I have discovered a disturbing trend in "haunted house" attractions. This may come as no surprise to the rest of you (since I just started my tour of haunted attractions) but the prevailling method of scaring people seems to be hidden people in the dark jumping out and yelling "boo!".
Screamers House of Horror on Victoria St. in Niagara Falls, Ontario (The Canadian side of the border) is just this sort of place. I had never been to Screamers before, but I had heard about it from others who declared it to be great. The exterior of the building is painted with images of characters from slasher films, and they proudly display a sign indicating the number of "chickens" who have escaped by yelling "Screamers!" and who failed to complete the course.
The attraction itself is a ten minute walk through darkness. Patrons are told to always head towards a small red light which will lead them through the pitch-black maze. As you stumble through, "Live Actors" (their chosen term) hiss at you from the darkness, lunge at you in a flash of strobe light, or follow you along while grabbing at your hair, or legs. The only part of the trip I truly enjoyed was when the red light (which seemed to be moving on us) lead us into a small dark room with no immediately discernable exit. I expected yet another "live actor" to jump out and accost us, but I was pleasently surprised to find that this scare had little to do with people, and more to do with atmosphere (an Egyptian motif). Personally, I think that the possibility I may not be able to get out is scarier than someone with a chainsaw motor.
Maybe I'm just too old and jaded for this sort of thing, but I really don't believe that having people grab at you in the darkness is the best way to scare people. It isn't scary, it's just very startling. Sure it gets my adrenaline pumping, but I do not fear for my mortal soul (or at the very least, for my life). While Screamers may have been a fun diversion for ten minutes, it's not my idea of a haunted house, and I don't think I'll go back. What ever happened to creepy?
