DOCUMENTARY ON NEW ENGLAND'S SPOOKY WORLD

[AndyFish]

I know there are more than a few board members who are in the New England area-- if you grew up or lived around here in the 90s there's a pretty good chance you visited American's Haunted Theme Park -- SPOOKY WORLD ™ at some time or another. The park was built on a vintage farm including a main building from the early 1800s and a huge barn which at one time housed a fantastic Classic Horror Museum with literally hundreds of unique and fascinating artifacts.

I went dozens of times over the years and I watched it evolve from a fun family friendly event to one that brought in less than desirable crowds which would eventually cause the town to kick them out. There's a new documentary on it on Amazon Prime if you're interested that is quite well done.

SPOOKTACULAR - THE SPOOK WORLD STORY

[BiffPow]

Wow! I will try to find time to watch that, for sure! I had never heard of it until your post, Andy. That’s a shame, because it definitely sounds like someplace I would’ve loved to have visited, at one time.

I’ve always been a fan of haunted house attractions (not the real ones - I had enough of that with the houses we lived in) and wax museums that featured spooky exhibits. Always looked forward to the local Halloween haunted house events that the city used to put on. They were pretty good. Not sure why they stopped, but likely because of liability.

One year, a guy jumped out of a dark corner and grabbed my sister, scaring her badly. My nine-year-old self disappeared into that dark corner and I punched him in the stomach as I barked: “Leave my sister ALONE!” Everyone could hear his “OOof!”

(Come to think of it, that qualifies as a “fighting word.”)

[AndyFish]

Spooky World's success was incredible, there would be a five mile backup to the highway-- and folks that lived in town often couldn't get home, especially when the state police starting closing off ramps-- not a long term recipe for success. I think that first year he grossed $2million and by the end of the run before the great fall I'd heard he was up in the $25-$30 million range. At one point it was rumored Disney wanted to buy his concept.

[BiffPow]

Perfect time to watch that documentary.

Looking forward to it, Andy!

[BiffPow]

Watched it! Very interesting.

Thanks for posting!

Now, if I can find the time to watch Svengoolie.