The Scene staff
My favorite time of year, Halloween, is finally here.
Fortunately, St. Louis has plenty to offer for those who want to be scared or entertained or show their kids a good time.
The biggest name in local Halloween frights is ScareFest, owned by Larry Kirchner. Every October, it offers a trio of haunted experiences that are hard to beat. It’s the first thing many people think of when it comes to Halloween, and for good reason.
The Darkness, The Haunting of Lemp Brewery and CreepyWorld are some of the best Halloween attractions in the country, as evidenced by the number of times they’ve been covered by the national media.
Don’t let the annoying automatic audio on scarefest.com dissuade you; the three attractions are very well produced.
The Darkness isn’t just the name of a one-hit-wonder band; it’s a terrifying tour that sends even the toughest running to find their way out of a massive 30,000-square-feet haunted house. Its “Terror Vision” is a three-dimensional experience that requires visitors to wear 3-D glasses to see walls come to life.
The haunted hospital’s cadavers and psycho doctors, psychedelic black-light art, cannibal scenes and graveyards even frightened St. Louis Rams players like Eugene Sims.
The Darkness has been featured on the Travel Channel and the Discovery Channel and in USA Today. It’s in Soulard at 1525 S. Eighth St., next to Soulard Market. It’s open every night through Nov. 2.
I’m a bit of a skeptic, but for those who believe in the supernatural, Lemp Brewery may actually be haunted. The Haunting of Lemp Brewery adds an authentic and creepy element to the traditional haunted-house tour.
Visitors descend a dark, spiral staircase 100 feet underground into caves and caverns, where they’re greeted by darkness and actors ready and waiting to startle them.
The Haunting of Lemp Brewery is at 3500 Lemp Ave., just blocks from Anheuser-Busch and the Mississippi riverfront. It’s open nightly through Nov. 2.
CreepyWorld boasts 10 attractions in one location (1400 S. Old Highway 141 in Fenton), including several haunted houses. It’s open nightly through Nov. 2.
It also has a corn maze and even A “Zombie City Paintball Warzone,” giving visitors a taste of the zombie apocalypse, one of my personal favorite horror scenarios. Armed with paintball guns, shooters kill the undead before they’re overcome.
Tickets cost $25 for The Darkness and CreepyWorld; $20 for the Haunting of Lemp Brewery. They can be purchased online at scarefest.com or at each location.
For those with a few extra bucks to spend, Six Flag’s Fright Fest is available for $40. It features more than two dozen haunted attractions, parties, music, rides and other activities. There’s something for everyone. It’s a lot of fun, and visitors can spend hours exploring.
For those with kids who don’t like being too frightened, The Magic House, at 516 S. Kirkwood Road, offers its “Not So Haunted House” days through Oct. 27.
With trick-or-treating and storybook characters, it’s a great place for the little ones. The Magic House will throw its Halloween party for members from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 30.
More family fun can be found at Halloween in the Central West End at Maryland and Euclid. An estimated 25,000 people show up annually for the children’s and pet parades. That night, adults compete in St. Louis’ largest costume party. This year’s date is Oct. 29.
Hundreds of individuals and businesses will throw costume parties on the weekends before and after Oct. 31 since Halloween falls on a Thursday.
I’ll be joining friends for Lemp Mansion’s Halloween Bash on Oct. 26. I’ve gone the last several years, and it’s a blast. Tickets are a little salty ($60 at the door), but the price includes all-you-can-eat appetizers and, better yet, all-you-can-drink beer and “witch’s brew.”
The party also features a costume contest with cash prizes, but it’s more fun to wander through the crowd and be amazed at the inventive costumes people have created.