[Haunts] The Darkness Celebrates 20 Years of Fear

Touted as the America's scariest haunted house, The Darkness, definitely tries to live up to that each and every year. Many haunts out there will change up one or two things in their house, maybe add a new smaller attraction to the line up, etc. Not The Darkness. Oh no, these masters of horror revamp their entire haunt each and every year. It sounds mental, doesn't it? Well, in this business you have to be. Especially when you're spending millions every time you do it...

That said, 20 years is a special milestone and this year they've most definitely haven't left any stone or skull unturned in the place. So, what have they done this year? Let's take a look at the madness...

The Darkness was totally renovated with new scenes, props, animations, and special FX we've never before attempted. Last year we added sections of The Darkness featureing a live reptile section which includes real Cobras, Scorpions, Pythons and Piranhas.

In 2013 our team of special FX artists have created the best Darkness ever!  Terror Visions 3D had a massive overhaul including all new scenes including new CGI FX, animations and much more.  The Darkness itself now features several new rooms including a massive overhaul to the upstairs section to including over 10 new scenes.   Additionally The Darkness upstairs sections features an all new ZOMBIE section with all sorts of ZOMBIE special fx including a FLYING zombie!  Yes a Zombie will fly across the ceiling taking bites right out of your brain!  The upstairs section also features a never before seen ZOMBIE effect room where it appears thousands of ZOMBIES are walking right at you! 

ZOMBIES ARE EVERYWHERE IN THE ALL NEW DARKNESS 2013!  Other new scenes including the Reapers Cave, Silent Sanitarium, Dinner of the Dead and the Lost Graveyard.

So, there ya have it. Everything that's new...oh wait, that's not everything. Not by a long shot...they've gone and revamped their entire Terror Visions attraction as well!

If you survive the all new Darkness, the fear doesn't end.  Now, you must face your worst visions of terror inside Terror Visions 3D Haunted House.  Terror Visions is THE BEST 3D haunted attraction ever!  New for 2013, Terror Visions includes a new interactive que line, new CGI FX and much more. Terror Visions in 3D also features more than 20 animations designed to make you SCREAM for your life!

Yeah, I know...the image is clowns and 3D, two things that when combined just sends me into a tizzy. The fact is though, I trust these guys to put on a great show and you don't get the moniker of the best 3D house in the world for nothing and by the sounds of it, they're delivering on that in spades.

A perfect example is the TNT room, whereby the entire room explodes after an animated clown detonates dynamite.   Other incredible additions are the improvements to the queue room, whereby a massive new facade was built. The biggest renovation to Terror Visions was in 2012 when over $100,000 was spent on new scenes, and one of kind never before seen special fx.  Other new additional to Terror Visions 2013 include a massive clown puppet, new CGI FX and much more.  Other new scenes and effects include a wacky funhouse room with funny mirrors, massive moving clowns, an attacking CLOWNZILLA animation, an over the top Jack N Box room and even a Mr Freeze Clown who blasts you with real frozen ice. The days of Terror Vision being merely an add-on attraction of 3D mazes is over.

Here's a little video fun and a look behind the scenes of the all new Terror Visions 3D for 2013:

(I still don't believe the one guy who said he's never seen clown and 3D before, what rock has he been under?)

So, what else do we have for the 2013 season and the 20th anniversary celebration that The Darkness is putting on for us? How about some new stuff in their Monster Museum. Oh, didn't know they had one of those? Don't feel bad...neither did I until just now, but this year they're definitely ramping the thrills up for this as well!

We've added tons of new monsters, autographs, and a full sized Pumpkinhead is now on display now, inside The Monster Museum at The Darkness.  Guests can use their cameras/phones to take action pictures with this amazing, larger-than-life sized prop!  Additionally, you’ll find a Michael Jackson prop as the werewolf from the music video, Thriller, and a new, full-sized 'Darkness' from the movie Legend.  In addition to the amazing monsters, The Monster Museum is also filled with classic toys, autograph memorabilia, signed movie posters, plus horror video games and pinball too! In 2013 we added an instagram based photo system where you can take pics with your phone hash tag them to our machine and print a custom framed photo.  Additionally we added new giant monsters for photo opportunites.

There ya have it, everything about this year's The Darkness in St Louis. Tons of new things and a lot of really awesome looking effects being brought in for their 20th year of fear!

Want to know more about The Darkness, just head on over to their official website for dates, times, tickets and all that other good stuff! 

As always be sure to follow me on Twitter @KitsuneHazard and Google+ for all the latest updates!