by Hannah Wolf
Halloween brings about many traditions at STA; advisory pumpkin carving contests, a day to dress up in costumes, and trick-or-treating from Ms. Bone’s office to the Development office. The Prentiss advisory annually puts on their own haunted house in the Black Box. However, if this isn’t enough fright for the thrill seeker, Kansas City offers several haunted houses for the public. The West Bottoms is home to four major haunted houses; The Edge of Hell, The Beast, The Chambers of Edgar Allen Poe, and Macabre Cinema. Worlds of Fun also adds nine haunted houses to its park from September 17-October 30. STA haunted house veterans senior Rosemary McGraw and junior Ali Lukens weigh in on these local attractions, sharing the scares and thrills of this Halloween tradition.
The scare:
“Not knowing what’s coming up next is the scariest. People get up in your face and don’t leave you alone. Personally, getting scared isn’t fun, but that’s another aspect people like about it. You’re mind tricks you into thinking its real.”-Rosemary McGraw
Tips on how to survive a haunted house:
“Just keep reminding yourself it’s not real. It’s someone like you, just dressed up. Make sure you’re with someone, go in a big group. Pay attention to your surroundings at all times because you can easily get lost. Don’t focus on the scariness of it, but the creativity of it. Put your focus elsewhere.” –Rosemary McGraw
“I would definitely say to go with boys, because the boys are usually the bravest and will lead the way. Definitely go with a big group of people. Don’t act scared, because if you do, that just makes the people working there want to scare you more.”-Ali Lukens
The Edge of Hell: “the granddaddy of Kansas City Haunted Houses”
5 stories
quarter mile walk through
30-45 minutes
5 story spiral slide
Tickets: $23 during the week, $27 on weekend
“the scariest part of the edge of hell was definitely the noises and sound effects. A lot of [the edge of hell] wasn’t even real people, it was just electronic and really loud. There were also a lot of small crawl spaces that you had to go through and that was scary. There’s a 5 story slide at the end. You slide from ‘heaven to hell’ basically.” –Ali Lukens
The Beast: America’s largest haunted house
4 stories
¼ acre Werewolf forest, 4 miles long
60-90 minutes
4 story slide
Tickets: $23 during the week, $27 on weekend
“The beast was definitely the scariest to me. The scariest part is the forest, which takes forever to get out of because it’s so dark and there are like a million dead ends. They actually have live snakes and alligators, but thankfully they are in cages.” –Ali Lukens
Chambers of Edgar Allen Poe:
3 stories
60 minutes
Tickets: $20
“[The Chambers of Edgar Allen Poe] isn’t as scary as the other ones because it is basically just like his poems. There were a lot of small spaces and things you had to crawl through that made you feel really claustrophobic. One of the scariest rooms in the chambers was this maze of mirrors that literally took 30 minutes to get out of.” –Ali Lukens
Worlds of Fun:
10 separate haunted houses
Asylum Island, Bloodshed, Carnevil, Club Blood, Corn Stalkers, Fright Zone, London Terror, Lore of the Vampire, Master McCarthy’s Doll Factory, Outlaws Revenge
Tickets: regular: $44.99, fright night: $32.99 (after 6pm Fridays, after 4pm Saturdays)
“I was a screamster in a haunted house, dressed up to scare people at Worlds of Fun. Sometimes I would have objects like a metal rod or bag of blood and I would dangle it and hit a wall, or just scream at people. I would creep up out of the shadows.” –Rosemary McGraw
