Halloween Horrors Abound at Local Haunted Houses

It's time to go boo! Scarefest.com, St. Louis' best haunted attractions, presents a Trilogy of Terror, three very different and chill-inducing haunted attractions.

The "trilogy" includes:

• The Darkness, 
• Scream Park in Fenton at Creepyworld and 
• The Haunt of Lemp Brewery.

Each of the Halloween haunts opens in September with added new themes, scarier scenes and more thrills for daring visitors.

Here's what's happening at each of the haunts for the 2012 season:

The Darkness     

The Darkness features three fright-filled haunts under one roof:

• The Darkness
• Terror Visions in 3D  
• Monster Museum. 

This year, The Darkness' elaborate, hi-tech animation and Hollywood-type special effects have been expanded and include a Zombie Room and huge animatronic scorpions, spiders and snakes. Terror Visions in 3D, inhabited by crazed clowns, has a new video-effects-filled "ice scream" truck driven by a lunatic clown and Clownzilla jack-in the-box. 

More than 50 live actors interact with visitors to enhance the effects at the top-rated Halloween attraction. Admission to The Darkness, which includes entry to both the Terror Visions in 3D haunted house and the Monster Museum, stocked with genuine horror movie props, is $23.

The Darkness opened Friday, Sept. 14. 

The September schedule is Friday and Saturday nights from 8 p.m. until midnight. For dates and times through Nov. 3, go to www.scarefest.com for a complete calendar and time schedule. 

The Darkness is located in St. Louis' Soulard neighborhood at 1525 South 8th Street, St. Louis, 63104.

Screampark in Fenton at Creepyworld

Screampark in Fenton at Creepyworld, has nine different haunts in one location for one $25 admission fee. It is the biggest haunted attraction with the largest attendance in Missouri. A Screampark visit, with the longest maze of  attractions in the U.S., lasts more than one hour and features more live actors than any other haunted house.

The journey begins at Drive Inn 666 with continually running horror films. Other attractions include Raven's Mansion, Hornbuckle's Pig Farm and Corn Maze, Silo-X and St. Louis' only haunted hayride.

New this year are Twisted Torture 3D, Demons Dominion, Grisly's Gore Zone, the Zombie Town theme for the haunted hayride and the world's largest Famous Faces Pumpkin Display.

More than 30 pumpkins, carved by The Pumpkin Lady, Lisa Berberette, will be on view featuring famous monsters, Hollywood stars and pop culture icons. Berbette's work has been featured on Oprah, Martha Stewart, Good Morning, America and The Food Network. 

Screampark in Fenton at Creepyworld opens at 8 p.m. Sept. 21. The September schedule is Friday and Saturday nights from 8 p.m. until midnight. For dates and times through Nov. 3, go to www.scarefest.com for a complete calendar and schedule. 

Screampark in Fenton at Creepyworld is located at 1400 South Old Highway 141, Fenton, MO 63026. The haunt is one mile south of Gravois Road and Highway 141.

The Haunting of Lemp Brewery

Founded in 1862, the Lemp Brewery is a St. Louis landmark and was home to the first brewer to bring the production of lager-style beer to the United States. Located in underground tunnels carved into limestone caves, the abandoned brewery was a scary place even before Scarefest.com got its hands on it. Visitors are transported 40 feet underground where no one can hear them scream.

New this year are state-of-the-art CGI special effects that produce the ghost of Lemp family patriarch William Lemp who tells the haunting story of what drove him and other family members to suicide. The "ghost" warns patrons to "Turn back before it is too late!" Visitors proceed through the authentic, atmospheric tunnels of the old brewery to meet zombies, ghosts and hundreds of special, haunting images. Admission is $20.

The Haunting at Lemp is located within the original Lemp Brewery complex, 3500 Lemp Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63118. The facility is near I-55 and South Broadway in St. Louis' Historic Cherokee Antique Row. Parking is available within the gated complex.

The Haunt at Lemp opens at 8 p.m. Sept. 21. The September schedule is Friday and Saturday nights from 8 p.m. until midnight. For dates and times through Nov. 3, click on www.scarefest.com for a complete calendar and schedule.