Haunted Bay ~ View topic - The Haunting Fields --- I expected more

I've enjoyed going to Pirates Of Emerson because they have had the best haunt in the Bay Area over the last few years. This year, they have two locations, their normal Fremont spot and at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. In Fremont, they've opened their property to several other professional haunters, which adds up to 6 haunts on site. Upon learning about this, I imagined the Haunting Fields occupying a larger area. I expected a tent for the POE Main Haunt, a tent for POE Pirates of the Deep 3-D, and tents for each of the new haunts. As I drove up Warm Springs Blvd, the haunt appeared to be the same size as previous years of POE.

As I entered The Haunting Fields, the layout was the exact same as last year's POE. Only this time, the large tent which held the POE Main Haunt, instead had 3 smaller haunts: Rebel Yell, Pirates Of Emerson, and Heartstoppers. The second tent which held Pirates Of The Deep 3-D, now held Densmore Manor and The Asylum. The Bildge Rat Maze remains the same as last year.

Pirates Of Emerson's haunt at the Haunting Fields is basically the same as last year's Pirates Of The Deep 3-D. It was still the best haunt out there. Oddly enough, as I crossed the vortex tunnel, it didn't start spinning until I was half way through it. Of the new haunts, I like Heartstoppers the best, and The Asylum second best. I barely remember Rebel Yell, and Densmore Manor was OK. There is a difference between POE and the other haunts, the decorations. POE has far more elaborate artwork than the others. As you walk through POE's halls, there is a celling and overhead around you which helps sell the idea that you are in a different world. The other haunts have no overhead, so the top of the tent can be seen. Their hallways appear more like scenery flats in a theater, so it's harder for me the buy into the experience.

As I finished going through the haunts, I realized that I missed POE's Main Haunt from last year and wondered why it was gone. The only thing I can think of is the Main Haunt has gone to Santa Cruz, and the new haunters were brought in to fill in the void in Fremont. Overall, I liked the Haunting Fields, but I prefered last year's POE better. I wish that POE stayed the same as last year, only expand the property with more tents for the new haunters. This arangement is more like robbing Peter to pay Paul. I'll have to make a trip to Santa Cruz to see how POE sets up shop down there.

We thought the same thing. I liked both locations, nonetheless. But I do miss the "full version" Pirates of Emerson haunt. Our review of The Haunting Fields is up and our review of Pirates of Emerson Invade the Boardwalk will be up tonight.
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Hauntmistress

Little Ghoul Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 5

I went there tonight, and their haunted tours are so short Confused

You went to Fremont or Santa Cruz? I do think that with most haunts they are short and packed with stuff or long and a little boring because they don't have the material or actors to sustain a long haunt.
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Hauntmistress

The vast majority of haunts are short. It's the nature of the amusement business. It's just like a roller coaster... too short and people want more, too long and people start to get bored or worse, hostile to the experience. The trick is finding that middle ground where people are going to be walking out the exit still at their high point and satisfied. The difficulty is everyone is going to be different and perhaps more importantly, unlike a roller coaster which has fixed, perfectly repeatable events happening every ride, a haunted house is like a play where every time you go it's going to be a little different.