ANDERSON — Be afraid. Be very afraid. The Indy Scream Park, located in Anderson, will surely give you the fright of your life and make your skin crawl this Halloween. Now in its 12th year, the Indy Scream Park offers five haunted house attractions, plus a beer garden for those who are 21 and older.
"We are the best of the best as far as haunted houses go, in my opinion," said Jon Pianki, Indy Scream Park's marketing director. "Pretty much anything you could be scared of, we have a haunted attraction for."
Their attractions include the Nightmare Factory: Blackout. And, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's a completely blacked-out experience and it leaves nothing but your nightmares to scare you. To add a little spice into the attraction, as Pianki put it, "You walk through a completely blacked-out attraction, there are no lights in it at all."
Next to that is Kilgore's 3D Circus, which is an attraction that includes wall-to-wall clowns. "It's a 3D attraction, the monsters jump out at you. The artwork on the wall jumps out at you. The rooms spin," Pianki said. "It's a terrifying assault on all of your senses."
One of their interactive attractions is called, Mutation, which gives you the option to opt-in to the interactive experience if you are 18 or older. By doing so, permits the monsters to grab you, bring you into separate rooms, put you in different parts of the attraction, and even zip you up in a body bag if you were to opt-in for this.
"It's a much more of an extreme experience," said Pianki. "You don't have to do it, but if you're over 18, I strongly advise that you do because it makes the attraction more fun."
Then there's Zombieland Unchained, another of Indy Scream Park's interactive attractions. But the difference with this one is it involves both zombies and humans working together to get you. "In this attraction, you can be grabbed by other zombies or humans," Pianki added.
A fan favorite is the Backwoods attraction, which is Indy Scream Park's longest-running haunted attraction. It's been there since the park opened 12 years ago, and is consistently ranked as their top attraction.
A newer attraction that was added to the park last year is Zombie Paintball Assault. It's the park's sixth attraction and although it's not technically a haunted house, attendees are loaded up on a bus that drives through a haunted trail. Then, hoards of zombies come out of the woods and your job is to use the paintball gun to shoot at them, and no, they can't shoot back at you.
"The goal is to keep the zombies away from the bus," Pianki said. "It's a huge hit. People love it. It's a lot of fun."
For those who are 21 and older, Bonzo's beer garden, which is clown-themed, then turns your haunted house experience into a big party.
"There are lots of food and drinks, games to play, hatchet throwing. Plus, some monsters roam around that will prevent you from having a peaceful, quiet evening," Pianki warned. "They continuously scare you when you least expect it. You'll still get surprised periodically throughout the evening."
The Indy Scream Park is open seven days a week through Halloween. They're also open on Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, too. Admission starts at $24.95, but it's different for each night depending on the night you go. And, you can go through the attractions as many times as you want while you're there. They're open Sunday through Thursday from 7:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
"It's a fall, Halloween experience," Pianki said. However, the park isn't recommended for children under the age of 13.
For more information about the Indy Scream Park, click here.
