Halloween and scares are making their way around the world and becoming big business everywhere. No longer just a stateside holiday, the popularity of theme parks re-themeing for the scary season has gained traction. Europa Park in Germany has had tremendous success with following in the footsteps of Knott’s Scary Farm and is celebrating 10 years of fear at their annual Horror Nights celebration!
Of course, this jubilee is not a happy one. TEN years of Tombs, Execration, and Nightmares. Birthdays reaching a whole decade must be celebrated. What better way to do it than with chainsaw orchestras, macabre dance, and feudal monster feasts. The Horror Nights have been spreading sleepless nights for ten years. Recognized on multiple occasions as the best horror event worldwide, the Halloween spectacle celebrates its jubilee in Germany’s largest theme park. Not in a romantic way, but in a thorny, black way whilst keeping a dark secret. Six mazes invite visitors to indulge in their own horror movie from 21 September until 5 November 2016. That means there is still time to get over to Europe!
The cake has been tarnished by rats and blood dripping out of the holes indicates a macabre filling. It is decorated with ten burning fire crackers and topped with barbed wire. The whipped cream emits the odor of fermented werewolf milk. Mould spores are sprinkled like golden dust over the calorie bomb, topped with devil’s berries. Who wants to taste the first piece? Gristles crunch between the teeth when biting into the bitter-sweet delight. Maggots and worms crawl out of the corner of the mouth, trying to find their way back onto the plate.
Mazes
There are a total of five mazes in operation during the event.
The Temple of the Undead
The billionaire and archaeologist Mister X died an excruciating death. He didn’t fulfill his contract with the priest and failed to create a zombie army. The immortality serum lost its impact and let him waste away in unimaginable pain. The sepulchre will now become his final resting place. Cobwebs encase his corpse in a sticky net of evanescence. Parasites repopulate the lifeless body, the guts are blown up by decomposition, releasing vile smelling gases. Funguses and bacteria make for a gross scene. An undignified parting for a self-regarding cynic, who tried to find eternal youth and loved to torture people with his macabre mind games. The soulless creatures of the vault hunt down intruders with rigorous determination, clutching for tender meat. Timid attempts to get away from the danger end with careless steps on rotten planks. They burst with a loud crack, whirling up dust and wooden splitters, and enticing an insatiable monster. The temple turns into a death-trap.
Nightmare – Revenge
Home to the Nightgrabber’s dreadful craving for revenge. His shadow threateningly creeps up the wall, giving an idea of his titanic size. Monumental wings appear in front of the flickering light bulb, giving out but a tired gleam. The giant with claws of knobbly root-wood feels that his honour has been violated, because last year’s visitors to his quarter solved his perfidious murder of little Caroline and escaped. He will now punish them with even more gruesome fears. They feebly fight their way through a wild jungle. Snakes writhe their shiny bodies around thin branches that creak under their weight. Split tongues whizz forward between the poison fangs of the mutated vipers, detecting the warmth they seek close by. Cockroaches scuttle across the ground. Spiders as big as a hand blend into their surroundings, perfectly camouflaged by rotten leaves, dampening the steps, making it impossible to hear approaching enemies. The path leads over a deserted graveyard ? where souls decayed by fear are haunted by negative entities ? and down into a moist cellar. A mouldy scent fills the air. Amphibians that escaped evolution are lurking, lying in puddles tarnished by frogspawn. White water spills up the leg when running towards the chapel at breakneck speed. Inside, unsettling creatures sit on dark benches, motionless – a deceptive calm. They leap up as soon as anyone gets close, grabbing anything they can get their pallid, wrinkly hands on. Clothes are torn after a narrow escape from the shadows, but the next adversity awaits only in the next room. A blood-smeared dentist torments his patients. Those who prefer solid foods should run further to face the next nightmare – the fear of being eaten alive. Maggots gnaw through a green, shimmering stomach rutted by and polyps, and into the alimentary canal. It is an image that will be forever ingrained in the memory. The Nightgrabber will not fail to achieve its revenge.
Rien ne vas plus!
The ball is rolling at the Big Shoe Casino. Will heads be the next thing to roll? That is to be decided at the poker table. The gambling den is full of pleasure-seeking clowns with bad manners. Visitors stagger from one heart-stopping moment to the next, hoping to survive this sensory overstimulation. Their eyes just want to stay with the sinfully beautiful pole dancer, detecting her sensual curves. She knows how to drive men over the edge, embracing a cherry-red lollipop with red lips, circling her tongue. Her fishnet stockings mesmerize all who gaze upon them, then eyes are forced away as they turn in fright and rush to escape the freshly sharpened axe of the diabolic jester. Woohoo – a grotesque visage in a red and blue checked costume suddenly appears out of nowhere, running towards the crowd and causing it to scatter. As suddenly as it appeared, the white face with a colourful, curly wig leaves its involuntary audience behind in a turmoil of harlequins. Buffoons to the left, court jesters to the right, knaves in front, and jokers behind – visitors become surrounded by the joke-infested crowd with exaggerated colourful eyes. A huge Jack in the Box jumps out of his hideaway, fluorescing in black light. He shines so fascinating and sparkles so captivating that his hollow-cheeked visage fades away and the body hastens away from perception. Rien ne vas plus! The knave takes control and plays the last dance.
The Cave
Unleashed is populated by terrifying reptiles. The monsters are fighting out the hierarchy in the dark, moldy hallways. The potholers’ opaque head torches spread blurry patterns over wet walls. Thick, brown globules slowly drip down towards the floor full of frog spawn. Fat toads full of warts sit on the slippery, slimy mass. Ear-splitting screams from the scientists’ headquarters break through the gurgle of the cold, deep lake in the centre of the dripstone cave that has taken many visitors’ lives. Alligator-like creatures dash out of the black sludge if intruders get too close, wrestling their victims into the depths. Poisonous gases escape through the porous stone. It is hard to breath as the oxygen in the air decreases with every step. A skeleton crouches in the corner, a sign that the search for the exit will remain unsuccessful. The academics wearing NBC masks know that they don’t have long left. The history of mankind is hanging by a thread. Monsters from a distant past are fighting for their comeback. Evolution has remained inactive and allowed peaceful reptiles to turn into murderous crawlers and martial fighting machines. This cave is a murder hole.
TEN
The potency of horror lies behind steel doors, surrounded by live wires and rusty cables. Inside the headquarters of fear, technology developed by a company called ‘EndorPHiN’ allows its users to jump between dimensions via massive portals. Ten rooms that couldn’t be more dreadful make the best use of cognitive ability. If the memory managed to suppress reminders of past atrocities, history now strikes back with a vengeance. Long forgotten memories return. With strong steps, The Guest storms towards visitors to the Hell’s Inn hotel. His hearing has improved over the years, under the plastic bag that is tied to his head with tape. Not only the ravage of time nibbles on the rope around his neck. Rough hands are stuck in coarse leather gloves that leave impressively large strangulation marks on slender white necks. Next-door in the cave known as The Crypt, the undead impatiently await their assignment. Disaster could lurk behind every corner of the narrow, winding passages. Paws punch the air, narrowly missing their target. A hectic jump into an Asian fast food restaurant might be the only way to safety. A lucky kitten waves welcomingly from the Take Away counter. A hauntingly beautiful geisha serves fragrant hot jasmine tea. Here, the world is still in order. Quickly open a fortune cookie to reveal the message inside. It leaves a bad aftertaste – “Now your final hour has struck.” Suddenly the eyes of the Japanese beauty take on a devilish sparkle. From behind her, she pulls out a long sushi knife and attacks with a sharp karate scream. The Asylum by Dr. Reeves isn’t a place for peace and quiet either. He shocks humanity with his experiments on the living and the dead. Pallets and wooden boxes are stacked up in a dilapidated factory hall. The only clue as to their contents is the red drops leaking from their corners. A pitiful creature is sat in a steal cage, confined to a wheelchair with cable fixers, making tormented sounds. Anyone who would like to help knows that all help will be too late and that wasting time will increase the likelihood of becoming the next victim. Next-door in the Laboratory, zombies prevail. They won the upper hand during failed experiments and now they reign the scene, mistreating any intruder. Rosemarie’s children’s room by contrast appears peaceful and homely. The girl sits on her bed full of cuddly toys and sews, her head turned towards the wall. She is probably making a cute little dress for the wooden carved puppet next to her. But little Rosie doesn’t use a needle and thread for velvet and silk. She uses tendons of the deceased to sew together flaps of skin to make herself a new face. Anyone who wants to keep their nose and ears must be quick now. Dr. Reeves’ patients are waiting in the next room. He has tied his human guinea pigs to metal bed frames. Dried blood covers the white tiles. The shadow of a muscular body with a sharp item in its hand is projected onto a shower curtain. Hunted by a killer ready for anything, the scared ones keep running on. But the next room is full of danger, too. A loud werewolf howl shakes the walls. The growling of a monster with huge paws can be heard through the corridors. Its fangs shimmer in the light of the full moon, making even the Nightgrabber nervous. He hides behind heavy fire trees, searching the area where the only source of light is the moon, with his eagle eyes. This is where he spied on innocent Caroline, before he hunted her down. Whoever manages to get away from him too, has made it through the most terrifying moments of their life. Whether they survive the sleepless years ahead of them, is uncertain.
The Mansion
The grand villa lies elevated on a hill, granting a view down onto the inferno of the night. The butler allows small groups of visitors into the villa via the servants’ entrance, so that they can play the game of their lives. If they want to find the exit, they must solve puzzles and pass tests. The owner of the villa, Mr. X, passed away after failing to keep up his end of the bargain he struck with a priest who promised immortality. Now, the villa is rotting away. Players can find keys to make it from room to room in this exclusive escape game. Whether by using a magnet, their brain, or their force and stamina – the tasks can only be solved using teamwork. If the pressure gets too high, they can escape using a save word. The mystical library smells of old books, telling stories of the past and protecting dark secrets. A dark maze will disorientate players, leaving behind nothing but lost souls. A physical and psychological challenge, the Mansion has its own conscience. Only a few are allowed access. But will they make it back out alive?
Scare Zones
Besides five gruesome mazes and one escape game, there are three scare zones offering frightening fun.
ForgotTen Forest
Provided with magical powers, devilish beings are fighting their way through the ForgotTen Forest. Armed with bristly brooms, they stumble through the woods loudly, or sneak up behind their victims without uttering a sound. This forest is dangerous and cold. The treetops quiver in the wind. They move in front of the moon, just like dark clouds. Mad witches hunt for vulnerable victims.
Off Limits
Off Limits next to the Temple of the Undead appears abandoned. But the square is not as deserted as it seems. Hordes are waiting to come out of their dens. Heavy breathing can be heard from behind the wooden containers. The creatures from hell awaken. The zombies punch through the wood into freedom with unruly force. Splinters fly through the air. The time of the undead has come.
Dead-end Street
Burning cars line the path through Dead-end Street. Dark figures waddle through the scene. Their clumsy movements are deceptive. They quickly jump out from behind the wrecks when sensing children of the earth. It smells of gas in a disgusting mélange with the sweet scent of death. Every spark could mean the end. The descent into the hell of the Dead-end Street begins with the first step onto the Horror Nights area.
The Rides
Once visitors have passed the fatal walkway, Cassandra’s Course diffuses the senses. The illusionary swing turns the world upside down. A ride on Matterhornblitz through the Swiss mountain massif follows – a welcome change from Armageddon. Just in time for the tenth anniversary, Atlantis Adventure ? Horror Nights Coastiality will provide an experience the likes of which have never been seen before, with Samsung Gear VR glasses. The night coaster Pegasus abducts visitors into the world of Greek mythology, providing a great view down onto the Horror Nights area from 13 metres high. The ghost snake will send shivers down visitors’ spines from 14 October while the Dome of Dreams offers a welcome refuge.
Other Special Offerings
Aside from the mazes and scare zones, there are also special clubs filled with scary nightlife, the hottest ice show in town, and options for the kiddies during the day.
Vampire’s Club
Blood is their life elixir, dance is their passion. There is a celebration of the undead every weekend in the Vampire’s Club. The impressive doors to the temple open every Friday and Saturday, as well as on the 2, 30 and 31 October from 11pm. All Horror Nights visitors are welcome to celebrate, entrance fee of EUR 5 per person. VIP tickets are available for EUR 30 per person (including a welcome drink, as well as free entry to the Horror Nights area from 10.30pm).
Horror on Ice VII
Horror on Ice VII is hot, wild, despicable, shocking, funny, and entertaining. Sexy dancers fascinate with beguiling moves. The twins Albina and Anzhela bewitch the audience, frivolous and revealing.
For the Kids
Visitors of Europa-Park can face their own test of courage during the day by entering the eerie ghost house, Tenem’s Revenge, in the Greek themed area. Children can look forward to goose bumps moments from 24 September until 6 November, when actors chase them through a spooky version of one of the horror mazes.
It’s is fascinating to see Halloween become such a world wide phenomenon. With Europa park celebrating 10 years, we see that there is a big appetite for scary fun wherever you go in the world. Now, who has enough travel miles to get us all to Germany this weekend?
