Students add scares to Panic Park

The screams, the horrifying scenes and the obsidian, midddle of nowhere night: everyone knows the thrills of Panic Park, but most don’t know goes on behind the scenes of such thrills and chills.

“People have to decide what rooms to go to, where the rooms are and what costumes and makeup they’ll need. It’s all very chaotic,” senior Jacob Kottman, a Panic Park volunteer for around two years, said.

“So far, I’ve worked in the Jason room, and I’ve roamed the house to make sure people are doing what they are supposed to do and are following the rules. I’ve also worked the maze,” Kottman said.

Panic Park has many rooms which hold all types of horrifying scenes. Some are from scary movies and others have just been tradition. The Jason room is a completely dark room with glowing Jason masks hanging from the ceilings. Workers in such rooms might have a mask on, roaming the room to scare people, and others just hide and jump out.

“I wasn’t wearing a mask once in the Jason room, and I walked up behind a group of people. I managed to scare this one guy, and he turned around and punched me in the face,” Kottman said.

Most people that go throughout Panic Park tend to freak out at the smallest of things, like a shadow looming in a corner or from a simple “boo.” For some people, though, it takes a lot more to be scared.

“When they aren’t scared, they aren’t scared. There isn’t much one can do about it,” Kottman said.

The volunteers working in Panic Park are supposed to stay in character all night, though, hard as it may be.

“I’m usually just screeching or banging on walls. It gets tiring, though, but the fact that there is food at the end of the haunted house keeps a lot of people going,” Kottman said.

And though it may be tiring, working at the haunted house can also be very exciting and fun.

“The mazes outside are fun because you are always moving, and it can take up to 10 minutes for people to get out, seeing as though there’s only one path that works. I also like the Jason room because there are so many different ways to scare people. There’s just so many possibilities,” Kottman said.

However, the Jason room will not be up this year in the haunted house. Along with that, there are a few other changes this year that are different than other years.

“Usually, the haunted house goes from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, but this year, it’ll be on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. On Thursdays and Sundays, it’ll go from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.,” Kottman said.

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