The 7th Street Haunt intends to put the spirits of Christmas into the holiday season with a spooky, but family friendly interactive experience this Christmas!
This holiday season, on the Friday and Saturday night of December 11th and 12th, the 7th Street Haunt at 2900 7th Street Road is presenting a completely different kind of Christmas event for ages 7 and up from 8 PM until 10:30 PM.
Looking at the most recent poster created for “A Very Scary Christmas,” depicting someone dressed in a Santa Claus suit holding an ax, and comparing that with the one posted just a couple of weeks ago promising “Christmas Time in Fort Harmony” as a “family friendly adventure,” you would have every right to be completely confused as to what type of experience those crazy haunters at the 7th Street Haunt were planning to unleash upon the public.
We know. We got a lot of questions regarding the Facebook posts advertising the event.
Last weekend, I dropped by the 7th Street Haunt during dress rehearsals to get to the bottom of this Christmas mystery event by getting it straight from the haunter’s mouth. I sat down with owner/operator, Travis Boling, who answered all of your submitted questions about what kind of experience folks should expect and whether or not it was truly a “family friendly” event.
“Yes, it will be a completely family friendly event,” says Boiling. “I’d say it would be appropriate for ages 7 and up.”
“At first we tossed around ideas about doing an actual Christmas haunt,” admits Boiling, “but ultimately we came up with an idea for an interactive adventure that plays out kind of like a game involving all the villains of the holiday season and just about every Christmas Special that you’ve ever seen.”
“Along the way through Fort Harmony, you’ll encounter characters like Krampus, the Abominable Snowman, the Grinch, Gremlins, Oogie Boogie from ‘The Nightmare before Christmas,’ the Wet Bandits from ‘Home Alone’ and many more,” says Boling. “Veteran haunt actor, Lucian Tomes Jr., will be playing the evil Professor Hinkle from ‘Frosty the Snowman’.”
“At the start of your adventure, you’ll be given a Christmas stocking full of items that will help you defeat the villains of Christmas who have kidnapped Santa Claus,” says Boling. “The villains will try to stop you from rescuing Santa Claus, but you can reach into your stocking for items that will stop their evil plans.”
“For example, one of the items that will be in your stocking is a flashlight. Gremlins hate bright lights, so if you use your flashlight on them, they’ll run away. If you’re confronted by the Grinch, you can reach into your stocking and give him a cutout heart that’s three sizes bigger than the one he has.”
“If you use all your items correctly and you defeat all the villains of Christmas, you’ll be able to rescue Santa Claus at the end and you’ll get a special treat. If you fail to use your items correctly, you’ll get a lump of coal instead.”
“We’re planning on using 50 actors in the attraction, and they will be delivering ‘Boo’ style scares, but it will be scaled back from anything you would see during the Halloween season,” admits Boling. “We’ll be cleaning up all the sets to remove everything gory and covering up anything that might seem too extreme. There won’t be any guys in Santa suits with chainsaws or anything like that.”
In other words, this won’t be anything like the “Bloody X-Mas” event hosted by The Haunted Hotel a couple of years ago, but it won’t exactly be as candy coated as a walk through Kalightoscope at the Galt House either.
“A Very Scary Christmas” will take place on Friday and Saturday night, Dec. 11 and 12, from 8 PM until 10:30 PM. Admission tickets are only $10 and part of the proceeds will be donated to Crusade for Children. Recommended for children ages 7 and up.
