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On October 26th, 2016, Queen Mary's Dark Harbor played host to an event that brought out the best sliders in Southern California. The show featured Slider Nation (Queen Mary Sliders), Ghost Town Streets (Knott's Scary Farm Sliders), Universal Studios Hollywood, and The Decayed Brigade (Southern California's premiere sliding group as seen at Midsummer Scream and ScareLA) This is literally an event years in the making. I remember talk about doing something like this back when I worked haunt in the early 2000's and when Queen Mary's event was still called Shipwrecked. The shows were a wonderful blend of what the Queen Mary sliders do on a nightly basis and what the Decayed Brigade do at their shows at conventions. Huge props and thank yous to the Dark Harbor Crew for hosting and for the other events for playing along and showing we are one big haunt family! Honestly when has three large corporations ever worked together to give fans what they want to see, and while this was a grass roots effort by the Decayed Brigade and Slider Nation, these corporations could have easily squashed the attempt and not let it move forward. Now for the video and photos!
The event is geared toward the middle school to high school age range, however families with younger ones can use by passes to get around the two scare zones and there are fun carnival games and laser tag to keep the younger ones occupied while the older ones take in the frights. Admission is only $8 per person regardless of age which is a steal in Orange County, Ca and includes the two haunted houses, two scare zones, the movie area and laser tag. Carnival games were one ticket per game and as a prize the kids would get candy. The Haunt at Heritage Hill MazeJust because this is a community event doesn't mean the mazes don't pack a punch. The main haunted house is The Haunt at Heritage Hill Maze which starts off in the old school house before winding down the back of the hill. This causes sections of the maze to be separated by pathways as you move down the path. I got two solid scares in this attraction and my favorite was that they were using shaker cans! That little bit of old school Knott's nostalgia was fun. I do wish they used more of the pathway sections to keep you in the story as it really felt like four mini mazes and if they were able to add characters or even a small amount of props to the connecting paths it would really help the maze feel more cohesive. Over all it was a fun haunted house and we had a blast in it! The Jokers Side ShowThe second haunted house is the Jokers Side Show. It was a clown/side show theme with the bright colors and walls you would expect from this type of attraction. It was a lot smaller but had some fun props like the Fiji Mermaid and Twins. We didn't find it very scary but that's normal for us and clown mazes. The kids however were in full panic mode. Not sure if it's all the clown hype around or what but it was a lot of fun watching the kids completely freak out and loose their minds. Scare ZonesThe event had two scare zones, one that lead down the path to where the queue line started for The Haunt at Heritage Hill Maze which I'm not sure what the theme was. The second was on the opposite side of the entrance to the park which was a Red Riding Hood theme with werewolves. Both were small and light on talent but pretty fun and even some of the younger kids in our group enjoyed the Red Riding Hood scare zone since they kind of knew the story.
We had a fun time and if you have younger kids and teens that aren't ready for the big haunts like Knott's, Universal or even something like Sinister Pointe this would be a great place to get there feet in the fog and see how they handle it. After all if they completely freak and you need to leave it's only $8 a person so you aren't out that much. There is a great pizza place in the shopping center where you park so you can make it a fun family night out with dinner and the haunt. The Haunted House:The Haunted House at Hobb's Grove is amazing! It starts off with a wonderful 3D painted mad house that is just as unique as Hobb's is as a whole. You get your 3D glasses and head inside. About 1/3 of the way through the house, they collect the glasses and you enter the non 3D section which is different than most haunts but actually works out really well having both combined in to one haunt. We were extra fortunate this year as the upstairs of the house was open and it was my first time being upstairs in a long time. The upstairs area is really wonderful and has some fun gags that no other haunt does, we didn't spoil it in episode 3 but I think I did mention it on episode 1. One thing Hobb's is great at is the art of distraction and there were plenty of startle scares even for us jaded haunt goers! The Haunted Hayride:There are no photos allowed on the Hayride, so the first one is from the queue line. The second one is right when we sat down and the last one is Rumble a new character who is pretty awesome! Okay so back to the Hayride, by far it was everyone's favorite attraction of the evening. It's theatrical, it's scary and it's silly all blended together seamlessly. I'm not sure how long the attraction is, but it's LONG! However when you survive and make it to the unloading station you want it to keep going. The talent is so good and they embody their characters to the fullest. If you could only go on one attraction when you went, which would be horrible but I would pick the hayride... then I would ride it again. The Haunted Forest:Again photos aren't allowed and it is really dark in the forest so pictures with out a flash are pretty much impossible. Our second time through the forest we had a guided tour so I was able to snap a few photos but the above are the only ones that came out okay.
The forest is a step up from the house in scares and once your ticket is taken you are left to just wander the path into the darkness. There are great scares and you have to duck and almost crawl at some points which leave you vulnerable to startles. This is a real forest and they let it get very over grown to the point where you can't really get any bearing on where you are inside the park. It's like the Hay Ride where it is a wonderful mix of jump scares, great costumes and a little silliness thrown in to entertain you. I can't say how much I love this place, it's my favorite Halloween attraction and this had to be close to my tenth visit. It's a lot considering from Orange County, CA it's about a four hour drive, you have to get a hotel and tickets. However I did the calculating and even with gas, hotel, and tickets for two people I paid about 1/2 the cost of one night at Halloween Horror Night in Hollywood with front of the line passes for two people and I would take Hobb's over Universal any day of the week! So until next year, I will miss you Hobb's Grove!
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One by one we were lead into tiny rooms located around a central room. Our goal was to escape our individual small rooms and join each other in the central room to continue the escape. This requires a lot of communication and help from each of the members of your group. If you don't communicate you will not survive. Like any attraction of this sort it's hard to review with out spoiling things. For my first experience in an escape room I have to say it was amazing. We had a great team, we worked together well and that is important. If we had been paired with a different group which we didn't click with, perhaps it would have been a less exciting time. My advice, go with six of your friends, it's the perfect number for this game how ever it can be played with five to ten players. We survived The Hex Room with just 49 seconds to spare! Cross Roads rates this game as Very Hard with only a 20% escape rate and if you escape and solve your character puzzle you really beat the odds as only 5% of people are able to do it. I highly recommend Hex even though it's not terribly scary it is a lot of fun, has a great horror story line and it is very intense. CLICK HERE FOR CROSS ROADS ESCAPE GAME WEBSITE I want to thank Cross Roads for a wonderful time and all the photos in the article. For obvious reasons no photos or video are allowed inside the room.
Part of the fun for an attraction like this is the surprises and it's hard to write on an event and not spoil it for everyone. What I will say is if you really liked it last year, you will enjoy it just as much. All the great parts from last year are there, just refined, expanded and more fun. If you haven't checked in to Motel 6 Feet Under, I highly recommend it and you need to add it to your Halloween season to do list. It is also a really great beginner haunt, if you have friends and younger kids who aren't ready for the larger theme park haunts or something like Sinister Pointe this is a great place to go first and judge how they handle it. If I had one quibble and it is a small one, the attraction felt slightly shorter then last years experience. That could be because certain areas that were a lot of fun last year were expanded and perhaps that took up space that went in to some of the more traditional haunt type walkways last year. It might signal time for the group to get a larger unit or like any haunt continue to find tune their concept. Over all a very solid second year at Motel 6 Feet Under! CLICK HERE FOR MOTEL 6 FEET UNDER'S WEBSITE AVAILABLE NOW
The Amityville Horror (2005)Newlyweds are terrorized by demonic forces after moving into a large house that was the site of a grisly mass murder a year before. Candyman 3: Day of the Dead (1999)The Candyman is back, trying to convince his descendent, an artist, to join him. Carrie (1976)Carrie White, a shy, friendless 17 year-old girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom. Congo (1995)When an expedition to the African Congo ends in disaster, a new team is assembled to find out what went wrong. Deep Impact (1998)Unless a comet can be destroyed before colliding with Earth, only those allowed into shelters will survive. Which people will survive? The Descent (2005) A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators. Hide (2011)Chesterfield High School basketball practice has ended. One year later the town is still reeling from the massacre of a brutal mischief night murder, but even the statewide curfew won’t stop these teens from pulling pranks on Hallow’s Eve. Susie Hauser, head cheerleader along with her teenage friends are lured by a psychopath to play a revengeful game of hide and seek on this anniversary night. Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)The Freeling family have a new house, but their troubles with supernatural forces don’t seem to be over. Poltergeist III (1988)Carol Anne is staying with her aunt in a highrise building, and the supernatural forces that have haunted her previously follow her there. The Prowler (1981) (*Showtime)An unknown killer, clad in World War II U.S. Army fatigues, stalks a small New Jersey town bent on reliving a 35 year-old double murder by focusing on a group of college kids holding an annual Spring Dance. The Snowtown Murders (2011)Based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother’s new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder. Stigmata (1999)When a young woman becomes afflicted by stigmata, a priest is sent to investigate her case, which may have severe ramifications for his faith and for the Catholic Church itself Stranger in the House (1997)A bitter and greedy retired businessman is killed in a mysterious fall, and his adult daughter blames his manipulative and creepy but seductive new wife, Samantha. Who is Samantha, and is she capable of murder? The Blair Witch Project (1999)Three film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind. Troll (1986) A wicked troll king in search of a mystical ring that will return him to his human form invades a San Francisco apartment complex where a powerful witch lives. Troll 2 (1991)A family vacationing in a small town discovers the entire town is inhabited by goblins in disguise as humans, who plan to eat them. The Warriors (1979)In 1979, a charismatic leader summons the street gangs of New York City in a bid to take it over. When he is killed, The Warriors are falsely blamed and now must fight their way home while every other gang is hunting them down to kill them. Zombie Nation (2006)A psychotic police officer who murders his female arrests gets what’s coming to him when a horde of zombified women rise from their graves to seek revenge. American Horror Story: Complete Season 5 (FX) The plot centers around the enigmatic Hotel Cortez in Los Angeles, California, that catches the eye of an intrepid homicide detective (Bentley). The Cortez is host to the strange and bizarre, spearheaded by its owner, The Countess (Gaga), who is a bloodsucking fashionista. AVAILABLE OCTOBER 15 The Funhouse Massacre (2015) Six of the world’s scariest psychopaths escape from a local Asylum and proceed to unleash terror on the unsuspecting crowd of a Halloween Funhouse whose themed mazes are inspired by their various reigns of terror. AVAILABLE OCTOBER 18 Halloweentown High (2004)Marnie and her friends from Halloweentown are back in this made-for-cable feature. Marnie is a teenage witch living with her family of supernatural beings in the village of Halloweentown. Return to Halloweentown (2006)Marnie and Dylan are going to follow their dreams to go to college, at Halloweentown University, which is also known as Witch University. |
About Us:Welcome to Tales from the Fog! The podcast is hosted by Casey Nihart and his wife Veronica. We cover haunted attractions, horror movies, paranormal events and what ever else our creepy brains decide. Join us twice a month for some spooky fun! Archives
September 2017
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