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Here at Thrillvania Haunted House Park in Dallas, Texas we pride ourselves on our ability to scare, frighten and terrorize our visitors, but it’s all in good fun. We know, in most cases, you’re going to leave here alive
with a big, silly grin on your face. However, if you happen to meet up with a Banshee or The Grim Reaper after you leave here… well, that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms! We can’t control what happens
after you leave the park.

When you hear the Banshee’s mourning call, someone is about to die

A Banshee can appear in a number of forms. Most often she takes the form of an ugly, old hag, but sometimes she appears as a beautiful young woman, a hooded crow, a rabbit or a weasel. She often appears near the woods, late at night.

You’ll know you’re seeing a banshee by her mournful crying and piercing, ear-shattering wail. Why is she crying so? Because the appearance of a banshee foretells the imminent death of someone nearby. Don’t worry. It won’t be you. But it will most likely be someone near and dear to your heart.

When you see the Grim Reaper, that ‘someone’ will be you

Unlike the Banshee, the appearance of the Grim Reaper usually means you’re about to meet your maker. He’s often referred to as The Angel of Death or the Angel of Dark and Light, but it doesn’t really matter what you call him, he’ll answer to just about anything.

The Grim Reaper also differs from a Banshee in that he typically appears as a man. Generally, he’s dressed in a long, black hooded robe that almost covers his face, but you can tell by his long, bony fingers that you’re looking at Death personified.

In some cases, the Grim Reaper can actually cause someone’s death, which leads some people to believe they can bribe him, trick him or make a deal with the old codger. But he wins – he always wins – in the end.

On Halloween night when the veil between the here-and now and the hereafter is thin and almost non-existent, anything can come through from the other side. Stay away from the woods. Stay away from tall, skinny strangers in robes. And do your best to survive the night.

We’ve all heard the horror stories about gruesome accidents occurring when visitors and monsters collide at haunted house amusement parks but, for the most part, they’re just urban legends. (Notice we said, “For the most part?”) At Thrillvania Haunted House Park we didn’t earn our Number One rating by hacking our visitors to pieces. We do, however, take great pride in our ability to scare you to death without ever touching a hair on your head!

Our monsters don’t just walk in off the street and start swinging machetes. Most of our actors have worked here for multiple seasons and new-hires are brought in before and professionally trained in the fine art of mangling-and-mayhem without bloodshed.

Our monsters will never reach out and grab you or try to knock you down. They will, however, do their very best to terrify you in your tracks, which means they will be reaching for you, they will be lunging at you and you’ll think that chainsaw is coming straight toward your throat.

Many of our sets have very little room to turn and run, and there’s certainly nowhere to hide. We’ve created these sets intentionally to increase the feelings of claustrophobia and fear. As your anxiety mounts you’re apt to brush against one of our props. In your haste to escape you may even stumble into one of our monsters. But rest assured – you will get out alive if we have anything to say about it.

(Don’t worry. We also have emergency exits in all of our attractions if you become too overcome with fear.)

Thrillvania Haunted House Park has been selected as one of the top haunted houses in the nation by Fangoria, Haunted Attraction Magazine, Reader’s Digest, MSN and AOL and our safety record is impeccable – both for our employees and our visitors. None of our monsters has ever gone on a killing spree and all of our dear guests have departed with hearts still beating. However, to further ensure you leave with all limbs attached, we ask that you read our Frequently Asked Questions page to see what we allow and what we don’t allow at the park.

In an earlier article we suggested that you and your friends might like to visit a warm, welcoming restaurant after your visit to Thrillvania Haunted House Park, something to sort of lighten the mood and help you forget about all the gruesome sights you’ve just seen. If that’s the case, we suggest you stay as far away from Snuffers as possible, regardless of how many great things you’ve heard about the place. Snuffers has rightfully earned the reputation of being the most haunted restaurant in DFW.

Snuffers, located on Preston Rd. in Dallas, Texas, has an excellent menu, including award-winning cheese fries and icy-cold beer. It’s one of those places you’d might imagine Ross and Rachael, Phoebe and Chandler, and Joey and Monica all hanging out in but looks can be deceiving.

The restaurant has been investigated several times. Jenny Snyder of the Dallas Area Paranormal Society says the building is definitely haunted and the owner, Pat Snuffer, says he won’t even go into the place if he’s alone.

Employees report frequent cold spots and often feel like someone’s tapped them on the shoulder or brushed against their arm. Back in the day, when smoking inside restaurants was still allowed, the ghost would play games with the bartender’s cigarette, flipping it around in the ashtray when he turned his back to wait on a customer.

Even customers have strange experiences inside Snuffers. Cellphones and cameras that were working fine just a moment ago suddenly go all wonky when you enter the restaurant. Temperatures drop suddenly, pendulum lights sway for no reason and people hear footsteps, creaking doors and children’s voices coming from the walls.

So far the ghosts that haunt Snuffers appear to be friendly pranksters, just out for a little fun. No one’s ever been hurt, just mildly frightened. But no one knows for sure who the ghost is. One theory has it that Snuffer’s is haunted by a man who was stabbed there decades ago and died in the doorway to the men’s restroom. Another says that Snuffer’s is built over top of an ancient Indian burial ground.

Either way, we’re pretty sure it’s not the best location for your after-Thrillvania party. The last thing you want to do when you leave Verdun Manor is hob-nob with more ghosts!