Haunted House Stories Archives - Page 16 of 30

Why Do People Enjoy Being Scared?

Posted by Thrillvania in Haunted House Stories on April 24th, 2014
Tags: Thrillvania Haunted House Park

At Thrillvania Haunted House Park our mission in life is to frighten you. If you run, screaming in terror, then we know we’ve achieved our goal. Knowing that we put our heart and soul and our blood, sweat and tears into scaring you half to death, why then would anyone choose to come through our gates? Because people enjoy being scared!

When you tour our terrifying attractions, you know you’re going to come out alive but your subconscious doesn’t. Deep down inside, your subconscious believes you’re really being faced with a life-or-death situation and your primal “fight or flight” response kicks in.

Many people enjoy being scared because they like how they feel while they’re being frightened out of their wits. That “fight or flight” feeling causes a huge adrenalin rush. Their palms begin to sweat, their heartbeat and breathing rate quicken, and this adrenalin rush makes them feel like they have super-human powers.

As these adrenaline-fueled visitors tour the park they take great pleasure in the fact that they’re able to face our frights head-on. For some, this is their only opportunity to feel bravery.

Many others are drawn to Thrillvania for quite the opposite reason. They are absolutely terrified while touring our attractions and it’s only their strong will and determination that forces them to continue on to the end instead of rushing for the exit. They tolerate this almost-paralyzing fear because they enjoy the feeling of relief they experience when they finally make it out alive.

Of course, all of these reasons – the enjoyment of the adrenalin rush, the feeling of bravey and the feeling of relief – are based on the individual’s belief that they truly will make it all the way through Thrillvania and make it out alive. Tsk. What a pity.

Our Top Tip For Touring Thrillvania Haunted House Park

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.

How To Host a Safe Seance

Posted by Thrillvania in Haunted House Stories on April 10th, 2014
Tags: Granny Lupus' Seance Theater, Seance

After viewing the horrors of Granny Lupus’ Seance Theater you might wonder why anyone in their right mind would want to participate in a séance. Thankfully, not everyone who communicates with the Dead is a screeching hag, and not all the Dead who answer are benevolent entities.

A séance can actually be quite a pleasant experience…when conducted properly. The secret to a safe séance is all in who you invite and how you set the mood.

Your Guests

There’s no particular number of guests you should have around your séance table but only invite as many as you can comfortably seat. If everyone’s all crowded in together they’ll be too uncomfortable to concentrate. Having too many people in a small room may also deter some of the kind spirits you want to contact and attract those spirits who like to work their mischief in front of large audiences.

It’s also important to keep non-believers out of the mix. Their negative attitude will make it difficult for your other guests to focus. More important, the negative energy emitted by non-believers may make it difficult for some weaker spirits to come through and may even attract benevolent spirits.

Your Setting

There are those who believe that a dark room with heavy draperies, a big, round table and a black tablecloth will be more attractive to the spirits. Some also believe that a dark room will attract evil spirits while a lighter décor attracts gentler spirits. Obviously, at Thrillvania we’ll take the Bad Guys over the Good any time but you might think otherwise.

The truth is, you don’t need heavy drapes and eerie lighting. You don’t even need a table and it’s not the color scheme that matters to the spirits, it’s the energy in the room. Lots of positive energy makes it easier for kinder, gentler spirits to come through while an abundance of negative energy makes your seance attractive to evil spirits who not only already have the strength to come through, they can put your guests in mortal danger.

Surrounding your table – however it’s decorated – with positive guests goes a long way toward ensuring a safe séance. But here are three more things you can do to protect yourself and your guests:

Cleanse the room

Smudge your séance room with sage before your guests arrive. This will cleanse the room of any lingering negative energy.

Use candles

Spirits are attracted to energy, in particular light and heat. Place plenty of white candles, for peace and purity, around the room to attract peaceful spirits. While it’s not necessary, having one blue candle in the room will help ensure your safety.

Mind your manners

It’s extremely difficult for spirits to cross over and communicate with the Living so treat them with the respect they deserve when they make an appearance at your séance. Invite them to attend, don’t demand it. Remember to say “Please” and “Thank you.” Don’t shout or curse at them. Always remember that Evil spirits sometimes masquerade as Good. Don’t make Aunt Tilly angry or she might just show her true colors.