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A while back, in preparation for Halloween, I decided it would be a capital idea to make my own little “haunted tour” of my local surroundings in Connecticut. Add to the fact that my daughter Zombelina is extremely fascinated by all manner of hauntings and paranormal phenomena (no surprise there), and it really seemed like an obvious thing to do during the Halloween season. So Captain Cruella and I packed up the little ones and made our ghostly pilgrimage.
I selected as our two primary locations, two of the most notorious haunted spots in the entire state: Union Cemetery in Easton and the Remington Arms factory in Bridgeport. It was quite a chilling experience, and the resulting images turned out to be very striking. In fact, the reaction I got from initially posting them to social media led me to (finally_ bring them right here, where they can be enjoyed by all you fine Vault dwellers.
So please proceed, and follow our exploits from that day, if you will…
A portion of the ominous Remington Arms munitions factory on Barnum Ave. in Bridgeport, our first stop...
The fearless Captain ventures down into the factory. I soon followed, and heard some honest-to-goodness footsteps... This, along with the prompt arrival of the Bridgeport PD, led to our hasty departure to a safe distance.
More of the inside, as seen from the street. The factory was run by Remington until 1988, when it was closed down after a series of mysterious deaths. G.E. has since purchases the property and has been planning to tear it all down for years.
See something in there? Yeah, I wasn't sure either. Besides, the decidedly foul neighborhood in which this factory is located left little time for careful inspection.
Although closed off to the public, this doorway seemed to have been forced open, no doubt by some reckless teenagers looking for a spooky time.
Travel Channels' Ghost Adventures show did an episode here at the factory back in 2009, and apparently found "conclusive evidence" of paranormal activity. The footsteps I heard, admittedly, could not be found to have been made by anyone else at the site...
Another view of the vast Remington Arms campus, made up of several buildings in various states of gross disrepair.
Farewell, Remington Arms! And really, is anyone going to check out that tag sale..?
Next, we made the trek through Fairfield, up Route 59 to the posh town of Easton. There we came to Union Cemetery, home of the notorious "White Lady".
Many of the graves here date back to the 17th century. They're largely worn away by weather erosion, but much of the 18th century stones, like this one, still stand.
A closeup of one of the 18th century stones, showing the angelic iconography common to grave markers of the era.
This tree stump shows just how old the place is. And although we caught no sight of the White Lady, we eventually had out fill of the cemetery's general creepiness. The start of a cold drizzle also motivated to head back into the warmth and safety of the car...
There you have it—just a taste of our experiences that day. I’ll never forget those footsteps I heard, nor the very eerie presences palpable at both locations. All in all, I’d call our “Haunted Day” a success, and the perfect prelude to a generally smashing Halloween season!
[Editor's Note: Please give a warm welcome to a very familiar rotting face around these parts, the formidable Captain Cruella of the Carnivorous Cadavers. Fresh off the Village Invasion zombie crawl, Cruella will now be an official fixture here in the Vault. Keep an eye out (see what I did there?) for future installments of Cruella's Crypt, in which the Captain will keep all of us abreast of horror-related events and happenings taking place beyond the movie screen...]
Originally created as a way to raise money for a youth group, and now a “pro” haunted attraction, the Barn of Terror in Lake Katrine, New York is a real scream. Upon arrival, you are ushered into a small reception room where you start by actually walking through a standing coffin and into the first part of the haunted barn itself. The actors in there are good, loud and plentiful. The lighting is disorienting and the layout is fun. You get directed into a retired silo for a spectacular treat after exiting the barn, then catch a ride on a bus that drives you to the corn maze.
The maze itself was exceptionally long, and a little difficult to navigate in the dark. I ended up looking down for most of it, as I was afraid of tripping over stray ears of corn on the path. The theme at the Barn of Terror this year is zombie infection, which seems to be the theme overall this Halloween season. I did enjoy the military versus the zombie infection storyline quite a bit. The only drawbacks were that some of the actors didn’t appear too comfortable in their roles and it just seemed a little forced at times. With the vast corn maze that the Barn of Terror carved out for it’s visitors, there should have been far more actors to jump out and scare the groups as they went through. Some of the down time between actors made it feel like I was just out for a night time stroll. However, stumbling upon a skull mine--which is entirely too cool for words and really unique--made up for the lack of actor.
The Barn of Terror is located on Old Kings Highway at Thru View Farms in Lake Katrine, right off Saugerties Thruway exit 20. The cost is $20 per person, and it took a group of four about an hour and 10 minutes to make it through the barn and the maze. Their season runs from the last weekend in September through the last weekend in October, and it's open Friday through Sunday at 7pm.
I would have to say that given some time, a little finesse, and the addition of more confident actors into the corn maze, this haunt could potentially be a top-notch haunted attraction.
Being a city boy at heart, I truly love Manhattan, and try to get back there any chance I get. Particularly, I always loved hanging out in the Village, which is why it wasn't hard for me to be convinced when I was invited to come down and take a tour of NYC's most heavily hyped haunted attraction, Nightmare: Vampires. And I'm glad I did, as it was one of the best put-together haunted attractions I've experienced.
Some 30 years ago, in the summer 0f 1980, my family took a little vacation on the Jersey Shore that I'll never forget. The main reason I never forgot this trip after all these years was this amazing haunted house at Seaside Heights that my parents went into. Naturally, I was far too young, since this was an attraction geared at grown-ups, but I still got to peek through the bars and catch a glimpse.
I'll never forget one of the actors, a hulking brute, following my mom inside with a noose. He kept trying to put it over her head, but alas, she was wearing one of those gigantic sunhats so popular with women back then. Nevertheless, my parents had an incredible time, and still talk about it to this day.
Anyway, what I'm getting it is that now I finally have an understanding of what they experienced when they went inside those doors and out of my view.
Nightmare: Vampires is a totally immersive experience--a half-hour of mayhem that takes you inside the "MoVa", or "Museum of Vampyric Artifacts", a fictional collection of vampire lore and memorabilia that comes under attack from a bunch of unruly bloodsuckers, leaving the guests to fend for themselves.
I give credit to creator Timothy Haskell and director John Harlacher for creating a very believable and well-crafted setting and scenario. The "exhibits" were very cool to see--well, aside from the Edward Cullen statue. Really, guys?
Believe it or not, a couple members of the group I was with--not all the sharpest fangs in the mouth, I confess--thought it might have been an actual museum of some kind. So kudos to the crew for being so convincing!
Speaking of the teeming masses who were checking out the show on the night I was there, let me just back up for a second and say that this thing was packed, so these folks are doing something right. As Mrs. B-Sol and myself approached the building, we weren't sure where it was, until we spotted the immense line stretching the entire city block, and continuing on the other side of the street.
Of course, the wife and myself completely bypassed said line, just like a horror version of Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco, and were taken aside by a massive bouncer who whisked us straight into an elevator and up to the show. I believe this may have been the first time the wife realized there may be something to this whole blogging thing. Anyway, on the way up, said bouncer informs us what a crazy night it's been, as one person has already passed out, another had an anxiety attack, and a whole bunch of chicks have been breaking down in tears over this thing. Rock on.
But the point is, this show was quite the hot spot, so if you're inclined to check it out, get your tix pronto. It goes till November 7.
Back to the inside. For a temporary event, it was very well put-together. After all, unlike the aforementioned year-round Seaside Heights attraction of yore, this thing was specifically set up for this very brief run, and I was impressed with the amount of detail. Without question, the highlight of the whole show was literally walking directly into a Joshua Hoffine photograph.
How ironic that I had just finished reviewing his work here recently, when lo and behold, I found myself standing inside a stunning real-life recreation of his Countess Bathory photo, complete with blood-filled bathtub and suspended victim! Hoffine is one of the production designers for the attraction, and it shows.
Of course, it takes a lot to scare ol' B-Sol. Will I say I was honestly terrified? Not really, no. The actors did a fine job, and I was quite fascinated, but my years in the wrestling biz have hardened me to the reality of the con and the whole illusory nature of live, immersive entertainment of this kind. I admit it, I'm a tough nut to crack, but this isn't to say I wasn't highly amused and entertained.
This also isn't to say that my wife shared my jaded viewpoint. No sir--in fact, I would say that poor Mrs. B-Sol may have been the most freaked-out member of our entire group of guests. Specifically, there was this claustrophobic series of passageways--which one fellow guest aptly described as a "giant vagina", that you must pass through in total darkness and pressing heat. It's a bit of an ordeal, and the Mrs. almost lost it on me for a minute or two there.
The show boasts some very cool live special effects courtesy of art director Justin Haskell, particularly a bizarre vampire sacrifice scene involving organs removed, spurting blood, and blades appearing to pass through living flesh. Good stuff.
I don't know if anything could quite live up to the impressive hype machine of Nightmare: Vampires, but it is a very unique and ingenious thrill-ride, there's no doubt about that. I've been meaning to do a survey of haunted attractions across America at some point, and this one has a rep for being one of the very best. I can't argue with that, as it's easy to see what a quality production it is. If you're in the New York City area, and you enjoy these sort of live haunted attractions, I encourage you to check it out before the season ends.