Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:57 am
#32336
This was advertised off base for the first time this year (that i know of) ...had 24 hrs to book to clear gate security et al, hopefully other locals went & will understand the process far more clearly as to halloween celebrations.
For future reference it may be worth uk carvers near a USAF base contacting to see if this happens anywhere else, in which case GO!
This is the highlight of my year & has bucked me up no end!
WOW, it made my year (seriously) ...upon parking the base personnel had arranged for a hay-ride to the location of the haunted house, which settled in front of old & presumably derelict housing block which had the entrance "tarped off" ..climb the stairs, squeezed into a small stairwell, not sure what to anticipate..
Operating till 11pm at night (thurs & fri night) the mass of volunteer scarers (40+) will be due a strepsil or 3!
Having never been to a "haunted house operation" I'd no idea what to expect & what I did see left me reeling in a sensory manner (so much to take in that i'm having a hard time recalling it all) ...it went on & on ...& on.
I was expecting about 5 minutes with maybe 6 scenarios, & actually got a dozen or more??
Taken through by a silent guide (follow the blue glo-stick) ...we were ushered through some amazing flesh eating spectacles, a particular mention must go to the creativity of the group who were designated an old toilet block to scare from, plenty of feeding zombies, slippery floors soaked in blood, zombies bursting out at you..
Another area had spongey floors (entirely) walls & ceiling made into exactly the same pattern effect, in the gloom & strobe light it was hard to see the shifting camoflauged shapes moving up at you scaring retreating "blink & they'd gone" ..then there they were again, ..worked so well.
My 5 yr old daughter (yes she came too) started to lose her nerve at the sight of the electric chair victim writhing, & when faced by both Jason Voorhees & Michael Myers towering over her started to crumble, they took their masks off & spoke to her which more or less gave her the courage to complete the remainder of the rooms!
I guess we were actually in there for around 20 minutes overall, each time we came to the main corridor again I thought this must be the end, but delightfully no, ..more was to come.
The butchering hospital scene was great complete with decapitated live victim, the cleaver wielding surgeon hacking away (oh the sound as the cleaver came down,..he really went for it) & stuffing bits of nastiness in his mouth, cadavers & a live victim wriggling in their bag awaiting their fate...
The mad scientist who was pulling & pushing you through his lab, shoving you out of the door stating, "get going I have serious work to be done", ..whilst the mask was comical the effect from the actor who kept up such a pace of talk was incredible..
Plenty of double frights as scareactors got you on the way in, way out, & crashing through walls etc made for a really lively experience.
I've only dipped my toes into what happened, it's going to keep seeping through my mind as to all the rooms & detail!
& whilst you regular haunted house goers might be used to the chainsaw man, as we walked out to the final exit having gone into proper light again, he stepped round the corner revving up a real chainsaw, the effect worked really well.
(incidentally my wife, in a "knee-jerk" reaction kicked one poor scareactor by mistake) ..sorry!
Candies, Hot dogs, Soup & muffins were all on supply to keep both visitors & the scaractors fed & watered, the only thing missing was an avenue of Zombie Pumpkins as you left the building, ..might have to speak to the base commander about this one!
So much more (davy Jones locker rooms etc, but honestly it was so much thrown at the senses that it was an enjoyable overload)
Hopefully it will be available next year (but with a "child parking" area , in order that Dad can get his kicks & take it all in!
We might have to check out the other bases Molesworth & Mildenhall for future reference, in which case I'll be manically driving between all three over several nights, but be sure that I'll be wild eyed & insistent to my friends & neighbours to come visit the haunted house, looking scarily like the gibbering characters encountered within!
The great thing was that on this level & with visibility murky, you lost all sense of time & direction, no clue as to what was next due to the small groups taken through in a very controlled manner, building up to some exhilerating displaysyou'd not get in a wholly commercial haunt setting.
My daughter, being able to see the scaractors running out at a set time to grab a hot-dog helped allay her fears & turn the scares into scarey fun, ..though she did have a "few" associated nightmares in her sleep, mainly thinking she herself wasn't very good at scaring though, so some confusion, & to tell you the truth if I'd known it was to be that gorey, I would have left her patting a dog with peopl out front if forewarned, however she came through it & is upstairs in her room watching Ghostbusters for the 1st time so no harm done!
USAF Alconbury, I applaud & thank you for your sterling work, ..& would be delighted to come back next year, in fact if not open to the public I'd consider running the gauntlet of the razor-wire in order to get another look!
So yes, Haunted Houses DO happen to a very professional level in the UK, like anything we have to get out there & find it for ourselves!
Tempted to go again tonight if possible, at £3.00 per person we really were "got good" ..amazing experience.
For future reference it may be worth uk carvers near a USAF base contacting to see if this happens anywhere else, in which case GO!
This is the highlight of my year & has bucked me up no end!
WOW, it made my year (seriously) ...upon parking the base personnel had arranged for a hay-ride to the location of the haunted house, which settled in front of old & presumably derelict housing block which had the entrance "tarped off" ..climb the stairs, squeezed into a small stairwell, not sure what to anticipate..
Operating till 11pm at night (thurs & fri night) the mass of volunteer scarers (40+) will be due a strepsil or 3!
Having never been to a "haunted house operation" I'd no idea what to expect & what I did see left me reeling in a sensory manner (so much to take in that i'm having a hard time recalling it all) ...it went on & on ...& on.
I was expecting about 5 minutes with maybe 6 scenarios, & actually got a dozen or more??
Taken through by a silent guide (follow the blue glo-stick) ...we were ushered through some amazing flesh eating spectacles, a particular mention must go to the creativity of the group who were designated an old toilet block to scare from, plenty of feeding zombies, slippery floors soaked in blood, zombies bursting out at you..
Another area had spongey floors (entirely) walls & ceiling made into exactly the same pattern effect, in the gloom & strobe light it was hard to see the shifting camoflauged shapes moving up at you scaring retreating "blink & they'd gone" ..then there they were again, ..worked so well.
My 5 yr old daughter (yes she came too) started to lose her nerve at the sight of the electric chair victim writhing, & when faced by both Jason Voorhees & Michael Myers towering over her started to crumble, they took their masks off & spoke to her which more or less gave her the courage to complete the remainder of the rooms!
I guess we were actually in there for around 20 minutes overall, each time we came to the main corridor again I thought this must be the end, but delightfully no, ..more was to come.
The butchering hospital scene was great complete with decapitated live victim, the cleaver wielding surgeon hacking away (oh the sound as the cleaver came down,..he really went for it) & stuffing bits of nastiness in his mouth, cadavers & a live victim wriggling in their bag awaiting their fate...
The mad scientist who was pulling & pushing you through his lab, shoving you out of the door stating, "get going I have serious work to be done", ..whilst the mask was comical the effect from the actor who kept up such a pace of talk was incredible..
Plenty of double frights as scareactors got you on the way in, way out, & crashing through walls etc made for a really lively experience.
I've only dipped my toes into what happened, it's going to keep seeping through my mind as to all the rooms & detail!
& whilst you regular haunted house goers might be used to the chainsaw man, as we walked out to the final exit having gone into proper light again, he stepped round the corner revving up a real chainsaw, the effect worked really well.
(incidentally my wife, in a "knee-jerk" reaction kicked one poor scareactor by mistake) ..sorry!
Candies, Hot dogs, Soup & muffins were all on supply to keep both visitors & the scaractors fed & watered, the only thing missing was an avenue of Zombie Pumpkins as you left the building, ..might have to speak to the base commander about this one!
So much more (davy Jones locker rooms etc, but honestly it was so much thrown at the senses that it was an enjoyable overload)
Hopefully it will be available next year (but with a "child parking" area , in order that Dad can get his kicks & take it all in!
We might have to check out the other bases Molesworth & Mildenhall for future reference, in which case I'll be manically driving between all three over several nights, but be sure that I'll be wild eyed & insistent to my friends & neighbours to come visit the haunted house, looking scarily like the gibbering characters encountered within!
The great thing was that on this level & with visibility murky, you lost all sense of time & direction, no clue as to what was next due to the small groups taken through in a very controlled manner, building up to some exhilerating displaysyou'd not get in a wholly commercial haunt setting.
My daughter, being able to see the scaractors running out at a set time to grab a hot-dog helped allay her fears & turn the scares into scarey fun, ..though she did have a "few" associated nightmares in her sleep, mainly thinking she herself wasn't very good at scaring though, so some confusion, & to tell you the truth if I'd known it was to be that gorey, I would have left her patting a dog with peopl out front if forewarned, however she came through it & is upstairs in her room watching Ghostbusters for the 1st time so no harm done!
USAF Alconbury, I applaud & thank you for your sterling work, ..& would be delighted to come back next year, in fact if not open to the public I'd consider running the gauntlet of the razor-wire in order to get another look!
So yes, Haunted Houses DO happen to a very professional level in the UK, like anything we have to get out there & find it for ourselves!
Tempted to go again tonight if possible, at £3.00 per person we really were "got good" ..amazing experience.