Special Features: SCarowinds - A behind the screams tour

Posted at 9:52 PM EDT (0152 GMT)

Oct. 22nd, 2008 -- It was a dark and scary Carolina night. There was a harvest moon overhead and blood-curtailing screams could be heard through the woods.

This could be the start to a backwoods horror story, but it actually is the story of your fearless ThrillNetwork editor Wes Connell heading to SCarowinds to take a behind-the-scenes (or maybe we’ll call it behind the screams) tour of SCarowinds.

SCarowinds Halloween Haunt is the sinister Carowinds alterego come September and October.  When the sun goes down, look out for ghoolies and ghosts of all sorts.

Jack Stevenson was good enough to give me the tour of what most of you will probably never see when it comes to the park and its operations.

Around 4:00, while many Carowinds visitors were still playing the day away at the park, a strange transformation was about to begin.

Over in the park’s Boomerang Bay gift shop, a change had come over the place and it was now known as Monster Central.

The place looked something like a flashback to the old 70s horror movies.  There was blood everywhere and there was what appeared to be a dead body on the floor.

Strange mutations were taking place, and everywhere innocent young adults were slowly becoming children of the night.

Everywhere the dark minions of SCarowinds were creating all kinds of things on people’s faces, from open sores to oozing scabs.

Jack walked me around and we had a few narrow scrapes as we narrowly escaped the likes of Jack the Ripper and a horrifying looking cowboy that seemed to have a taste for blood.

All the children of the night weren’t so scary though; take for instance the Bird Lady.  This strange specimen appears to be the mutation of some Edgar Allen Poe nightmare.  The Bird Lady seems rather calm, but she can be heard screaming the night away when she comes in close contact with a new victim.

Next we came across what appeared to be a demon that escaped from hell itself.  The strange creature looked menacing with his bat-like wings.

Then there were the clowns.  Why did it have to be clowns? 

The clowns were on the loose at Last Laff and I couldn’t help but shudder as I remembered my all-too-real fear of those painted faces back in my childhood.

At this point, I have to stop and jump out of character for the rest of the story.  You’re probably thinking Wes is enjoying Halloween a bit too much this year.

Jack really was a great tour guide as we made our way around the park, into backrooms and parts of Carowinds I had never seen before.

To start our tour Jack showed me the newly remodeled Hearse which features a brand new look, new plasma screens inside as well as some new surprises that will be coming later.  The Hearst actually still has its creepy looking original 1980s interior.  I couldn’t help but think of the Adam’s Family when I saw it.

We made our way over to Monster Central, as stated before is located in Boomerang Bay, which of course is closed this time of the year.

Inside Monster Central, there were makeup artists everywhere slowly changing people into some type of monster or menace.

Some people would get pretty basic scars or maybe a bloody wound.   Others had elaborate makeup jobs to sit through each night, some taking 30 minutes to an hour to complete.

In the back of Monster Central is the costume shop and I had no idea the park even owned so many costumes for SCarowinds.

The park employs over 400 scharacters during SCarowinds and each has their own special look and costume.

If you visit the bathroom in the middle of the main Boomerang Bay next summer, and spot what looks like blood, don’t be alarmed.  You have just walked into the park’s blood bath. This is where the goblins get their last few drops of blood splattered on them before heading out into the park. 

You might find it interesting that the blood the park uses is actually just red corn syrup.  Yes, corn syrup.  It’s eatable!  It’s quite sticky as well, and looks pretty real on your skin.

Many of the makeup artists actually work locally in theaters and are skilled at their work and you really see it when you have a chance to be up close (and someone isn’t jumping out at you in the dark).

Jack, and now that I think about it, it is quite strange having a guy named Jack walk you around at Halloween isn’t it?  If you don’t know what I’m referring to, just visit Busch Gardens this time of year.

As I was saying, Jack walked me around through several mazes before they even opened to the public as well as let me tag along to the VIP tour that the park offers (for an extra fee).

The park has put a lot of work into the mazes, and several are now in permanent buildings. You will see less and less of the park having to rip apart an existing attraction so they can put a haunt in for SCarowinds.  The park plans to build more and more of these permanent buildings, which can also be used for storage in the off season.

If you have driven by the park this fall at night, you might have noticed a strange site from I-77 or the nearby roads.  A pair of evil eyes are glaring down at you now at night!

Jack and I got to witness the installation of the Sky Tower eyes before SCarowinds opened for the evening.  They really are pretty plain and simple devices: black boxes, with florescent lights inside, with cutouts for the eyes, and red foil to make the color.  As simple as the installation is (and there are two sets so that you have a constant set of eyes glaring down at you) it is quite a nice effect as the Sky Tower slowly turns around at night.

As night descended, I had the chance to visit a few of the mazes and see what the park had in store.  Many of the features are trade secrets, and as requested I’ll take those to my grave.  Or at least, I won’t post them here anyway.  But Jack and his friends really have gone the distance with their creations.

Throughout the park there are more scare zones, and I frankly like the Harvest one the best over near the old covered bridge.  The scharacters were really doing their job the night I was there.

An added bonus this year for those that maybe want to ride the other rides in the park is that the park is completely open on many of the busy nights, like Saturdays.  The night I attended every area of the park, including Nickelodeon Central was open.

And at this point, I must bring our story to an end.  But fear not, if you really are dying for more details, be sure to check out my video and the pictures as well.

Special thanks to Dani Swords and Jack Stevenson and all the scharacters and staff at SCarowinds for their help with this story.

SCarowinds runs until November 1.  Everyone at SCarowinds is dying to see you.