A History of Haunt: Part III Halloween Haunt

 Part II examined the growth of Halloweekends from a primaryly kids-centered minor end-of-the-season event to a more mature-audience-centered event around which the season revolved. Part III will explore the evolution, change, and hurdles the event experienced from 2012 to the present (2023). By 2012, the event included most of the major players that are recognizable even today; the park advertised nine extreme haunts, which included in 2012: Lore of the Vampire, Asylum Island, Bloodshed, Cornstalkers, London Terror, Fright Zone, Outlaw's Revenge, Zombie High, and Overlord's Awakening.

Over the next decade, the park would add one major new haunted house to the ranks and see a literal potpourri of different fright zones, shows, and smaller attractions come and go. 

Fright Lane 2013

2013 saw the first significant change with the addition of the Skeleton Key rooms. An added "pay extra" haunt attraction, the Skeleton Key rooms were "hidden" rooms within different houses that expanded on the macabre storyline and added a deeper, more personal connection with the storyline. For example, Lore of the Vampire offered a Skeleton Key experience where guests individually would be lowered into a coffin or, in another Key Room, have to find a hidden object in what amounted to a used litter box complete with a decaying "corpse." The Skeleton Key attraction would last for five seasons, with its last season being 2017.

Lore of the Vampire Skeleton Key Room 2013 (and yes that's me)

Inferno in 2013, photo by Dustijn Hollon

Though today in Blood on the Bayou (which is where this photo is taken), this "prop" is originally from the 2016 Skeleton Key rooms. 

2013 also saw the replacement of Master McCarthy's Dollhouse with Chamber of Horrors, a wax museum come alive with terrifying results. It would also see one brand new attraction, Inferno, a freakish, cirque-style, sideshow next to Patriot. Inferno would only last one season. 

Tivoli geared up for Ed Alonzo, photo from 2016

Many have been questioning recently what the peak year for Haunt was. Without question, Haunt is still a great event today, but it seemingly has never fully recovered since COVID-19 shut it down entirely in 2020. 2014 was the stand-out season as far as peak seasons for Haunt go. All cylinders were firing; it was the second to last full season of Asylum Island under that name and the last season for Magical House on Boo Hill. It would be the first season where Boneyard would have replaced Fright Zone, and the park was on its second season for Skeleton Key; last and probably most important, the park premiered a new spectacular show at Tivoli. Ed Alonzo's Psycho Circus was an elaborate illusionist and magic show combined with humor and was so incredibly entertaining it packed the Tivoli with nearly every show.  

Psycho Freaks in front of Tivoli

Psycho Freaks Bearded Lady

2015 was right on 2014's heels and carried on the popular Ed Alonzo show but also introduced a second, more family-friendly version during the daytime. Outside Tivoli, a new sideshow attraction premiered. It was named Psycho Freaks Sideshow and included characters that would feel right at home in a 19th century circus such as the bearded lady or siamese twins. Psycho Freaks would last for two seasons. 

Blood on the Bayou, new in 2015

Exterior of Blood on the Bayou in 2015

Entrance to Blood on the Bayou, photo taken 2022

One of the many details that can't be fully appreciated while experiencing Blood on the Bayou which is this painting which features a hot air balloon and sternwheeler. 

2015 also saw the last new haunted house to premier (to date) and the best themed of them all, Blood on the Bayou. Themed to the Louisiana Bayou, it catered to more of the macabre than pure guts and gore. The last expansion of 2015 was a change to the Overlord's Awakening Show to include the Wicked Witches of the East and West in an expansion known as Hexed,  which, like Bayou, still exists today.

Wicked Witch of the West, from Hexed. Photo by Josh Donnici.

Wicked Witch of the East, photo by John Donnici.

Eleven years after the last use of Boo! Blast, the children's Halloween attraction, would be given a new name, The Great Pumpkinfest, which is still used to this date (2023). The entire pantheon of scare-free attractions would be relocated from Europa to Planet Snoopy, including many attractions still there today, including a hay bale maze, costume contest, crafts, and Peanut characters. 

2016 would be a further continuation of the two prior seasons, with Ed Alonzo returning for a third season to Tivoli, in this case known as Ed Alonzo's Fun House. It would also see several new small changes instead of one big new attraction. CarnEvil, which had called Bicentennial Square home since 2007, would be moved to the Patriot area, and London Terror would be moved from Forum Road/Heart of America Blvd to the old Calamity Games Midway Games area at Bicentennial Square and renamed London Terror Square. The most significant change to Haunt in 2016 occurred halfway through the season; Asylum Island would be renamed and rethemed to  Urgent Scare after guests at Knott's Berry Farm (which had a similar haunt) expressed concerns over the representation of the mentally ill. 

Carnevil by Patriot

Carnival Clown bus (originally the Camp Bus) by Patriot.

The loss of Asylum Island, the largest, most popular Haunt, has yet to have its impact judged. What is certain is Asylum Island had one of the most significant impacts on creating the monster that is the Haunt season, so its removal would also have some impact on the overall experience of Haunt. The new quasi-Asylum Island, Urgent Scare, would be removed entirely after the 2017 season.

2017 was the last season for the Skeleton Key Rooms

2017 began the start of a subtle shift in the dynamics of Haunt. It introduced the No Boo necklace, which makes many questions about what type of event Worlds of Fun was trying to market, a mature event intended for adults or a family event? Another concern regarding 2017 is that Haunt almost felt like an afterthought as the park geared up for its first-ever Winterfest event. 

2016 was the last season for the Ed Alonzo show (he would move onto another Cedar Fair park), so for 2017, the park would introduce a new live entertainment offering at the new International Plaza stage, Skeleton Crew, a Halloween-themed dance, and stunt show which would last for three seasons until 2019. 2017 would also see one other subtle change, with London Terror Square renamed to its current moniker, Ripper Alley.

Bicentennial Square looking familiar to today, but taken in 2018.

Khaos in 2018 at Coco Palms Pavilion

2018 and 2019 would see further subtle changes in Haunt with no major new Haunt additions. Chamber of Horrors: Condemned would replace the original Chamber of Horrors in the Zambezi Zinger queue house due to a fire that caused damage to several scenes. A "new" haunt, Khaos would be the shortest lived (only two seasons) and replace Urgent Care/Asylum Island; for this first season, Khaos would re-use the same Coco Palms picnic pavilion at Oceans of Fun. 2018 would also be the last year for CarnEvil, though it would return, at least thematically, in 2022 for one season in Scandinavia.

Khaos in 2019 at Festhaus

2019, in retrospect, has an odd mystique: it would be the last "normal" season for about three years, though no one could have known it then. It was one of those moments where everyone wishes they could have known it was the last breath of normalcy for a long while. For that reason, the changes in 2019 seem like they were planned for the long term when they never would appear again in some cases. Such is the case with Khaos; this weird, psychotic haunted house always struggled with a minimal theme. It was an upside-down, post-apocalyptic world, which seems appropriate in hindsight. In 2019, Khaos would be relocated from its original location at Coco Palms Pavilion in Oceans of Fun to Festhaus Picnic Pavilion. 2019 would also be the last season for Boneyard in Africa, but it would also introduce a Haunt that many know today, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. Located on Forum Road/Heart of America theater, it would be the third Haunt to be located on that roadway between Mamba and Detonator, and like the other two, would struggle and be, like London Terror, moved to a new location when it would return in 2021.

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater in 2019 on Forum Road. 

Pumpkin Eater as seen from Forum and the line for Bloodshed. 

The 2020 season was planned to be the last season for Winterfest. Very few know what was planned for Haunt that year, but as everyone knows, neither festival happened; in fact, very little happened at Worlds of Fun in 2020. The season was incredibly short, running from June 22 until September 7. There is no other way to define that season in that it was simply "odd" or as it was called by a few: "Worlds of Fun lite" as about half the rides didn't even operate that season either.

Cryptics: Final Scarewell Tour in 2021 at International Plaza Stage. 

Witches Ball in 2021. 

If 2020 was Worlds of Fun lite, then 2021 was Haunt lite, with Haunt returning but lacking certain ingredients that many always assumed at this point would be there. Moulin Rouge was dark with no Haunted Homecoming for the first time in 18 years, and also for the first time in 16 years, there was no Haunt at Coco Palms pavilion or at the Feshaus, leaving the whole Haunt experience feeling like something was missing. Haunted Homecoming would be with the park in spirit, though in the way of a new show at International Plaza for Haunt, Cryptics: Final Scarewell Tour,  along with Witches Ball featuring the Wicked Witches of the East and West. A haunt that WOULD return in 2021 would be Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater that would be relocated to the old Dinosaur's Alive Trail and be far more successful in its new wooded location. 2021 would also be the last season for Chamber of Horrors, with the Zambezi Zinger queue station returning to its original, intended use.

2021 was the last year for Chamber of Horrors: Condemned. 

Entrance to Chamber of Horrors. 

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater entrance in 2021. 

Today there is a roller coaster here, back then it was the walkway for Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater (and before that Dinosaurs Alive)

In 2022, Haunt would return more in a recognizable form and, for the first time in three years, feature an entirely new Haunted scare zone/house, Malice in Wonderland, Europa's first-ever haunt. Unlike the 2012 Alice in Wonderland-themed kids area, this variation was two-faced. The Wonderland props would offer a scare-free trick-or-treat zone during the daytime and would serve as a creepy fright zone during the night. In addition to Malice in Wonderland, Fright Zone would return as a scare zone in Africa and, along with Outlaws, would bring the fright zone count back up to three, but only for this one season.

Malice in Wonderland at Night. 

Trick or Treat in Wonderland in the daytime. 

Present Day, 2023, 30 years after the inception of Boo! Bash Worlds of Fun changed things up again by making Haunt a separately ticketed event. No longer would the day slowly transition into a nighttime freak show. Worlds of Fun wasn't the first to make their haunted event a separately ticked event from the regular day pass, not by a long shot. The practice of having separate events dates back to Knott's Berry Farm, which has hosted "Knott's Scary Farm" for fifty years! More changes would come to the event, too; Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater would be slightly relocated to account for the new Zambezi Zinger taking up its old haunting grounds. CarnEvil would return at least in spirit in the form of a new show near Tivoli, Last Laff, which offered a new twist and slice to the typical circus sideshow. A third show, at International Plaza stage, Conjure the Night featured once again the Witches of the East and West from Hexed. 

Conjure the Night

Last Laff

Last Laff

Looking back at over 30 years of Halloween attractions at Worlds of Fun, it has been amazing to witness its growth. Starting from a two-week, kid-centric event back in 1992, it grew exponentially with nearly every single season to an event unrecognizable to its original roots, proving that not all change is bad and can, in many ways, create new traditions and memories. For many, a Worlds of Fun without Haunt is unimaginable, much like for many older fans, a Worlds of Fun without Zambezi Zinger or Orient Express was. History is an ever-evolving story, and the important, memorable pieces are determined by those who live it. By becoming time-honored, Haunt has earned its place in the pantheon of Worlds of Fun classics and traditions, and it will hopefully be around for many years to come.