Recently, I had the opportunity to take a “Behind The Screams” tour at Carowinds as they prepare for their annual “SCarowinds Halloween Haunt” event. Now in its 15th year, SCarowinds features seven unique mazes and five scare zones located throughout the park. Construction was in full swing when I toured the park last week with Chris Foshee, Digital and Social Media Representative for Carowinds, and also on the park’s SCarowinds “committee.”
Our tour started in one of SCarowinds’ newest Scare Zones, Bloodyard, located next to Carolina Cobra — or as it will be renamed during SCarowinds, SCarolina Cobra.
According to Carowinds, in Bloodyard, you’ll find yourself inside a junkyard with bloodsucking vampires lurking among the rusty metal scraps and greasy tires.
The graffiti in this area was incredibly impressive in the daylight, and I can only imagine how intimidating this area will be at night when it is loaded with props and monsters.
I asked Chris about the names in the graffiti, and he told me it was “The Army of Darkness.”
“It’s almost like a fraternity, ‘The Army of Darkness,'” he said. “They’re a very eclectic group, like a very large family. They leave their own touches on the mazes and scare zones.”
From Bloodyard, Chris and I headed to Zombie High, which debuted at Carowinds in 2013, tucked back behind Carolina Cobra.
“Zombie High has the a lot of ‘Carowinds character,'” Chris told me. “As you can see, it’s Pat Hall High School. [Named for Carowinds’ original owner E. Pat Hall]. The theme of it is set in the 1980’s and zombies take over the homecoming dance– all the students, teachers are transformed into zombies.” Another cool “Easter Egg” for Zombie High: Pat Hall High School’s Arch Rival? The B&M Furies.
Each of SCarowinds’ mazes and scare zones feature a backstory this year. “This way, we can give a little bit more theming,” Chris said. “People will find out the story behind the mazes and it gives the mazes extra character and allows us to insert the ‘Carowinds’ brand and give a ‘Carolinas’ twist.”
Just a short walk from Zombie High is the Asylum-themed maze, “7th Ward,” which is located next to Nighthawk.
“The 7th Ward was home to the Carolina’s most chronically insane. From murderers to crazed psychopaths, many of the poor souls trapped behind the gothic walls would spend their entire lives there. As you walk these halls today, be sure to stay with your group. This is one place you don’t want to be committed.” Something unique I found in the maze’s back story was that 7th Ward was managed by Dr. Carl Winds. (Sound it out!)
Each of Carowinds’ full time associates have their own tombstone located somewhere in the park, and on top of that, they get to insert themselves into SCarowinds by choosing their own epitaph.
“I’ve been thinking about my tombstone since I started at Carowinds,” Chris said. “It’s still under construction, but it will have my twitter handle (@chrisfoshee) and the inscription ‘Here I sent my last tweet, now I’m just worm meat.”
Our next stop was the “Scary Tales” Scare Zone.
Come along the wooded path, and you’ll find our version of the Little Red Riding Hood – a master of the sword who’s determined to get her bloody revenge on the dastardly wolf that killed her grandmother. You’ll also find those two brats Hansel and Gretel, but don’t expect them to escape our evil witch – she’s more cunning and ruthless than you can imagine.
Over by Boo Blasters on Boo Hill, in the Mass Acres Scare Zone, each of Carowinds’ Managers get a larger tombstone with their name on it. The grim reaper in the center of that area represents Cedar Fair President and CEO Matt Ouimet.
As the SCarowinds story goes, Mass Acres is one of the oldest cemeteries in the Carolinas. It is home to thousands of departed souls that date back to the late 1700’s. Ancient and crumbling tombstones stand side-by-side, marking the lives of yesterday. Six feet of dirt is all that separates you from the remains – or at least that’s what you’re led to believe.
Last Laff in 3D, located in the Action Theater, was our next stop. It was also the first maze that I got to explore that day.
The lights were on with no real clowns in sight, and Last Laff still was able to give off a very creepy vibe while walking through the maze. Add in the element of darkness, creepy circus calliope music, and the unpredictability of the deranged clowns inside, and it’s going to be a very “interesting” maze to say the least. For an added dose of irony, one of the women who has worked in this maze for the last few years as a clown is actually afraid of clowns herself.
From Last Laff, we headed to Slaughterhouse: The Final Cut, a fan favorite maze making its triumphant return to SCarowinds after a brief hiatus. The maze is situated in the Thrill Zone, near Carolina Cyclone, or SCarolina Cyclone, I should say.
At Slaughterhouse, I ran into Jim and Tricia Cormack, two of SCarowinds’ Maze Builders, who Chris referred to as “The Haunt Dream Team.”
The former owners of a Halloween store and family fun center, the Cormacks have been building mazes at SCarowinds for the last 3 years.
“I’ve had the Halloween bug since I was a kid,” Jim told me. “I’ve always loved it.” and their work in Slaughterhouse demonstrates their passion for the holiday.
“We have a good team. We have designers, our own thought process and mold everything together,” Jim said. “We want intensity, but we also want realism. We want to engulf you into the feel of this maze. We don’t want to have scenic stuff that looks like stuff on a set at a stage. We want you to feel like you walked into an old slaughterhouse.
I asked Jim what his end goal was for guests walking through the maze.
He responded with a laugh. “The end goal…I probably shouldn’t say. But I think people are going to pee their pants.”
Much like Last Laff, the lights were on, and there was no one walking around in the maze to scare me. Some of the effects were on though. I can’t reveal too much, but even in its “skeleton” state, I jumped several times while walking through the maze. The visuals were amazing, and it’s going to be terrifying to walk through that maze at night.
The last maze I had the opportunity to walk through that day was Silver Scream Studios, in between Hurler and Fury 325.
Guests enter the studios of Director Heinrich Von Hellsburg, who is holding a casting call for the most realistic horror movie of all time. Refusing to go down in history with dishonor and humiliation, he escaped from the sanitarium and is once again holding auditions at his studios. Determined to make the scariest movie of all time, Von Hellsburg is looking for some new blood to make their “Silver Scream” debut. Will you make the cut? Join SCarowinds in this “sinematic” tour, and see the ultimate Director’s Cut!
There were a lot of great little details inside Silver Scream Studios, and even as one of SCarowinds’ oldest mazes (opening for the first time in 2008), it has been updated for this year’s event, and could even give Slaughterhouse: The Final Cut a run for its money as “scariest maze at SCarowinds” this year.
SCarowinds begins on Friday, September 18, and takes place on Friday and Saturday nights in September, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights through October 31. For more information, be sure to check out SCarowinds official website, and follow Carowinds on Facebook and Twitter.
Perhaps all the Halloween construction was why both the Fury and the Intimidator were down for maintenance issues today . I truly Hate that Carowinds has no web feedback for a visit. Truly planned this visit six weeks in advance, late in year, kids back in school, not so hot. Sadly disappointed. Rides closed.. a lot of vendor stands closed. Truly poor, poor customer service in the restaurants. Left thinking .. really I paid all that (didn’t have any coupons or special offers) to ride things years old and get really bad service. Hope the Scarowinds is better for people, I won’t be attending.