Will you survive the night of frights?

Published: 
John Kang & Chris Lau
Listen to this article

Disneyland and Ocean Park have some Halloween fun in store for you

John Kang & Chris Lau |
Published: 
Comment

Latest Articles

Faithful phrases: 9 idioms that will surely add a pious twist to your writing

Companion dogs comfort Hong Kong’s seniors through new programme

Taylor Swift’s storytelling shines in The Tortured Poets Department

Glowing animals go much further back in time than we thought

SOTY 2022/23: Art runs in the family for Visual Artist second runner-up

SOTY 2022/23: Linguist (English) first runner-up loves to play devil’s advocate

The terrifying Babyface at Disneyland
Everyone loves a good shriek at Halloween. And as usual, Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland are offering plenty of reasons to be scared.

But Disneyland wants us to do something different this year: not scream.

The park's Haunted Halloween attraction, which runs on Thursday to Sunday until 11pm, from October 4 until Halloween, features a "Scream-No-More Challenge". Your task: resist screaming as you go through the checkpoints.

That may be easier said than done. The checkpoints include two Haunted Houses. Greaves Academy is a haunted school with scary teachers and duly scared students. Revenge of the Headless Horseman is a travelling show in Adventureland featuring some weirdly creepy performers.

The haunted houses are a great experience, with stunning decorations, spooky music, hisses of air here and there, and petrifying performers.

Possibly the scariest creature is in Toy Story Land, where you'll come face to face with Babyface, a mutant toy with a doll's head and a spider-like body.

If you manage not to scream at all the horror, you may find it hard to resist on the rides. Some of the regular attractions are included in the challenge, including Mystic Manor and the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars. Space Mountain has been jazzed up with Halloween decorations, while Mickey Mouse and his gang will be greeting guests in Halloween outfits.

Other activities will include the Grizzly Gulch Halloween Fair, featuring good old-fashioned games, and the Glow in the Park Parade, led by Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which will boast werewolves and vampires along Main Street, USA.


A terrified soul, or an evil spirit at Ocean Park? Photo: Edward Wong/SCMP

Meanwhile, Ocean Park, too, has whipped up its own scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs events. You can attend the park's sea-themed Halloween Fest 2013 between 1pm and 10pm on 17 days in October.

Vampires, chainsaw-wielding killers, and pumpkin-headed demons will be unleashed on unsuspecting visitors. Evil spirits will also be prowling around.

This year's attraction features six houses with various levels of scariness, taking their themes from K-Pop to antique shops.

If you enjoy being scared out of your wits, Murder Factory, next to The Abyss, is perfect for you. The haunted house boasts a maze of lethal traps and razor-sharp objects - much like what you find in the horror movie series Saw.

At the entrance, visitors are greeted by CCTV screens which show victims inside the house being attacked. Are you going to be next?

A highlight is a store room, where broken-up mannequins - limbs, fingers, heads and torsos - strewn around. A tip: watch out for complete mannequins. They may suddenly come to life ...

If you are a bit squeamish about that sort of scary fun, the Pumpkin Creation Lab offers art and craft tasks, and a chance to take quick snaps and selfies. The workshop is run by pumpkin carving artists from the US, including Ray Villanfane, Andy Bergholtz and Sue Beatrice.

They turn pumpkins into spooky aliens, fire-breathing dragons and scary spiders. Check out the giant tarantula carved into a pumpkin - if it wasn't bright orange, you'd be forgiven for being terrified.

There will also be nine live shows, featuring dancers and acrobats.

Ok, so now you can scream.


You might also like:

- This Halloween enter a real-life horror game if you dare; just be sure to find your way out before Sadako finds you

- With Halloween back again, it's time to make your own scare-fest video. Just follow our formula.

- The dark side emerges when the night comes. And come October the dark powers will once again haunt Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park

Sign up for the YP Teachers Newsletter
Get updates for teachers sent directly to your inbox
By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Comment