[Zombie-F]

Well gang, Spooky World is no more. It has closed its doors at Gilette Stadium so the stadium can expand and the attractions are being sold at Auction on September 14th. This is a sad day for me.

More details:
http://www.spiethandsatow.com/Spooky World.htm
http://www.hauntworld.com/SpookyWorldAuction.pdf

I just hope somebody in MA buys it and keeps it running, and maybe make some improvements to it.

 

[Sinister]

Too bad we as a board couldn't gather various sources together and come up with the dinero and buy the whole shebang outright, start a new place and call it Unpleasant Street!

Sorry they're shutting it down on you Z. I know how much you really LOVE this place. You talk about it a lot on forums past and present. It really sucks when things that make us happy and sort of define us as individuals, tend to fall by the wayside, and **** that we could see just fade away and not lose a second sleep, tends to stick around for long and long. My apologies, my friend.

 

[RAXL]

Damn.
I got engaged there and met Alice Cooper and Kane Hodder up close and personal. :voorhees:

 

[Non Compos Mentis]

I had a feeling that this would happen sooner or later. The place started to go downhill IMO after they stopped the Haunted Hayride. That was the best thing about Spooky World. Well, I guess its off to the Witches' Woods I go.

 

[The Shape]

Look at the bright side, at least we got to go one last time last year (and had a great time mind you), and there is definitely no shortage of haunted happenings and hay rides in the New England area. We'll just have to branch off and find some new things, and yes, there is always Witch's Woods!

 

[Zombie-F]

Well, shoot any hopes of it staying together out the window... they're auctioning it all off as separate items and in small lots. If I had the dinero to buy *something* *ANYTHING* I'd so be there to make a purchase, but I have a feeling some of it's going to get to be pretty pricey.

Witch's Woods will now have to be our big attraction to visit, and I guess we'll have to find another place or two to frequent. I know there's a few smaller, amateur haunts in the area... we'll have to get better acquainted with those.

 

[The Shape]

Hey Z, I'll have to ask Mary if she still has the article, but the Boston Herald had an article about Spookyworld closing ONLY for 2004. They are selling all of their stuff because they are going to be opening again in 2005 with a more family oriented atmosphere. I'm not yet sure if this is a good thing or not, but supposedly it will reopen, but will not be in Gillete's parking lot and will be tamed down considerably.

 

[Non Compos Mentis]

It seemed more family oriented when I went there a few years ago. I may not want to go there if they make it even less scary. They shouldn't call it Spooky World then.
I want to be spooked, goddam it.

 

[Zombie-F]

Yeah, further watering it down is not a good idea as it's already as close to family-friendly as they should let it be.

I see that they (finally) updated their web site and made it look more modern. I'll probably go to it the first year they open again just to give it a chance and see what they wind up doing, but if it is in fact going to be more geared towards families, then they've lost me.

 

[Forbidden Crypts]

Sad For Sure

Looks like it was an awesome attraction. Always sad to see something like that end.

I used to work in a house called "Scaremare" in Flintville, TN. It was run by our church. We didn't worry about being family oriented. We just wanted it to be scary. We felt...hey if you don't mind your kid being scared half to death neither do we. I played a poisoned dinner guest two years (easy except for the live rats running around the table), a mad scientist experiment one year, an outlaw being hung one year (rough on the armpits from the parachute harness), and the organist at a funeral one year. We usually ran about 10,000 people through every year in 3 days. Anyone in the Huntsville, Ala area should check it out.

 

[Zombie-F]

We didn't worry about being family oriented. We just wanted it to be scary. We felt...hey if you don't mind your kid being scared half to death neither do we.

Exactly! Haunted attractions are supposed to be scary, and to tone it down like they're planning just takes the fun away from it. People are going there to be scared, not to be tormented by "cutesy" mascot characters.

Dan Bertolino (the attraction's current owner) says he's doing it because he sees a demand for scary/gory haunts declining... if it's declining, how come last year Spooky World pushed a record 121,000 patrons through its gates? Seems like it was still growing to me. I believe it may be possible that Bertolino is just doing this now that his partner -- and possibly only resistance to the idea -- is out of the picture.

It is sad to see it go.

 

[Front Yard Fright]

I just looked this up today... just to remember.
i never got a chance to go to spooky world... there was one in minnesota (where i use to live) and it was a couple hours away. i remember going to a tour trip with my school to spooky world... the one thing i remember was that there were huge crates full of body forms and wigheads... it was amazing to me.
there was also this animated figure called dr. backtolife and his little dog tripod (a dog with only 3 legs and a wooden peg.) it sang songs while sitting in an electric chair. the drs head moved from side to side, he blinked, his mouth moved to the song, and he tapped his right arm and the armrest.) they would have him out at special events (fairs n junk) and since my dad worked for dominos and since it was summer, i would always be at these things working with my dad. and when i got away from the tent, i would just sit and watch this thing for hours. it amazed me. and it still does.
and since i was so little, i never really got to go when it was actually up and running. then i moved here (to iowa) when i was 12. later that year i found out that the spooky world in MN had been closed. they sold everything.
then i found out that there was a second one. i was SO incredibly excited. i woke up my parents to tell them about it. we planned on going there.... last year. the year they closed.
i had never been so disapointed. i almost started to cry. i read how the just auctioned all the stuff off like it was useless junk. i was so upset!
anyways, today i got bored and surfed some sites and i remembered spooky world and i went to the site... it hasn't changed since i went there.
still says "stay tuned for our 2006 location."
spooky world will never be what it was.
i just wish i got to see this great haunted attraction.

 

[Zombie-F]

The Spooky World here in Massachusetts was not affiliated with the one in Minnesota. I think they may have been involved during the Minnesota's location for its first year, but beyond that I think they had some kind of disagreement and parted ways.

Spooky World was rumored to have owed three years worth of back rent to the people who own the property it was on (Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA), so I'm sure that was what played into them needing to sell off all their stuff. Then the company was sold to an amusement promoter who is infamous for putting on cheesy carnivals and fairs in our area sometime early in 2005.

 

[Front Yard Fright]

that's just crazy. they were sitting on a goldmine. if they would have just taken care of it and paid the rent. they would just be a great success... i guess it was too good to be true.
since i'm a "youngen" in the haunt industry my life goal is to have a haunted theme park... bigger, better and scarier than anything anybody has seen.
nobody here understands what haunting means to me.
it's not only a hobby... it's a obsession/love

 

[Otaku]

frontyardfright, I know how you feel. Almost a spiritual thing, isn't it? No pun intended...

 

[Front Yard Fright]

it is.
the haunted house i work for almost closed this year. Luckily we ended up finding an AWESOME (and very rich ) investor. He built us a brand new buidling . This year we will be at a temporary place, but next year... look out Iowa... "Horror has found a NEW home... At Horrid Hollow!" mwahahahaha
...
hehehe