Nightmare on 19th lives up to name
by Lisa Hernandez, staff writer
The sight of evil clowns and menacing vampires are enough to
make a person shiver with fear.
That is only the beginning. Once the
sun goes down, the monsters come out to play.
Nightmare on 19th Street was
voted the No.1 haunted attraction in West Texas in 2007, and
it shows no signs of slowing down. Nightmare on 19th
Street consists of three haunted houses, “The Blood Moon
Manor,” “Clown Town,” and “The Witches Walk.” Each is
uniquely terrifying in it’s own way. I had the opportunity
to walk among the creatures of the night on opening night.
The actors for Nightmare arrive as
people, and in only a few hours they transform into
creatures found only in nightmares. Clearly, Nightmare on 19th
lives up to its name. After about 30 minutes of make-up, I
too had been transformed from an average college girl into
an evil doctor.
At actor orientation, the directors
prepared us for what was to come, and what to expect. We all
knew what we had gotten ourselves into, and we were willing
to jump in headfirst. We knew that we all needed to stay in
character, no matter what happened. However, if a customer
assaulted us, we had the authority to make him or her leave.
Luckily, nothing like that has happened.
On opening night, I drove my jeep
through the gates of the Lonestar Pavilion. I saw many
things that scared me, including clowns. I have been
incredibly creeped out by clowns ever since I was a child.
So it was really uncomfortable for me to walk up to the
Pavilion and have a bunch of clowns walking around. After
several of my friends showed up, things started to get a
little easier.
As the sun set, more and more people
were transformed into their characters. But what’s back
stage is not nearly as fun and entertaining as what goes on
once the party starts.
Clown Town is the first stop on the
journey. The “Witches Walk” is next, followed by the
scariest house, “The Blood Moon Manor.” I had the
opportunity to work in the Manor, and even though I may have
felt bad by the time the night was over, I had a lot of fun
scaring people.
There was even one moment when a friend
and I scared a girl so bad that not only did she start
screaming, she actually ran into a wall to get away from us.
That was weird, considering the fact that we are not allowed
to touch anyone, and we are required to stay at least three
feet away at all times.
What also was funny was the fact that
we ended up scaring more teenage boys than girls. It didn’t
really take much for us to scare people in our room in the
“Manor.” My singing “ I’ll never tell” was creepy enough as
it was, especially when a person didn’t know where the
song’s source was coming from.
When I first did a run-through of the
attraction opening night, I was not disappointed. It took a
lot of strength to wander through “Clown Town” with my eyes
open. I guess that’s what being a reporter’s all about,
facing the unexpected, and being able to face my fears. In
fact, I may have lost some of my voice from screaming as
much as I did. Nightmare was better than it was last year
and last year, it was phenomenal.
Nightmare on 19th Street is
now open for screams on Thursday through Saturday. Doors
open at 8 p.m. and close around midnight. Prices are $25 for
all three attractions, and $35 for a VIP pass that not only
allows the customer to visit all three attractions, but it
also allows him or her to jump the long lines.
Photo By Kasey Putman/Plainsman Press
