My only other run-in with a haunted house prior to this was at Cedar Point, where I was forced to walk through CarnEvil to get to the Millennium Force. A demonic clown trailed me and asked if I was his “mama,” which was enough of a reason to avoid all haunted houses moving forward.
The irony is that I’ve consciously walked into places with documented paranormal activity — Poasttown Elementary School in Middletown being a recent example. For whatever reason, though, I am more frightened by artificial scares than I am of real ones. Perhaps, as it was explained to me, that’s because a place like Dayton Scream Park is designed that way.
Owner Lance Compton opened the park in 2002. It’s been described as Ohio’s longest single haunt, with the labyrinthine compound taking upwards of an hour to walk through. There are more than 100 actors at Dayton Scream Park, most of whom have been there for over ten years.
“You get to know people out here, and then you see them back there, and they’re a completely different person,” Compton said. “People that don’t talk, don’t communicate — kind of quiet, or introverts — they go the complete opposite. That mask or that makeup goes on, it changes them.”
Logan Bowles, who has been haunting for six years, talked about his character, Stitches the Clown, a sort of half-goblin, in the third person.
“He’s a clown. He’s a butcher,” Logan said. “He works in a meat market. He chops up his victims.”
Despite the Ed Gein vibes, Logan described Stitches as more of a comedic act. If he perceives somebody not having a good time, he’ll focus on them to make sure that they do. Stitches awaits his “victims” in the doorway of his deli, tossing around a severed head like a tetherball. His scene seems to be less about jump scares and more about the nuance of the eerie, bloodied backdrop.
Last season, Bowles’ character won Actor of the Year from Ohio Valley Haunts. (The 2024 Actress of the Year, Darlynn Berry as Regan the Exorcist, also works at Dayton Scream Park.)
Haunting, it turns out, runs in the family.
Scott Bowles, otherwise known as Scott Rogers, the First Illusionist of Country Music, is Logan’s father. Scott’s been acting at haunted houses since he was 14. Wearing a pair of icy contact lenses prior to donning his makeup, he tells me about his act, as well as his character, Haggis.
Haggis is a well-dressed, aged goblin type who struts around with a cane and sinisterly follows people. With dozens of do-not-enter flaps along the route, Scott can appear and vanish at will.
“All you gotta do is walk toward ‘em,” he said, “and they get real worried.”
Later, as people wait in line to be scared, Haggis does just that. They recoil in terror as if their lives are actually in danger. To cope, they laugh.
And even though Haggis’ mask is in a permanent scowl, I know Scott Bowles is smiling underneath it.
As the sun set, hordes of folks eager to be scared lined up at the park’s entrance. The misfit actors readied their latex and makeup. It was the calm before the scream.
One woman admitted that she’d never been to a haunted house before. An actor latched on to that, letting the rest of the crew know about the newbie: “First time at a haunted house? Yeah, it’s on like Donkey Kong!”
“Actors!” a park manager yelled around 7:50 p.m. “Head to the crossroads!”
One by one, deranged carnies, monsters and the undead made their pilgrimage into the compound. From a distance, the themes from “Halloween” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” intermingled with the sounds of chainsaws, chains, revving engines, and metal music.
As I stood near the rope, a goblin menacingly taunted me in a high-pitched voice: “Hi, Brandon!” It was Logan Bowles. Except it wasn’t. It was Stitches the Clown on his way to his meat market.
The crowd thickened and I found myself next to Darryl, who has worked security at Dayton Scream Park for two years. He let me in on why he thinks people want to be scared.
“They want to feel that anxiety rush that they don’t get in their normal, day-to-day lives,” he said. “I’ll be standing at the crossroads as people come out, getting their input on what their favorite thing was. Nine times out of 10, it’ll have to be our Leatherface scene. They love the adrenaline they get from being chased by a chainsaw.”
He also let me in on why Dayton Scream Park is different from other haunted attractions.
“What we got here is what we consider a family,” Darryl said. “At the end of the season, it’s non-stop talking about upping our game for next year. We have a group chat on Facebook that I gotta mute so I can get some sleep.”
As the first group was shepherded through, Scott/Haggis took me behind the scenes to the safe-space area where the actors hang in between groups.
“What are you doing here?” one unmasked character asked me.
“Hanging out. I’m doing a story for Dayton Daily News.”
“Dayton what? Hold on. I’ll be right back.”
He put on his clown mask, ran toward a scene, and popped out from behind a curtain to scare the ever-loving hell out of some people. He strolled back with an air of accomplishment and took off his mask. Just another night on the job.
I mainly hung out around the Hollywood Horrors section, where Michael Myers, Ghostface, Captain Spaulding, Jason Voorhees and Leatherface exist in the same horrific universe and lounge around awaiting their victims.
So why do people want to be scared?
I think it’s partly a connection thing. When I had to traverse the fog of CarnEvil at Cedar Point, I held on to my sister’s shirt. I felt comfort in knowing she was nearby when the orphan clowns asked if I was their mom. Very rarely did I see someone go through Dayton Scream Park alone.
They were always with others, whether they knew them or not. And when they were scared, they laughed together.
Dayton Scream Park plays to many fears — claustrophobia, death, disorientation. But standing at the exit, watching people reminisce and laugh about what they just endured, you realize that shared fear makes people feel less alone.
Maybe peeling back the curtain was my way of normalizing haunted houses. Because no matter how scary the characters at Dayton Scream Park were, I realized they were just people behind the masks — people who love pretending to be somebody else.
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio, spotlighting local musicians, underground and touring bands, cultural events, fringe phenomena and creative spaces. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
MORE DETAILS
Dayton Scream Park, 4040 Wrightway Rd., Dayton, is open Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 1.
General admission tickets are $25 and are sold 8 p.m.-midnight. VIP tickets to get to the front of the line are available for an additional $25. Parking is free.
The haunted attraction has a merchandise store with hoodies, t-shirts, cups, stickers, and more.
Dayton Scream Park is hosting a trunk-or-treat 6-8 p.m. Oct. 23. There will be a DJ, costume contest and face painting. Hayrides will be available for $5.
For more information, visit daytonscreampark.com or the haunted attraction’s Facebook page (@dytscreampark).
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