Kings Island's Halloween Haunt now open weekends

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Contributed photo Kings Island adds new scares to its array of thrill rides with the Halloween Haunt running weekends through Oct. 30, 2011.

By Justin McClelland, Staff Writer Updated 11:51 AM Monday, September 26, 2011

By Justin McClelland

Staff Writer

MASON — Kings Island officials always hope for a lively crowd, but during Halloween Haunt, it’s the undead who rule the theme park.

The fifth annual Halloween Haunt opens this weekend at Kings Island. The annual Halloween festival transforms the park into a nightmare-scape of monsters and madness, enhancing the thrills provided by the parks signature thrill rides with spooky mazes, shows and creatures of the night.

“This is the premier Halloween attraction in the area,” said park spokesman Don Helbig. “Every year we go all out to provide the scariest, most interactive Halloween experience for our guests.”

Among the spook-tacular attractions designed especially for the Halloween event are eight haunted mazes, including two mazes added this year. The mazes include ghouls and creepers designed to startle and thrill.

The Hot Blooded Show is a live musical show that presents a horror story to the tunes of classic rock.

Helbig said the Hot Blooded Show, performed four to five times a night, has gained a “‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’-like cult following” and is the most popular stage show in the history of the park.

“We’re bringing it back for its third year, which is unprecedented,” Helbig said.

Halloween Haunt also will see the return of the Half Pint Brawlers, the premier hard-core little person wrestling organization. The Half Pint Brawlers take extreme risk to entertain, amaze and horrify, performing savage beatings on one another that aren’t for the faint of heart.

“They are incredible,” Helbig said. “Every night it’s something totally unexpected from these guys.”

Friday nights also feature the Wall of Monsters when the gates to the attraction open at 7 p.m. The bravest of souls must travel through a vast array of vampires, werewolves, mummies, zombies, undertaker, clowns and assorted ghouls to enter the park. Only the bravest will make it, Helbig said.

On Saturdays and Sundays during the afternoon, the park takes on a more family-friendly Halloween atmosphere, including indoor mazes and mini-tractor rides for kids.

Children also will have the opportunity to trick-or-treat with the Dinosaurs at the park’s animatronic Dinosaurs Alive! mini-park. At Dinosaurs Alive!, they can get candy and do arts and crafts amongst the 60 dinosaurs on display, and will get to take home free mini-pumpkins.

The majority of the parks rides will be open during the festival including classic roller coasters such as the Beast and Diamondback and the park’s newest thrill ride, the 300-foot spire WindSeeker.

Helbig said the afternoon festival is family friendly. The evening atmosphere contains more graphic images and is recommended for mature audiences.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” Helbig said. “We have both fun scary and scary-scary available based on what you want out of Halloween.”