Local haunted attractions range from the super-scary to family-friendly

If there was any doubt the holiday season begins with Halloween, one need look no further than the investment of time, energy and money being put into ways to amuse area residents with spooky haunted houses and spine- tingling scare zones.

From Kennywood Park in West Mifflin to Castle Blood in Monessen, there is plenty to keep people screaming throughout the month.

“There was a time when the CEO of Kennywood said this park will never be open past Labor Day,” Kennywood spokesman Nick Paradise said. “It’s kind of funny to think of that now. This is a major time of year, a major part of the business to do Halloween.”

Kennywood’s Phantom Fall Fest is the park’s 20th annual Halloween spectacular. It features the new “mAlice in Wonderland” haunted house, along with established haunts such as “Voodoo Bayou,” “Villa of the Vampire,” and “Shady Grove Memorial Hospital,” as well as four walkthrough scare zones, including the new “Dead Light District.”

Kennywood officials announced an increased police presence and stricter security measures have been put in place after a Sept. 24 shooting that wounded three people at the park. The measures include doubling the number of police throughout the park and enhancing security along the perimeter of the park. Visitors are also required to pass through a weapons detection system at the front gate provided by the same company, Massachusetts-based Evolv Technologies, that provides detectors at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

Where are the scares?

• Haunted Halloween attractions abound in Western Pennsylvania

Kennywood prohibits costumes and masks after 6 p.m. Spokeswoman Tasha Pokrzywa said she felt things had returned to normal when the park reopened Sept 30.

“It seemed like everybody was having a really great time,” Pokrzywa said. “We had a great crowd. People enjoyed themselves. They knew that this was an isolated incident, and, unfortunately in this world right now, we’re seeing it happening anywhere, everywhere. We’re doing everything we can to make it a safe experience for all of our guests and our team members.”

The expanded schedule now encompasses 20 days. On Saturdays and Sundays, there are also 30 rides, including the Steel Curtain roller coaster which is open for the first time during Phantom Fall Fest.

“People love coaster rides at night and during Halloween, all the fog that we use has to go somewhere, and you can’t see where you’re going as you go up the hill and go down the drops,” Paradise said. “So, it adds some intensity that some people really enjoy.”

The Tribune-Review toured the attraction, which has taken a month to build and spoke to the craftspeople behind its creation. There is a lot of ground to cover.

“There are actually 15 rooms, as we call them, to explore within this attraction,” Adam Leong, associate technical director for “mAlice in Wonderland,” said.

“If you go one way, you’ll miss two rooms. If you go the other way you’ll miss two rooms. So, it pays to go through twice so you don’t miss anything, and there’s a lot to take in,” he said.

Leong said it is family-friendly, and young children can go through it.

“It’s always challenging with the tricks that we try to do in terms of keeping the attraction inviting for the guests,” Leong said.

He was reluctant to go into any detail about the tricks they employ. However, Jenna Snyder, senior manager of scenic design and props for RWS Entertainment Group, admitted to using effects borrowed from old-time horror movies.

“There are a lot of tricks with mirrors that they used in the 1920s (films) that work very well as illusions,” Snyder said. “So, that, mixed with the more modern technology of strobe lights, is really effective.”

Kennywood suggests some of the haunts in the park may not be suitable for children under 12.

At Kennywood’s sister park, Idlewild, a less intense experience awaits with Hallowboo! It’s scheduled for every Saturday and Sunday through Oct. 30 and features a Trick-or-Treat Trail through Story Book Forest and new live shows.

“These new shows are happening on the Hillside Theater and include ‘Jack o’ Lantern Jive’ and ‘Monster Mash.’ It’s Halloween characters and Halloween music and dancing and fun activities,” Pokrzywa said. “Most of the kids come dressed up in costumes and get into the spirit of it, but things don’t turn as spooky at Idlewild as at Kennywood.”

There is also a railroad that runs in the park that’s been turned into the Hallowboo Express Railroad, with Halloween-themed additions.

“I took a ride on it last Saturday, and, throughout the ride, there are things like skeletons and to say that it’s silly and spooky is really the best way to describe it,” Pokrzywa said. “It’s nothing that’s going to scare anyone, but it’s definitely in the spirit of the season.”

As for people who want a more frightening experience, there is always ScareHouse at Pittsburgh Mills mall, which moved there from Etna in 2020.

ScareHouse co-owner and creative director Scott Simmons said that with the easing of the pandemic, he’s excited about being able to do things they haven’t been able to do in a couple of years.

“The thing that is the most different is, for the first time in a few years, we are able to scare people in a way that wasn’t really advisable during the early years of the pandemic,” Simmons said. “So, previously at our new location most of our staff had masks on, not the scary masks but the actual (covid) masks to keep everyone safe. Then there were other things we couldn’t do like the actors couldn’t get as close to the customers. We couldn’t make it as dark. We couldn’t make it as tactile.

”This year, we’ve really been able to bring back a style of scaring that we haven’t been able to do for a few years. It’s certainly our longest and most intense haunted house experience we’ve been able to do in, my goodness, three years now. We’re all having a really good time.”

And ScareHouse visitors seem to enjoy the attraction, as well.

Asked on a scale of one to 10 how she would rate her family’s ScareHouse experience, with 10 being very scary and one being not scary at all, Alex Perella, 36, of Bon Air, said she would give ScareHouse an eight.

“They hide good in there. You don’t know when they’re going to come out and jump at you,” Perella said. “They’ll get you when you’re walking, and then (suddenly) they’re behind you. They get you coming and going pretty much. It’s also a good one, because it rains a lot in October, and you don’t have to wait in line outside. It’s run really well.”

Perella’s 8-year-old son, Reno, was impressed, as well.

“There’s like a wooden shelf, and then they pop out of it,” he said.

Simmons said what makes ScareHouse so effective is that they use adult actors.

“Everyone who works for us is 18 or older and, at this point, we have some employees who’ve been with us since the beginning, almost 20 years now. In some cases, they’ve put in almost two decades of knowing how to scare people, and that’s experience that I don’t think you see in a lot of haunted houses. We do everything we can to make it feel as real as possible,” Simmons said.

He calls ScareHouse a “PG-13 experience.” No one under the age of 7 is allowed in.

“It’s a dark, scary place, and it’s not intended for small children,” Simmons said. “It’s up to the parents to use their own judgment. I’ve seen 10-year-olds go in and treat it like it’s no big deal, and I’ve seen people in their 30s come out in tears. You never know.”

For those interested in more cerebral scares, there are the true terrifying stories brought to life as part of Ligonier Valley Historical Society’s annual “Halloween Hauntings” event. This year, the event is called “Hair-Raising History: True Stories from the Ligonier Valley” and takes place at the historic Compass Inn Museum. The Museum is inviting visitors to listen to local ghost stories from the 19th century told by storytellers from Oct. 28 through Oct. 30.

The path to the museum will be lit with cressets, lanterns and freshly carved jack-o’-lanternns while the Inn will be lit by fireplaces and candlelight.

“A story that we share is about Suzanna Armor, one of the children of Robert and Rachel Armor, the original owners of Compass Inn. She died by scalding when she was young. And so several children, when they’re here on field trips, they have said that they’ve seen a child in the Inn,” said Sara Paterson, communications and marketing coordinator for the Ligonier Valley Historical Society.

Something else for families to check out in Westmoreland County are the atmospheric Westmoreland County Parks Hobgoblin Hikes held this year in Mammoth and Northmoreland Parks. The two hikes are free, open to all ages and are about a half mile long.

“They follow along a wooded path through the woods of the park,” Lauren Jones, Westmoreland County Parks communications coordinator said. “There are 12 to 15 different stations along the path and there are different themes — witches, a cemetery, a haunted maze, a clown room. They are all very scary themes. At each station, there are volunteers dressed in costumes and makeup, and people get super creative and super into it. They jump out and scare you, and it’s all a walk-through kind of thing.”