This summary provides the key details from the document in 3 sentences: Halloween attractions are becoming increasingly intense and interactive in order to scare audiences, with some venues having actors chase guests with laser guns or placing hoods over visitors' heads. However, some feel some attractions have gone too far by humiliating or traumatizing participants. The document then provides examples of both intense Halloween events and attractions, as well as more family-friendly options occurring around the country.

1. Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014 THE DERRICK. / The News-Herald – 13
Count me among those who find the “Elf
on the Shelf” just a bit creepy. That said,
wouldn’t it make more sense to have a slight-
ly spooky creature keeping an eye on your
kids around Halloween instead of Christmas?
With just a few inexpensive craft materials,
you can make a miniature mummy perfect for
perching on shelves, bookcases, pumpkins
and more this fall. They’re easy enough for
kids to make on their own with a wooden
bead, pipe cleaners, cotton balls and fabric.
Over-achieving parents and fans of the
“elf” might be inspired to move these mum-
mies from place to place each night — their
flexible frames make them easy to bend in
silly poses. But they’re just as cute sitting in
one place until Halloween.
Materials
e ¾-inch round wooden craft beads
e two 12-inch pipe cleaners
e 1 cotton ball
e strips of muslin fabric
e black permanent marker
e optional: glue
Instructions
1. Cut muslin into ½-inch wide strips. I
purchased 45-inch-wide muslin, and used
four strips for each mummy. While you can
also tear fabric instead of cutting it, I found
the muslin frayed too much with tearing, so I
cut it with a rotary cutter instead.
2. Slide bead to the midpoint of one of the
pipe cleaners, and twist the pipe cleaner
around the bead to form the head and neck.
3. Continue twisting the pipe cleaner to-
gether for about an inch to form the torso.
4. Using your fingers or a pencil, make a
hole through the middle of a cotton ball, hold
the ends of the pipe cleaner together, and
slide the cotton ball onto the twisted section
to add padding to the torso. This step can be
skipped if you want an especially skinny
mummy, or you can add extra cotton balls to
the arms and legs later for a chubbier version.
5. Spread the ends of the pipe cleaner apart
under the torso to form the legs.
6. Wrap the second pipe cleaner around the
body, just under the head, to form the arms,
folding each end inward to shorten the arms.
7. Starting at the head, wrap strips of mus-
lin around the mummy body. A bit of glue is
helpful on the rounded surface of the bead,
and at the ends of the arms and legs. Two
strips should be enough to cover the head,
torso and arms, with two more for the legs.
Add extra strips of muslin to any areas that
look too skimpy or if you want a bulkier
mummy.
8. Use a black marker to make two small
dots for eyes.
NEW YORK (AP) — Hal-
loween seems to be getting scar-
ier, with attractions going ever-
more interactive and in-your-
face.
At Knott’s Scary Farm in
Buena Park, California, guests
are outfitted with neon-green la-
ser guns and ordered to shoot
actors portraying zombies by
aiming at their heads. At the
Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati,
a butcher appears to demonstrate
how to slaughter a pig. And at
The Basement, part of the Scare-
House near Pittsburgh, hoods are
placed over visitors’ faces.
“We put a hood over the cus-
tomer and it’s remarkable how
much a difference that makes,”
said Scott Simmons, ScareHouse
creative director. “You’re taking
away sight, a core thing, and it’s
such a nerve-racking experience.
You see these terrible, horrifying
demons and clowns, and they put
a hood on you, and you don’t
know what’s going to happen
next. You feel terrible things
touching you and whispering in
your ear. But as extreme as it is,
it’s still fun. People come out
shaking, but they’re smiling.”
Visitors to The Basement sign
a waiver and must be 18, and are
given a “safe word” that they can
say to stop activities if it’s too
much.
But why have Halloween at-
tractions become so intense?
“After 20 years of haunted
houses with people stepping out
and saying ‘boo,’ these days if
you’re really trying to scare peo-
ple you’ve got to be edgy and out
of their comfort zone,” said Sim-
mons. “What scared people in
the ‘70s and the ‘80s isn’t what’s
going to scare them now.”
“There’s no doubt Halloween
attractions are getting scarier and
more extreme,” said Larry Kirch-
ner of HauntWorld.com, a web-
site devoted to haunted attrac-
tions. With high-tech special ef-
fects, including video, animation
and Hollywood-quality sets,
“they are more sophisticated.
They have gone to another lev-
el.”
When done well, Kirchner
says, a great haunted house is
“100 times better than a Broad-
way show because it’s interac-
tive entertainment that puts you
right in the middle of the action
and makes you the star.” But
Kirchner thinks some attractions
cross a line into poor taste —
he’s not a fan of story lines based
on real serial killers for example,
or activities where participants
are humiliated in some way.
Here are a few Halloween
events and attractions taking
place around the country this
season — most of them offering
experiences way less intense
than being hooded. Expect long
lines and check schedules. Some
events are weekends only, some
run through early November,
some sell out.
Universal Halloween
Horror Nights
The horror film “The Purge:
Anarchy,” which is the sequel to
a movie about an annual night of
unfettered crime and violence, is
just one of the inspirations for
Halloween Horror Nights at Uni-
versal theme parks in Orlando,
Florida, and in Los Angeles. The
events feature hundreds of elab-
orately costumed actors and
Hollywood-quality sets, special
effects and mazes inspired by
pop culture influences ranging
from El Rey Network’s “From
Dusk Till Dawn,” toAMC’s “The
Walking Dead.”
Hauntworld’s Top 13
Pennhurst Asylum, in Spring
City, Pennsylvania, got the No. 1
slot on HauntWorld.com’s top
13 haunted attractions, while
Dent Schoolhouse took seventh.
Also on the list: 13th Gate, Ba-
ton Rouge, Louisiana; Nether-
world, Atlanta; House of Tor-
ment, Austin, Texas; The Dark-
ness, St. Louis; Erebus, Pontiac,
Michigan;KerseyValleySpooky-
woods, Greensboro, North Caro-
lina; Headless Horseman, Ulster
Park, New York; Cutting Edge
Haunted House, Fort Worth,
Texas; Bates Motel, Philadel-
phia; Bennett’s Curse, Balti-
more; and 13th floor, Chicago.
Attractions by region
New York City’s annual Vil-
lage Halloween Parade kicks
off Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. with thou-
sands of participants in costume
and hundreds of enormous pup-
pets.
Pennsylvania offers Terror
Behind the Walls at Eastern State
Penitentiary in Philadelphia and
Shocktoberfest in Reading. In
the Northeast, there’s Nightmare
New England in Litchfield, New
Hampshire, while Salem, Mas-
sachusetts, hosts parades, ghost
tours, performances and more in
the town where real witch trials
took place in the 1600s.
In the Midwest, check out
Wisconsin FearGrounds in
Waukesha, Wisconsin, and Fear
Fest, Flint, Michigan.
In Florida, Tampa’s Busch
Gardens offers Howl-O-Scream.
New Orleans, has The House of
Shock; Houston has the Terror
Dome.
Family-friendly
By night, attractions at Six
Flags Over Georgia in Austell,
Georgia, include ZX-1, a haunt-
ed zone where a “deadly infec-
tion” is “wiping out mankind”
(as if real-world Ebola isn’t
scary enough). But by day the
park offers family activities like
a corn maze, harvest festival,
pumpkin painting and spooky
stories, with children 12 and
under invited to dress up for a
costume contest.
Elsewhere for kids, SeaWorld
San Diego has a Halloween-
themed sea lion and otter show
called “Clyde & Seamore’s
Spooky Adventure.” And of
course, Disney World’s Magic
Kingdom in Florida offers Mick-
ey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween
Party and trick-or-treating.
AP
This photo shows a scene from the ScareHouse Hallow-
een attraction near Pittsburgh. One of the more extreme
experiences offered by ScareHouse is called The Base-
ment and involves placing hoods over the heads of visi-
tors. It’s an example of a trend among Halloween attrac-
tions to offer scarier and more intense visitor activities.
Attractions up the scare factor
Venues offer
added
features to
entice the
hard core
horror fans
HalloweenHalloween
HighlightsHighlights
When a pumpkin is too creepy for Halloween ...
A friend, who has taken a
sudden interest in home decor
since moving into a new house,
fell in love with — and bought
— a goofy-looking papier-ma-
che jack-o-lantern luminary
from Pottery Barn Kids.
Excited to add a welcoming,
seasonal touch to her place, she
rushed home from the mall to
display the pumpkin in her din-
ing room.
She couldn’t stop staring at
it.
And the more she stared, the
longer she looked, the more un-
comfortable she began to feel.
Until after a couple hours she
decided the jack-o-lantern was
downright disturbing and creepy
— too creepy for Halloween,
which is supposed to be kind of
creepy.
“One of the eyes looks really
dark,” she said. “When you look
at it, it looks like it has one dark
eye and one light eye.”
For what it’s worth, I don’t
think the pumpkin looks disturb-
ing or scary. I think it looks
drunk.
In any case, my friend has re-
turned the pumpkin to the store.
She’s searching for a suitable
replacement.
My friend wants a faux
pumpkin in her dining room be-
cause she’s afraid a real one will
draw critters. I have no problem
putting a real one inside. At
night I bring my real pumpkins
indoors to keep them safe from
squirrels.
Are you looking for a pump-
kin, too? And if so, do you go
for the real thing, or a fake? And
why?
If you’re looking for a pump-
kin in paper or plastic, here are
some candidates.
e Chalkboard pumpkin!
Write on it, decorate it, then
wash it off. $30 at Sur La Table
or www.surlatable.com.
e Flashing pumpkin earrings,
$3 at Pier 1. To check local
availability or shop online:
www.pier1.com.
e A carvable 17-inch fake
pumpkin. Price: $19.99, regular-
ly $49.99 at JoAnn stores. To
find one: www.joann.com.
e Set of 16 faux mini-pump-
kins, $14.99 at www.amazon.
com.
e Pottery Barn Kids’ pa-
pier-mché pumpkin ($29). The
big pumpkin is $79, also at Pot-
tery Barn Kids, the Somerset
Collection North. Info: www.
potterybarnkids.com.
By GEORGEA KOVANIS
Detroit Free Press (MCT)
Photo courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids
My friend bought the papier-mâché pumpkin on the left,
but now she’s decided it’s creepy. Mostly, I think it looks
drunk.
Creepy crafts
AP
The handmade miniature mummies
can be positioned in a variety of poses
and added to Halloween decor.
Handmade
mummies for
Halloween
decor
By HOLLY RAMER
For The Associated Press
Do-it-yourself craft:
Vampire lollipops
Here’s a
craft that’s sure
to get you in
the Halloween
spirit. It’s easy
for younger
kids, and this is
a more inex-
pensive project
with tools you
likely already have around the house.
What you’ll need
e Lollipops (I used Blow Pops)
e Peel-and-stick wiggle eyes
e Twist ties (rubber bands work)
e Black felt
e Red cellophane
e Scissors
e White address labels
e Cape pattern
Directions
1. Using pattern on black felt, cut one cape
for each lollipop.
2. Cut a piece of red cellophane large
enough to cover lollipop.
3. Wrap lollipop loosely with cellophane.
4. Place black felt “cape,” and secure with
twist tie (or rubber band) around lollipop neck.
5. Cut triangle fangs out of address labels.
6. Place fangs and wiggle eyes on front of
lollipop.
By MELINDA LAVINE
Grand Forks Herald (MCT)