Piercing yells and shrieks of horror rang out at Dart Field of Dreams last week, as the sports field was turned into a scare-filled ‘Field of Screams’ for Halloween.
If you were counting screams-per-dollar then ‘Nightmare at Field of Screams’ was excellent value for money. The night air was filled with genuine cries of fear and excitement as ghouls, ghosts, zombies and mummies terrified the willing participants.
The signs were promising right from the start that this was a well-executed event. Ticket holders were ushered, one group at a time, through the vast entrance gates leading to untold scariness ahead, while dramatic organ music and the screams from beyond the gates only added to the drama.
Spooky surprises
Once in the ‘Nightmare at Field of Screams’ itself, guests walked an open-air trail which was spooky from the start: graves, skeletons, cobwebs and eerie dolls set the tone for the scares to come.
But this was no passive display of Halloween decorations, as entrants were soon to discover. A witch doctor sprang out from behind a tree, scaring us witless. A zombie did likewise from the other side.
There was a Jurassic Park-inspired school bus which had both zombies and dinosaurs to contend with and the fear of being ambushed meant that every step was nerve-jangling, whether there were surprises in store or not.
A walk through an innocuous looking shed caused a domino effect of screams as monsters took turns in leaping out at people who would then scream and frighten everyone else. It was hilarious and terrifying and deafening all at once.
Best of all, there were heart-stopping moments for even the most cynical of Halloween naysayers as the cast of creatures were skilled in catching everyone off guard.
By the end of the trail everyone was thoroughly hoarse with screaming and looked like they had enjoyed being terrified enormously. I will certainly be back at the ‘Nightmare at Field of Screams’ next year – if my nerves have recovered by then.
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