Fort Edmonton Park’s Halloween event returns with Dark reimagining of the site
The moon glows on the horizon, an eerie portent for a season packed with ghouls, ghosts and goblins. In the river valley, trees obscure the city lights and cast long shadows over everything. It's the perfect setting for a Halloween scare and Dark, Fort Edmonton Park's month of creepy haunts, is just the place for a traumatic haunting.
Dark is a reimagining of Fort Edmonton Park, transforming the well-known Edmonton attraction into a singularly terrifying attraction of nightmarish proportions. Actors do their best throughout the park to terrify patrons from every angle and haunted houses bring even more tears and fears for patrons looking for a scare.
“Last year we wanted to tap into an audience and a market we haven't connected to in a long time, either patrons who came to the park as kids and haven't come back or adults who haven't been here before,” said Renee Williams, Fort Edmonton Park's vice-president of customer experience. “We altered up the program, made it 14-plus and made it dark.”
In its first year, Dark attracted more than 13,000 scare-seeking Edmontonians to the river valley for a taste of fear. To accommodate an expected doubling in attendance, organizers have added nights to the schedule.
Dark features three haunts, each a 15- to 20-minute trip through a nightmarish vision. Each haunt has a unique theme, from a terrifying freak show to a science experiment with unfortunate side effects. And of course, all three feature costumed actors trying to scare the pants off fear-seeking patrons, along with some impressive visual effects thrown in for good measure.
R.I. Payne's Fourth Ring is a travelling show gone mad. The train has brought with it weirdos and oddballs, and maybe something a bit more sinister.
Religion takes a twist with A Taste of Eternity. In the followup to last year's Celebration of Undying Truth, the cult has returned, taking its street recruiting to new levels.
In the 1980s, Core Industries was experimenting with plant biology to make a fast-growing plant to solve world hunger. But things take a turn when airborne spores come off the plants and wreak havoc on their human hosts.
On top of the three main haunts, there are two premium haunts that will set you back a bit more on your ticket purchase. Fort Edmonton has been transformed into the Fort of Fear, while Catch the Keys Production has been brought into the fold for Dead Centre of Town, an experience that is billed as a live-action thriller experience. Fort of Fear takes about 30 minutes to get through, while Dead Centre of Town will add 60 minutes to the Dark experience.
Not everything at Dark is about scaring patrons to the edge of sanity. Wandering performers keep the spooky going between haunts, while adult refreshments (including one that appears to be served in a blood bag) are served at the Dark Circle, what is normally the hangar at Fort Edmonton Park.
Local improviser Jessie Mcphee takes on the mantle of Mr. Dark, the host of the party at the Dark Circle. Donning a mashup of early 20th-century formal and undead makeup, he looks the part.
“I'm the host of the party at the Raveyard,” Mcphee said. “I am woken from the grave to throw the best party of the year.”
With the cold October weather already taking hold, Dark Circle also offers an opportunity to warm up between haunts and maybe decompress between terrifying experiences. Fire pits outside add to the atmosphere, or there's a dance hall indoors to warm up.
Dark is not only a celebration of the spookiest of the haunted season, it's also a chance for Fort Edmonton Park to expand its clientele, reaching out to people who may not have visited the park since they were young, or bring in people who may have never experienced the park. It's also a way to add events to the calendar and keep the park open throughout the year.
“We have such a vast space here and so much to offer, so why not try to find things that fit into the shoulder season to make us a 365day attraction,” Williams said. “It's dark, there's very dim lighting and you're just not sure what's going to be around the next corner. That's really what we play into.”
Tickets to Dark start at $40 in advance, or $50 at the door. Dark runs until Nov. 1.