TRURO, N.S. — In honour of Halloween I wanted to discuss haunted house attractions and why they are inherently strange.
I mean the title says it all – it’s weird. It’s odd to pay someone to scare you. So that’s why two weekends ago I did just that … for research purposes, of course.
First, we will discuss the surprisingly intricate history of haunted house attractions.
They began during the Great Depression era as a way to keep neighbourhood teenagers out of trouble on Halloween night. Parents were tired of putting out fires and cleaning egg yolk off of the street, so they bought decorations, put on masks and held “house-to-house” parties which entailed kids walking from basement-to-basement having their neighbours scare the sacks of candy from their hands.
What put this type of entertainment on the map, though, was Walt Disney, who opened The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland in 1969. After this attraction opened, the idea exploded, inspiring many people to try their hand at scaring others in their community while getting paid to do it.
Many haunted houses also became a source for charity fundraising, such as the haunted hallway put together by the Interact club at CEC every year during the Halloween Dance.
In Colchester County, there is a place where we can all pay to be screamed at, jumped towards, and followed by a creepy clown who can’t stop maniacally laughing.
Describing my Riverbreeze Fear Farm experience is a little difficult, because … I hated it. I really, really did. I tried so hard to enjoy myself with my friends, and yet, it seemed impossible. Mostly because I was unhappy standing in line in the freezing rain.
However, the reason I had no fun whatsoever was because I just don’t like being scared. And I’ll be honest in saying that I think if you enjoy being scared you’re a little strange.
It’s one thing to watch and enjoy horror movies; you get an adrenaline rush watching in anticipation, thriving off of the dramatic irony – “He’s behind you! Get going!! Don’t go in that room!” However, experiencing real-life Texas Chainsaw Massacre role play is seriously disturbing (and anyone who brings their young children to these things, please stop, so I can sleep at night).
Maybe the reason most people enjoy haunted attractions is that they like the adrenaline rush, or they think it’s funny, or they enjoy the time spent with friends and family. Whatever the case, I think we can all admit that it is a little bit weird. However, that’s what the Halloween spirit is all about. If things can’t get a little weird and spooky this time of year, then what’s the point?
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Angèle Hatton is a Grade 12 student at Cobequid Educational Centre, whose mission is to make news more accessible to people her age.
