Baltimore hosts hordes of haunted happenings
Halloween at Hopkins usually means dressing up in some half-baked (or for the ladies, half-naked) costume and heading to the bars at Fells Point. Although people-watching and drunken behavior can be a lot of fun, Halloween is really about other-worldly phenomenons, mischief and the acceptance of what truly scares us. In this light, Halloween deserves more than one night of festivities and, lucky for us, Baltimore offers all sorts of themed entertainment such as haunted houses, ghost tours and special events that begin operation in the few weeks leading up to Oct. 31. "A Nightmare from Elmridge" is a small but serious haunted house, located in Arbutus, Md. which is a 20-minute ride from campus. "Elmridge" is marked by a distinctive (if a bit corny) inflatable pumpkin on the roof of an old building. After paying your seven dollars - all the proceeds of which go to Muscular Dystrophy - you can expect to wait less than 20 minutes to enter. Groups of about 10 are taken by a costumed tour guide to the basement of the building, where various horrifying vignettes of torture and evil are performed right in front of, behind or around the group. The tactic of engaging each "victim" in the show is novel and effective, giving you a little more than your standard haunted house.
"Bennett's Curse" is conveniently located on the property of the Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, Md. The attraction, only 30 minutes from Hopkins, is actually a combination of two walking tours - the Sanctuary of Insanity and the House of Vampyres. You can buy tickets for $15 for either one of the attractions or $20 for both.
The Sanctuary of Insanity, the newer attraction, takes groups of about 12 at a time. The Sanctuary itself is really more of a maze, with cage-like dividers that attendants move around as the group progresses through the maze, adding to the panicked state of the group. A strobe light is the only source of illumination, which can make people nauseated. Various monsters leap from places where there walls once existed making it all the more frightening. The second half of the experience occurs in total darkness, making it difficult to predict when a ghoul will come out and scare you. (We have to admit that one editor had a death-grip on the other at this point). And, of course, no Halloween attraction is complete without the chainsaw-wielding madman. The element of surprise in the Sanctuary of Insanity certainly had a "pee-in-your-pants" effect.
"Bennett's Curse" is conveniently located on the property of the Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, Md. The attraction, only 30 minutes from Hopkins, is actually a combination of two walking tours - the Sanctuary of Insanity and the House of Vampyres. You can buy tickets for $15 for either one of the attractions or $20 for both.
The Sanctuary of Insanity, the newer attraction, takes groups of about 12 at a time. The Sanctuary itself is really more of a maze, with cage-like dividers that attendants move around as the group progresses through the maze, adding to the panicked state of the group. A strobe light is the only source of illumination, which can make people nauseated. Various monsters leap from places where there walls once existed making it all the more frightening. The second half of the experience occurs in total darkness, making it difficult to predict when a ghoul will come out and scare you. (We have to admit that one editor had a death-grip on the other at this point). And, of course, no Halloween attraction is complete without the chainsaw-wielding madman. The element of surprise in the Sanctuary of Insanity certainly had a "pee-in-your-pants" effect.
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