CANADA’S WONDERLAND HALLOWEEN HAUNT – TORONTO, CANADA BY LIISA LADOUCEUR
on the outskirts of American towns each October were nowhere to be found. So, I know that my twelve-year- old self would have lost her mind at Canada’s Wonder- land Halloween Haunt. In fact, my adult self was pretty impressed too. Canada’s Wonderland, a 1.3 km² park located just
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north of Toronto, is the country’s pre-eminent amuse- ment park, a kind of Canuck Disneyland. Many a Toronto-area kid’s summer has been spent queuing up to ride the rollicking wooden Wild Beast coaster. (Or working it.) And, since 2005, Wonderland has cele- brated the season of tricks and treats with a transfor- mation into a haunted theme park, complete with roaming monsters, freaky mazes and spookified rides. Originally billed as Fearfest, it was rebranded as Hal- loween Haunt in 2007 when park ownership changed hands from Paramount to Cedar Fair Entertainment. Cedar Fair, which has been producing Haunts since 1973, operates the Knott’s Berry Farms parks in the US, and has set the bar for this type of event. The Cana- dians seem to have taken that legacy to heart. Entering Wonderland during the Haunt event in Oc-
tober, the makeover is immediately apparent. A large fountain that normally sprays a gentle mist onto a pretty, man- icured garden in front of the iconic Wonder Mountain is bathed in crimson light, the garden turned into a grave- yard dotted with faux tombstones. Creeping creatures – staff in makeup and cos- tumes – prowl the entranceway on rollerblades, “greet- ing” you when you least expect it, their growls still echoing in your ear as they skate away. Then, under the spell of fog
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here I grew up, in rural Ontario, if you wanted to see a haunted house at Hal- loween time, you had to make one your- self. The type of professional – hell, even semi-professional – haunts that pop up
pumped through the air and an eerie soundtrack piped overhead, you’re off to explore the main attractions: the haunted mazes. The Haunt offers ten mazes, with names such as
Kingdom of Carnage and Mother Noose. Of these, I’m first drawn to The Asylum. There’s apparently some plot about the inmates taking over the asylum, but you won’t be keeping track as you wander its corridors, the darkness punctuated by screams and sights of insti- tutionalized cruelty. Actors with matted hair and gaunt faces approach you as they struggle to escape their straitjackets. Like most of the mazes, it’s filled with (in this case human) monsters bent on freaking you out by coming upon you unexpectedly, using all the audio (the echoing screams of the mad) and visual tricks (strobe lights in select locations) they can muster to catch you off guard. Production values are high – from the realistic gore smeared on the white tile walls to the animatronic experiment subjects – and it almost feels like walking through a horror movie set. (In this partic- ular case, a cheaper version of Silent Hill with the tor- ture-happy touch of Saw.) Apart from the mazes, Wonderland produces a teen-
rated live theatre show with a horror theme. The one I saw was a rather tame vampire affair called Fangswith singing and dancing that was good for some giggles but was not half as bloody as something like Evil Dead:
the Musical. However, each year the Haunt produces a new show, and this year’s Psycho Circus promises “rockin’ freaks meets creepy circus.” If you’re into that vibe you might also like the Clowns
at Midnight maze – not recommended for those suf- fering from coulrophobia. Outside, a contortionist bids you welcome, while inside swirling neon colours under black lights and drunken carnival music disorient you as a stream of clowns emerge, like Shriners from a tiny car, to tease you with their cackling as you grope for the safety of your friends’ hands. Last year it was pre- sented in 3-D – don your glasses and watch those neon nasties really pop. Each attraction has its own design and is unsettling
in different ways (e.g. Red Beard’s Rage has an under- water element to its pirate theme), but they are essen- tially dark walk-throughs with smoke and mirrors and bloody set pieces, impressive in their construction but not really scary enough to have you running for the exits. This is partly due to the park staff tasked with protecting the monster talent and making sure you don’t get yourself into any real trouble; they can spoil the mood with constant instructions not to touch the actors. One of the mazes that manages to suspend your
disbelief the most is Miner’s Revenge, which takes you down ever-narrowing, claustrophobic tunnels that are riddled with alcoves – perfect for costumed performers intent on scaring passing patrons. Approach with cau- tion! And for me, the best maze was not one constructed of wood, but instead set amongst the tall trees and darkness of the park grounds. Cornstalkers not only uses the natural envi- ronment to great effect, it mixes up stuffed scarecrows
with real actors, silently posed but poised to strike. As they come to life in the dark, you’ll find yourself driven down the many wrong turns or dead ends, running into
other panicked patrons. These elaborate mazes are not thrown up overnight. An en- tire year’s worth of planning is in order, and the Wonderland staffer entrusted with our creepy
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