Los Angeles Haunted Hayride guests will be going to hell, producer Melissa Carbone told us while describing the theme of this year’s event, subtitled “Echoes of the Rift.”
“The hayride will be full of towering serpents, a forty foot long hydra, nasty and glistening,” she said. “A lot of Dantes inferno references, sins and eternal punishment.”
To create many of the creature designs, her company, Ten Thirty One Productions, hired Raashad Santiago, the season six winner of SyFy’s FaceOff, just one of the 100 crew members enlisted to produce the event.
Carbone said the scope and size of the hayride will rival previous years, teasing that guests will encounter a 25′ wide skull head on their journey, along with a cast of 150 scare actors. “It’s gonna be bonkers,” she said.
Seasoned “hayriders” may miss will be the circus tent that has been the climax of the ride in years past. In its place, Carbone remained cryptic, asking, “If the rift is hell, what would the finale be?” One thing she did reveal is that an original score for the finale has been composed by female metal band Otep. (Longtime Haunted Hayride composer Chris Thomas will be returning to create the music for the rest of the attraction.)
Also at this year’s Los Angeles Haunted Hayride will be the Inbetween Dark Maze, complete with a new layout, and two brand new “interactive experiences.”
The House of the Horsemen will challenge guests to make their way past the minions of the horsemen in order to choose a colored seal to break, which, according to legend, will unlock one of the horsemen, representing pestilence, war, famine, or death, and help lead to the apocalypse.
“Every single sin will be activated by the audience,” Carbone said if the second new experience, The Seven Sins Sideshow. Guests will be engaged to complete tasks to activate the sins. “There are levers to be pulled, lights to be switched on,” she said of the interactivity.
At the center of the event is Purgatory, where guests can grab a snack or beverage from the Grub Shack, or participate in a full slate of additional entertainment.
Returning from last year is Jack’s Pumpkin Shack, where guests can carve their own jack-o-lantern. This year, a competition element has been added, as as only ten people every hour can compete against each other, with guests choosing a favorite pumpkin every hour, and a day’s favorite at the end of each night.
Guests can participate in Theatre Macabre, which reenacts scenes from horror films LIVE. Carbone said the team from the wildly popular Point Break Live consulted on the production, which has the audience act out scenes from the movies, to morbidly comic delight.
Blood Drums, which Carbone described as, “a really haunting Blue Man Group,” will perform nightly. The high energy drums and percussion troupe is known for their creepy vibe, and a rotating lineup of special guests, which have included Matt Sorum, Tommy Lee, and Adrian Young.
Add to this the “Death Row” photo scenes, Scary Go Round, and wandering monsters, and guests will have a pretty full evening. “People will have a hard time getting through everything in one stay,” Carbone said. “That’s why for the first time ever we have a full season pass.” The $149 pass will allow guests unlimited visits for the entire season on every ride and attraction, as well as VIP status.
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride runs from October 3rd to the 31st in Griffith Park. For details and tickets visit their site.
