Tis the season for theme parks to transform into haunted horror shows that come alive with strobe lights, ultraviolet rays that dilate your eyes, and a cacophony of wicked wails and high-pitched screams.
Halloween is a huge moneymaker for amusement parks across the country, so you can bet that places like Six Flags, Universal Studios, and Knott’s Berry Farm are pulling out all of their walking corpses to terrify guests.
Maze-like corridors, mock graveyards and trick mirrors that make it appear as though you are about to be devoured by flesh-eating zombies are just some of the tricks that are waiting for you at the nation’s largest theme parks this October.
Since scary-looking actors are not allowed to touch park guests, technicians need to design elaborately gory scenes to distract visitors. Once a group of guests is focused on a bloody body hanging from a rope, then costumed actors can invade their space and scare the daylights out of them without ever touching a single person.
Some of the most spooktacular Halloween attractions can be found at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood theme parks. The parks’ Halloween Horror Nights event is inspired by horror films like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Friday the 13th.” However, new this year is a maze unrelated to the movies, called “Vampyre: Castle of the Undead.” In addition to the haunted structure, the park is also debuting a new scare zone based on a Latin American legend of a crying woman who drowned her children and is looking to find new victims to replace her dead kids.
If that’s not scary enough for you, then check out Haunted Attraction Magazine’s list of “Must-See Haunted Houses.” The top scream-getters are:
*House of Shock in New Orleans
*Kevin McCurdy’s Haunted Mansion in Poughkeepsie, New York
*Scarehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
*Dead Acres in Columbus, Ohio
*House of Torment, Austin, Texas
*Fear Itself, Mishawaka, Indiana
*Dent School House, Cincinnati, Ohio
*Nightmare on 13th, Salt Lake City, Utah
*Wisconsin Feargrounds, Waukesha, Wisconsin
*Blood Manor, New York City
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