4 Magic Scream weekends hold frights, contests, movies

Habitues of Magic Springs & Crystal Falls Water and Theme Park in Hot Springs during the hot summer months will notice a bit of a "mood change" if they visit in the cooler fall.

During October, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, sunny Magic Springs transforms into Magic Screams, a spooky playground with haunted attractions, spider webs and tombstones that lasts through four weekends starting Saturday.

"There's a lot of work that goes into it for an eight-day event," says Steve Honeycutt, general manager.

Planning starts in June and the transformation begins in August. The end result is an elaborate Halloween theme park designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, more importantly, fear-tolerance levels.

Kathy Marchese, sales and marketing director says, "By day, it's kid-friendly."

That means a pumpkin patch, pumpkin and face painting, the Great Pumpkin Roll game and a kid-friendly haunted house that's set in a toy store.

But, Marchese says, "When it turns dusk, you can just feel the transformation of the park becoming frightful."

That's when the real terror starts. Magic Screams is, Marchese adds, "very proud of our haunted houses."

That's "houses" -- plural. Every year they change up the themes a bit to make them fresh and scary, even for people who've attended before.

The multiple houses are a big draw, Honeycutt says: "You can go to haunted houses, but you can't go to one place where you can come and have numerous haunted houses that are all very different. It's just a great experience."

This year's houses are Wasteland, which has the tag line "Some secrets can't be buried," and returning fan favorite CarnEvil No. 9, a clown-theme house that's a coulrophobe's (fear of clowns) nightmare.

Marchese and Honeycutt are particularly excited about ExiTrance, the haunted bridge.

"It actually has moving walls inside of it," Honeycutt says. "You never know quite which way to go to get out. Every time they go through ... it will be a different experience."

Marchese adds, "That is just going to be very eerie and spooky. I was scared going through that today and it was daylight."

Among the kid-specific attractions and the teen- and adult-aimed terrors, there are activities for all ages.

Fall treats such as turkey legs, potato soup and candied apples will be offered every night.

Then there are the "Fright Flix," films specifically chosen to be suitable for children but still enjoyable for adults and teens. This year's line-up is Ghostbusters (1984) on Saturday, Beetlejuice on Oct. 15, Little Shop of Horrors on Oct. 22 and Hocus Pocus on Oct. 30. All start at 7:30 p.m.

Costume contests for all ages spice things up every Saturday.

Honeycutt's personal favorite is the King & Queen of Screams contest, this Saturday and Oct. 22.

"That is so funny to hear. It's amazing what people will do to try to win a season pass."

On Oct. 15 and 30, there's the Great Mummy Wrap, where contestants are armed with toilet paper to see who can get wrapped up the fastest and look the most mummylike.

And through it all, many of the Magic Springs rides will be in operation.

"It's a great experience to ride the rides in the evening because it just brings the atmosphere all together," Marchese says.

In all, the four-week celebration should give plenty of opportunities for some frightful family fun for all ages and temperaments, from scaredy cats to terror junkies.

And, Honeycutt points out, it's all in a safe environment: "It's a fun place for kids to come and have a great time for Halloween and their parents don't have to worry about them."

Weekend on 10/06/2016