Ghoulish bore
Fort Worth’s haunted houses miss the scare factor
Reviews by Brandon Ortiz
Hangman’s House of Horrors
Hangman’s House is one of oldest haunted houses in Fort Worth. It is also the best.
No one has been scaring people as long and as well in Fort Worth as Hangman’s.
This year is no different.
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| David Dunai/CO-PHOTO EDITOR A worker at Hangman’s House frightens customers. |
What separates Hangman’s House from other haunted houses in the
area are its elaborate scenes, costumes and props. As guests walk through
a forest, a laboratory and through a black hole, guests feel like they
are actually there. Monsters and ghosts appear realistic. All these things
and more add up to a great experience.
The actors at Hangman’s House get in guests’ faces more than
at most haunted houses. Monsters are well hidden and jump out right in
front of guests and get in the way.
Hangman’s House still has many of its traditional features: the sheet maze that takes forever to get through, the lopsided, checkered hallways with strobe lights that screw up guests’ equilibrium and the black hole that almost makes guests fall over.
Instead of waiting in line for hours like at most haunted houses, guests can play games and ride roller coasters until it is time to go in. The tickets are expensive (75 cents a piece, with most attractions costing several tickets), but it helps to kill the time.
Hangman’s House isn’t especially scary or gory, but it is fun and entertaining.
Cutting Edge Haunted House
It should be the perfect setting.
Upon driving up on an old, abandoned warehouse, loud rock music greets guests as they wait in line.After the first two frights of the night, (paying $2.00 to park and $16.75 plus tax to get in), guests only expect it to get worse inside.
It doesn’t.
The Cutting Edge claims to be the world’s largest haunted house. It certainly seems like it.
It takes an eternity to work through the dark corridors, smoky rooms and stairways. Unfortunately, there aren’t many highlights along the way.
The Cutting Edge’s biggest highlight this year is the addition of two black holes that are almost identical to the one in Hangman’s House of Horrors. The black holes are rotating tunnels that mess up guests’ equilibrium as they walk through. While this is exciting, it is hardly something that is going to make the guests wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night.
The actors aren’t either. They do a fair job of jumping out and scaring the people at the front of the pack, but by the time they get to those in the back, it is a bit anti-climatic.
The Cutting Edge relies heavily on animatronics and special effects. Although the animatronics might catch guests off guard once or twice, they usually pop out a little too late or a little too early.
Be prepared to run into a couple of walls. The building is dark and guests can barely see in front of them.
lso, while walking up a few flights of stairs, the effects of the haunted house is completely annihilated.
Much to it’s credit, the Cutting Edge did away with the giant bubble machine at the end. No one needs to worry about going through the haunted house in a rubber suit any more.
After the haunted house, guests try to work their way through the Pit, a maze that is almost impossible to get through. Armed with just a small chemical light, guests move through the dark maze to try to get out in only a couple of minutes.
Overall, the Cutting Edge offers nothing unique other than its size. Even with all it has going for it (the abandoned building and it’s location), the Cutting Edge is not able to tap into the spirit of Halloween.In the end, the Cutting Edge proves to be a bit dull.
Cenikor’s Nightmare on Elm Street
If the idea of waiting in line for long hours, shelling out money to park and paying almost $20 to get in does not sound appealing, Cenikor may be a good fit.
Cenikor is a little less sophisticated than the other two big haunted houses in Fort Worth, but it provides just as many scares, if not more.
A tour guide leads the way through 40 seemingly peaceful scenes. But without fail, an actor always jumps out of nowhere to deliver a good scare.
Cenikor relies heavily on timing. As guests walk through the haunted house, the actors in the scenes have to move suddenly or make a loud noise at just the right moment. More times than not it works.
There is very little contact between the actors and guests. Whereas actors at most haunted houses will get in the guests’ faces, at Cenikor, the actors typically stay in the scene. The haunted house would have been much better if the actors had gotten in the way a little.
Be sure not to get stuck in the back of the line or it is impossible to hear the tour guide. Half of the night will be spent trying to figure out what the scenes are supposed to be.
After guests finish the haunted house, there are games to play and live music. The games are a little cheaper than those at the haunted midway at Hangman’s House of Horrors but not as good.
Cenikor doesn’t have all the hi-tech special effects other haunted houses have to offer, but it still manages to deliver a good scare.
Ending redeeming quality, but book leaves something to be desired
By Christina Hager
skiff staff
I wanted it to be bad. After the semi-cheesy parts of “The Editor” by Thomas William Simpson, I could not believe how he lured me back into his tale at the end. I wanted to put it down. I really did.
“The Editor” is written in the form of a journal and details
the life of Sam Adams. From page one, he is mourning the loss of his wife
and son who were beaten to death in front of him on Easter. Right off
the bat you are almost uncomfortable with the intimate details of Adams’
life.
To get his life back on track after the horrific event, Adams moves out of the home he shared with his family and leaves the hustle-bustle of New York City, where he works as — what else — an editor. He drives out to the country and rents a small cottage from a beautiful and mysterious woman. Even though she is over 10 years his senior, Evelyn Richmond catches his attention with her strong sexuality and cool confidence. One other mystifying element is thrown into the mix — she is blind.
During each of his journal entries, Adams reflects on how he met his now deceased wife, Ellen, and how their relationship evolved. The details of his son’s untimely death slowly unfolds as Adams relives them.
As the story continues, the reader begins to identify with the character, but never clearly relates to Adams as they would to most fictional protagonists. Simpson’s storytelling leaves something to be desired at various instances in the text.
Although Adams skips days in his journal, and the story is given to you in random bits of information, “The Editor” remains mostly on track and interesting throughout its 356 pages.
Adams’ eventual affair with the eclectic and cagey Richmond is not the typical love story, as his blind landlord leads him down a trail of power and seduction. The story is strange in that details of their abnormal relationship grow arduous, but still leaves you with a feeling of incompletion at the end of each chapter.
The incredible redeeming quality of Simpson’s book is the ending. With an unforeseen twist, the book has a thriller quality which adds to its somewhat anemic story.
“The Editor” is fine for beach reading or to prop up a table leg with. The ending is terrific and unexpected and would have been even better if it did not have the 300 plus pages in front of it.
Christina Hager
ctinasing2000@aol.com