The Carnival of Horrors takes place at Blossom Music Center as it has every year for the past ten years. The event, only open on weekends, includes four different “houses”: the Fun House, the Wicked Woods, the Insane Asylum, and the Freakshow. Highlights include free parking and a genuinely frightening experience, while some low points include long lines and large groups.

The Fun House ranks as easily the scariest attraction at the Carnival of Horrors. A visit to the “abandoned fun house” begins with entering the mouth of a huge clown followed by several trick doors, mazes and diversions. After being chased down and cornered, a visitor is yelled at by actors if caught showing fear. Overall, this was my favorite and left me excited for the rest of the attractions. Though not easily scared, I have to admit that the Fun House had me on my toes.

The Wicked Woods sits in the middle of the woods behind The Fun House, with actors hiding and waiting to scare the audience. One flashlight is given to each group which needs to make its way through, trying to find the exit. The concept of the site was a really great idea; however, due to other groups nearby me, the actors often failed to scare individuals. I think this house would have worked better if one group entered at a time.

In the Insane Asylum, the actors’ antics were most effective because the house is completely filled with smoke and contains a confusing fenced maze that eventually led to the exit.

Maria Lopez, a junior here at Walsh, went a few weeks ago and commented, “The Insane Asylum took me forever to get out of. The fog and lights messed with my head, so I ended up asking a worker for help.” Like The Wicked Woods, it was completely packed and, as a result, it was not all that frightening. At first, the excessive smoke from the fog machines made it seem authentic, but I became irritated after ten minutes and all I wanted was to get out.

The Freakshow marks the final stop of the attraction. Advertised as “3D Terrorvision,” the house comes alive as one can’t differentiate between props and actors. Visitors have to find their way through psychedelic rooms that have them questioning what is actually there and what is an illusion. This house was actually rather fun, and getting fooled into trying to climb 3-D stairs had me laughing out loud. However, it was not very scary and reminded me of a stereotypical carnival fun house.

Overall, The Carnival of Horrors was decently entertaining and had a lot to present to the audience. Senior Megan Cummins summed up her experience: “It was scary and exhilarating at some points; but it didn’t live up to the hype.” Nevertheless, a huge fan of haunted houses like me highly recommends going to The Carnival of Horrors.

The attraction is open only on weekends from September 30 to October 30 every year. Tickets are a reasonable $23 for general admission and $28 for a ticket and a speed pass which lets one skip to the front of the lines. Be sure to check out the Carnival with your friends next year.