Seasonal Highlights
ALL POSTS
As Summer Fades…
A blue moon hangs above me, high in the sky as August peels away and reveals September. These transitory periods make for strange, hazy, and sometimes anxious days. Every year I begin to see hints of the magic to come but it’s wistful and elusive. Still, as I sit here and write glancing occasionally out the window I can almost…
Haunting By Numbers: 2011 Haunt Season
With the 2011 haunt season firmly in the rearview mirror, it is time to reflect on the pertinent numbers from the latest season of screams. 23: Total number of haunted attractions visited last fall at 18 separate locations, smashing the previous record of 12 first set in 2009 and then matched in 2010. 10: Fright filled nights spent on the…
2011 Star Ratings
As my small but faithful group of readers know I write a review for each haunt that I visit during the fall. In addition to that at the end of the review I assign the attraction a 1-5 star rating. It’s just my way of summing up the overall effectiveness/enjoyability of that particular haunted attraction. I take a lot of…
Death of a Zombie Icon
Bill Hinzman passed away on Sunday from cancer at the age of 75. His name alone won’t ring many bells but his face surely will, forever etched into our collective consciousness as contorted, pale, and now timeless. Bill Hinzman portrayed the “Cemetery Zombie” in George Romero’s 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead. He is the first ghoul as…
Return to the Woods of Darkness
I returned to the Woods of Darkness on Saturday, October 8 – it was the first time I had visited since shooting a promotional video for the attraction the previous fall. Melissa accompanied me on the trip, a rare occurrence for my darling wife who prefers her scares from the pages of a book. I introduced her to Denise who…
Haunt Awards, Reviews, The Walking Dead
The 2011 haunt awards will be posted in the coming weeks, just as soon as I wrap up a few more reviews. I’ll be posting a review of my October 8 visit to the Woods of Darkness and of course I have yet to finish the review for St. Lucifer’s, 13 Feet Under, and The Crypt all three of which…
Haunt Trinity Burns Midnight Oil at St. Lucifer’s and The Crypt
Halloween. The night that spawned countless scary stories, local legends, and all of our favorite horror icons. The founding members of The Haunt Trinity struck out into the night to celebrate the holiday with a visit to some fresh haunts. The open road beckoned us, but before we hit the expressway we zig-zagged through the neighborhood of our youth reliving…
Enchant the Ghoulish Forms of Shadows
As promised earlier today here is the double feature Halloween edition of Word of the Week. One of these words describes the magical atmosphere that fills the air during this wonderful season and the other deals with the sinister creatures and morbid scenes that play upon on most primal fears. enchant [en-chant] – verb: to subject to magical influence; bewitch…
Haunt Trinity set to Strike Flint on All Hallows Eve
Tonight the original members of the Haunt Trinity hit the road for St. Lucifer’s Haunted Asylum, 13 Feet Under, and The Crypt in Burton. It’s sure to be a wild ride to cap off what has been a historic haunt season. Happy Halloween all you deadites, ghouls, fiends, and freaks! There will also be a special double feature later on…
Anxiety Alley, Papp Park Induce Modular Mayhem
Last Friday was certainly not the most memorable night of haunting we’ve ever embarked upon but it was a night of haunting nonetheless. Earlier in the evening we enjoyed a meal at Mallie’s for John’s birthday where the food was tasty but the service left a lot to be desired. The Wings dropped at 4-2 decision to the rival Sharks…
Terror Town, Barn of Blood Conjure Haunted Time Warp
During the final weekend of the 2008 haunt season I found myself at both Terror Town and Apple Charlie’s Barn of Blood on separate days and as the unseen Haunt Fates would have it, that is exactly where I found myself once again last weekend…on two separate days. First Terror Town, then Barn of Blood. Okay, so it wasn’t exactly…
Forecasting the Final Outings
Tomorrow a number of us will gather at Mallie’s in Southgate to celebrate John’s 29th birthday, afterwards it’s off to Anxiety Alley in Lincoln Park, Psycho Path in Flat Rock, and finally Papp Park in Taylor to experience the offerings of the Taylor Northwest Little League. Plans for Halloween night will take shape over the next few days however one…
Historic Weekend, Horrific Dreams, Haunted Homestretch
This past weekend was a historic one for myself, on Saturday I surpassed my personal best for number of haunts visited in one season with a visit to Apple Charlie’s Barn of Blood! This was preceded on Friday night with a big outing at Terror Town; expect reviews before this weekend. Plans for this final weekend of haunting will also…
Spectral Wounds Bathed in Death Hues
It’s time once again to enhance our spooky vocabulary in yet another Halloween themed Word of the Week! I once considered using this weeks featured word in the title of a wrestling show but ultimately opted for a different name. The name I eventually settled on was Vortex of Sin and as fate would have it, it would be the…
Thrills & Chills Dominate Hilda’s, Feargrounds and The Boneyard!
Friday October 14, 2011 turned out to be the monster night of haunting it was predicted to be. John, Cikalo, Richard, and I departed from Wyandotte at roughly a quarter past seven with three haunted attractions in our sights. If all went well we would have completed our maiden voyage to Krazy Hilda’s, Chelsea Feargrounds, and The Boneyard in a…
Thursday Outing Leaves Something to be Desired
What had begun as an overcast October day turned to a dreary, drizzling night. On our schedule was a trio of haunts — Lockdown form the Wyandotte Jaycees, The Deadland in Warren, and the hell spawn of Detroit, Demonic Demons. Demonic Demons was set to be our last stop of the night but when we arrived it was to find…
Haunt Season Set to Explode
Last night was yet another fun night of haunting as Jason, John, Cikalo and I hit Lockdown in Wyandotte and The Deadland in Warren, expect full reviews later this weekend. Tonight we embark on a trip to three — count’em three haunted attractions! First up is Krazy Hilda’s Barn of Doom in Saline followed by the enticing Chelsea Feargrounds, we’ll…
The Haunting Redeemed, Darksyde Discovered
Just as so many October adventures had thrilled us before so too did the excursions of this past weekend. The events of this past weekend will surely go on to live in Haunt Trinity lore for seasons to come, and just as well because many a memorable moment was made. The haunt season never truly begins until we’ve traveled at…
Monstrosity of our Times
Here it is, the first entry in the 2011 Halloween themed Word of the Week — enjoy! Fear not haunts fiends and freaks reviews will be posted soon regarding this past weekends’ haunt excursions which included visits to The Haunting, Darksyde Acres, and Woods of Darkness. monstrosity [mon-stros-i-tee] – noun: the state or character of being monstrous, a monster or something…
Don’t Adjust the Channel
As any reader of Horrorlust knows October brings with it an irrepressible army of the scary and macabre — from haunted attractions to spooky home decor, costume parties to Halloween itself — this month is a celebration of all things that go bump in the night. And if all of that isn’t enough for you, consider the killing fields that…
