In this year end editorial, we take a look at the amazing new Evermore Park in Pleasant Grove, Utah and speculate on how the phenomenon of cosplay and interactive theater may influence your local haunted attractions across the country.
One of things echoed in almost every interview I’ve conducted with haunt owners over the last couple of years is the realization that customers are no longer content to detachedly walk through elaborate scenes awaiting the next pop up jolt to stimulate their reflexes. They want to be engaged; they want to be part of the story. As humans we crave the interactive stimulation we are often lacking in modern life where we spend so much time on cellphones and laptops, playing video games and watching movies without direct human contact. The rise in popularity of cosplay at fan conventions over the last decade has also been an awakening to event planners that fans want to play a part in the big production.
This brings me to an amazing new interactive theme park called Evermore which opened this Halloween season in Pleasure Grove, Utah. Unlike anything at Disney or Universal, Evermore doesn’t have any rides at all. Evermore, which refers to itself as an “experience park”, is a place where guests enter a fantasy village constructed to resemble a European style landscape complete with structures built with imported stone, lush gardens and dense forest trails inhabited by fantastic characters and creatures of original creation. Guests are free to roam the park in a non-linear fashion visiting shops, grabbing a drink at the Kettle Café, exploring the gardens of Glynshire, the spooky graveyards and Victorian mausoleum of Loudon’s Rest, the Celtic styled hillsides of Drust Highlands or the dark wooded trails of Clawthorne Hollow.
The designs are part Dungeons and Dragons, part steampunk, part exotic botanical gardens. The whole park is one giant stage and guests are staring characters in the biggest interactive theatrical experience in the US. Evermore also offers exclusive in-house made gifts and themed food, drinks and treats.
Evermore opened its’ portal to these various fantasy realms this Halloween with its’ fall seasonal event known as Lore, a haunted, Celtic myth themed event that explores the battle with the powers of darkness. In December, Evermore will be completely re-themed as a Dickensian Christmas wonderland known as Aurora. Then in the summer, Evermore will transform into a magical lantern festival based on Norse mythology called Mythos. The park also plans to host massive theatrical parties themed to Victorian Masquerade Balls and Ghost Pirate Adventures.
It’s not hard for me to imagine the inspiration of Evermore, Disney’s Star Wars land and Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter finding their
If I were to look into my crystal ball as 2018 comes to a close, I would see a greater focus on story, original characters and much more in-depth interactivity coming to the haunted attraction industry in the near future. A few years ago, Legend at Pope Lick and Black Orchard co-owner, Michael Book, presented me with a sketch of a map for a haunt concept that suggested a non-linear haunt experience. It laid out different buildings and scenes in a wooded area with connecting trails that encouraged guests to explore the woods to find the different structures in an effort to piece together a mystery that would complete a narrative adventure. At the time, the idea seemed a little over ambitious to me on a local attraction level. How would you control put through? What would stop groups from running into each other all over the place? How could you control the length (or brevity) of the experience? Would guests accustomed to a linear haunted house even understand the concept?
That was three or four years ago, and the idea seemed a little crazy to me. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem so crazy. Evermore has opened my eyes to new possibilities. Only time will tell if their ambitious concept proves itself with paying customers.
