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Time Warp: 50 Years of Fear cast a magical spell over The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis to reach record attendance during the 50th anniversary of The Museum Guild’s Haunted House. The previous record was 65,034 set in 2011 (Vic and Viv’s Vampire Vacation). The White family (Mom Caryn, Dad Derrick, 3 year old Elijah and one year old Israel) of Indianapolis became the 65,035 – 65,038 visitors to this year’s Haunted House! By the end of Halloween night, 67, 967 total visitors passed through the spooky halls of Time Warp – beating the old record by nearly 3,000!
Hundreds of little ghosts, goblins, witches, and super heroes were among costumed kids and their families who dared to be scared at the nation’s oldest haunted house this year. But it was the White family (Mom Caryn, Dad Derrick, 3 year old Elijah and one year old Israel) of Indianapolis who became the 65,035 – 65,038 visitors to this year’s Haunted House! “I came when I was little girl and couldn’t wait to bring my own children,” said Caryn. “It may be raining outside; but like they say it really was fun in here!”
This year’s theme, Time Warp, took families on an amazing journey back in time to explore five "deadcades" of movies, music, television, and history through a terrifying time warp!
We were thrilled to see hair literally stand on end in the upside-down room of the 60s and watch as visitors skeptically got closer to see an alien peeking out from a space craft during a lunar landing,” said Carol Clark, co-head witch, The Children’s Museum Guild. “There was something for every generation from the Haunted Hangout of the 70s, to the Star Wars style Creepy Cantina, and Gruesome Game Room of the 80s. Brave little super heroes and princesses found the courage to step inside a life-size pinball machine and look zombies in the eye as they shook their little booties to the sound of horror-ific music. Wicked World Web and Y-2 Kaos also contributed to modern day terror-ific scenes before they reached the big birthday cake.”
“We really wanted to do something extraordinary for the 50th anniversary. Eye-popping 3-D effects took travelers to the next level of fear and made it seem as though ghastly goblins were reaching out to touch them,” said Vicki Burdick, co-head witch, The Children’s Museum Guild. “We work very hard to make the Haunted House bigger and better each year; so, families should look out because 2014 promises to be even more amazing.”
The addition of Xtreme Scream hours for those seeking a higher level of horror was also a big hit. On Friday nights, William’s Comfort Air’s Xtreme Scream! hours served up the ultimate mind/body, fright experience in a psychological thriller sort of way for late night visitors.
Scare Haunted House Time WarpThe Haunted House still maintained the traditional IPL Lights-on Hours and Defender Direct’s Frightening Hours. Time Warp, created by The Children’s Museum Guild, is the museum’s largest fundraiser of the year. “Each year, the 100 active women of the Guild volunteer more than 12,000 hours over a 13 month period toward the creation and implementation of the Haunted House,” said Dr. Jeffrey H. Patchen, president and CEO, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. “Our head witches went above and beyond this year with their creativity and enthusiasm.”
Funds raised by The Children’s Museum Guild’s Haunted House help support The Children’s Museum’s mission to create extraordinary learning opportunities. In addition to the Haunted House, the Museum Guild also supports The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis by volunteering within exhibits and events, and through outreach programs to area hospitals and charitable organizations.
Kreepy and the kooky, altogether spooky Hollywood Haunts, added to the Halloween excitement at The Children’s Museum this year. The temporary exhibit featured monster movie magic up close with The Addams Family costumes, Indy’s own Sammy Terry’s television set complete with his side-kick George, and other props and costumes from some of Hollywood’s most popular sci-fi, horror, and adventure movies.
