HAUNTED HOUSES CAN BE A SCREAM

Where can you go for a good gut-wrenching scream this Halloween weekend?

In Cape Girardeau and Jackson, it would have to be the haunted attractions at Black Forest, Ristig Manor, Rocky Holler and the Arena Park building. Each of these houses does its best, in its own special way, to scare you silly.

Black Forest Haunted Ghost Town.

Open 6-10 p.m. Oct. 25-26.

Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for children 6 to 12 and is free to children under 6 years old.

Take Perryville Road north until you see the signs. The drive through the Black Forest is enough to unnerve most people and it is a perfect preview for the types of attractions Darla and Greg Macke have in store.

The Haunted Ghost Town incorporates the boardwalk, barn and an outdoor maze of the "New Hanover" replica town situated in the Black Forest. The Grim Reaper will appear long enough to set your course then magically reappear somewhere farther into the 25-minute attraction.

Darla Macke said the Black Forest has the traditional blood-curdling attractions.

"It's not too bloody," she said. "We go for the good old-fashioned boo-scares."

That includes vampires, witches, zombies and spiders. There is also a concession stand and bonfire. The Mackes have designed the Haunted Ghost Town so that the boo-scares build on themselves and there are surprises after the main tour is completed, so watch your step going back to your car.

Haunted Hall of Horror

Sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department.

Open 7-11 p.m. Oct. 25-27 and Oct. 29-31.

Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for children under 12 years old.

Penny Blandford, a recreation supervisor at Arena Park, said the Arena Park building, Brase Arena, is the perfect place to hold the Hall of Horrors because it is a natural maze. She also said there are people still trapped in the halls from haunted houses of years past who may come out this Halloween.

The Hall of Horrors has approximately 25 gruesome scenes, and about 50 costumed characters laying in wait. It covers nearly the entire ground floor and basement of the Brase Arena. Some of the better scenes that drew in nearly 3,500 people last year still remain but Blandford and fellow horror designer Scott Williams are constantly changing the scenes.

"We get into it, it's fun," Blandford said. "We've got some creative people here and it gives us a chance to show another side."

The Hall of Horror utilizes a series of dim narrow hallways to set up its many scenes and surprises. Blandford and Williams have designed the Haunted Hall to accommodate a wide age group, including bypassing some of the steps and climbs for the older patrons. But no one is spared the surprises.

The Ristig Manor Haunted House

On Old Toll Road in Jackson, sponsored by the Jackson Jaycees.

Open 7-11 p.m. Oct. 25-27 and 29-31. Opens at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 for groups.

Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children.

Jackson Jaycee President Kenny Turner said the old Ristig Manor needs little help to make it the ultimate haunted house.

"I think it dates back to the Civil War," Turner said. "It just looks like a haunted house."

If any of the 5,000 people from last year who wandered through this three-story mansion, and into the depths of the cellar, return they will have to pass through the chainsaw room again.

"The chainsaw room always gets everybody," Turner said. "They'll all be expecting it."

Thirteen rooms each feature a different scene, most of them dealing with the worst sides of death, and 20 various costumed creatures will be what is in store for the patrons of this haunted house.

"It's fun," Turner said. "It's fun to scare people."

Rocky Holler Haunted Hay Rides.

County Road 303, 5 miles north of Cape Girardeau

Open 7-10 p.m. Oct. 25-26.

Admission is $4.

A half-mile west of Interstate 55 at the Fruitland exit is the entrance to Rocky Holler, a family-run haunted attraction that may just scare the hay out of some people.

It is when the chill autumn wind rips the leaves from the trees in Walnut Grove that the Elliott family begins transforming the rolling scenic acres of Rocky Holler into Death Valley. A half-mile of roving, riding, singing, lunging, crazed monsters all coming out of the pitch black countryside has characterized Rocky Holler for the past six years. More than 6,000 people rode the wagons during last year's haunted hay rides.

Rocky Holler has 10 scenes and about 25 monsters which, Ted Elliott, owner of Rocky Holler, said is what makes the haunted hay rides something special.

"We've got real monsters," he said. "They sometimes work together where one will be doing something over there and another one will get you from this side."

Watch out for the bog creature and the ghost of Elvis.

Four haunted houses offer terrors for those who are brave enought to enter.* Black Forest Haunted Ghost Town.Open 6-10 p.m. Oct. 25-26.Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for children 6 to 12 and is free to children under 6.* Haunted Hall of HorrorSponsored by the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department.Open 7-11 p.m. Oct. 25-27 and Oct. 29-31.Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for children under 12 years old.* The Ristig Manor Haunted HouseOn Old Toll Road in Jackson, sponsored by the Jackson Jaycees.Open 7-11 p.m. Oct. 25-27 and 29-31. Opens at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 for groups.Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children.* Rocky Holler Haunted Hay Rides.County Road 303, 5 miles north of Cape GirardeauOpen 7-10 p.m. Oct. 25-26.Admission is $4.