We thank Scott and the team at Heritage Haunt for having TPA come out to see their event. While we came away with mixed feelings, and there are certainly some glaring issues that we had trouble getting past, we did have a good time and we did meet some really nice people throughout the evening. Props to everyone who gave it their all and worked hard to spook up Heritage Haunt!

Heritage Haunt official site: http://scvhaunt.com/

Discuss Heritage Haunt 2010 on our Message Board

Review by Rick West

Okay, so I wrote a long-winded, flowery bit about Boot Hill and just as I was putting all of this together, it dawned on me how weird it felt to be writing a review/story about something that I helped create many moons ago. So... I scrapped it and am going to write again off-the-cuff, because no matter what type of spin I put on it, it's going to be somewhat biased, because I will always be a part of Boot Hill and Boot Hill will always be a part of me.

Now in it's 11th season (but spanning much more than 11 years, as Boot Hill spent several years on hiatus during its "lifetime"), Boot Hill has grown into an epic home haunt that surpassed anything we ever thought it would be back in the day. In the beginning, Shea Foley and I set up a little yard display to entertain trick-or-treaters in the Irvine community of Woodbridge. Quickly, our yard display took on a theme and it blossomed into something terrible and beautiful, complete with rich back story, elaborate special effects and a haunting, 10-minute original score by our good friend, Andy Garfield (Hatchet, Hatchet 2, Frozen).

Our theme of an old Western cemetery grew little by little each season, and now, in 2010, Boot Hill is as built-out as it can get, using every inch of Shea's mother's front yard and the front of the home at 16 Goldenrod. Literally, Boot Hill is as big as it can get without actually expanding inside the house or somehow, into the back yard. And yeah... those possibilities have been discussed, weighed and dismissed over the years!

This season, Boot Hill's slogan is "Some Legends Never Die". In 2009, it appeared that the home haunt's 10th apparition would be its last, as the Foley family has been considering selling the Woodbridge home. Up to just a month or so ago, Boot Hill 2010 hung in the balance, until it was 100% certain that they'd still own the property during this Halloween season. Time again will tell the future of Boot Hill in Irvine; once again, it could very well be that this is the final materialization of this amazing spectacle.

Or is it?

In the event that the 16 Goldenrod property is sold, Boot Hill caretakers Shea Foley and Glenn Schmidt have toyed with the possibility of relocating the haunt elsewhere. In that case, Boot Hill could live on indefinitely. Or, the two might just call it quits and let the legend of Boot Hill fade into the fog this Halloween night. Only time will tell.

I am very proud to have been part of this haunt - and I am, along with everyone else, amazed at the new level of excellence that Shea, Glenn and the rest of the Boot Hill crew have taken our once-modest yard display to. It grew up, and really became an amazing display of Halloween goodness.

Of course, this story will remain on Theme Park Adventure for a long, long time. If you're reading this story and you still have time to get to Irvine to see Boot Hill for yourself before Halloween night is over, do it. You will be thrilled.

Boot Hill is a family-oriented event. There is no gore, and the scares are plenty; young and old alike have a blast at this home haunt. Shea and his crew know how to spook it up, and they lurk, slide, menace and startle from every nook and cranny they can, to the delight of the hundreds and hundreds of people that experience Boot Hill each season.

This is an Irvine Halloween tradition, one of the best SoCal home haunts, and one that TPA has deep roots and ties to. We love it, love the team and are thrilled that the spirits of the old West rose to the occasion once again - long live Boot Hill!

Boot Hill's official site: http://www.legendofboothill.com