‘Star Wars’ fans crash ticket sites as new trailer premieres

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2015 38

Indian Bollywood actor Salman Khan (front) performs with actress Sonam Kapoor (center) during a promotional event for the forthcoming Hindi film ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ in Mumbai. — AFP Haunted houses, creepy mazes and other attractions

scape rooms, zombie fights and carnival sideshow freaks are nights, the park becomes a more intense experience, with out- named America’s scariest display by ABC’s “The Great Halloween period in which crime is legal. There are also six themed mazes a few of the themes popping up at this year’s Halloween door scare zones, haunted houses and edgy shows. Great America Fright Fight.” based on movies and TV shows: The Walking Dead, Insidious, Eattractions. But if you’re not up for extreme frights offered by in Santa Clara, California, also offers family friendly activities dur- The other 14 listed by HauntWorld are Headless Horseman, in , Halloween, This Is The End and Alien vs. Predator. hard-core haunted houses and nighttime theme park events, ing the day, while nighttime thrills include roving monsters, nine Ulster Park, New York; The 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Crimson Peak, for example, is inspired by a horror movie being there are lots of low-key alternatives, with some venues avoiding mazes, scare zones and the park’s thrill rides. the Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati; Netherworld in Atlanta; 13th released in mid-October by director Guillermo del Toro, taking vis- scary stuff altogether. Disney World in Florida hosts Mickey’s Not- park in Charlotte, North Carolina, recommends its Floor, San Antonio, Texas; Bennett’s Curse, Baltimore; Erebus, itors on a journey with the main character, Edith Cushing, to a So-Scary Halloween Party, with a similar Mickey’s Halloween Party Scarowinds extravaganza - including a homecoming at Zombie Pontiac, Michigan; Bates Motel, Philadelphia; The Darkness, St haunted estate in the English countryside. The Walking Dead at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Holiday World in Santa High - for guests age 13 and older. Busch Gardens Tampa part- Louis; Cutting Edge, Dallas; Spookywoods, Greensboro, North maze is based on season five of the AMC series. Claus, Indiana, offers 12 acres of corn mazes, a talking pumpkin, a nered with Robin Cowie, producer of “The Blair Witch Project,” to Carolina; House of Torment in Chicago; Hex House, Tulsa, , which is marking its 25th year of , has nine haunted houses, including “Freddy vs. Jason,” “The Purge,” “An American Werewolf in London” and “The Walking Dead.” The Florida park also has five scare zones.

Regional Eastern State Penitentiary, the historic former prison in Philadelphia, is celebrating its 25th season hosting Halloween madness. Its massive haunted house, “Terror Behind the Walls,” has been redesigned for the anniversary. In Reading, Pennsylvania, Shocktoberfest offers Zombie World and Prison of the Dead Escape, which requires guests to escape from multiple rooms. Because November’s calendar has a Friday the 13th in it, the attraction will stay open through that date. In Pittsburgh, ScareHouse attractions include The Summoning, a haunted attraction set in October 1932 that tells a story of secret societies, rituals and demonic inhabitants. Sixteen miles west of Detroit, the Hush Haunted Attraction’s Detroit Experiment Facility brings visitors through the collapsed ceilings, overgrown green- ery and flickering dungeons of a science facility where experi- ments have gone wrong. Freakshow in Wabash Valley, Illinois, introduces guests to sideshow freaks including evil magicians, mimes and clowns. Wisconsin FearGrounds in Waukesha, This undated photo provided by Universal Hollywood theme park in Los Angeles shows This undated image provided by Haunted Overload shows a scene from the attraction in Wisconsin, just outside Milwaukee, offers three haunted houses. visitors at the park encountering a creepy character, part of Universal’s Hollywood Horror Lee, N H Haunted Overload tops this year’s list of best attractions published by At Lookout Mountain in Ruby Falls, Tennessee, Haunted Cavern Nights extravaganza. — AP photos HauntWorld.com. includes one haunt in the mind of a madman and one in a cave featuring creepy night creatures. laser light show and more. An overnight stay at Great Wolf lodges create “Unearthed,” about a woman named Scarlett who comes Oklahoma; and Fear Experience in Cleveland. Enigma Haunt in Boca Raton, Florida, includes a blackout includes Howl-O-Ween activities like trick-or-treat trails and a back to life after a construction crew digs too far. Busch Gardens maze, The Abyss, and themed chambers in the Realms of Terror. Monster Bash dance party. SeaWorld San Diego’s Halloween Williamsburg gets scary with five Terror-tories and seven haunted Universal’s Halloween horror nights Attractions at Spooky World Presents Nightmare New England in Spooktacular includes “Sesame Street’s Who Said Boo?” houses. At Universal theme parks in Orlando, Florida, and Los Angeles, Litchfield, New Hampshire, include a tractor ride through the Some theme parks host family friendly activities on Saturdays Halloween Horror Nights draw thousands of visitors, ranking woods to a spider-infested campground, plane crash scene and and Sundays, then ramp up thrills and chills at night on Fridays, Hauntworld’s top 15 among the parks’ busiest times of year. The experience is worthy torture compound, along with a showcase of “rejected carnival Saturdays and Sundays. Many Six Flags parks have child-friendly HauntWorld.com’s list of top 15 haunted houses is topped by of Hollywood, inspired by famous horror films, sci-fi shows and misfits ... clowns to demented sideshow freaks.” Finally, the annual activities during the day, then transition to nighttime Fright Fests, Haunted Overload, in Lee, New Hampshire, described by stories, with movie-quality special effects, technology, sets, cos- New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival isn’t supposed to be scary, but with creepy roaming creatures, haunted houses and scare zones. HauntWorld as “an original outdoor haunt in a class of its own” tumes and makeup. last year’s was marred by alcohol-fueled parties and 100 arrests. At in Sandusky, Ohio, HalloWeekends include day- with “handmade sets, gigantic monsters and spellbinding cos- At Universal Hollywood in Los Angeles, the extravaganza It’s relocating this year from Keene to Laconia. — AP time family friendly activities like the Great Pumpkin Fest, a tumes with spectacular sound and lighting ... set in an eerie dark includes a new “terror tram” experience through Universal’s film parade and hay-bale mazes. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday New England forest.” Haunted Overload also won a $50,000 prize, studio back lot themed on “The Purge,” a film about a 12-hour Napa farmer wins Northern California giant pumpkin contest Napa farmer won a Northern California contest with and has a neurodevelopmental disorder called Rett syn- a record-setting 1,806-pound pumpkin that judges drome. She was with him almost every night as he tended Anicknamed “The Flying Saucer” because of its wide to his patch, he said. He purchased the unique seed from and flat shape. Grower Tim Mathison was one of about 50 which he grew the pumpkin from the Make-a-Wish big pumpkin farmers to haul their heaviest crops to the Foundation, a charity that arranges joyful experiences for annual weigh-in at the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin & Harvest children with life-threatening conditions. Festival, the Sacramento Bee reported Sunday. “She knows what it’s all about,” he said. “It makes her Most of the pumpkins entered in Saturday’s contest really happy.” The winning pumpkin beat last year’s mon- were grown in about 90 days, sometimes growing as fast as ster pumpkin, which weighed in at 1,584 pounds. But no 30 pounds per day, said Brian Myers, chairman of the one came close to beating the current national record for California Pumpkin Growers Association. There were about heaviest pumpkin - 2,154 pounds. — AP half as many pumpkins entered this year than in previous years, largely due to what farmers said were overly hot and suboptimal growing conditions. In this Saturday, Oct 3, 2015, photo, the Mathison collected $12,000 in prize money but he says grand prize-winning pumpkin weigh- the most important part of Saturday’s event was sharing it ing in at 1,806 pounds is displayed at with his 28-year-old daughter Tara, who uses a wheelchair the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival in Elk Grove, Calif. — AP