When I was younger, I couldn’t wait until the Party City costume magazine came in the mail during the month of October. I’d get a marker, and circle all of the costumes that I wanted to consider for my trick-or-treating mission! Ah, the thrill of watching your bag grow from pounds and pounds of yummy candy throughout the night! I’ll never forget it. Now, however, since we’re officially “grown-ups” we substitute that night of trick-or-treating for more exciting things, like haunted houses and crazy haunted trails.
Regardless of where you live, it’s almost impossible not to find some type of haunted attraction near you. We have several in the Charlotte area. One of my favorites is Scarowinds, a haunted amusement park. For a pretty reasonable price, you can combine your love of thrill rides with over six different haunted attractions, mixed in with loony haunted employees who enjoy chasing you around the park. It opens around 7:00 PM and closes at either midnight or 1:00 AM. Scarowinds does a great job setting the mood with countless smoke machines, gory decorations, and wonderful makeup artists who make the actors look pretty scary. It’s a great family attraction. Kids who scare easily can opt for the rides, while those more daring may challenge themselves to face every haunted house in the park.
I visited this past weekend and had an absolute BLAST. I’m a thrill seeker, so I had to ride all of the rides, but I also visited every haunted house. I was chased out of every single one by either a person with a chainsaw, an asylum escapee, or some other crazy looking person that I never had a chance to look at because I was too busy running away!
This Halloween, try to find a haunted attraction near you. Just because you’re an adult, doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun.
-Brittani Hunter
You should consider looking for places that have some kind of charity they're supporting -- I know Scarowinds has different charities and societies they support.
ReplyDeleteIn my hometown, my neighbor, who owns a considerable chunk of land, opened a haunted attraction when his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. All profits go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and most of my friends work there seasonally, whether it's driving the tractors for the haunted hayrides, dressing up every night in costume to scare people, or selling corndogs in one of the concession stands.
Everyone goes to this place because they really don't mind paying that money to profit such a good cause. Usually commercialism is effective when consumers believe their monetary contribution will benefit themselves or society in some way.
Chris Watson:
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with this article. I was just telling my friends that we needed to do something fun this year for halloween, and we decided to go to Scarowinds. I've heard a lot of comments about it and I am very excited to go. Im not much f a fan of being scared but i know at the end of the day, I will have enjoyed my halloween. I told my friends that I refuse to get dressed up and go to another party like I did last year because it was so boring. There is nothing wrong with doing something a little different to enjoy a holiday. As a kid, halloween wasn'tso much of a big deal in my family so Im trying to make up for some lost times before I get to old to participate in such activities. Im looking forward to my experience at Scarowinds this Sunday! Hopefully it goes as well as Brittani descirbe it!
I just went to Scarowinds for my first time on Friday and had a blast. It was so much fun with all the Halloween decorations out and smoke everywhere. I'm from PA near Philly and every year my friends and I have a chance to go to 1 or 2 famous haunted houses. 2 years ago, we went to the Asylum in the middle of Philly. It was so cool. It looked like a castle and they have you walk through all the old jail cells! IT was crazy scary and I had the best time. Halloween is amazing and I love no matter how old we are, we can participate in the holiday.
ReplyDeleteI most definitely agree. As a kid, I never really celebrated Halloween, I was just a candy fiend. As I got older, I found myself interested in celebrating the "holiday". This past Sunday, I visited Scarowinds with two friends of mine. I love theme parks but I am scared out of my mind of heights. However, I am a man who loves a thrill, therefore I rode every rollercoaster I could possibly ride in about three hours. I felt like a little kid again. I am an adult, but it is always fun to bring the kid side out once in a while.
ReplyDeleteYou just got me super excited! I am from New Jersey and I attend school in Charlotte. Yesterday everyone was talking about going to Scarwinds and I was iffy about it, But know I'm definitely attending this Friday for the haunted houses. I can't wait!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you. Halloween has a very different meaning when we're kids, in the sense that we are looking forward to the candy and the neighborhood kids to go trick or treating with. Obviously, because you re smaller, you are intrigued by the scary things in your neighborhood or the movies that come on at night. kids want to have the coolest costumes or the latest Disney channel character. But, once we get older it becomes about the thrill and the ability to be whom ever you want to be that night without being judged, hopefully. I think that adults see Halloween as a time to party and to catch some old re-runs of Friday the 13th or Halloween movies.
ReplyDeleteRenaissance festival in Huntersville.....the ultimate inner child experience. You want to see some weirdos and have a jolly ol' time, than you gotta check it out..
ReplyDeleteThis is a good blog that you wrote. I agree, sometimes I think just because I'm an adult that I can't have fun on Halloween too. I have never been to Scarowinds before and I would like to see what it is like. I hear people talking about it all of the time. Haunted houses are a lot of fun to go to, I think it would be cool to work in one during Halloween and scare everyone.
ReplyDeleteReading all of your comments makes me even more excited to find another haunted house to experience that chilling thrill again! The fun of halloween along with the cool, autumn weather makes this time of the year so much fun!
ReplyDeleteMolly, that's such a good point! I wasn't aware that Scarowinds donated to different charities. That's wonderful that these attractions not only seek to entertain customers, but to also work towards sponsoring a good cause. Hopefully I can find a new attraction that also donates to a great organization.