The UTD Mercury

Issue date: 10/18/04 Section: Feature

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The Boneyard
2700 E. Pioneer Pkwy., Arlington
www.zboneyard.org
$15 single price

Located completely indoors, the Boneyard was creative and shocking. Beginning in March, volunteers donate their time to designing and operating the house, and all proceeds benefit the Special Olympics of Texas.

If walking through the rooms of blood and scenes of horror doesn't leave you weak at the knees, try opening your eyes. The house is creative, convincing, and all for a good cause.

One room has black plastic pipes hanging from the ceiling so densely that the victim literally has to push his/her way through. The scenes are delightfully gory. In another room, stuffed body bags hang from the ceiling and the visitor must move them aside to make their way through.

Lots of children volunteer in this house and are actually pretty convincing. One room is a graveyard with ominous youngsters walking slowly around and then returning to their burying places. Victims also walk through an Egyptian tomb and a mausoleum.

The diversity of effects in this house was very impressive.

An arcade, an airbrush tattoo parlor, and other booths are outside of the haunted house, but in the same building. Concessions are also available.

This house was appropriate for most ages and price ranges. It was captivating and well-rounded. It should satisfy nearly all of its visitors.

Hangman's
2300 West Freeway, Fort Worth
www.hangmans.com
$16 House of Horror, $8 Mayhem Manor, $5 Pitch Black, $5 Mortuary of Madness, $20 All four attractions

Hangman's is quite the place to be. This is the haunted house's 16th year in the business of fright, and it has acquired quite a group of patrons - more than 22,000 people visited last year.

The group of 150-200 volunteers begins brainstorming and planning in January.

This year, "Scary Tales" was the theme of the main house. The volunteers reenacted classic fairy tales in a truly demented fashion.

The house appealed to various phobias. The blood and guts were everywhere, but the contorted pathways and slanted walls were innovative and wacky.

Mirrors and fog gave a sinister feeling that became only worse (or better) after the fumes of chainsaws filled the paths. Soon, large men began chasing visitors out with their saws.

After recovering from the main house, the victim still has "Mayhem Manor", "Pitch Black", and "Mortuary of Madness" to explore.

"Mayhem Manor", although not blatantly revolting, it is certainly startling.

"Pitch Black" is 15 minutes of groping hands and dilating pupils. "Mortuary of Madness" is short but chilling thanks to abundant blood, tissue, and entrails lying about.

Hangman's features a different band nightly and a circular gravity-defying carnival ride.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the project is the fact that all proceeds benefit the local Multiple Sclerosis Society. Last year, the house raised more than $300,000 for the society.

Z-Maze
I-30 East, Exit 83, Rockwall
www.zmaze.com
$7 The Maze, Reaper's Field, Twisted Demention 3D Haunted House, $16 for all

Although Z-Maze's haunted house is not altogether convincing, the creepy cornfields surrounding the house successfully incite a feeling of discomfort in the visitor.

The property includes two cornfield mazes (one haunted and one clean) and a haunted house. The clean cornfield maze was slow, but eerie; walking through an isolated field in the dark is naturally unnerving.

The haunted cornfield maze inflicted a few scares, but the workers did not diversify their methods of shocking the victim.

The haunted house was short and repetitive, but intense. The workers did not curb the volume of their screams at all, which made them somewhat convincing, but at the same time annoying.

Three-dimensional glasses were worn the entire way through and the effect lost its appeal pretty quickly. The house did not have much gruesome scenery; it focused more on startling the visitor.

Compared to other local haunted houses, the maze was cheaper and certainly more family-oriented. If you want a clean and subtle scare and have plenty of gas, plan a trip to Z-Maze.

ScareGrounds
2001 Irving Boo, Downtown Dallas
www.dallasscaregrounds.com
$2 FestEvil entry, $16 Main House

An old warehouse was converted into the 23,000-square-foot main venue for the Dallas Scaregrounds. The house is composed of three sections. More than 70 costumed workers reenact scenes from canonical horror movies in the "Terrortorium." The "Necrotorium" is a gathering place of zombies and ghouls. The psychedelic "Hallucinatorium" - which requires 3-D glasses - leaves you pleasantly disoriented.

The fest-evil has planned events throughout October including burlesque dancers, freak shows, a performance by the Saints cheerleaders and a blood drive.

"Festevil" manager Becky Jackson said that they expect more than 40,000 visitors before Halloween.

'We have everyone from itty-bitty kids to senior citizen groups coming out," said Jackson.

The booth across from the coffins and hearses is a bar for "victims." Say "trick or treat" to the bartender to get a special surprise. (You need not be buying an alcoholic drink to get the prize.)

The Dallas ScareGrounds is a more expensive than other haunted houses and is geared towards older crowds. If you can handle the scares and the cost, the trip is certainly worth it.

Not into Haunted Houses? Here's some on-campus ideas to stir into your cauldron this Halloween.

Oct. 28

Children's Halloween Party 6 p.m., Comet Café Students, faculty and staff are invited to bring their children for a Halloween party sponsored by SUAAB.

Phase VIII Children Trick or Treat 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., The Peer Advisers are inviting area elementary schools - as well as children of students, faculty and staff - to trick or treat in Phase VIII.

Oct. 29

Fright Night Movie, "Ringu" 7:30 p.m., The Pub SUAAB and Late Night Programming are showing the Japanese version of the movie that inspired "The Ring."

Oct. 30

Rocky Horror Picture Show Midnight, Saturday night, Jonsson Performance Hall. The Society of Women Engineers and Meteor Theater are showing the cult classic as it was made to be - interactive. Admission is free, but tickets must be obtained before the showing. For tickets, prop packs or more information, call 972-883-2940 or email swe@utdallas.edu.

Oct. 31

Trick or Treat for Cans 6-11 p.m., Galaxy Rooms
All students are invited to partake in Alpha Phi Omega's 7th annual canned food drive. Students will trick or treat in area neighborhoods from 6:30-8:30 p.m., and the group that collects the most cans will win a party.

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