Zangz's Yearly Haunted Attraction Review 2015

It's getting more and more difficult to squeeze in time and spending money to visit these wonderful dens of darkness every year.  Back in the day I was able to fit in quite a few during the Halloween season.  Sadly, as time passes, schedules get more clustered and prices on everything go up.

Luckily, I was able to squeeze a good one in this weekend when I grabbed my buddy, Mr. Bones, and headed south to a place called......

Abandoned Haunted House Complex - Our last visit to this Haunt was a couple of years back when it first opened.  You can read my review HERE.  

The freaky folks  at Abandoned have a special treat for the people that get there around opening time.  They have a whole big production pre show that includes a giant video screen that plays a creepy, prison themed video that goes over the rules and regulations of the house.  There's also a countdown clock on the screen counting the minutes before the haunt opens and all hell breaks loose.  Once it hits zero, explosions go off, flames shoot into the sky and then the doors under the screen swing open, unleashing dozens of denizens of the dark ones who swarm the guests waiting outside.  They just keep coming  and coming out the door.  The buzz of chainsaws rip through the night's air.  Demonic laughter and shrieks can be heard within the line of customers.  It's quite the beautiful experience.  So, I suggest you get there early to witness this grand parade the macabre that has become a bit of a tradition to Abandoned.

The haunt itself has gone through a few improvements since the last time we visited.  They've added a lot more rooms as well as upgrading the scenery within the last couple of years.  There was a great amount of variety when it came to the areas of the haunt.  We went through rooms that looked like traditional, old Haunted House rooms, but there was a lot more.  Some of the other areas included a haunted mine, a post apocalyptic subway system, a swamp, a mad carnival (complete with the severed heads of demonic clowns that hung from the ceiling that you had to traverse).  There was also the funeral parlor with an attendant who really wanted us to invest in our futures.

It was evident that they really invested more in the detail of the sets.  I remember that last time going through there were rooms with little else but barrels.  This time around every room and area had a theme and a purpose.

In even better news, it looks like this haunt is growing quite quickly.  On our way in, going through the line, it looked as though they wear building another addition to the building.  There was also s sign advertising a corn maze for the 2016 season (there's a cornfield behind the haunt).  Looks like things will only get better.

The price is still $20 a shot ($30 if you want the fast pass treatment).  I was a little skeptical of the price last year.  But, this year I think it is warranted.  The haunt took a good solid 30 minutes to get through and with all the improvements and concentration to detail these folks have put in for the last year or so, this is a pretty solid haunt that is already taking advantage of it's potential.  I'll be keeping my eye on it in the future to see how it will grow.

A great, creeptastic time was had by all.  Mr. Bones was also quite impressed.

In other Halloweenesque related stuff and things.....

I'm still working on my Halloween visit to the infamous Gracey Manor in Liberty Square this coming November 1st.  I'm no seasoned paranormal investigator, but I'm still working on my game plan on my investigation of the reportedly haunted house.  I do not have all of the electronic gadgets and equipment that most of the professional ghost hunters work with.  But, I do have a copy of  a book called Necronomicon.  My understanding is that all I'll  have to do is read from it and that will stir up some activity.  Let's hope that works out well.


In less Halloween and more geeky news, the final poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been released today.  It can be viewed HERE.

There are three things I would like to point out about this poster.  First, it's wonderful and is in true tradition of a lot of the Star Wars posters that have come before.  

Second, I find it interesting that all of the main cast are represented in the poster except one.  Where's Luke Skywalker?  My understanding was that the plot of the movie revolved a lot in a search for his character.  Are they trying to keep something about his character a secret?  Is he not that pivotal of a character in this episode of the saga?  Perhaps he's important, but not in that much of the picture.  Lots of conjecture there.  

Third, I think the folks at Lucasfilm have finally revealed the look of the super weapon the First Order (new remnant of the Glactic Empire)will be using to destroy planets.  In the upper right hand corner of the poster you can see something that resembles what looks like a more organic Death Star.  Is this the rumored Starkiller Base?  From what I can tell it's an actual planet that has Death Star like weaponry built within it.  While this looks pretty cool, I do worry a bit that they are using a lot of ideas that have been used before.  I'm hoping for a storyline that is original and different from anything we've seen in the Star Wars universe before.  I agree that it better have that old school Star Wars feel to it.  I truly believe that JJ and Kennedy want that as well.  I'm just hoping that I don't get that, "I've seen all of this before" feel that I got towards the end of Phantom (Space battle against the command center, anyone?)  I could be wrong.  And I'm still anticipating the hell out of this movie as is the entire geek world.  I know in my heat of hearts that they'll do a darn fine job.  I just want to get that old school Star Wars feeling with something fully original.


That's it for now.  Keep your eyes open because we're knee deep in the season of the undead.

Until next time, stay vertical!

Zangz.

The Witch's Ride

Even though I've always been a fan of ghost stories and tales of paranormal activities, in most of my forty plus years on this earth I've never had any personal experience that has ever occurred that has ever really been a  real creep out.... until recently.

Sure, I've been plenty spooked by haunted attractions and some horror movies, but not anywhere as much as the experience I had a week ago in the dark, wee hours of the morning while laying in bed.

I was in a state of sleep with my head under the covers when I was awoken by the feeling that a person was getting into bed beside me.  I could feel the covers being pulled and weight being put on the left side of my bed.  Instead of being able to get up and see what was going on I found myself unable to move or speak.

I seemed to have just enough strength to peek out form below the covers, but all I could barley see was the pitch black darkness of my room.  My head found its way back below the covers.  That's when I could hear it's breathing to the left of me.  It sounded as though it was right up in my left ear, but I could feel no breath.

The breathing seemed loud and forced and got louder as I could feel some sort of pressure coming from the left of me.

Once the breathing got louder I could feel my body being pushed to the right side of the bed.  Slower and slower I reached the side of the bed where there is a wall.  Would I be crushed against the wall beside my bed?

At this point there was a palpable loud vibration coming from where the breathing was originally coming from.

Then it all stopped at once.

I found myself able to move and come up from the covers to see a dimly lit room, nowhere near as dark as it was during the "haunting".

I sat up in bed, slightly shaken, but ultra terrified as suppose I was supposed to be.  I guess I was able to rationalize that the experience was a full, blown, no holds barred witches ride, medically known as 

Hypnagogia.  I actually found it slightly entertaining in a very odd way.  I considered it a mind projected virtual reality haunting.  Now if only I could find a way to bottle it and sell it as a the next level of haunted attraction.  Brouhaha....

I'm hoping to visit a haunt or two next weekend, so look out for a review next time around.

Until then, stay vertical.

Zangz.

Something Different in the Darkness: Original Theming In the Haunt Industry.

During my days of rampant visits to haunted attractions of the Halloween seasons past, I visited many a haunt that kept their theming very simple.  A haunted trail or haunted house would be just that.  Walking amongst a dark wooded area or musty walls where all sorts of different creatures, mutants, axe murderers and witches would jump out at you.  No backstory.  No background.  No theme.  Just a good old fashioned free for all.  And I'm fine with just that.  I can see where haunters like to keep their options open and don't want to be bogged down with a set theme.

But, I will say this.  I have to admire haunters who decide to put a theme to their haunts in a bid to think outside of the box.  If you're a big enough entity to afford the licensing of some big name horror movies and characters, you've got a leg up on the competition.  Great for you.  But, there are plenty of haunters out there that bring their own stories and characters into their haunts and that is where I'm particularly impressed.

Lets take a YouTube look at some haunted attractions that put together their own stories of the macabre into haunts.

TheDentSchoolhouse On YouTube (subscribe and give them a Like.)

The Dent School House in Cincinnati Ohio is an actual old school house that has been transformed into one of the midwest's best known haunted attractions.  It's based on a backstory where a psychotic maintenance man went on a murder spree quite awhile back.  Now his ghost and those of many of the students haunt the walls of the old school.

Inside The Magic  On YouTube (subscribe and give them a Like.)

Not all of the Haunted Attraction houses that appear at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights can be themed around their usual franchised staples (Walking Dead, Halloween, The Purge).  They do still step out of their comfort level to bring attraction fans houses from outside of the box.  One such haunt was based off of an old Hispanic legend of La Llorona - The Weeping Woman.  The ghost of a beautiful woman who drowned her two children.

Them Park Adventure On YouTube (subscribe and give them a Like.)

Knotts Berry Farms Theme park's Halloween showcase, known as Knotts Scary Farm doesn't have any access to already existing franchises or licensing that its competition has.  So all of their haunts have to have original theming and storylines.  This one featured is a pretty original idea.  We've become accustomed to the ghost searcher reality shows that have become commonplace within our pop culture.  This haunt brings you on one such paranormal investigation where everything goes horribly wrong.  This show has some pretty over the top (of your head) special effects.  Can you brave Paranormal Inc.?


That will be it for today.  Until the next time, keep your eyes in the back of your heads during the season of dark magic.  You never know what is keeping their eyes on you!

Stay vertical.

Zangz.

Return to the Dark Fantastical

The wait is over!  The autumnal spirits have arisen my imagination and creativity out of its slumber, like the living dead crawling their way out of ancient graves.  Too soon to pontificate upon the coming Halloween season? Never!

Not only has the Halloween season sparked my enthusiasm for the genres of the fantastical, there are a few exciting things on the horizon.  One big one is of course the upcoming Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens.  It's been a decade since we last saw a new Stars Wars film on the big screen.  The prequels weren't exactly what we were all hoping for.  But, with JJ Abrams at the helm with backing from Kathleen Kennedy and the Disney folks, I think we're in for a real treat.  If the last few seconds of this trailer don't produce a tear in your eyes, then I hate to be the one to inform you of the fact that you were born without a soul.

Just prior to that big screen religious experience there will be a certain British agent who will be hot on the trail of a classic old nemesis in the upcoming James Bond movie SPECTRE.  Daniel Craig reprises the role of Bond and Christof Waltz may be portraying the main villain.  Could he possibly playing the infamous Ernst Stavro Blofeld?  We won't know until November 8th.

There's yet another event coming up that I'm particularly excited about.  My family is taking my niece on an adventure to the House of Mouse down South.  As an uncle it will be a blast to see the magic from the perspective of a four year old.  But, as you'd guess, one of the things I'm most excited about is doing some paranormal investigation at Gracey Manor.  If you recall from my Halloween musings from last year, I sent my friends Iris and Roberto there.  Oddly, they haven't been seen or heard from since.  Bruhahahaha! (Cue thunder and lightening).

So, we all have too look forward to this blog in its annual active period once again.  Up next, more Halloween inspired musings.

Stay tuned and stay vertical!

Zangz.

Of Masquerades and Dreamscapes.

My last post was a detailed account of a dream I had a while ago.  I'd like to take a closer look try and see what that was all about.

If you haven't yet, take a gander at the last post before you read this. If you don't, this post will mot make a ton of sense to you.

Off the bat, my love for the James Bond films is certainly influencing the first half of the dream. The fact that somehow in this dream I know I'm a secret agent following a person resembling Moonraker's Hugo Drax (actor Michael Lonsdale) is pretty much a big hint for my love of the films.

The second recognizable influence is the Assassin's Creed video game I've been playing since this past November (IV: Black Flag) when I dispatch "Drax" in the alleyway using the ever popular wrist blades the main character you play in the game uses.  I've been playing the ever-lovin' heck out of the game and it apparently has imbedded itself into my psyche.

We return to the Bond influence when I pull the golden floppy disc from the body's coat pocket.  In many a spy thriller there are always computer files that need pilfering that usually have some sort of imposing world doom type information on them.

Why the disc is golden and has illegible symbols on it is a fact that perplexes me. Is the gold a throwback to The Man With The Golden Gun?  Is the odd inscription something from The Da Vinci Vode or perhaps something Lovecraftian?

From here it's always interesting how dreams can leap forward in time to another chapter.  It's as if my ADD is active even as I sleep.  It is at this part of the dream where it is revealed that the golden disc is not for a computer at all, but is used as a key that is inserted into a slot, not like a usual floppy disc, but vertically into an indentation in a door of an appartment.  The part where the odd writing starts to glow leans more toward Lovecraftian than Bondinian (Yes.  That's a word.  Just deal!)

The whole dark meeting sequence and what transpired within where GREATLY influenced by my days of playing the vampire RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade.  The gaming group I played with that was led by my friend Mad Mario, who plays a big role in the dream along with his wife Hope.  We haven't played the game in eighteen years.  How it's popping into my psyche now is another mystery.

The James Bond theme of this dream is now gone.  It now becomes all about the vampire RPG all the way.  Especially with the the attribute slide show the meeting attendants have to choose from.  I choose the one called "Scout of the Disney Parks".

It is never revealed what power this gives me, but could be a foreshadowing of an actual family adventure that may be taking place in the not to overly distant future.

As for Hope being dressed as Morticia Adams, she did dress as the character at a Halloween party that they threw years ago.

The power growing in me may be the transition to becoming a vampire.  Although the term vampire is never uttered in the dream and I am never bitten in the neck nor do I feed off of another vampire. It is what I think I'm becoming after Mario's Disney Scout gift.

At this time I'll assume the other attendees are vampires as well.

Jumping ahead in time again, act three starts in the same appartment as where the meeting took place.  This appears to be the part of the dream where Mad Mario and Hope start teaching me to be a vampire or at least show me some vampire powers.

I find it quite amusing how much traditional vampire lore got into this dream.  Especially in this part where I'm taken up to the roof and have a reaction to the sun.

Assasins Creed slips into the dream once again as Mario and myself hop along the branches of trees in the park.

It is here where things go a little dark as Mario does his whole birdy, blood suck routine.  The fact that I'm entertained and not bothered by it tells me that I have seen so many darned horror movies that I've become used to it.  I'm sure if it happened for real, my reaction would be quite different.

The fourth act is a real odd one, as if this whole dream hasn't been.  Hope and Mario are now out of the picture and I'm back at that dark appartment.  My mom is with me now and I'm helping her with chores as a usually do in the living world. The pug dog comes from nowhere I can think of.  But, the whole phone call from Mario and trying to leave my mom for some sort of, what I suspect, is a vampire mission is quite interesting.

There's also the fact that my mom is much younger than she is in real life.  I'm not sure that this isn't a sign of the fear of losing my mother.  Aging is something we all fear and can be quite harsh when we watch a loved one go through it.

To say that this dream is one of the strangest I've ever had is hard for me to argue with myself about.

Odd, odd, odd and odd is how I'd catorgorize it.  A journey into the dreams of the dark fantastique I'd qualify it as.

That's all for now, gang.  I gotta get going.  So until next time, stay vertical!

Zangz.

Of Dreamscapes and Masquerades.

I'm usually on a posting sabbatical during the winter months due the frigid temps and colorless vista's that plague this season and put me into an uninspired slump.

But, very early this morning I awoke from a darkly wonderful dream that I would like to share with you now.

How this dream manifested, I cannot recall.  What I am able to remember in my dreams, they always have the starting point turn out to be a blur.  This was no exception.  From what I can recall, it started out more like a spy story.  Far different than what it turned out to be.

I was hunting down a guy who looked like Hugo Drax, the villain from the James Bond movie, Moonraker.  I was trailing him through the streets of the city.  It was  dusk, as the sun was fading on a wintery day.  I had followed the suspect into an alleyway.  He was on to me and started to pick up the pace as I caught up to him and pulled off an Assassin's Creed maneuver and quickly took him out with the wrist blade weapons from that very video game.

As he lay lifeless and slightly bloodied, I searched his pockets for the object I was looking for. Within his inner coat pocket I found what I was looking for. I pulled out what had the look and shape of a small floppy disc.  It was gold plated and had an odd inscription molded into it in odd letters I didn't recognize.

The dream suddenly leaps forward in time and my assignment has altered slightly.  The odd, gold disc I found on the guy is actually a key that will grant me access to a meeting of some sort of secret society that I am assigned to infiltrate.  How do I know this?  I have no clue.  I just do.  And the second part of my dream starts again, at dusk.  But this time I'm in front of a small, crusty looking, apartment building where this clandestine meeting is to take place.

I enter the building and go up a small staircase that leads to a door.  I look over the door when I notice that it has a small doggy door at the bottom.  When I lift up the doggie door it is not a small entrance for a pet to be able to go through as you would think.  It is, in fact, a fake doggy door that hides an odd indentation that is the exact size of the floppy disk.  You'd think that it would be more the size of a disc drive where I could slide it in horizontally.  No.  The disc fits perfectly into the perfectly shaped indentation on its side.  As it sets in the odd inscription on the disc glows red and the strange letters change, yet they are still unreadable.

With that, there is a click noise within the door and it slowly opens.  Inside I enter a darkly lit living room of an apartment.  There is nothing special or odd about it, except the windows are drawn.  There are two sets of black leather couches on either end of the room. There is a big table also at one end next to a couch.  Sitting at this table is my good friend, Mad Mario.  In reality, Mario has been a friend and the game master to my RPG gaming group for over twenty years.  He's sitting there in a black suit, looking quite dapper.  He welcomes me and tells me that the others will be arriving shortly. He's acting a bit glib and it seems he may not recognize me.  Almost as if he's doing an NPC character from one of his games.  His wife, my friend, Hope, emerges from the kitchen area of the apartment and says hello.  She is dressed like Morticia Adams.

Suddenly, the other guests start to arrive and the room fills up quickly.  The others are people from all walks of life, different ages and creeds all dressed in dark clothing.  None of them i recognize.  They sit on the sofas and some chairs that have been put out.

The meeting commences and though much was said and discussed, I cannot recall everything that was said.  But, one part of the meeting I do remember.  At one end of the room was an pull down screen with an overhead projector that showed a number of hand written odd titles.  Mario explained that these titles were gifts and we each had to choose one.

And, by gifts, he meant more like attributes or powers we could have.  They were all odd titles that didn't make any sense.  The one that I chose was something like, "Scout of the Disney Parks" because all of the others to pick from seemed to have negative connotations.  What specific, special power this was to give me was never really revealed.  But, I could feel that by just attending this meeting that something inside me was changing me.  There was a new energy within me.

We had to all write down the name of the new power on note paper and then write down a number we were assigned when we arrived.  I didn't remember being issued a number, but for some reason the number "21" popped into my head.  I handed the paper to Mad Mario as he gave me a wry smile, again, as though he were a character in one of his games.

The dream jumped ahead again to its Act Three.  I was still in the apartment with Mad Mario and Hope, but the others had left and Mad Mario and Hope were now in winter jackets and scarfs.

Mad Mario tells me to follow them.  That they have some things to show me.  They take me up to the roof of the building.  There's snow on the roof and the sun is out.  The brightness of the sun has an adverse effect on me. I feel that it's pushing me back like a force field would.  Mad Mario and Hope then tell me to follow them again.

We go back down and out the front door to the street.  It is now night time and the street lights are on.  Mad Mario and Hope lead me across the street to a wooded park.  Mad Mario asks me if I can hear it.  At first I don't know what he's talking about, but then I listen and can hear all the birds, insects and wildlife in the park.

Then Mad Mario leaps up and starts running along the branches of the trees with crazy parkor maneuvers.  I chase after him and find I can do the same thing.  Is this another reference to the Assassin's Creed game I've been playing?

This is where the game takes a slight turn to the disturbing.  While up in the trees Mad Mario grabs two large birds in each hand, dives back down to the ground and chomps down on both of their necks and starts sucking the blood from them.  I start to see where this is all going, but it doesn't feel at all like a nightmare to me.  In fact, I'm being entertained by the dream.

Again, the dream jumps ahead in time to the Fourth and final act of this mad capped dream. I'm no longer in the park.  I'm with my mom, back at the apartment where the odd meeting took place.  Apparently my Mom now lives there.  Mad Mario and Hope are not there.  I'm trying to help my mom out by putting together some sort of wiry contraption that is a light holder for the living room.  There is also a dog present that I'm assuming is my Mom's pet in the dream.  The dog is some sort of Pug mix.

As I work, my cell phone rings. It is Mario and he tells me in a very serious tone, "You're needed".  At this point I hang up the phone and start to shoot out the door.  There is a feeling of intense obligation after attending the meeting and obtaining the powers.  If I do not go and serve, very bad things will happen.

My mother gets very upset that I haven't finished the lighting project and heads after me.  I tell her I really have to go and will finish later, but she seems to know that I will be putting myself in some sort of danger.  As I head out the front door the dog runs out and I end up grabbing it to give back to my mom.  As I do so, I notice that my mom looks just like she did back in the 1980's.  Like Dorian Grey, she has reversed her age.  I the wonder if she has similar powers as myself, Mad Mario and Hope do.

It is at this point in the dream where I wake out if it at 3:45 AM this morning.

In my next post, I'll try to decipher some of this craziness.  Until then, stay vertical!

Zangz.