Adrenaline junkies get their fix in many ways. Some skydive. Others drive way too fast when they think no one is looking. But some wait silently all year until Halloween makes it acceptable to play dress-up and willingly subject themselves to terrorizing ordeals.
Local entrepreneurs, nonprofits, sports teams, and even city organizations know this, and embrace the recreational fear, setting up spooky experiences for all to enjoy. There are several scare attractions in Northern Santa Barbara County to enjoy this year up until the weekend before Oct. 31, most of which have been designed to get the blood pumping and the adrenaline flowing.
One haunt is back again, and bigger than ever, explained scare enthusiast Barrett Grimsley, the creator of the Grimsley Haunt. Set up at the Elks Unocal Event Center just off Highway 101 at Santa Maria Way, the 3,200-square-foot maze is titled House of Fears this year.
The dark and scary maze holds to one theme with a lot of interpretation. It presents peoples’ fears, from claustrophobia to arachnophobia, Grimsley explained. It’s also the largest attraction he and his team have ever constructed, with 13 different rooms, and almost as many actors scaring visitors throughout.
“Normally we do just one thing, but coming up with the idea of different fears, it gave us more room to play with it,” he said. “That part was really fun, knowing that we were going to get to change each room to how we wanted it to be, rather than looking at it from a one theme point of view.”
Grimsley also mentioned that the House of Fears included clowns long before the recent creepy clown craze. He said they have had to “back the clowns off” a bit, especially outside the attraction where people wait in line. In the interest of selling more tickets, the clowns have been relegated to just their room in the maze.
Other haunts are fundraisers for local organizations. The Frightmare Forest is the Allan Hancock College basketball team’s 3-acre outdoor scare maze. All the proceeds from the maze go toward the team.
Farther south, the parks and recreation departments of both Buellton and Solvang have teamed up for a haunted house fundraiser open only the weekend just before Halloween. The Halloween Haunted House is open for its 23rd year now at the Solvang Festival Theater, where the entire theater grounds are utilized for a scary experience—including the stage, backstage, and even the underground tunnels, known as the vomitorium.
Solvang Recreation Director Fred Lageman has been leading the build every year since 1990, he explained, and crafts the haunted house in a “fun scary” way that doesn’t rely on “blood and guts,”
but an entertaining and spooky experience.
“It’s mostly because the people love it,” Lageman said. “The haunted house has grown to become a little bit of an institution in its own right and is very well received. And we hear every year that people are looking forward to it, so we want to give people something to look forward to and enjoy.”
There’s another fundraiser attraction in the Santa Ynez Valley, but it doesn’t call on masked actors waiting to spring out at visitors. Instead, Vault 1381: An Escape Room Experience is an interactive puzzle room, explained Dann Mead, the founder of Trunk Full of Miracles, the charity that the escape room benefits.
Vault 1381 includes a science fiction theme, Mead explained. A group of four to six can enjoy the escape room, solving a series of puzzles with a 20-minute time limit. Entry costs are a $10 donation per person, but you can also bring a physical donation to Trunk Full of Miracles, which serves the homeless. A list of acceptable donations is available on the organization’s Facebook page.
“It’s a puzzle more than it’s meant to be scary,” Mead said. “You get your mission and you have to find and solve the puzzles all throughout the room to escape.”
Vault 1381 is open by appointment only, so visitors need to call first. The other attractions mentioned here include regular hours up until Halloween.
There’s plenty to choose from this year, from the white-knuckle frights at the Grimsley Haunt to the “fun scary” experience at the Solvang Festival Theater. So all the hardcore adrenaline junkies can get their fix, and the rest of us have something to enjoy as well.
Grimsley Haunt
The Grimsley Haunt House of Fears is open every Friday and Saturday through Oct. 29 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Elks Unocal Event Center, 4040 Highway 101, Santa Maria. Cost is $12, $5 for kids. More info: 925-4125 or elksrec.com.
Vault 1381
Vault 1381: An Escape Room Experience is an interactive game set in a fictional location where teams must use fact-finding and cooperative abilities to solve puzzles, beat the clock, and escape the vault. Vault 1381 is open every day through Oct. 31 by appointment. $10 donation required. Other donations accepted (check online). More info: (213) 864-5326 or facebook.com/TFOM2016.
Frightmare Forest
Frightmare Forest is a 3-acre haunted forest maze that benefits the Allan Hancock College Basketball team. The maze is open Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 29 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Allan Hancock College Baseball Complex, South College Drive, Santa Maria. Cost is $10. More info: 922-6966, Ext. 3918.
Solvang Festival Theater
The city of Solvang Parks and Recreation and the city of Buellton Recreation departments host the 23rd annual Halloween Haunted House with the theme of Fractured Fairy Tale on Oct. 29 and 31 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at the Solvang Festival Theater, 420 2nd St., Solvang. Cost is $11, $9 for kids. More info: 688-7529 or info@stilettomarketing.com.
Arts Editor Joe Payne is more of a caffeine junky than anything else. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 20-27, 2016.