First event in a
long time that I got to go with some newbies.
Forgot how much fun it is to be with people who have no idea what to
expect. Put a smile on my face that didn’t
go away until we left, awesome time.
Heartstoppers holds
a special place in my heart because of it’s location. It’s located in Rancho Cordova where the old
Mine Shaft Mini Golf place use to be. It’s
a great location. In the old days, you
started downstairs for the first couple of holes then you went up and out to
finish the course. A great environment
and I’m sad to see it sitting there not being used…well, until the haunt
season.
I went two years
ago, and missing this year was the old guy who would walk up and down the line
in his happy, freaky way entertaining the crowd. This year there was a zombie gold minor with
a bullet hole in his forehead. He was
helpful, but not really the nicest guy of the bunch. There was also a huge puppet like creature
walking around, something I had seen at Dark Harbor. Again, I get so into these events I forget to
take pictures, kicking myself.
Before we begin, be
aware that we did get the fancy pants tickets which got us front of the line
access. There weren’t too many people in
lines so we probably could have done without for most of it, but they were nice
to have. Kept Amy and Aunt Nikki on
their toes <evil laugh>.
Before entering,
there is this cool window into the building.
Now I’m not sure if it’s a video wall, or just a window that shows
shadows from the other side, which I think it was because I never saw the same
thing twice. There’s a guy with a hook
who starts attacking another figure, then the figure falls on the glass/video
screen smearing blood all over the place.
Very cool to watch. And sometimes
when people would take a picture in front of it, the people on the other side
would seem to react.
DEADLANDS
So the dead have
risen to exact their revenge on their killer.
How cool is that right? You
started the maze by walking through a long hallway with candles on both
sides. Very cool. We had a lady follow us the whole way without
us realizing it. She let us enter and we
walked pass a jail cell with a guy following us making as much noise as
possible. Walked into a bar where “the shots
were on him” and he shot an air gun at us.
The best room, well for me, was the spider room. At this point Amy was tangled up in my jacket
and either pushing me forward, or pulling me back. As she saw the huge spider on our left, she
pulled me back revealing a switch on the ground. So of course, I stepped on it and the spider
came running forward. So Amy pushed me
forward, and that’s when we saw another spider up on the shelf running towards
us. Fun room, for those that aren’t
scared of spiders that is.
The exit to this one
wasn’t as memorable, but there was a guy sitting in a chair waiting to pounce
which sent you out and into the line for the next maze.
TOMB OF SHADOWS
First off, this is
the BEST blackout maze I’ve ever been through.
The maze was pitched black with a little bit of light showing
above. You felt the walls for guidance,
but the walls were either just plain wood panels, furry walls, or rubbery
walls. Sometimes there would be fabric
hanging from the ceiling, so you weren’t sure what was hitting your face. Then from above, there would be actors
whispering. Unfortunately, I had no idea
what they were whispering, but it was creepy.
At two points, the
strobe light would come on and some kind of devil would come screaming at
you. These scenes, while simple, really
added to the creepiness of the maze. And
the strobe light wasn’t so intense that you left with a headache. Very well done.
BLOOD ON THE BAYOU
The problem with
this maze is it’s outside and there’s a lot of space to fill, so it doesn’t
surprise me that it isn’t filled with scare after scare. It was kind of a casual walk through the old
golf courses. There were some ladies in
white who liked to scream, some lightning bugs hovering over a stream, and some
guy who hung himself. My favorite part
of this maze was the witch doctor on the far side. You couldn’t get too close to him, but he
would hit his staff against the ground and a flash of light would come from the
tree above you with the sound of thunder.
Very awesome.
The last scene of
the walk through was an indoor room which I thought was a cool idea. Had a small voodoo scene and then you were
out again. Not my favorite voodoo maze
of the year, but that witch doctor scene was pretty powerful.
DR. LASH’S SIDESHOW
Probably the worst
maze of the bunch, and not because my Aunt was terrified by clowns either. It seriously felt like we entered the
Sideshow, then left shortly after. The
only room I really remember was the last room which two clowns were in. You had to push buttons and pull down levers
to get out. That room depended greatly
on the scareactors to be interesting, and the two we had weren’t very exciting.
A couple of things
do come to mind in that maze like the bearded lady, a lady on a bed of nails,
and a couple of things that could be clowns?
I just remember short…too short.
ASYLUM
Sadly, the last maze
because I wanted more. You enter the
Asylum and a lady is at the desk asking for your name. Then she yells your name for the whole maze
to hear…but nothing is ever done with it.
You go from room to room full of patients getting tested on and then the
doctor, or whoever will come at you with whatever device he is holding, either
a saw or an air gun mechanism. At one
point I was following a deranged patient crawling telling me not to pass
him. Then he enters a room, lies down
and does nothing. Very strange.
Asylum had a lot of
potential, but lacks the theming that Deadlands had. Hopefully they will keep adding more money
into it and make this even better.
CONCLUSION
I must have enjoyed
myself because I didn’t really want it to end.
I wish there were either more mazes or the shorter ones were
longer. Hanging out with Aunt Nikki and
the very terrified Ms. Amy was fantastic and a fun experience. While I don’t think it’s as good as
Cemetarium, which is a labor of love, Heartstoppers is up there. And hopefully with continued work and funds,
it could be another great haunt for the Sacramento area.
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