We’re often asked what you can expect to see when you tour Thrillvania Haunted House Park. Just how terrifying will it be? Other than warning first-time guests about strobe lights and uneven floors, we like to just tell folks to expect the unexpected and prepare to be thrilled. But we’re going to let you in on one little secret: We like to “scare it forward!”
Imagine you’re throwing a fabulous Halloween party. You want your party to be the most-talked-about-event of the season and you’ve spared no expense on costumes, decorations and creepy special effects. You’ve spent weeks mapping out every inch of space so your guests will be terrified, horrified or downright scared half to death no matter which way they turn.
And it works, too. As soon as you fling open the front door your guests run screaming in terror after getting just the briefest glimpse inside. Nobody actually attends you party because they never made it over the threshold. Your party fizzles, shrivels up and dies – along with your hopes for hosting the hottest party in town.
The mistake you made was what we here at Thrillvania like to call “Scaring it Backward.” You frightened your guests so successfully at the front door that they backed up, ran away and never even saw your motorized skeleton or the bloody corpse laid out on your kitchen table.
At Thrillvania we “Scare it Forward.” There’s an art to scaring people and it’s all in the timing. Jump out with your chainsaw too early and everyone backs up in fear, missing the rest of the attraction. Let’s face it, nobody wants to try to run past the guy with the axe. On the other hand, if you jump out too late nobody sees you because they’re gearing themselves up for what lies ahead.
The trick is to cue the frights at just the right moment so everyone rushes forward, further into the attraction, rather than trying to turn around and leave the same way they came in.
So here’s the secret for touring Thrillvania:
Bring along a group of friends. It’s always more fun when you’re in a group. And don’t worry. We know what we’re doing. We’ve sent more than one brawny football player screaming out the emergency exit and we guarantee you’ll be scared.
If you’re easily scared, stay near the front of the group. Because we “scare it forward” most of our actors and special effects are geared to activate near the middle or toward the end of the group to keep everyone moving in a forward direction.
On the other hand, if you’re the brave, strong, silent type who thinks haunted houses are just a lark, stay near the end of the group. But beware. The last person in the group is also the last person to make it out alive.