Scott And Carol Present - A Haunting We Will Go At Worlds of Fun

Well... it's fall and that means it's the Halloween season. Our first opportunity to get "spooked" was at that wonderful park on the western edge of Missouri. And, what a way to kick off the season.

Worlds of Fun gives park guests two sides of Halloween. During daylight, the tone is family fun with not so scary stories, a toned down maze for little adventurers, and several shows. Most of these activities are heavy on audience participation and pirates.

After the shows started, the park was inundated with pirate hats, tooting horns, and many little “screamster wannabees.” Some of them gathered to dance in Scandinavia and others giggled while gathering treats at the waterfront shops.

As the gloom gathers at Worlds of Fun, the park turns to the darker side of thrills. And, rather odd "guests" seem to appear from nowhere.


It’s finally time for the Haunt, a celebration of everything not cuddly and upbeat. Starting after dark, the family friendly attractions close and evil rules the night. The Overlord's Awakening signals the change from fun to fright throughout the park's many areas. It takes place in the square in Scandinavia.

As everyone waits, some street characters like the rat lady appear. Her live pets keep looking everywhere for their wilder brethren who are seen doing battle with black cats throughout the park. She invites you to pet them, if you dare.


Little Red Riding Hood never looked like this in your fairy tale book, and the Wolf looks rather warm and fuzzy.


When the stars begin to shine, the guests gather. The Overlord rises thirty feet into the coming darkness and exhorts all his monster friends to arise, and help him make the world suffer for all the injustices they have suffered at the hands of humanity.

The denizens of the dark start streaming in from all directions, passing through the crowd, sometimes pausing for one more scare.

This takes some time, for there were 300 denizens of the dark. Escaped inmates of behavior clinics mixed with some plaid shirted farmers at the opposite end of the spectrum from old MacDonald. It’s a major effort getting everyone ready for this monster bash. The makeup assembly line opens shortly after 2:30 PM for the show at dusk.

The trailer is jam packed with screamsters moving from one station to another until they are complete. When they gather in the square for the Awakening, it’s not for the squeamish. The Haunt is not recommended for guests under 14 years old after dark. The Overlord tours the park in his hummer, while the clowns have their own vehicle.

Over a thousand people witnessed the inaugural show for this season, and the crowd ohhed as one as the Overlord summons his minions.

One of the better mazes is Club Blood. New for 2009, it’s billed as the in spot for bloodthirsty vampires.

The musical beat thumps on, even as the hearts of some club visitors stop. Despite the lust for blood from the vampires, enough has been spilled to paint the club red.

This attraction seemed to never end, as the path leads you outside, and back inside again for an encore. An impressive pile of coffins, don’t you think.




The park has lots of seasonally appropriate decorations, features skeletons, rats, black cats, and spiders.

Even Elvis was there, who knew he has been living in Kansas City all these years?

And he even has his coffin all picked out, although Digger the Used Coffin Salesman will gladly sell you an accurate copy.

Dracula had by far the best tombstone, it seems fitting for a Count.

There were plenty of scare zones, complete with lots of fog and gruesome sights.We experienced the CarnEvil , with its killer clowns and games of unhuman skill.

We made our way through the thick fog to Moulin Rouge Theatre to see the Haunted Homecoming at Meat Cleaver High, taking the audience back to the 1960s...

...through the 1970s...

...and beyond, this is a ghoulishly wonderful classic rock review. Complete with Time Warp and Ghostbusters, the performers really rocked.

Our final haunted attraction for this year at Worlds of Fun was Bloodshed.

As you can tell from the meat display, some is eerily different.

As with most of the maze attractions, the experience lasts a long time, even though you are rushing to make sure you don’t end up on the table.

An impressive feast of the macabre, Haunt at Worlds of Fun offers two distinct experiences. With spooky, friendly fun by day, and frightfully intense fun by night, you make your choice and take the risk. And they still run the rides, except for the children’s rides, which seem to go faster in the dark. Speaking of things that own the night, that is when the Prowler hunts for its prey, and the new coaster really comes into it own after dark. But that’s a story for another day.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at Worlds of Fun for a spooktacular day!