I once heard that with the exception of Christmas more money is spent on Halloween than any other holiday. I used to find this statement rather hard to believe. I thought about how much I love watching old horror movies during this season and how people can be easily overtaken by new and classic trending Halloween costumes. What I enjoy most of all is being scared out of my wits, so what better place to venture than Busch Gardens (BG to the employees). In 2004/2005 I worked at BG and attended my very first Howl-O-Scream while working there.
As I made my way to the gates to meet “The 13” I found myself squirming with anticipation to see how the park had been transformed. That anticipation quickly turned into fear. In front of me lay 13 doors, slowly I move in between the crowd as a foggy mist covers the floor. Nine of the 13 appear, jumping out on unsuspecting guests as they move into the park; The Torturer, The Hunter, Voodoo Queen (pictured above) The Surgeon, The Demon, The Cannibal, The Psychopath, The Hangman, and The Clown — I dare not look for the rest of the 13: the first nine were enough. Instead I grab my friend who is more interested in trying to get pictures with the infamous creatures and head to our first haunted house of the evening.
The Blood Asylum was our first stop of the night. Waiting didn’t take as long as I imagined, there is just this feeling of being cattle or sheep all being herded to slaughter. As we waited with the rest of the sheep, we partly watched a video that couldn’t be heard over the excitement about the “Creature”, a killer that escaped from the asylum along with other inmates. But I never got to see who or what the “Creature” looked like. The way the maze is structured made me feel closed in and the fumes from the chainsaw at times felt a bit suffocating. As I slowly walked through the maze— giving other guests time to catch up so that I wouldn’t be scared to death— the other patrons screamed and the sounds of opening and closing trap doors were more than enough to build up the horror. What I loved most was the character who sits at the front of the maze. He really fit the part for someone who belonged in an asylum with a bed pan in hand smearing what appeared to be fecal matter on his face, which may or may not have been a "satisfying" chocolaty treat.
Timbuktu (the area where I worked), where I briefly caught them wrapping up the end of the show at Dr. Freakentein’s university, where each monster was a professor in several subjects. I couldn't pass the eye-candy on stage for all guests to see, and I’m not just talking about the show’s naughty nurses.
Poe things My last stop for the evening was Nevermore, an Edgar Allan Poe-based house, which kind of has a Tell-Tale Heart vibe to it. However, what I was concerned most about were the patrons who exited the haunted house. Several were complaining about being grabbed within the haunted walls. I personally know that this is a major no-no for anyone who works for Busch Gardens and the thought of being grabbed by some stranger almost deterred me from making my way, stumbling through the my own Poe experience. I’m not sure what happened with other guests but I safely made it through without one hair on my head being touched, maybe it was Poe himself reaching out to guests with sunken eyes and a sullen face whispering Nevermore.
This article appears in Oct 17-23, 2013.