BY CLAIRE OERTLY
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Callson Manor, the annual haunted house held at the Placer County Fairgrounds, recently opened and it continues to be as, if not more, scary as in the past. The majority of the haunts remained the same, but they also added a new attraction called Chamber.
Despite the fact a lot of the haunts had the same themes as in the past, the amount of scare put out by the workers has only gotten better.
Although the workers aren’t allowed to touch attendees, some get really close and come out at unexpected moments.
They yell a lot of intimidating slurs and walk directly in front and behind a group, typically identifying the most frightened person and focus on them.
Even though a lot of the people working there attend Roseville High School, they remained in character, even when their names were called.
They also have the advantage of knowing more names, so they could yell them at one to create a more personalized type of scare.
Prices are relatively high, $29 for general admission being the lowest rate.
An “All Scream Pass” can be purchased for $60 and it allows the bearer to go into all the houses as many times as pleased and provides a behind the scenes tour at 10 p.m.
VIP passes are available for $39 and a special line is provided for VIP members.
The food there was really good too, although it was relatively expensive.
The deep fried Oreos were heavenly, and they also had a variety of other foods such as pretzels, kettle corn, corn dogs, fries and different beverages were all sold as well.
They also had a smoking Cola-type beverage in multiple flavors, like they had in the past.
While the lines were long, they had entertainment going while people were waiting. They performed a fire show and had people dressed up in costume walking around the premise, mostly in the walkways and to the back where the majority of the houses are.
Guys in costumes would slide out from the depths of the center walkway, and everyone can agree that scary people on the floor are even scarier than those standing up– I don’t know why, they just are.
Men and women with noise making objects would get approach people and make loud noises close up and personal, catching many people off guard.
In the past they have done this, but in the past they were more intimidating to me.
Chamber, the newest haunt, involves a prisoner on death row who gets electrocuted, then comes out of his cell and appears in front of you as lights flicker on and off.
Not to mention everyone is sitting in a wooden chair that shakes every couple of seconds, which were a neat idea that helped make the scene even scarier.
Cirque Du Fantasy was another favorite of mine, even though clowns are absolutely horrifying. They provide 3D glasses and the walls are painted with bright neon paint that glows in the dark.
Clowns emerge from the shadows and strobe lights come on at one point, which makes it difficult to see clearly.
In my personal opinion, “Tavern” was the scariest haunt. Walking in, the bartender hands out a candle in order to light the darkness.
The walls are similar to a wooden fence, and the path is crooked. Suddenly, a hairy, two-legged creature resembling a warthog or wildebeest jumps out and starts running towards the group, and stalks them through the difficult path. Those moments in which I was in the Tavern were some of the most terrifying moments of my life.
