FACT FACTS
The Campground Massacre
Location: 940 Gold Hill Rd, Ft Mill SC
Phone Number: 866-SLASHER
Dates of Operation: Every Friday and Saturday in October; the last week of October and Halloween
Times of Operation: 7:30 to midnight (6:30 after daylight savings time); closes earlier at the beginning of the month and on weeknights
Admission Price: $15 for both The Massacre and Mina’s Mansion
Website: www.themassacre.com
Email: mina@themassacre.com
Maximum Throughput: 400 per hour
Size in Square Footage and Number of Rooms:
· Mina’s Mansion: 2,400 square feet with 11 room designs, and 18 animations
· The Massacre: 2.5 acres with 25 scare/scenes and 15 animations
Years of Operation: 2004 will be 11 years

I haven’t been comfortable walking in a campground after dark since Jason Voorhees stalked scantily clad teeny boppers through Camp Crystal Lake. And never has that been more the case than at the Fort Mill KOA, just across the South Carolina border from Charlotte, NC. There, hidden away from unsuspecting vacationers in a wooded part of the property, lies more carnage and rubber critters than in all of the Friday the 13th movies combined! These woods are silent now, but every October, they are filled with screams of terror and delight for the thousands of guests who come to sample the frights of The Campground Massacre.

Our story starts off with a businessman and entrepreneur named John Trigg. At one time John owned a dealership for recreational vehicles (RV’s), a popular campground one exit down I-77 from Paramount’s Carrowinds amusement park, and a string of video rental stores in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manager for eight of the video stores was a horror and sci-fi movie aficionado named Sheila Hester. Sheila was also a die-hard Haunted House hunter, and from a very early age she searched out and attended Haunted Attractions, where she enjoyed a good scream and the adrenalin rush that followed. The search for something more terrifying and intense left her disappointed with the non-profit Haunts in the Charlotte area. Sheila dreamed of one day creating an attraction that would make people feel like they were actually in a horror movie or their worst nightmare.

The video stores were eventually sold off or closed down, and in 1994 John and Sheila became husband and wife. Sheila saw the KOA Campground as an opportunity to create the Haunted Attraction she had always dreamed of, as well as a project that the two newlyweds could work on together. Owning the land gave John and Sheila the freedom to build their vision of a terrifying Haunted Attraction.

The first step was cleaning out an old farmhouse that was on an undeveloped part of the campground property. The structure was old (a piece of the Rock Hill Herald dated 1897 was found glued to the inside of one wall) but in good shape, and it had a natural spooky beauty about it. The surrounding sheds and barns were next on the cleanup list, and then a Haunted Trail was cut through the overgrowth between the buildings. The woods made a great setting for a scary experience, and like a corpse waiting to be unearthed, The Campground Massacre began to take shape.

One continuous thread that runs through the history of this attraction is blood! Sheila was determined to create an attraction that was edgier then the others in the area, and this would need to be apparent in the name of the event. While searching the Internet, Sheila came across several listings of American Indian massacre sites that are now campgrounds. Well, she figured, their property was a campground, and what better way to create the image of an intense experience than to call it a massacre…The Campground Massacre!

The only problem with the location of the attraction on the KOA property was how far away it was from the parking lot. Also, the campground would still be operational in October, and Haunt patrons wandering though the grounds could be a problem. The solution was a tractor-pulled wagon ride from the parking lot and ticket booth over to the queue line for the trail. This short trip is not themed, but it is a crowd favorite.

The original design of The Massacre involved high-energy actors, mannequins, black walls, webs, Styrofoam tombstones, and a great deal of splattered red paint. Unguided patrons braved darkened pathways lit by Tiki torches in the outdoor areas and glow sticks inside the buildings. Marketing was completely grass roots, with flyers and posters passed out in the neighboring cities of Fort Mill, Rock Hill and Tega Cay. The event was open for only four nights the first year, and over 750 victims screamed their way through the Haunted Trail at $5 per person. Bloodier than any other Haunt in the area, the patron’s reactions were so positive that plans for the 1995 Campground Massacre were well underway before the end of 1994. “We learned a lot that first year,” remembers Sheila. “We had no idea what we were getting into, but we had a blast!”

From the beginning, John and Sheila have been “hands-on” with the event to the point of even being actors in the show. John’s main job is throughput control. He sets up the groups and sends them into the Haunted Trail. You might call him a greeter, but his silent Michael Myers-inspired character allows little foolishness from patrons. Sheila created a vampire character for her alter ego, and worked the yard in front of the farm house. “I would run down this ramp and jump out of the darkness right in front of the group,” recalls Sheila. “By the end of the season I could hardly walk!”

Show modifications for year two included developing a clear pathway to keep patrons on course, replacing some of the Tiki flames on the trail and the indoor glow sticks with electric lights, rerouting and lengthening the path, adding an enclosed walkway, and improving the inside of the farmhouse by lengthening the dark maze and adding more rooms. Unfortunately, Sheila’s vision of high-energy, in-your-face acting was something that the volunteer actors could not seem to pull off. As a result, John and Sheila made the decision to hire actors in year two, both to have better control over the personnel and to strive for a higher talent level.

When The Massacre opened its second year to greatly increased attendance, it became obvious that the most profitable sophomore decision was to start advertising the event on local radio stations. The operational days had expanded to 18 nights, and the staff had problems controlling the 2,300 people who showed up to experience The Massacre first hand. Paid actors did a much better acting job than the volunteers and gave Sheila the greater control she was looking for. The only problem was keeping the actors through the entire run. Paying them before the event was concluded is a mistake they have not repeated.

By 1996, the show’s third year, the ticket booth was moved to a location before the line to get on the tractor, and a big screen television was provided to entertain the queue line. A billboard at the interstate exit to the property was leased all year long and advertised the campground for 10 months out of the year, and The Massacre for 2 months; this exposure provided an additional attendance increase.

By this time, the vampire character that Sheila created in 1994 had taken on a life of its own. Patrons were commenting about her on the wagon ride back to the parking lot, and in phone calls inquiring about what was new at the event this year. It was time for the character to have a name. After some thought, Sheila decided to use the name of a little-discussed character from the Dracula books, a character who was bitten by the Count but never really became one of the living dead; Mina!

In 1998 John and Sheila attend the National Halloween, Costume & Party Show in Chicago and joined the International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA). This trip opened up a new world for the Triggs. Rather than spending their limited time creating effects and props for the event, they could now purchase professionally sculpted and animated items. The tradeshow also provided the chance to network with Haunters from around the country, and the Haunted Attraction Operator’s Seminars offered during the convention provided a wealth of information and ideas from other experienced Haunters who shared their secrets on everything from makeup techniques to a variety of special effects. During the tradeshow, Brainstorm Studios was hired to revamp The Massacre logo, which featured Sheila in her character make-up. The logo, which attracts a lot of attention and lends a sense of professionalism and quality to the show, is used on billboards, business cards and The Massacre’s website.

The Chicago tradeshow provided the essential tools needed to take The Massacre to an entirely new level. Pneumatic props where added to the event for the first time in 1998; two animations from ScareFactory, a Window Drop and a Corpselator, and one prop from Distortions Unlimited, the inverted table Frankenstein. October 1998 saw a banner year for the event; attendance drastically increased, and the now annual pilgrimage to Chicago is a highlight for John and Sheila, who purchase new props and animations each year.

In the years that followed, animations have become a large part of The Massacre experience. “We are adding 12 new animatronics in the trail and 9 more in the Haunted House this year,” boasts co-owner John Trigg who oversees the installation and maintenance of the event. “We love ScareFactory’s props!” explains Sheila. With over 33 total pneumatics planned for the 2004 show, 27 of which are from the Ohio based ScareFactory.

The Triggs now spend as much as $40,000 on show improvements each year, adding more length to the trail, adding scenery, props, and detail to the attractions, so their victims will always get their money’s worth. The trail is added to and rearranged in the off season to create a fresh experience for patrons and staff alike, and the constant upgrades bring customers back each year, and sometimes even several times in the same season.

At a 1998 Chicago seminar, it was suggested that each Haunted Attraction have a signature character, someone who the patrons could recognize each year. Sheila already had this without realizing the potential; Mina had been created in 1996, and her notoriety had increased each year. Patrons were quite upset if they did not see Mina during their tour of The Massacre.

Also in 1998, Sheila created the event’s web site, which she feels is the most important piece in the marketing puzzle for Campground Massacre. The site is the best opportunity to grab Haunt seekers searching the Internet for a scary place to go, and to convince them that Campground Massacre is the Haunt they want to see this season. The web site includes dates and times that the attraction will be open, a written description of The Massacre experience and Mina’s story. Written like a gothic novel, this storyline immediately pulls the patron into the right frame of mind. There is even a 180-page novel on the Mina character that will soon be available for purchase on the site.

This marketing ploy has worked out better than the Triggs could have imagined. Patrons read Mina’s story on the website and show up at the event dying to see her in person! To the shock and amazement of Sheila, patrons even ask for Mina’s autograph, which she has had to create. “It blows my mind,” muses Sheila. “But people think she is real!”

In addition to playing Mina, Sheila also takes care of The Massacre’s initial designs, purchasing, advertising, costumes, makeup, scene décor, displays, and is in charge of organizing the staff and the actors. John coordinates the building process and electrical work, does the maintenance and manages the show. He is also saddled with building what Sheila comes up with. “Sometimes John has to remind me that there are limitations to what can be done,” explains Sheila.

With the owners of an attraction as key parts of the show, problems can arise and there are many times when the couple has considered handing off the responsibilities to others, but the main reason they got into Haunting is the enjoyment of scaring people. “If you take the fun and creativity out of it, why do it?” explains Sheila. “The Massacre is a labor of love and designed to give patrons the most frightening experience possible; we are not in this to get rich!” The couple realizes how much easier it would be if they limited their efforts to management, but they enjoy being a part of the show as much as they do creating it.

One of the unique additions in 1999 was a cement cave that included a bubbling pool and water running down the side of the wall. The cave was created by building a wooden frame, attaching metal lathe in a wavy, inconsistent shape, and then applying a mixture of 2 parts cement, 1 part lime and colored sand. It was a very tedious job, but well worth the final results. The pool consisted of 2 garden pond forms and water pumps purchased from Lowe’s hardware store, with the cement coming up to and covering the edges. This cave became a new home for Mina, with a ScarFactory actor lift placed in the cave for Mina to levitate out over the pool, glaring at the patrons passing by.

The crowds at The Massacre were getting larger each year, and in 2000 a new dramatic queue line area with Tiki torches was cut into the woods before the wagon loading area. To get the crowd’s blood flowing, an actor is given the run of the place, popping in and out of removed slats in the old 8-foot tall stockade fencing. The fence winds in an unnerving maze-like fashion between the ticket booth and the tractor, and prevents patrons from seeing how long the line really is; the show should be the scary part, not the wait!

The Campground Massacre became multi-element in 2002 with the addition of an indoor walkthrough. Haunted Attraction Magazine owners Leonard and Jeanne Pickel installed their signature attraction Mayhem Manor in an existing pavilion used for the campground. This experiment proved so successful that the wagon ride was over taxed, and many patrons opted to walk back to the parking lot rather than wait for the tractor. Mayhem Manor moved to Texas in 2003, but with the feasibility of a second attraction proven, the Triggs built their own attraction in the existing pavilion to increase the bottom line with greater attendance as well as a higher ticket price. Victims now pay $15.00 to see both Mina’s Mansion and The Campground Massacre, and a shuttle bus serves to relieve the wagon ride bottleneck.

Many new animations have been ordered for 2004, and planned upgrades for Mina’s Mansion and The Massacre are well underway with an accelerated schedule this year. With HAuNTcon coming to Charlotte in May, and a social/Haunt tour scheduled at The Campground Massacre on May 13th, the campground is already bustling with activity. The new props will be functional and a base acting staff will be in place to provide frights for the Haunters who attend the event! The food is ordered and final preparations are being made for this kick-off event of the first ever Haunted Attraction National Tradeshow and Convention. Don’t miss your chance to check out some of the latest animations in a Haunting environment at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

For John and Sheila, they intend to continue improving and growing The Campground Massacre into a world-class event. Now in their 11th year, Haunting has become a true love of the Triggs’, and they say they intend to keep scaring people until they are too old and feeble to continue.

William Tom has worked on The Campground Massacre for 9 years in various positions and is now the Office Administrator and General Manager. Once an English major at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he developed the Mina storyline and has recently completed a short novel based on the Mina character.

Mina’s Story

And so, to sit in the glow of candlelight and write my story. The candles seem appropriate as I watch their light bounce mischievously upon the cave walls, casting shadows that move, that dart about as though escaping their very origin. For candlelight casts a light that is not day, and yet it is not night, but rather somewhere in between. And perhaps that metaphor as a description of myself is fitting and becoming, for I am neither living nor dead, but somewhere in between. I exist.

A proper introduction includes a name, and my name is Mina. My father named me not creatively, but because it was a popular name just before the turn of the 20th century. I was born in Fort Mill, South Carolina in a house my father built for my mother. My cave, my home, is in walking proximity to my childhood house but I, for reasons that will be made clear, have let it become overrun with weeds, with ghosts of the past. I have let it rot, its wood beams sag, its doors creak in an attempt to let it die. But still it doesn’t die. It is a house that survives the Carolina hurricanes, a house that survives local teenagers who love to ‘party’ in abandoned buildings, (and before they leave find out that I too like to party, and am glad that they have brought hors d’oeuvres in the form of themselves and their ripe, alcohol and dope-filled veins), a house that survives the howling winds of Carolina winter and the hungry termites of the Carolina summer.

It is the house in which my father murdered my mother. And the house lives on, though they do not. It is a simple story: my father drank as some fathers will when things are not going their way and in a rage against the world, he turned too hurriedly, waving a bottle of imported whiskey, which flew, or so he told the authorities, from his hand and struck my mother's head.

My mother was a ravishing woman, who my father had courted because he had loved her; because she was perfect whether it be in our living room reading the Bible or hosting a cocktail party for his boss. She wanted only the simplest of things - a happy husband, a happy child, and a happy life - fell against the stone hearth, her dress igniting in the cozy parlor fire that had been warming us, and in shrieks of pain and the fetter of cooking flesh, ran from the house incinerating in the wooded front yard of that house, as my father stood there, drunk, with an expression more of cruel curiosity than of any real concern.

I was four. My hands were too small to stamp out the flames. The scars are gone now. Time does such things. By the time I was sixteen my father no longer had a job, a vagrant...and even that word gives him a shading of grace that is not befitting. How he complained about our poverty, down to downing moonshine bartered from a bearded man who lived even deeper in the woods than we did.

I one night while I was quietly doing our dinner dishes and tip-toeing around him as I always did, and he looked at me, a word on his lips that found no way to be spoken he got up from his chair, and left. So my days of tip-toeing around him ended, and my nights of tip-toeing after him began. Perhaps out of a sense of obligation, to make sure he was safe during his the bingeing, after all, he was my father. Intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness and being tired myself, he and I would often slept behind the buildings of the uptown, he passed out drunk, me shivering in an October night.

I don’t feel cold anymore, or hot, I just am. But I remember the night when the stranger approached us. A refined man, impeccably dressed. He hovered over us, studying the tragedy. His voice, a gentle rumble, almost conversationally, “What a young woman such as yourself doing out in an evening as chilly as this?” It was unseasonably cold and a breeze eased its way through my body leaving me numbed. “Please don’t awaken my father,” I said to this gentleman as fear gripped me. “He needs to sleep.” The stranger squatted down before me, his elbows resting on his knees, my attention caught by his cufflinks, each one, two twisting pieces of silver - snakelike - ending with a diamond stud. “Where did you get those? They are so lovely.” I said timidly. “New Orleans,” he said. “Come with me; let me get you something warm to drink.” Terrified to leave my father and to go with this unnerving gentleman , I pleaded, “No, I mustn’t, if he wakes up and I’m not here...” Interrupting me he said, “Your farther will never wake up again!”

I will forever associate the sound of blood filtering into a mouth, with freedom. The man’s name is not important, for it too may as well be freedom. Within a week I was sailing with him to London. no longer Mina the down-hearted, I was just Mina. For my blood distilling into his mouth, and then his blood into mine, made me who I am today…it gave me the night. It gave me a life on the edge of death, and death on the edge life.

It is said that, “Tomorrow is another day,” but that is only half-right; tomorrow is also another night. And the night is my time. The candles burn, marking time… marking the night.

And as I aged and I was ready, the man, my savior, left me, but I was rarely alone. I traveled with companions who I found and those I found worthy of the gift of timelessness, of sight, of tenure between life and death, I gave it to in return for companionship. After having been around the world and played many parts, contained many identities, lived a thousand lives in one endless life, I came back to my childhood home, this Carolina land, to live. But still, a childhood nightmare returns even as I am supposed to be a dying lady in a rocking chair and yet still walk and see as a seventeen-year-old. The house is no good. And the cave beckoned, and the cave is better. The cave works dark miracles. And so the house sits as I wait for it to die knowing that I won’t. But this: the act of that man giving me this living death, this resolving dissolution, is nothing less than love. And for me, if you are worthy, to give it to you would be the same. For what is the difference between death and love? Do they not both speak of the eternal? Walk through my forest; walk through my childhood home, know me, love me, come and die for me,

MINA

Touring The Massacre
After parking their car, patrons approach two separate ticket booths designed to reduce the waiting time. Upon purchasing wristbands, they head into the entrance of the event. The winding path through a wooded area is lined on both sides by a wooden 8-foot-tall gothic stockade fence. At one point the path widens into a small graveyard scene. Tiki torches light the gloomy pathway through randomly removed slats in the fence, and the effect of dancing shadows helps to hide the movement of the actors working the area. Dressed as the walking dead, actors pop out at strategic locations and from over the fence. Patrons are forced to be constantly on guard, never knowing where the next scare will come from.

Passing through a small shed, the patrons are separated into groups of 25 to 30 at a time and corralled in a small fenced area. Here they receive the “Do’s and Don’ts” speech before being loaded onto a tractor-pulled wagon for the 1/3 of a mile trip deep into the heart of The Campground Massacre. Seating on both sides of the wagon forces patrons to get cozy and face each other for a very fast ride many find scary enough. As the tractor stops in a wooded area at the entrance of Mina’s Mansion, however, they long for the safety of the crowded wagon.

Mina’s Mansion
Victims in groups of 6 to 8 are asked to place their right hand on the right shoulder of the person in front of them to help keep them together and to protect the props and valuable antiques in the attraction. The door attendant knocks on the front door with the cast iron gargoyle doorknocker, and Mina herself opens the door. Without saying a word she invites them in and directs them on their way. Mina rarely speaks; her silent staring is more unnerving than words. The first scene is a sitting room with antique red velvet settees, antique lamps and tables complete with dust and webs. A floating Reaper rises behind Mina as the patrons enter the room, and a wooden chair slides across the wall as if shoved by an invisible hand.

Mina follows closely behind as the patrons proceed into the dining room complete with antiques and a set of red glass dinnerware and goblets. She singles out one patron with her piercing hungry stare and fangs exposed for the bite, when suddenly another vampire pops out from behind a wall to hurry the group along. Two zombie animations thrash their heads in a violent fashion and the chandelier over the table drops down quickly with a crash.

Moving into the vampire’s sleep chambers, patrons see a room filled with antiques and a canopy bed. An animated ghost is seen through a window. Suddenly the dresser begins dancing about wildly, its drawers sliding in and out, a corpse pops up out of a nearby trunk, and a skeleton springs from a closet door. Mina and her vampire companion follow the group, looking for stragglers until they exit into a dark and winding hallway.

The hallway opens into a red brick room, where patrons see implements of torture and mutilation. A torso hangs from its outstretched arms with entrails twitching below the ribcage, a body bag lies on the floor, the hapless victim inside still convulsing, while another body hangs from the rafters in a clear bag, bloody and twitching in pain. Another halved victim hangs from the ankles, thrashing about with its intestines flailing. Chained to the wall from wrists and ankles and suspended above the floor is an animated skeleton in bloody torn clothes that thrashes about. On a table lies a man, hooded for his execution. Suddenly the sound of electrical current fills the room and the hooded man’s knees spasm up and down, his head thrashing. Patrons leave through another darkened stone hallway, which leads them past three wooden coffins stacked in alcoves in the wall. The lid on one of the coffins slams up and down, accompanied by a blast of air. The hall widens and patrons enter the mausoleum; a Grim Reaper rises from a tombstone, and the concrete crypt doors open and slam shut. A coffin careens and crashes out of the crypt alcove and onto the floor as if possessed as the patrons hurry from the Mansion and back out into the night!

The Massacre
Pleased to get away from Mina with their souls intact, patrons enter the queue line for The Campground Massacre. When they reach the entrance, they find themselves in an old wooden shack. No time to be complacent, as body parts are known to fall from the ceiling. Suddenly the door flies open and Massacre Michael looms before them. Without speaking he allows groups of 6 to 12 patrons at a time to enter the trail.

Quick Body Parts
You can use Mannequin parts dressed with Great Stuff spray foam insulation to create quick and easy body parts. Add dried leaves to the foam to add texture, and pull and stretch the foam during the drying process to create realistic looking mangled or torn flesh. The final step is to paint the foam with safety red hi-gloss paint so the carnage will appear fresh and wet.

As you start on the trail The Campground Massacre theme is reinforced right away with a bloody camping scene, complete with trailer, rotting picnic table, campfire and bloody body parts still shiny with flesh wet blood. Suddenly a skeletal corpse, 16' away, leaps into the air and lands right next to the trail. A second corpse pops up in one window of the camper as a barrel next to the trail explodes with the noise of thrashing within. With the patrons misdirected by the animatronic ruckus, an actor jumps out from the brush in a leafy costume, causing a great startle!

Around the bend, fog pours from the hood of a wrecked pick up truck and the lights and horn blast as patrons pass, pushing them into a covered walkway. An actor moves around behind the walls of this covered maze and shouts at the patrons from overhead. They must be in an old unused area of the attraction as the feeling of cobwebs brush the patron’s faces as they move forward. In one corner, a scarecrow standing on top of a 6-foot pole flies down to stand right in front of the patrons. In the next darkened hallway, the group pushes their way through a forest of padded poles. Could these be the legs of huge spiders hidden in the dark?

Pleased to escape the darkness, patrons exit the maze only to be led into an old camper trailer. The camper is a mess, and patrons huddle against the wall away from the carnage. A skeleton pops out from beneath the bed of the RV, and someone must be about to take a shower because the water is already running in the tub. As the group makes its way past the bathroom, the toilet explodes with a spray of something wet, spattering them as they flee the trailer.

Back out on the trail, patrons approach an old farmhouse original to the property. Staggering about in the front yard of this rotting shack are the walking dead. The yard of Mina’s home is populated with free-standing mannequins, animated “zombiettes” who sway slowly from the waist up with arms and hands extended forward, and a few live actors to liven up the dead scene. Patrons enter the house to escape the zombies, but some of the walking dead follow the group through the house.

Once inside, patrons encounter an 8-foot-tall Frankenstein-like monster bound to a wall. He trashes violently at the patrons’ intrusion, and tries to break free from his chains. Turning the corner, patrons find themselves in a small library. A portrait on the wall suddenly drops with a loud crash and a bloody torso flies out of the wall. The dimly lit hallway beyond winds through moss and webbing, where skin from the faces of past victims is tacked to the walls and a skeleton slams against the door of his cage and laughs as the door creaks open. Throughout the numerous dark halls in the house are holes through which actors speak or make noises to startle the patrons, who thought they were alone.

Further into the house, a female corpse crouches in a sitting room, and suddenly stands up reaching toward the patrons. In a closet off the path, a man hung by a noose around his neck kicks and shudders, trying to free himself in the final throes of death. A fireplace and wooden coffin remain from a poor man’s wake; suddenly the corpse leaps from the coffin and flies toward the patrons. In the next room, body parts are scattered throughout what was a bedroom; some pieces of flesh and bone swing from chains attached to the ceiling. The doors of an antique armoire slam wildly before one door pops open and a corpse torso rushes out at the patrons.

The guests are quite anxious to leave the cramped confines of the farmhouse, and upon their exit, find themselves in a graveyard. Numerous cloaked and hooded figures stand as silent sentinels until one of them lunges toward the patrons. An animated skeletal corpse in ragged clothing works a shovel on the hard South Carolina soil, perhaps trying to dig up an old friend or lover, when a torso drops from the trees at the patron’s feet.

Just past the cemetery is the mouth of an imposing cave. An animated winged vampire hangs upside down, and as patrons pass the creature it extends its wings and shakes about. Inside the cave water runs down the wall into a small bubbling pond. This is Mina’s cave, and the host character has followed the group from her mansion. Without warning, this hissing creature of the night takes flight and hovers several feet up and out toward the group, sending them deeper into the cave. As they continue, a dead bride in a stained white wedding dress lies dormant until patrons approach; then the corpse reaches quickly out towards the passing crowd.

Hurriedly leaving the cave, patrons walk a path that leads up to a tall building. As they draw near, an 8-foot-tall man-shaped monster flings open the doors and leans out toward the passers by, quickening their pace. The path grows darker and narrower and an unsettling noise draws the patron’s attention to a huge werewolf with bloody jaws crouching in the brush. Snapping at the patrons, the beast stands and lunges forward to attack. The trail winds even deeper into the woods to an old rotting bridge, and as the patrons cross the structure, it begins to crash and flail beneath them.

Finally the dense forest starts to thin and the trail leads to a wooden two-room shed. The first room is a neglected kitchen, its state suggesting that it has recently been used as a slaughterhouse. The next room is filled with cobwebs, and almost obscured in the fine netting are huge spider eggs and an animated spider 5' in diameter, which convulses as voices of cocooned survivors can be heard. The patrons breathe a sigh of relief as they approach the end of the trail, when the familiar sound of a starting chainsaw is heard and a high-energy chainsaw-wielding maniac chases the patrons out of the campground!

Before the short but wild ride back to their cars, patrons are corralled in the Massacre gift shop to safely await the tractor or shuttle for the return trip to the ticket area. The gift shop includes varieties of The Campground Massacre T-shirts, shot glasses, postcards and posters. Monolith Graphics T-shirts by Joseph Vargo, Haunt music CDs by Midnight Syndicate and spooky collectables are some of the other items available for purchase.