On a sweltering August afternoon in an average industrial park in Glendale, California, a nefarious plan to scare the bejesus out of people was underway.  Early for a meeting, I entered the building and found a bohemian group of creatives deep in conversation. They were on a conference call, discussing details for this years edition of the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, entitled Echoes From The Rift. I apologized for my intrusion and let them know I would be waiting outside.

Soon enough a smiling, friendly faced guy came out and welcomed me in.  I was introduced to Melissa Carbone, CEO of Ten Thirty One Productions.  A confident and engaging lady, Melissa gestured to the busy cluster of creatives seated at the table with a wave of her arm. “This is my team, the amazing group that puts the Haunted Hayride together.”  “Hey guys!”  I said, They all smiled and waved and quickly went about their business.  It was already mid-August and the Haunted Hayride is scheduled to open its doors on October 3rd. Melissa and I went into her office to discuss the plans at the hayride for this year, the office dog followed us in and laid down.

We settled in and I began to prod Melissa for information about this popular and increasingly important event. What is the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride? The Hayride is a complete Halloween themed event held on the grounds of the old LA Zoo, now part of Griffith Park.  It is not a single maze, nor a series of haunted houses.  The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is a Halloween experience that features live entertainment, carnival rides, side shows, and, of course, the Haunted Hayride.  Carbone explains, “We want to create experiences.  We will never do a maze, where there’s a conga line of people going through scenes. That’s a great experience, and there are some places that do a great job with those. But that is not us.”

“We are not a spectator sport. People want to engage, to dive into the experience.”, explained Melissa.  This year will be no exception to that mission as the Haunted Hayride presents Echoes from the Rift.  This year there will be a plethora of things for visitors to see and do, including The In-Between Dark Maze, The Seven Sins Sideshow, House of the Horsemen, the Haunted Village “Purgatory,” and of course, the Haunted Hayride. Melissa notes, “It’s performance, it’s interactive game play and it’s live theatre. Like a 30-acre theme park that we put together out in the woods.”

Purgatory  (Included with Admission)

This year the central area will be called “Purgatory,” and will feature some new entertainment that may have folks returning again and again. Theatre Macabre, will take the purgatory main-stage and become an interactive theatrical experience where audience members are the stars. Visitors will help reenact iconic scenes of famous horror movies.

Within “Purgatory” visitors will also find The Scary-Go-Round, House of Mirrors, Jack’s Carving Shack, live shows of Disturbia, musical acts, psychic readers, Death Row Photo Room, creatures, fall fare food and beverages, and more.

Haunted Hayride (Included with admission)

Wagons filled with 20-25 people each will venture out into the dark woods and encounter creatures and hellish abominations of apocalyptic proportions. The ride, which lasts 25 minutes, will pull guests through larger then life sets and nightmares. “You’ll go through massive sets, some referencing different scenes from Dante’s Inferno. In one spot we have a huge 40 ft hydra that towers over the guests.”  Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?  What’s more, previous visitors will find much new to experience. Adds Melissa, “The entire thing is different.  We have never had a hayride be the same. We will also have a totally new finale.”

House of the Horsemen (Extra Fee)

The gibbering of mad men echo through the twisting halls of this insane asylum turned Temple to the Apocalypse. The Revelation scriptures scribbled on the walls, etched in deep by broken and bloodied fingernails. With the pages of Mystics in the hands of Psychotics, the inmates have crowned themselves Unholy Vessels of the great Horsemen, and sit in judgment of your flesh in the bowels of their House.

They themselves, “The Horsemen” will be there in character, each room of their house embodying the four elemental apocalyptic terrors: Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. Stand before them in judgement.

Seven Sins Sideshow (Extra Fee)

Voyeurism takes on a new meaning with our SSS: Take in sights that can not be unseen: Flesh and furniture melting into one; the human pig-machine puking riches from its muzzle; a forest of sinners whose eyes are the feast of crows; and even a race of carnivorous celestial Entities thriving on the fat from human hosts…

In-Between Dark Maze (Extra Fee)

“The in-Between Dark Maze is a little bit larger” Says Melissa of the totally pitch black attraction.  Guests are given a tiny red lantern and made to navigate a literal maze. There are dead-ends, wrong turns, and monsters lurking everywhere.

Even more impressive is that the TenThirtyOne installs the entire thing at Griffith Park in just over a week. “That’s the thing that people can’t wrap their head around, we can erect a park in 10 days.”   The trick is that we prefab nearly everything.  The only problem is that if something goes wrong on site, you have virtually no leeway.  “We have the guerrilla warfare attraction building down pat”

When I asked Melissa, a Connecticut native, where the idea for a hayride in Los Angeles came from she said, “You know where all these ideas come from?  It’s always something organic, like something I loved as a kid.  I loved summer camp, I loved hayrides.  You don’t see hayrides out here that much anymore.” She continued,  “Our emphasis is in creating immersive environments.  We like to do things in places where events have never been done, where things are already a little creepy.”

We are eager to get out to the Haunted Hayride for our first trip this fall when the gates open on October third.  You can learn more about the event on their official website here. If there is enough interest in the comments below, we’ll do our best to plan a MiceChat group event to the Haunted Hayride. So be sure to let us know your thoughts below.

We’ll see you in the woods!

 

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