By Emma Weidmann | Staff Writer
Knock knock.
Cackling and screams ensue from just beyond the scratched, peeling front door of American Scare Grounds. Located off a dark strip of I-35, it looks like the creepy house at the end of the street in the movies, the house all but one brave (or foolish) group of trick-or-treaters are too afraid to visit on Halloween night.
You gingerly twist the doorknob and are greeted by a tall ghoul. He’s not very hospitable, but he ushers you into his living room and invites you to sit on the couch, snuggled closely to a girl straight from “The Ring.” She rocks mechanically back and forth in front of a cold, barren fireplace.
The ghoul warns you, his visitors, not to touch anything that has been defecated on. Then, he pauses. He says it may be too late for that.
After he explains the rules of the house, you’re free to descend a staircase into a barrage of nightmarish rooms where cruel nuns, creepy clowns, psychotic physicians and tortured souls await.
There are three types of people in a haunted house like this one. There are those who crack jokes at the actors as they scuttle across the floor and scream at the top of their lungs, the smart alecks and those who speak fluently in sarcasm.
When offered a suspicious vial by a bearded nurse with incongruently perfect makeup, these people may jokingly try to accept it. When walking down a hall of mirrors, the jeering visitor expects clowns at every corner.
It’s these people whose arms are tugged and gripped by the second type of haunted house visitor. If the first person isn’t afraid, this friend will more than make up for it. They’re essential to the haunted house experience, providing a sense of urgency as they push the group to run for it.
The third person is cool, calm and collected at the rear of the group. They have a solid presence, not too quick to jump and be startled, but not eager to poke fun at the characters and the strange accents they put on. This person would never call a killer clown “bestie,” but silently keep the group moving through.
American Scare Grounds is a haunted house in two parts: the main building, and an outdoor portion. Once guests run out of the building, they’ll find themselves in a field of wheat, face-to-face with an animal skull with hollow eyes and horns.
After running through the field, you’ll come to the front of the house. Back where you started, you may wonder if your haunting is truly over or if there’s one more ghoulish surprise lurking in the night.
There’s a frightening fourth type of person, one who doesn’t go to haunted houses. Don’t be that person this Halloween, or it may haunt you for the rest of the year.
